Blood brother

Blood brother can refer to one of two things: two males related by birth, or two or more men not related by birth, who swear loyalty to one another. This is usually done in a ceremony, known as a Blood Oath, where the blood of each man is mingled together. In simple terms, this is an extension of fraternization.

"Orvar-Odd's saga" contains a notable account of blood brotherhood. The Norwegian warrior Orvar-Odd felt a desire to test his fighting skills with the renowned Swedish warrior Hjalmar. Thus Orvar-Odd sailed to Sweden with five ships and met Hjalmar who had fifteen ships. Hjalmar could not accept such an uneven balance of strength and sent away ten of his own ships so that the forces would be even. The two warriors fought for two days with a lot of blood-letting and poetry, but it was a draw. Finally, they realized that they were equals and decided to become sworn brothers by letting their blood flow under a strand of turf raised by a spear. Then the strand of turf was put back during oaths and incantations.

The Lydia ceremony involved nicking their arms with a sharp object and licking the blood off of each other's arms. The Scyths would allow their blood to drip into a glass where it was mixed with wine and drunk by both participants.

In Asian cultures, the act and ceremony of becoming "blood brothers" is generally seen as a tribal relationship, that is, to bring about alliance between tribes. It was practiced for this reason most notably among the Mongols and early Chinese. There is some evidence that Native Americans also did it for this purpose.

Blood brothers among large groups was common in ancient Mediterranean Europe where, for example, whole companies of Greek soldiers would become as one family. It was perhaps most prevalent in the Balkan Peninsula during the Ottoman era, as it helped the oppressed people to more effectively fight the enemy. Blood brothers were also common in Serbia, Albania and Bulgaria.

Blood brotherhood, highly ritualized and subjected to a strong code, was a common practice in the Caucasus, especially among the mountaineers. Some relics of this tradition survive to this day.

It is still practiced today, but mostly as a throw-back to tribal times. The tradition of intertwining arms and drinking wine in Greece and elsewhere, is believed to be a representation of becoming blood brothers.

In modern times, a common blood brother ceremony includes having each person make a small cut, usually on a finger or the forearm, and then the two cuts are pressed together and bound, the idea being that each person's blood now flows in the other participant's veins.

Famous fictional blood brothers

*Zhang Fei, Guan Yu and Liu Bei. In the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luó Guànzhōng these three men swore in their famous Oath of the Peach Garden that despite not being born on the same day, their sworn brotherhood would end with them dying on the same day. Histories only mention that the three men were "close like brothers".
*Yesükhei and Toghril. Yesükhei was Genghis Khan's father. Toghril is better known by his Chinese name Wang Khan.
*Odin and Loki in Norse mythology.
*Homer Davenport and Akmet Haffez. Davenport is accredited as playing a key role in bringing pure-blooded Arabian horses to America, and Haffez was a person of some importance amongst the desert peoples of Bedouin Arabia.
*Gunther and Högni became the blood brothers of Sigurd when he married their sister Gudrun.
*Mickey Johnstone and Eddie Lyons in the Willy Russell musical "Blood Brothers", who, unbeknownst to them, are actually twin brothers and were born and died on the same day.
*Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer".
*The Lone Ranger and Tonto.
*In Mary Renault's rendition of the legend of Alexander the Great, Ptolemy Soter and Alexander became blood brothers. As Ptolemy may have been Alexander's half brother through King Philip II of Macedon, this allowed them to speak openly of being brothers of blood without shame being called upon either of them. In later years, during Alexander's time as king, Ptolemy became one of Alexander's most trusted generals.
*The fictional characters of Little Bear and Boone from Lynne Reid Banks book Indian in the Cupboard as well as Omri and Little Bear (at the last moment during the ceremony Little Bear made Omri his blood brother as well).
*In Germany, the concept of being blood brothers is widely believed to be exclusively related to Native Americans. This is mostly because of the novels of Karl May, in which the two main figures: Winnetou, a fictional chief of the tribe of the Mescalero-Apaches, and his white friend Old Shatterhand become blood brothers.
*Two of the most memorable characters in classic fantasy, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, are referred to by the author, Fritz Lieber as blood brothers.
*Ray Balzac Courland and Azura in Gorgeous Carat.
*Waylon Jennings referred to fellow country musician Johnny Cash as his "blood brother".
*Duane "Dog" Chapman and Tim Chapman
* Hendrys referred to Blood Cousin Kyle and Jeffro as his "Blood Brothers"
* Nancy, Sara, Rachelle, and Bonnie in the film The Craft.