That's not a norse funeral.



Hardly ever, as far as we know, did scandinavians do this. In the pre-Christian period, the dead could be cremated or buried, often with grave goods such as weapons, jewelry, and tools. If they were burned it was on a pyre, after which a mound might be built over the top. If you were extremely wealthy and important you might be buried in a ship, such as the famous 9th century ship burial from Oseberg in Norway, which contained the remains of two high-status women and countless grave goods. But nothing had been burnt.



Our main evidence for the norse burning their dead over water is one account by the 10th century diplomat Ibn Fadlan, who witnessed the funeral of a ‘Rus’ chieftain out in Russia. That's where the common error comes from, but it's not really Ibn Fadlan's fault.

Ibn Fadlan does include details such as the sacrifice of a slave girl to join her master in the afterlife, and a naked man setting fire to the ship whilst covering his anus (for reasons that probably made sense at the time). But even here, we are on shaky ground, because the cultural identity of the ‘Rus’ at that time is disputed: originally they came from East Scandinavia, but in a few generations had been assimilated into the local Slavic population and had already adopted many of the customs of the locals over whom they had established themselves as rulers.



Also, assuming that this was even something that people did, they probably pre-cremated the body on a proper pyre before placing the ashes and bones on the ship and setting it to sail.

According to the Funeral and Cremation Council, the average human body has to be burned at 1100C for over two hours in order to be properly cremated; and even longer for a larger body. Flesh does not burn very well. A typical wood fire, which reaches temperatures of 700-900C over water, would never burn hot enough and long enough to turn flesh and bones to ash.



Why is this important? Without cremating the deceased to completion, there would be charred body parts floating ashore. At most, a wood ship set on fire with a body would simply burn away most of the skin and flesh, leaving the bones, some muscle tissue, and organs behind for the gulls. Not very honorific...

This is mostly why real historical norse funeral rites involved cremating the dead first in pyres, then decorating the boats with ornaments, furs, weapons, sacrificial livestock, etc. before burying the boat.

