On October 17, 2014, a skeleton was discovered in the well at Sverresborg Museum in Trondheim, Norway. According to an initial analysis, these skeletal remains belong to a man who passed away at the age of around 35-40 years.
An 800-year-old skeleton discovered in a well in Norway confirms the saga of King Sverre. This is likely the skeleton of a man who, according to King Sverre’s saga, was thrown into the well when the so-called Baglers, a rebellious party formed in Norway in 1174, took Sverresborg town in 1197. The skeleton was initially discovered by an archaeologist named Gerhard Fischer, who excavated the well in the late ’30s and found the remains. However, they were reburied, possibly due to the war. Now, archaeologists have rediscovered the remains, and analysis of the skeleton confirms that there is often a lot of truth behind myths and legends.
The Baglers took a dead man and threw him in the well. “These are incredibly exciting results. This archaeological discovery confirms events in the royal saga. We are reasonably confident that the skeleton in the well can be attributed to the dramatic tales in the saga when Sverre Castle was destroyed,” says Jørn Holme, director of the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research.
The saga of King Sverre was written in the late 12th century. This is a story about Sverre Sigurdsson, a Norwegian king, who led the birkebeiners fighting for the throne of Norway against the baglers. The saga contains a detailed description of how a renegade within the castle one night let in a group of baglers to conquer the castle. The baglers stole all goods from the castle, and then they set the building on fire, as well as all of the king’s ships. Later, they took a dead man and threw him in the well.
The well was filled with stones. Local people tried to remove the stones, but had to eventually give up. For over 800 years, the well has refused to give its secrets, but now we may finally learn what happened on that fearful night.
Archaeologists noticed that the examined well was filled with big stones, and these were removed within a small area in the middle part. The water was removed, and at the bottom, approximately 4 meters below the surface, they discovered the remains of an individual. The discovery clearly shows the saga of King Sverre told about real events that happened in Norway.