Skeleton in Norwegian well may be man from Norse saga, study finds

In 1197, an ancient saga records, a body was flung into a well by the besiegers of Sverresborg castle outside Nidaros, now the central Norwegian city of Trondheim. More than 800 years later, scientists think they may have found him.

- Jon Henley

“While we cannot prove that the remains are those of the individual mentioned in the saga, the circumstantial evidence is consistent with this conclusion,” the researchers wrote in a study published in the journal iScience.

The archaeologist Anna Petersén, who led the excavation work, told the broadcaster NRK: “I would say there’s a high probability this is the man from the saga — not only based on the dates, but also as the whole context matches what’s written.”

The Sverris saga relates the life of the Norwegian king Sverre Sigurdsson, who rose to power in the latter half of the 12th century during a period of civil war that continued for decades after he died in 1202.

The 182-verse saga, believed to have been written by an Icelandic abbot close to Sverre, is described as unique in the rich accounts it gives of his battles. One passage describes how in 1197 the king’s enemies attacked his stronghold at Sverresborg, pillaging the castle and razing every dwelling to the ground while the monarch was away in Bergen.