Medical Cannibalism in Scandinavian Folklore: Practical Uses and Religious Rationalities

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Embodied Essence: Anthropological, Historical, and Archaeological Perspectives on the Use of Body Parts and Bodily Substances in Religious Beliefs and Practices" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Although cannibalism is a contested theme in anthropology, there is one area and era that has received little attention: Scandinavian folklore in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The widely documented practices represent a particular type of cannibalism that has been called medical cannibalism. Dead bodies were the most powerful medicine for any kind of disease and illness, and the fresher the corpse, the better. Warm blood from beheadings and executions were precious and popular medicines, together with, among other medicines, what was called “corpse-water,” “human-water,” “human-fat,” or “priest-fat,” which was melted or boiled human flesh or brain. The medicines worked in secular settings, but the strength and powers came from the ancestors and spirits. All diseases were spiritual attacks of bad spirits and therefore the powers to combat these malevolent attacks were found among the dead. Still, it was a religious system of mortality without morality, because murderers were more powerful than ordinary people. A murderer had the powers of at least two persons in his body and hence this power could be used for the betterment of others. The rationality of this particular type of cannibalism and practical magic will be presented and discussed in this presentation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Embodied Essence: Anthropological, Historical, and Archaeological Perspectives on the Use of Body Parts and Bodily Substances in Religious Beliefs and Practices   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38735.0