Skeletal remains in castle belong to Well-man from Norse saga, scientists say

Scientists have connected 800-year-old skeletal remains found in a well at Norway’s Sverresborg castle to a mysterious figure mentioned in a medieval Norse saga, using advanced DNA analysis.

For 800 years he was the stuff of Norse legend.

Now scientists say skeletal remains found in a well at Norway’s Sverresborg castle are those of the mysterious figure mentioned in a medieval saga.

The new findings, published in the journal iScience on Friday, used advanced DNA analysis to connect the identity of the remains to a passage in a centuries-old Norse text called the Sverris Saga. It's a compilation of different sources describing the internal political struggle, or civil war, in medieval Norway from 1130 to 1217.

The saga, named after Norwegian king Sverre Sigurdsson, describes the political conflict between the king and his chief enemy, the archbishop of Nidaros, Eysteinn Erlendsson.

According to the saga, the body of a dead man — later referred to as “Well-man” — was thrown down a well during a 1197 military attack aimed at poisoning the main water source for locals.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/skeletal-remains-castle-well-man-norse-saga-rcna177551

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