Were a specific type of boat utilized when doing the funeral/fire bit?
Thanks in advance (we're having a discussion in the office today 'bout this)!
Thanks in advance (we're having a discussion in the office today 'bout this)!
Viking Question
- Thread starter TexunNYC
- Start date
AxeOfDarkness
Demons And Lies
i always thought they just put the body ona small raft or something... =\ like at the end of "First Knight" if you seen it.... but i never did much study on it...
Belgar
The Wallonian Redneck.
Most people were buried and not everyone was sent on a floating pyre. Some viking graves had a ship shape, viking were buried with their weapons and sometimes women, ship, tools,.... as it was believed that this is what the afterlife would look like. Most people were cremated in their clothes and their ashes put in a pottery urn and buried or the ashes would be scattered on the ground. I really don't know or think that the whole burning ship was a typical custom.
hoyn
"Då bryter vi ihop!"
Tyra
Member
Well, hmmmmm...you know some people were just put into the ground and then rocks were laid out in the shape of a boat all around the grave. Then there were the actual ships: This is a quote from P. Griffith's book The Viking Art of War: "The famous Oseberg boat of the early 800s, for example, is spectacular partly because it was originally designed as a "royal yacht", a prestigious show-piece in which some great notable would progress around his or her -- local fjords.--The equally celebrated Gokstad boat, dated slightly later,is a karfi, far more suited for oceanic sailing and general duties, but still relatively small. It's contemporary karfi from Tune is even smaller, and most Scandinavian burial boats are even smaller than that. Obviously one did not expend ones biggest and most useful vessels in funerals, although the elegant playthings of the deceased might be perfectly appropriate (and disposable) for this rather specialized purpose." So, it seems, as with anything else viking, the more money the bigger the toy.
Patric
Member
hilarious when the motherfucker starts to talk about the gulf war and what not, even at his friends funeral. Hahahahah and when the ashes are all over him, priceless.one of the funeral customs was to bury the dead and to make a little hill above the grave on which
i think after that a tree was planted on that hill, but about this i'm not sure
i think after that a tree was planted on that hill, but about this i'm not sure
metal devi
Member
The burning floating boat reminds me of the silly film about King Arthur, "First Knight". KA got that kind of funeral, was quite nice actually.
Tyra
Member
Patric
Member
Patric
Member
I've got another question...is there any historical evidence as to why the colony in Vinland failed? This continent would've been so much better off if the Vikings had colonized it rather than the goddamn Puritans.
Patric
Member
haha ur my reason for breathing oh yeah yeah yeah yeah sleazy as souk o song o oh shitr jyg my girlfrend fromn NOI NORWAY
Patric
Member
sorry im going down sistah in a daze i dont mindm, clsoign my mind,,,thid bottle and shot,,,in ádaze i dont mind.,..DRUNL
Kóri Warhorse
Member
Famous Grouse
A.A. Member
dyingculture said:
As far as I know they didnt find anything of interest there so they left it
Probably a few stayed and settled down, but majority returned home.
Cadarn
Bestia Romana
...and started to play the heaviest music!!!Famous Grouse said:As far as I know they didnt find anything of interest there so they left it
burning creation
SUNSET DISTRICT INC.
the book eaters of the dead-michael crichton talks about different viking traditions including funerals... i recommend reading it
Tyra
Member
Well, they had a lot of trouble with loosing quite a large amount of their ships on their way over, so there weren't a lot of settlers to start with. Then they totally got off on the wrong foot with the natives (Skraelings), who basically killed off enough of them that they couldn't be self sufficient and had to return to Iceland. Then they lost more ships going home, too, I think. It's tricky to navigate that particular ocean since it's frozen and such and can only be traveled for X amount of months, and they were not all that sure exactly where they were going in the first place (it's not like they were going someplace where they'd been a 1000 times before, like Dublin or whatever and knew how long it would take and could recognize landmarks). I can get you more info on that, if need be, but that's what I can think of at the top of my head.
That makes sense...though they possessed excellent seafaring skills, the terrain would've been completely unfamiliar to them. It's amazing that they made it that far at all, even considering their tolerance for hardship and expertise in navigation. Perhaps they might've fought the natives off if they'd come prepared for war rather than agriculture. Columbus had it easy...greeted by friendly natives offering gifts of gold and women, and carrying a disease that was responsible for much of Spain's success in exploring the New World.
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