It nearly always included Norse funeral songs. No matter how the body of a Viking was buried, the funeral service was always much the same. These words of commemoration and well-wish would take place during the ritualistic drinking of the funeral ale. Words spokenĪt a Viking funeral, respected members of the community would have bid the deceased farewell and wished them an easy journey to the afterlife.ĭepending on the person’s level in Viking society, only a few words would be spoken, or speeches might go on for hours. If a great warrior had passed, his fellow Vikings would likely pray and chant to help him find his way to Valhalla. Vikings would offer prayers to Odin and other gods, depending on the person and their place in society. The Vikings were strictly Pagan, and their funeral ceremonies reflected those beliefs. It’s thought that the Vikings believed the smoke helped carry the deceased to the afterlife.Īfter cremation, the ashes would be placed in an urn or carved box for burial. But the burning took place on land, rather than on a longboat at sea.Ī Viking funeral pyre could get hot enough to cremate a body and reduce it to bones and ashes.
The image of a body going up in flames isn’t completely inaccurate to Viking culture. Instead (if they weren’t sacrificed and cremated alongside their masters), slaves were buried in shallow graves without any fanfare.
However, those who were high-ranking or well-respected amongst their fellow Vikings had more elaborate burials and funerals.įor example, a respected warrior could have his cremated remains buried inside a beloved longboat.Īn exception to the rule is slaves, who were not given the respect of a Viking funeral.
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Eligibility for a funeralĪny free Viking could qualify for a traditional Viking funeral. Talk with your funeral director or event planner to see what rituals they can adapt for a live stream. Tip: If you're planning a virtual Viking funeral using a service like GatheringUs, you can still partake in the traditions below. The funeral festivities could carry on for days and feature several feasts. Then, the deceased’s fellow Vikings would dig the grave, and the funeral feast would take place. The next step in a Viking funeral was usually cremation on a funeral pyre. The Vikings draped their dead in clean clothing and often adorned them with jewels.
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If they didn’t burn bodies in ships, how did the Vikings conduct their funerals?Īncient Norse funerals for free men and women were highly-ritualistic and, at times, theatrical.įuneral rites began with preparing the body.
There’s also evidence that the Vikings thought family members stayed together, both in the afterlife and in reincarnated lives. Some historians think the ancient Norse and Vikings believed the dead could be reborn as a descendant. In some Norse texts, rebirth or reincarnation comes up as a possibility. Afterlife-living in Valhalla was ideal for a Norse warrior: wolves guarded its gates, and gleaming shields protected its ceiling.Īll day, the dead in Valhalla were said to battle each other. The goddess Freya, for example, was thought to welcome many of the dead into her hall, called Folkvang, or “field of the people.” There was also a special underwater hall for Vikings who died at sea.īut by far the most well-known Viking “hall of the dead” is Valhalla. But we do know some details about the most common halls of the dead. Historians haven’t nailed down exactly which Vikings went to which hall, and why, according to the lore. The Vikings had a general perception of the afterlife that was made up of different “halls of the dead.” » MORE: Save $$$ and time with our tools.
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And it’s relatively easy to replicate a historically-correct Viking funeral in modern times.Īlternatively, you might choose a more showy send-off, similar to all those Viking funeral movie scenes. But Viking funerals were still intricate and ritualistic affairs. Unfortunately, that’s not how actual Viking funerals happened. Attendees stand in reverent silence as a skilled archer sends a flaming arrow to magically set the whole thing alight. We all know how it works: the warrior’s body floats out into the sunset on a carved longboat, adorned with jewels, mementos, and possibly a sword or two. And that probably means you want the type of Viking funeral you’ve seen in the movies. If you don’t want to be traditionally buried or cremated, you might envision yourself having a Viking funeral. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We also may earn commission from purchases made through affiliate links. We follow a strict editorial process to provide you with the best content possible.
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