File:Indo-European horse sacrifice was...WEIRD

The most important sacrificial animal in the original Indo-European religion was the horse - The very power of their kings depended on an elaborate ritual horse sacrifice. In this video we will look at the rite of horse sacrifice in various Indo-European traditions in order to get an idea of why the Proto-Indo-Europeans considered it such an important royal ritual and what it looked like. Beginning with the enormous Ashvamedha in India, and moving on to Rome's October Horse rite and ending on old Norse written sources combined with archaeological evidence from the Nordic Bronze age through to the Viking age - we get a pretty clear picture of the gruesome and often sexual rituals associated with the inauguration of kings and the necessary solar horse sacrifice. This video is mainly based on the recent book on the same subject by Kaliff & Oestigaard.

This channel depends on your support: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/survivethejive SubscribeStar: https://www.subscribestar.com/survive-the-jive Telegram: https://t.me/survivethejive Crypto: https://bit.ly/3ysmtvk

Use the free shipping discount code "EPICFS" on https://www.epiclootshop.com

Art: Alex Cristi https://www.artstation.com/alex314 Andrew Whyte http://basileuscomic.com Christian Sloan Hall https://www.deathlord.co.uk Christopher Steininger https://shop.smiletitans.com Map animation by Meta-sight https://linktr.ee/meta_sight

Sources:

Dumézil, G. 1970. ‘Archaic Roman Religion. Volume One.’ The John Hopkins University Press. Baltimore and London. https://amzn.to/3jiHV0D Eliade, M. 1993. ‘Patterns in Comparative Religion.’ Sheed and Ward. New York. https://amzn.to/3hd2yIX Eliade, M., ed., ‘Encyclopedia of Religion’ (NY: Collier Macmillan, 1987), VI:463; Kaliff, A., & Oestigaard, T., ‘The Great Indo-European Horse Sacrifice: 4000 Years of Cosmological Continuity from Sintashta and the Steppe to Scandinavian Skeid’ (2020) http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1435564/FULLTEXT02.pdf Outram, A., et al. ‘Horses for the dead: funerary foodways in Bronze Age Kazakhstan’ - (March 2011) Puhvel, J., ‘Comparative Mythology’ 1987 Rowsell, T., Riding To The Afterlife: The Role Of Horses In Early Medieval North-Western Europe. (2012) https://www.academia.edu/35172183/Riding_To_The_Afterlife_The_Role_Of_Horses_In_Early_Medieval_North_Western_Europe Sikora, M., ‘Diversity in Viking Age horse burial’ in The Journal of Irish Archaeology(Belfast: 2003-4). P.87. Solheim, S. 1956. Horse-fight and horse-race in Norse tradition. Studia Norvegica No. 8. H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nyaard). Oslo. Veil, Stephan & Breest, Klaus & Grootes, P. & Nadeau, Marie-Josée & Huels, Matthias. (2012). A 14 000-year-old amber elk and the origins of northern European art. Antiquity. 86. 660-673.

Music in order: theme song: Wolcensmen - Sunne Xurious - Steppe expansion Bark Sound Productions - Vlv Ormgård - Den Vilda Jakten Bark Sound Productions - Ensam gar du Doug Maxwell - Bansure raga Kevin McLeod - Big mojo vadodara Kevin McLeod - Dhaka Torulf - Rite of the heart Borg - The May queen enters the circle Halindir - The Weave Altyn Tuu - Altai throat singing Sean O Rourke - contentment is wealth Elegiac - Odinn Amelec - sun in time Ormgård - Sjálfsforn Khan Kurra - Little Dragon Sjhof - path to the temple Bark Sound Productions - Eld Borg - Valborgs Vals Chris Zabriskie - I am running Borg - wood anemones Torulf - rite of the heart Sir Cubworth - The throne room Doug Maxwell - Bansure Raga 00:00 Introduction 00:56 Early Indo-European evidence 04:20 Indian Ashvamedha 11:56 Rome’s October Horse 14:00 Ancient Greece 14:53 Scythians 16:26 Ireland 17:51 Norse/Germanic 20:12 Equine prognostication 21:22 Odinic horse sacrifice 23:08 Funerary horse sacrifice 24:19 Yule sacrifice 28:09 Vǫlsi the horse penis 29:44 Skeid - horse fight 32:59 Early Nordic archaeological evidence 35:50 Anglo-Saxon archaeological evidence 36:37 Viking funeral archaeological evidence 37:43 Nordic Bronze age rock art 38:56 Conclusion 40:39 Hittite evidence 41:36 Credits

Copyrighted film clips used in this educational video are covered under the Fair Use policy since I comment on and review the clips in the context of an educational video.