Ship Burial

A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as a container for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave. This style of burial was used among the Germanic peoples, particularly by Viking Age Norsemen.

A unique eye-witness account of a 10th-century ship burial among the Volga Vikings is given by Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan.

Famous quotes containing the words ship and/or burial:

    “A ship has a soul.”
    —John Rhodes Sturdy, Canadian screenwriter. Richard Rossen. “Stooky” O’Meara (Barry Fitzgerald)

    “How shall my animal
    Whose wizard shape I trace in the cavernous skull,
    Vessel of abscesses and exultation’s shell,
    Endure burial under the spelling wall....”
    —Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)