The many discoveries of bog bodies and the evidence of sacrifices of prisoners of war dating back to the Pre-Roman Iron Age show that ritual killings in one form or another were not uncommon in Northern Europe in the period before the Viking Age.
De mange fund af moselig og sporene efter ofring af krigsfanger tilbage til før-romersk jernalder viser, at rituelle drab i en eller anden form ikke var ualmindelige i Nordeuropa i perioden før vikingetiden.