# Are viking funerals legal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338 "2014-07-17T04:34:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Artemis\_Tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/1 "2014-07-17T04:34:13Z")
Viking funerals sure are bad ass: They put the body on a boat and lit it on fire, cremating the body. I am not sure if this always works, and see many ways this could go terribly wrong. But let’s say that Mr. V. King wants this kind of funeral. Could his family do that, based on religious beliefs, for instance? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/2 "2014-07-17T05:45:41Z")
I’m guessing no, I found [this](http://www.seaservices.com/burialatsea-faq.htm) site which specializes in burials at sea. It looks like burial of non-cremated bodies at sea require very specific requirements to be met, the water must be deep and far from shore, and the casket must be waterproof and made to sink very quickly. I highly doubt that cremating them on a boat would be sufficiently deemed “cremation” for the purpose of dodging those laws. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/3 "2014-07-17T06:16:25Z")
If the wikipedia page on burial at sea is to be believed, there may be a little bit of a quasi-loophole in that once you’re past the 12 mile territorial waters limit, you have to follow the rules for the country in which the ship is flagged, not the US. So if could get a ship from a country with less stringent burial at sea rules to tow your longboat out before lighting 'er up, it might be okay. The only other issue would be international dumping treaties, but “organic material of natural origin” are still okay, so if all you’re dumping is flaming wood and dead person it ought to be fine. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/4 "2014-07-17T11:19:36Z")
You can cheat a little and cremate the remains first: [I gave my wife Viking funeral | UK | News | Express.co.uk](http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/318225/I-gave-my-wife-Viking-funeral) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/5 "2014-07-17T11:46:35Z")
Speaking as a former Coastie, a Viking funeral pyre is a hazard to navigation. And pollution also. In a more practical sense, the temperatures from a fire like that won’t come close to those needed to cremate a corpse. So, there’s a good chance that ultimately the deceased would end up as sea gull shit. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/6 "2014-07-17T12:08:04Z")
Actually, experiments have shown that the various prehistoric cremation techniques (body in a pyre, basically) are surprisingly effective at reducing a 150-lb. mammal into nothing but ash and a small bagful of burned bone fragments. A whole bunch of good firewood, a windy location and several hours of time is all it takes. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/7 "2014-07-17T12:32:16Z")
“Viking funerals” aren’t even Viking. > **[Norse funeral](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_funeral)** > > Norse funerals, or the burial customs of Viking Age North Germanic Norsemen (early medieval Scandinavians), are known both from archaeology and from historical accounts such as the Icelandic sagas and Old Norse poetry. > Throughout Scandinavia, there are many remaining tumuli in honour of Viking kings and chieftains, in addition to runestones and other memorials. Some of the most notable of them are at the Borre mound cemetery, in Norway, at Birka in Sweden, and Lindholm Høje and Jelling in Denmar... ---
**Author:** ![Artemis\_Tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/8 "2014-07-17T12:36:03Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Actually, experiments have shown that the various prehistoric cremation techniques (body in a pyre, basically) are surprisingly effective at reducing a 150-lb. mammal into nothing but ash and a small bagful of burned bone fragments. A whole bunch of good firewood, a windy location and several hours of time is all it takes. Indeed. I know that quoting comic books seems off, but on [Barefoot Gen](http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadashi_no_Gen) they do cremate quite a lot of bodies on pyres. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/9 "2014-07-17T13:18:21Z")
There are state laws regulating the disposal of dead bodies, and a Viking funeral could be performed, provided it did not specifically violate the letter of that law. But there would also have to be compliance with environmental regulations, and to be sure, the State Fire Marshall would want a piece of the action. Some states even regulate the distribution of cremation ashes. Do you think you are living in a free country, like the Vikings did? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/10 "2014-07-17T13:46:46Z")
I remember reading a description by one of the Byzantine or other Mediterranean writers about the funeral of a visiting Viking - it also included the drugging and strangling of his favorite wife (or concubine) to add to the funeral pyre. While she was drugged, the rest of the men had sex with her, presumably so their essence could accompany their leader into the afterlife. I’m sure much of that is illegal. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/11 "2014-07-17T15:15:50Z")
Considering the issues some Native Americans have in their burial practices, I don’t see anywhere allowing something like that legally. You may be able to get a “determination not to prosecute” in advance if the dearly departed and loved ones are well enough connected but there would still be a violation. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/12 "2014-07-17T16:20:29Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Considering the issues some Native Americans have in their burial practices, I don’t see anywhere allowing something like that legally. I’m curious. What problems arise? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/13 "2014-07-17T16:53:45Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I’m curious. What problems arise? Just left laying inside a lodge or on scaffolds above ground. Some tribes would send more important members downstream in a canoe. Some time in the past 30 years, some famous Native American died and wanted the traditional platform in the trees and was denied unless the body was cremated first. (note: Most NA are basically happy with “European” style in ground internments or New Orleans style above ground tombs but not all) ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/14 "2014-07-17T18:27:19Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Actually, experiments have shown that the various prehistoric cremation techniques (body in a pyre, basically) are surprisingly effective at reducing a 150-lb. mammal into nothing but ash and a small bagful of burned bone fragments. A whole bunch of good firewood, a windy location and several hours of time is all it takes. Why would they need to do experiments on that? It’s still being done in practice in parts of the world. Like you say, if you have a properly-constructed pyre, enough wood, and enough time it’s fairly effective but that’s a big “if” sometimes. Many of the public health problems associated with the Ganges are due to the fact that many families can’t afford enough wood to do it right and the “ashes” that get spread in the river are often fairly intact human remains. I think there’s pretty much no way a pyre on a floating wood ship would burn long enough to get our deceased Viking any more than Pittsburgh rare before the ship broke up and sank. It sounds like the kernel of truth to the Viking funeral story may be that they sometimes had a ship (actual or symbolic) as part of the pyre, but it was actually burnt onshore. ---
**Author:** ![Klytus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Klytus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klytus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/15 "2014-07-18T16:21:54Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I remember reading a description by one of the Byzantine or other Mediterranean writers about the funeral of a visiting Viking - it also included the drugging and strangling of his favorite wife (or concubine) to add to the funeral pyre. While she was drugged, the rest of the men had sex with her, presumably so their essence could accompany their leader into the afterlife. > > I’m sure much of that is illegal. Killjoys. ---
**Author:** ![Donegal\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Donegal\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donegal_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/16 "2014-07-18T21:35:59Z")
small town in Colorado has been trying to make this more popular[http://www.us-funerals.com/funeral-articles/outdoor-cremations.html](http://www.us-funerals.com/funeral-articles/outdoor-cremations.html) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/17 "2014-07-20T16:13:05Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Actually, experiments have shown that the various prehistoric cremation techniques (body in a pyre, basically) are surprisingly effective at reducing a 150-lb. mammal into nothing but ash and a small bagful of burned bone fragments. A whole bunch of good firewood, a windy location and several hours of time is all it takes. It would be difficult to get a wooden boat at sea to burn for several hours. Wooden boats that are burning are prone to sinking long before then. > [@TruCelt](#): > > “Viking funerals” aren’t even Viking. > > [Norse funeral - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_funeral) While the descriptions on that page discuss ground internments, often with a ship or ship-like structure, there is no discussion of burning ships at sea or their connection. But there are several references on that page in the popular culture section to burning ships at sea. > [@md2000](#): > > I remember reading a description by one of the Byzantine or other Mediterranean writers about the funeral of a visiting Viking - That is the Ibn Fadlan account detailed on the wikipedia page on Norse funerals. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/18 "2014-07-22T12:43:40Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I remember reading a description by one of the Byzantine or other Mediterranean writers about the funeral of a visiting Viking - it also included the drugging and strangling of his favorite wife (or concubine) to add to the funeral pyre. While she was drugged, the rest of the men had sex with her, presumably so their essence could accompany their leader into the afterlife. Are you sure you weren’t thinking of a frat party? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/19 "2014-07-22T13:04:53Z")
I’ve always wanted to be set on fire and shot from a catapult into the sea for my funeral. It’s not something you can do while your alive, so it seems silly not to do it when you’re dead. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338/20 "2014-07-22T13:22:31Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > …Most NA are basically happy with “European” style in ground internments or \*New Orleans style \*above ground tombs but not all) italics added. Honestly, I’m not sure if you are referring to a particular architectural style or funeral practice. > [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > I’ve always wanted to be set on fire and shot from a catapult into the sea for my funeral. It’s not something you can do while your alive, so it seems silly not to do it when you’re dead. 🙂 Interesting rationale. I’m wondering now how many other activities it would be appropriate. Depends on whose life it is, I suppose. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-viking-funerals-legal/693338.md?page=2)