The Tale of the Well Man: A Historical Revelation
In the waning years of the 12th century, Norway found itself embroiled in a tumultuous period marked by civil strife. During this chaotic time, the Baglers, a faction loyal to the archbishop, laid siege to Sverresborg, the formidable castle stronghold of King Sverre Sigurdsson. With the king absent from the fortress, the besieging forces took advantage of the situation, looting the castle, incinerating residences, and even resorting to a gruesome tactic to contaminate the water supply. They threw the corpse of one of the king’s soldiers into the well, subsequently filling it with stones—a grim act of early biological warfare. This chilling episode is chronicled in the “Sverris Saga,” a contemporary biography of King Sverre, who ruled over much of Norway from 1184 until 1202.
For years, scholars have debated the reliability of this saga as a historical document. However, a groundbreaking study published in the journal iScience details how researchers have uncovered the identity of the “Well Man” through ancient DNA analysis, shedding new light on this long-standing historical mystery. “This is the first time that we have positively identified the remains of a person or character described in a Norse saga,” stated Michael D. Martin, an evolutionary genomicist at the museum of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. “It is also the oldest instance in which we have retrieved the complete genome sequence from a specific individual mentioned in a medieval text.”
The Well Man, once regarded as a mere mythical scapegoat, first came into focus in 1938, when archaeologists excavated an old well in the ruins of Sverresborg, located near Trondheim in central Norway. At the bottom of the well, approximately 21 feet deep and amidst layers of discarded stones, they discovered remarkably preserved human remains. At that time, however, researchers lacked the technological means to conduct more than a basic visual assessment of the findings.
“There are no records of the excavation apart from a single photograph,” remarked Anna Petersén, an archaeologist with the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research in Oslo. “There are no notebooks, no journals—nothing. Yet, the Well Man was undeniably there.”
Further excavations, conducted 70 years after the initial discovery of the Well Man, combined with radiocarbon dating techniques, revealed that this individual had lived approximately 800 years ago. The analysis determined that he was a male, aged between 30 and 40 years at the time of his death.