Scientists Decode Mystery Of 'Well-Man' From 800-Year-Old Story In Norway

Skeletal remains, which were discovered in a well at Norway's Sverresborg Castle, have been linked to a centuries-old Norse story by researchers.

In the 800-year-old Sverris saga that follows the story of real-life King Sverre Sigurdsson, the author recounted the tale of tossing the corpse of a man -- later known as "well-man" -- into a well during a central Norway military raid in 1197.

As per the text, the raiders threw the body into the well to poison the main water source of an under-siege castle for locals. Though there was no mention of the identity of the man.

The skeleton of the man, believed to be in his 30s or 40s, was uncovered at the castle near Trondheim in central Norway in 1938, The Telegraph UK reported. Scientists at that time were only able to carry out a visual analysis.

With multiple analytical techniques now available including genetic sequencing and radiocarbon dating, the researchers have now been able to link the skeletal remains to the saga, according to CNN.

A study in this regard was published in the Cell Press journal iScience on Friday, revealing major insights into the appearance of the "Well-man" based on in-depth research on samples of his teeth.

The co-author of the study, Michael D Martin said in a statement that this was the first time when a person "described in these historical texts has actually been found".

Mr Martin is a professor in the department of natural history at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's University Museum in Trondheim.

"There are a lot of these mediaeval and ancient remains all around Europe, and they're increasingly being studied using genomic methods," Mr Martin added.

The radiocarbon dating analysis helped the researchers determine that the skeletal remains were around 800 years old, aligning with the timeline of the Sverris saga.

Mr Martin said that they initially hoped to sequence the body's genome from its bones, considering that they appeared to be in good condition, but the DNA was poorly preserved inside them. So, they used samples of a tooth for genome sequencing. The result showed that the man likely had a medium skin tone along with blue eyes, and light-brown hair.

Then they compared the genome of "Well-man" with the genomes of anonymous modern Norwegians that are stored in reference databases at deCODE Genetics in Iceland.

As a result, it came out that the "well-man" was closely related to the natives of southern Norway.