Several instances are mentioned in which powerful kings were sacrificed or offered their children on the altars of the gods.
“There was a great crowd of men who left Sweden because of King Ivar’s rule. They heard that Olaf Tretelgja[[258]] had good lands in Vermaland, and so many went thither that the country could not support them. There then came a very bad season and a great famine. They attributed this to their king, as the Swedes are wont to hold him accountable for both good and bad seasons. King Olaf was not a zealous sacrificer, and this the Swedes did not like, thinking that therefore arose the bad years. They then gathered a host, went against the king, surrounded his house, and burned him, giving him to Odin as a sacrifice for good years. This was at Vœnir (Venern)” (Ynglinga Saga, c. 47).
The custom of sacrificing a beloved child of a chief was considered, as it well might be, the highest atonement that could be offered, and is one of such antiquity that its birth is lost in the dim light of past ages. We have remarkable instances of this custom mentioned in the Bible; the story of Abraham and Isaac, and of Jephthah’s vow show the existence of the practice in very early times. In Lev. xx. 2–4, the practice is mentioned as taking place among the heathen; and we see that, as in the North, the father had absolute power over the life of his child, otherwise he could not sacrifice him.
The most thrilling accounts of sacrifice of children are those of the sacrifice by Hakon Jarl of his own son, and by King Aun of nine sons.[[259]]
In the beginning of the battle of the Jomsvikings against Hakon Jarl and his sons luck was against him, and the Jarl called his sons ashore, where he and they met and took counsel.
“Hakon Jarl said: ‘I think I see that the battle begins to turn against us; and I dislike to fight against these men; for I believe that none are their equals, and I see that it will fare ill, unless we hit upon some plan; you must stay here with the host, for it is imprudent for all the chiefs to leave it, if the Jomsvikings attack, as we may at any moment expect. I will go ashore with some men and see what can be done.’ The Jarl went ashore north to the island. He entered a glade in the forest, sank down on both his knees and prayed; he looked northwards and spoke what he thought was most to the purpose; and in his prayers he called upon his fully trusted Thorgerd Hórdatróll; but she turned a deaf ear to his prayer, and he thought that she must have become angry with him. He offered to sacrifice several things, but she would not accept them, and it seemed to him the case was hopeless. At last he offered human sacrifices, but she would not accept them. The Jarl considered his case most hopeless if he could not please her; he began to increase the offer, and at last included all his men except himself and his sons Eirik and Svein. He had a son Erling, who was seven winters old, and a very promising youth. Thorgerd accepted his offer, and chose Erling, his son. When the Jarl found that his prayers and vows were heard, he thought matters were better, and thereupon gave the boy to Skopti Kark, his thrall, who put him to death in Hakon’s usual way as taught by him”[[260]] (Fornmanna Sögur, xi. 134).
Human sacrifices were resorted to by kings in order to lengthen their own life.
“When King Aun was sixty he made a great sacrifice in order to secure long life; he sacrificed his son to Odin. King Aun got answer from Odin that he should live another sixty winters. Thereupon he was king for twenty-five winters at Uppsalir. Then Áli the Bold, son of King Fridleif (in Denmark), came with his host to Sweden against King Aun; they fought, and Áli always gained the victory. King Aun left his realm a second time and went to the western Gautland. Áli was king at Uppsalir for twenty-five winters, till Starkad the Old slew him. After his death Aun came back to Uppsalir and ruled the realm for twenty-five winters. He again made a great sacrifice for long life and offered up another son. Odin told him that he should live for ever if he gave him a son every tenth year, and would call a herad[[261]] (district) in the land after the number of every son whom he thus sacrificed. During ten winters after he had sacrificed seven of his sons he was unable to walk, and was carried on a stool. He sacrificed his eighth son and lived ten winters more in bed. He sacrificed his ninth son and lived ten winters more, and drank from a horn like a young child. He had one son left and wanted to sacrifice him, and thereupon to give Uppsalir with the herads belonging to it to Odin, and call it Tíundaland.[[262]] The Swedes stopped him; then he died and was mound-laid at Uppsalir” (Ynglinga, c. 29).
Men, particularly the slain after a battle, were sometimes given to Odin for victory, the largest number ever given being those who fell at the famous battle of Bravalla. It seems to have been customary to redden the altars with the blood of the fallen chiefs.[[263]]
Prisoners of war, no matter what their rank, were called thralls, and were sacrificed; sometimes they were slaughtered like animals, their blood put into bowls, and their bodies thrown into bogs or a spring outside the door of the temple called blót-kelda (sacrificing spring), or their backs broken on sharp stones; sometimes they were thrown from high cliffs.[[264]]