Death in Norse Paganism - Funeral

Funeral

The grave goods had to be subjected to the same treatment as the body, if it was to accompany the dead person to the afterlife. If a person was immolated, then the grave goods had to be burnt as well, and if the deceased was to be interred, the objects were interred together with him. The usual grave for a thrall was probably not much more than a hole in the ground. He was probably buried in such a way as to ensure both that he did not return to haunt his masters and that he could be of use to his masters after they died. Slaves were sometimes sacrificed to be useful in the next life. A free man was usually given weapons and equipment for riding. An artisan, such as a blacksmith, could receive his entire set of tools. Women were provided with their jewelry and often with tools for female and household activities. The most sumptuous Viking funeral discovered so far is the Oseberg ship burial, which was for a woman, obviously of elevated social status, who lived in the 9th century.

It was common to burn the corpse and the grave offerings on a pyre, in which the temperature reached 1,400 degrees Celsius; much higher than modern crematorium furnaces attain. All that would remain was some incinerated fragments of metal and some animal and human bones. The pyre was constructed so that the pillar of smoke would be as massive as possible in order to elevate the deceased to the afterlife.

On the seventh day after the person had died, people celebrated the sjaund, or the funeral ale that the feast also was called since it involved a ritual drinking. The funeral ale was a way of socially demarcating the case of death. It was only after the funeral ale that the heirs could rightfully claim their inheritance. If the deceased was a widow or the master of the homestead, the rightful heir could assume the high seat and thereby mark the shift in authority.