For the Viking, his ship was much more than simple transportation, it was the means by which his soul would travel to Valhalla after death. In fact, many ships were constructed with a special chamber designed specifically for this purpose.
At the time of death the Viking was placed within the burial chamber of his ship along with his weapons and other personal belongings, then the entire ship was pulled ashore and buried.
They also practiced a much more dramatic ship burial, as seen above, here the deceased has been placed in his burning ship and it's being pushed out to sea where is will blaze up and then sink, in this way the fallen will be buried in both the sea and the sky.
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Artist
Sir Frank Bernard Dicksee
(1853 - 1928)
British painter
Title
The Funeral of a Viking
Date
1893
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
186.4 x 305.5 cm
Location
Manchester Art Gallery
Image size
400 x 256 pixels
File size
37.53 KB
Full size image
(781 × 500 pixels, 121.65 KB)
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