Possible cult ritual site of early Viking kings discovered

[Auron]

A large mud building has been found in Lejre, near Roskilde in Denmark and is believed by archaeologists to be ether a cult place or a beer hall of Viking kings.

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/179526_possible-cult-ritual-site-of-early-viking-kings-discovered

[DavidSnider]

Ritual is a nice word for getting drunk and smashing things =)

[Auron]

Ritual is a nice word for getting drunk and smashing things =)

I must admit I thought the same, they probably just had a really good night lol

[arildno]

Often the beer hall and the cult site was the same place.

The graven images of the gods were carried into the beer hall given the honour place there, presiding over the banquet/drinking orgy

[Andre]

and of course the beer was served in the skulls of the victims of the cult

[arildno]

and of course the beer was served in the skulls of the victims of the cult
Not to my knowledge.

However, the Lombard king Alboin made a drinking cup out of the skull from the last king of the Gepids, Cunimund,.

Having married Rosamund, Cunimund's daughter, he forced her to drink from her father's skull.
Naturally, she resented that a bit, and arranged for Alboin's assassination in AD 572.

Served him well..

[hypatia]

I would of been a bit resentful too.

[arildno]

The assassination plot itself is a healthy brew of Byzantine machinations and accidental sexual intercourse:

Rosamund met the king's valet, Helmechis, who suggested using Peredeo, a strong man, to accomplish the assassination. Peredeo refused to help, and that night mistakenly had intercourse with Rosemund, who was disguised as a servant. After learning that he had committed adultery with his king's wife, Peredeo agreed to take part in an assassination attempt in fear of the king's retribution. After the great feast, Alboin went to bed inebriated, at which point Rosamunde ordered the king's sword bound to his bedpost, so that should he wake in the middle of the assassination attempt, he would be defenseless. Alboin did wake, only to find himself unarmed. He fended off his attackers temporarily with a footstool, but was killed. His remains were allegedly buried beneath the palace steps. Rosamunde fled with her lover and Alboin's daughter by his first wife, Albsuinda, to Ravenna under the protection of the Byzantine emperor.