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"The Funeral of a Viking" (Frank B. Dicksee, 1893)
A subtrope of Burial At Sea in which the deceased (usually a warrior, but not necessarily a Viking) is laid in a boat with his effects, such as a sword, and set out to drift at sea. Then, a character (usually someone with emotional ties to the dead, or simply the most skilled Archer present) lights a flaming arrow and shoots it at the sail. The ship is then engulfed in flame and slowly breaks up and sinks.
Played straight, it can be a Tear Jerker. When Played for Laughs, the character charged with shooting the flaming arrow will continually miss or fumble his bow. * When played historically accurately, a slave will be killed as part of the ceremony.
In some cases, the fire-arrow step isn't performed. This can be due to a lack of flammable sails and fire arrows, a need for haste, or simply different funerary practices.
A third variant exists in which the boat is not set out to sea, but instead used to lay the corpse in for a funeral pyre.
And finally, Viking funerals need not be literal. Many examples feature metaphorical stand-ins for any of the aspects of the ritual.
Because this is a Death Trope, there are unmarked spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
- On One Piece, the Straw Hat Pirates do this for the Going Merry, their first ship.
- In chapter 39 of Vinland Saga, a Viking Funeral is held for Thors.
Comic Books
- Viking funerals are common amongst the Asgardians of the Marvel Universe. They have even been known to extend the practice to outsiders who prove themselves worthy. When Asgard was floating over Oklahoma (It Makes Sense in Context) they made funeral pyres with boats.
- The eponymous V from V for Vendetta is given a funeral in the spirit of this trope, with the train acting as a proxy for the traditional boat. Instead of being shot with a fire arrow, the train is packed with explosives.
- Lauren in DMZ is given one of these, although instead of a wooden boat and a flaming arrow it's an inflatable raft and a flare gun.
Film
- Happens in the Hollywood epic The Vikings (1958) by Richard Fleischer. The Viking Funeral of Viking prince Einar (Kirk Douglas) is the last scene of the film (see it on YouTube
). For cinema, this is certainly the Trope Codifier.
- King Arthur is laid to rest this way in First Knight.
- The Robert Zemeckis Beowulf film features one for Beowulf himself.
- History of the World Part I features such a funeral in the Coming Attractions segment.
- A Viking funeral pyre is the standard funerary procedure for Jedi in the Star Wars films, the most iconic being Darth Vader's at the end of Return of the Jedi.
- Happens at the end of Outlander. A similar funeral at the beginning of the film would have made Book Ends, but was cut for time.
- It Runs In The Family (2003) features a Viking funeral that is both a Tear Jerker and one of the funniest scenes in the film, particularly because it is set in modern day New York City.
- Ray the firefly's funeral at the end of The Princess and the Frog. Shortly after that, he comes back as a star in the sky.
- King Harold is actually given a funeral resembling this after croaking at the very beginning of ''Shrek the Third''. It even comes with a choir of singing frogs performing his funeral dirge.
- In the Conan movie, Conan burns Valeria on a funeral pyre after she's killed by Thulsa Doom. It's especially poignant for Subotai's line.
- In S.O.B., the heroes decide their friend needs a better send-off than a Hollywood funeral full of phonies so they steal his body from the funeral home and send it out to sea in a burning boat.
- In Van Helsing, the titular character gives the love interest this treatment after accidentally killing her.
- The grandfather in Rocket Gibraltar.
- The film Grand Theft Parsons revolves around the protagonist's attempt to keep his word to his friend, the late musician Gram Parsons, by burning his corpse in Joshua Tree National Park. Parsons' father wants a more conventional funeral, hence the need for the titular felony. Very loosely based on a true story; the movie adds a bitch-on-wheels ex as the main antagonist, presumably so the real (step)father who claimed the corpse (who probably has real lawyers) didn't have to be the heavy.
- V gets one in V for Vendetta, his body is laid to rest in the train that delivers his bomb to the British Parliament.
- Unsurprisingly considering it's a tale of an Arab experiencing Viking culture, two of these feature in the film version of The 13th Warrior, one near the beginning and one near the end of the film.
Literature
Live-Action TV
Music
- The Manowar ballad "Swords In The Wind" references the funeral-pyre version of this trope, owing to the band's general love of Vikings and warriors in general.
Place my body on a ship, and burn it in the sea
Let my spirit rise, Valkyries carry me
Take me to Valhalla, where my brothers wait for me
Fires burn into the sky
My spirit will never die!
Tabletop Games
Web Comics
Web Original
Western Animation
- In an episode of The Simpsons, when Bart decided he needed to grow up and put away his childish things, he did so by giving them a Viking Funeral.
- Justice League launched an actual Viking longship into the Sun.
- While Dianna read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, for some reason. It does have very roughly the right portentous, marine feel, and the person in question had spent centuries trying to die, so points for the vague Flying Dutchman tie-in, but viewers who recognized the poem were still somewhat taken aback. What kind of elegy is that for a Viking prince?
Video Games
- The Lost Vikings being, well, Vikings, send their fallen off on a burning ship on the game over screen.
- It appears to be tradition in Ferelden. After the siege, the dead of Redcliffe are sent off in floating pyres. In the Return to Ostagar DLC, this is the most respectful send-off you can give the late King.
- Ezio gives one to his father and brothers in Assassins Creed Brotherhood.
- The video game based on Zemeckis' Beowulf, like the movie, features one in a cutscene. Different from the film, the ship is kindled by pouring flaming oil onto it as it passes beneath an arch.
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