vikings
ILLUSTRATES Icarus Yuji
After they died, noble Scandinavian warriors from the 8th to 11th centuries were cremated with everything they loved: their boat, their weapons… and their wives, alive!
1) The Vikings made sacrifices to the god Odin at the Temple of Uppsala, in present-day Sweden. But the best known rite took place at the funeral of a great warrior. When he died on land (and not during battle), the body was burned in your favorite boat, thrown overboard. Only their wives and slaves were also on board!
two) The funerary ritual began with a seven-day feast, with lots of drinking and the narration of the dead man’s main deeds. Only then was he dressed in an elaborate costume for the occasion and placed in the boat with his weapons. They would be used in Valhalla, where, according to Norse mythology, soldiers killed in combat or dispatched by sea would meet the gods again.
3) One by one, the deceased’s wives came forward to join him. They were all dressed in their best clothes and jewelry. With the body very erect, they received stab wounds between the ribs, applied by a priestess who guided the funeral and positioned them on the boat – the dearest wives for the dead had the right to be closer to him
4) The boat was also prepared for the event. The hull was filled with straw and a wooden support was built in the center to support the corpse. The candle was positioned to be filled. Burning such a useful military tool might seem like a waste, but there was a reason: it was a way to feed the local shipping industry.
5)No one forced women to sacrifice, but society itself already expected them to “volunteer”. Some archaeologists believe that they were put on board alive, but drugged. To the slaves, there was no “option”. There are even reports that, before being killed, they had to have sex with all the warrior’s companions.
6) Throughout the ceremony, the other warriors they shouted the merits of the departed friend. They also had the final honor of placing the boat in the water and setting fire to it with a torch. With the sails open, the vessel began its last journey, which symbolically started in this world and went on to the next – while catching fire and breaking up
7) Bodies that weren’t burned quickly ended up sinking. The whole process took between 40 minutes and an hour. In less common cases, the boat was buried with the ashes of the owner
FORCED TRIBUTE
Women from other civilizations also died with their husbands.
The Viking offering follows a common pattern throughout history: the sacrifice of wives and slaves of nobles. It was like that in Egypt, where pharaohs were buried together with their entire retinue, necessary for the afterlife. It also happened on the island of Fiji, where widows were strangled to death by their brothers. Other examples are Mesopotamia, Mongolia, China and India.
READ MORE
Who were the Vikings?
What was the training of a Viking warrior like?
Did Vikings Really Come to America?
How do the great religions mourn their dead?
CONSULTANCYWalter Burkert, Professor of Classical Antiquity at the University of Zurich, Patricia Smith, Anthropologist at the Hebrew University, Miranda Aldhouse-Green, Archaeologist and Professor at Cardiff University, Jonathan Tubb, Archaeologist at the British Museum, Jan Bremmer, Professor of Religious Science at the University of from Groningen
SOURCESBooksCity of Sacrificeby David CarrascoDying for the Godsby Miranda Green SuttonThe Highest Altarby Patrick Tierney, andJapanese Death Poemsby Yoel Hoffmann, and filmThe Straw Manby Robin Hardy