The threefold death, which is suffered by kings, heroes, and gods, is a putatively Proto-Indo-European theme – although it is attested in medieval accounts of Celtic and Germanic mythology.
Some proponents of the trifunctional hypothesis distinguish two types of threefold deaths in Indo-European myth and ritual. In the first type of threefold death, one person dies simultaneously in three ways. He dies by hanging (or strangulation or falling from a tree), by drowning (or poison), and by wounding. These three deaths are foretold, and are often punishment for an offense against the three functions of Indo-European society. The second form of the threefold death is split into three distinct parts, these distinct deaths are sacrifices to three distinct gods of the three functions.
Read more about Threefold Death: Merlin, Odin, Commenta Bernensia, Vita Columbae, The Lindow Man and Other Bog Bodies, See Also
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—Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922–1975)