Tag Archive for: warrior

Ship Burial

In the Elder Days Odinists practised both earth burial and burning. The body of a high-ranking warrior often received special treatment. It was laid in a cairn with goods and arms and sometimes even a charger. The body was placed in a sitting posture, usually in a chamber formed of baulks of timber or blocks of stone, over which was piled earth or gravel. But the ceremonial disposal of the dead for which the old Odinists are most often remembered is what we know as ship-burial.