History Main / VikingFuneral

* Happens at the end of ''Film/{{Outlander}}''. A similar funeral at the beginning of the film would have made BookEnds, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen but was cut for time]].

* ''Film/ItRunsInTheFamily'' (2003) features a Viking funeral that is both a TearJerker and one of the [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments funniest scenes]] in the film, particularly because it is set in modern-day New York City.

!! Because this is a DeathTrope, there are unmarked spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.

* Lauren in ''ComicBook/{{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.

* In ''Film/TheIslandAtTheTopOfTheWorld'', The Godi orders Sir Anthony, Ivarrson and Donald executed by having them tied to longship that set alight and sent out into the harbour.
* ''Film/ItRunsInTheFamily'' (2003) features a Viking funeral that is both a TearJerker and one of the [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments funniest scenes]] in the film, particularly because it is set in modern day New York City.

* In ''Film/{{SOB}}'', Felix is shot by the police after [[SuicideByCop brandishing a water pistol as if it were a real gun]]. His friends decide to steal his corpse, take it out to his boat, put it on a rowboat and set it on fire, in celebration of his life and at least one of the movies he made: ''Pagan Plunder''.

* Happens in the Hollywood epic ''Film/TheVikings'' (1958) by Richard Fleischer. The Viking Funeral of Viking prince Einar (Kirk Douglas) is the last scene of the film ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LClTjcyNJSI see it on YouTube]]). The TropeCodifier for cinema, this is the earliest instance to add FlamingArrows to the mix.
* In ''Film/WhatsNewPussycat'', psychiatrist Creator/PeterSellers, suffering a case of unrequited lust, attempts suicide by Viking funeral, wrapping himself in a Norwegian flag and intending to set himself ablaze with a road flare in a rowboat on a Paris riverfront. He's rudely interrupted by Creator/WoodyAllen, who chooses the spot for a sit down dinner.

* Discussed early on in the P. C. Wren's adventure novel ''Literature/BeauGeste'' (1924), when the three Geste brothers stage a "Viking's funeral" with a lead soldier and a toy boat set on fire, and the twelve-year-old Michael "Beau" Geste expresses his wish to be buried in this way. Many years later, his brother Digby fulfills his wish by burning Michael's body on an improvised pyre (thought without a boat).

* In ''Literature/TheDarkIsRising'': Will gets the sixth and last sign from a great ship, carrying a long dead king who was a an ally of the Light (but not King Arthur), and all his possessions. After he claims it, in an [[KickTheDog act of spite]] the Dark sets the whole ship on fire. Will is horrified by it, but Merry points out that Dark was so eager to be spiteful that they didn't think it through. All they have done is give the King a Viking Funeral, which is exactly what he deserves.
* In the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse short story collection ''Short Trips: Time Signature'', several of the stories involve the Sixth Doctor trying to show his companion, William, some Vikings. He never succeeds, but after William's death, the Eighth Doctor takes his ashes to Vinland, and arranges for him to have a Viking funeral.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': At the beginning of ''The Two Towers'', Boromir is laid to rest by Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas in one of the Fellowship's elven boats with his weapons and the swords of the orcs he killed when defending Merry and Pippin. The boat is then pushed into the Anduin and allowed to tumble over the waterfall. This treatment is [[JustifiedTrope justified in-story]] by the fact there is not enough time to give him a "proper" burial, but given that Creator/JRRTolkien studied ''Beowulf'' extensively, it is likely he was influenced by the funeral of King Scyld.

** This is the customary burial rite for the Lords of the Riverlands. Played for few laughs at Hoster Tully's funeral, when Edmure repeatedly fails to hit his father's boat with a flaming arrow. Unlike in the [[Series/GameOfThrones TV show]], it's due to him spending the previous night grieving and [[INeedAFreakingDrink drinking]] than simple inadequacy, and his uncle Brynden ends up doing it for him more out of pity than frustration.

* Spoofed in''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' where they have a Viking funeral in the bathtub for Amy and Sheldon's discredited theory.

* At the end of "A Reunion ...", the second-season premiere of ''Series/DontTrustTheBInApartment23'', James van der Beek, having abandoned the idea of a ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' ReunionShow, decides to put the past behind him by loading a [=DVD=] boxed set of the series and other memorabilia on a rowboat in the Central Park lake and lighting it on fire.
* In the ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' episode "[[Recap/FringeS03E22TheDayWeDied The Day We Died]]", [[spoiler:Peter Bishop performs one for his wife, Olivia Dunham]].
* The funeral of Catelyn's father, Hoster Tully, from ''Series/GameOfThrones'' used this trope in "Walk of Punishment", played for laughs at first when his son Edmure fails to hit the boat three times, and then for a badass moment when Edmure's uncle, Brynden, frustratedly seizes the bow, fires an arrow, and tosses it back without even needing to check if it actually hit the boat.

* ''Series/GhostsUS'': This is what Thorfinn wanted to have done with his bones in "Viking Funeral" after they are dug up. This is complicated however, when Sam and Jay find out that they are worth a fortune. They eventually decide to give him one after finding out that it could lead to him being "sucked up".

* Spoofed in one episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', when Francis discovers a dead janitor in a hidden closet at Marlin Academy. He decides, along with several other cadets, to give the corpse a send-off worthy of a Viking prince by loading it into a dinghy, along with the janitor's worldly goods, dousing the whole thing with half a can of gasoline, lighting it and giving it a good push into the lake. Unfortunately [[spoiler:one of the other cadets has left the rest of the can of gasoline in the dinghy, and the whole thing drifts into Commandant Spangler's boathouse just as the can ignites, thereby causing it to explode.]]

** Happens again in [[spoiler:Lancelot's second funeral. It's the same lake. Since he CameBackWrong the first time, this is partially as a gesture of respect and partially a way to insure it never happens again]].

* ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'': In the finale episode, Adam and Jamie retire Buster, their long-suffering crash test dummy, in a manner truly worthy of Valhalla: dressing him as a super hero, putting him on a rocket sled, and firing him at 800 MPH into a brick wall.

* During Season 1 of ''Series/TheTribe'', [[spoiler: Zoot, the psychotic leader of tribe Locos,]] gets a Viking-style sendoff as well. This is mainly because the local cemetary has been overrun by members of a hostile rival tribe, but also because (as [[spoiler: his brother]] Bray explains) "[[spoiler: Zoot]] thought of himself as a warrior chief."
* ''Series/{{Vikings}}'' probably had the single most straight and well researched version of this trope ''ever shown on television''; having been taken directly from Ahmed Ibn Fadlan's account of the Russ. It comes complete with fighting, drinking and other festivities and a slave girl being sacrificed and having sex with a couple of men who say "tell your master I did this out of my love for him", which is taken directly from Ibn Fadlan's account. It even has an 'angel of death' overseeing the sacrifice. They sidestep the possible problems of shooting an arrow by just lighting the pyre on the longship while it's at anchor.
* On ''Series/{{Wiseguy}}'', ArmsDealer Mel Proffit gets one courtesy of his sister, Susan.

** In "[[Recap/YellowjacketsS2E2EdibleComplex Edible Complex]] teenaged Taissa talks the group into burning [[spoiler:team captain Jackie's]] remains. The cremating process is interrupted when the wind blows snow off a tree branch and on top of the body, [[spoiler: leaving it to slow-roast until it's ready to eat. Which the starving survivors do]].

* [[https://warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Norsca The Norscans]] of [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Warhammer Fantasy Battle fame]], being the most over-the-top of over-the-top HornyVikings naturally have this form of burial. In the ''Legend of Sigmar'' novels for instance, they cremate a fallen Chaos Lord in his longship just before the titular Sigmar arrives to crash the funeral. While in the ''Slaves to Darkness'' trilogy, they merely put their fallen warriors on pyres and start roaring to the heavens, in an act that you'd be forgiven for thinking was cribbed straight from the Klingons on Star Trek.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' includes an instance of the non-fiery variety in the final resting place of Olmgerd the Outlaw, bastard son of the 1st Era Nordic King Harald Hand-Free. Olmgerd died while raiding in modern day Morrowind and was given a burial which befits the son of a Nordic king - in his ship, axe in hand, surrounded by treasures. An ancient Daedric crypt was repurposed to hold his ship, which the PlayerCharacter can re-discover.

--> 1018. Elves do not get Viking Funerals.

* Apparently, certain pet owners found it a more interesting alternative to burial in the garden. You can try searching for "Viking funeral" on Website/YouTube; chances are there won't be many film scenes among search results.

* Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the first African-American naval aviator could qualify. His plane was shot down during the battle of the Chosin Reservoir. His aircraft crashed, and despite rescue attempts he died trapped in the wreckage. To prevent his body or the plane from falling into enemy hands, a flight of naval aircraft dropped Napalm on the wreckage, as a pilot recited the Lord's Prayer.
* Abhorred in the RealLife amongst boaters. A fire onboard a boat or yacht while underway is often fatal, and almost always results in destruction of the said boat. Even if such a funeral were planned, the materials most boats are made of these days would make for some very toxic smoke.

* Violently destroying an object (especially electronics and appliances) rather than just throwing it away is often referred to as giving it a Viking funeral. Fire and boat are optional, but encouraged. Usually this is also reserved of a higher (initial) value that have "served dutifully" before dying (breaking or being replaced).
* In 1989, Arizonan woman Ruby Morris was reported missing after failing to show up to a planned outing with her daughter. It eventually came out that her husband killed her so he could carry on an affair with her sister and in driving her body out to state to the Pacific Ocean to dispose of on his boat, he set it on fire then took a rental boat back to shore. Neither she nor the boat were ever recovered.

* In the ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' movie, Conan burns Valeria on a funeral pyre after she's killed by Thulsa Doom. It's especially poignant for Subotai's line.

* In ''Fanfic/FaceTheStrange'', after [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Shadow]] dies, the protagonists decide not to put him in a coffin [[InsaneTrollLogic because the vampire characters don’t want to be reminded of sleep]], so they instead put his corpse out in a boat and burn it, giving him what the narration refers to as a “[[FreudianSlip viking wedding]]”.

* Unsurprisingly considering it's a tale of an Arab experiencing Viking culture, two of these feature in the film version of ''Film/The13thWarrior'', one near the beginning and one near the end of the film. In [[Literature/EatersOfTheDead the novel it was adapted from]], Ahmad ends up GoingNative to the extent of sleeping with and helping strangle the girl chosen for the viking funeral. At least in this case the [[TogetherInDeath girl is a willing participant]].

* ''Series/{{Vikings}}'' probably had the single most straight and well researched version of this trope ''ever shown on television''; having been taken directly from Ahmed Ibn Fadlan's account of the Russ. It comes complete with fighting, drinking and other festivitites and a slave girl being sacrificed and having sex with a couple of men who say "tell your master I did this out of my love for him", which is taken directly from Ibn Fadlan's account. It even has an 'angel of death' overseeing the sacrifice. They sidestep the possible problems of shooting an arrow by just lighting the pyre on the longship while it's at anchor.

* After Dave Brockie's death in 2014 {{Music/GWAR}} gave Oderus Urungus a viking funeral.

* ''VideoGame/TheBannerSaga'' has a viking funeral for [[spoiler: whoever shot the arrow at Bellower and was subsequently crushed to death.]] Instead of a burning arrow, the boat is simply lit with a torch while still ashore. The scene even transitions to show the boat reaching the afterlife.

* In the prologue of ''VideoGame/DreamfallChapters'', LaResistance members give a viking funeral (minus the fire arrows) to their fallen leader, [[spoiler:April Ryan a.k.a. the Raven]].

* ''{{VideoGame/Valheim}}'': Averted, as the undead vikings infesting the land are buried in mounds or crypts and not ships.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AllHailKingJulien'', upon realizing he can't be the same crazy party prince he was growing up, he throws a viking funeral for his wild and crazy party self in effigy. He then throws a party to celebrate.

* In ''WesternAnimation/KickButtowskiSuburbanDaredevil'', Gunther gives Kick's helmet a viking funeral. We even see nordic god/ancestor constellation entities watching the funeral.

* The vikings themselves (duh) as reported by Ahmad ibn Fadlan (who also reported the slave thing), though it was generally reserved only for really remarkable chieftains and warlords. Usually the Norsemen simply either interred their dead or cremated them and interred the ashes. If a boat was used, it usually was a simple rowing boat, and it was often used simply as a casket. The reason is obvious: boats, and more so ships, are expensive investments and of more use in mundane and martial tasks than as funerary implements. To be more practical, the vikings would sometimes instead build fake [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_ship Stone ships]] and bury their dead in them, instead of burning real ones. Sometimes, the ship was burned on land and a mound was raised above it. The religious idea behind it was simply that the deceased would travel in the ship to the other side. And sometimes they were buried with a horse so they could ride there.
* Apparently, certain pet owners found it a more interesting alternative to burial in the garden. You can try searching for "viking funeral" on Website/YouTube; chances are there won't be many film scenes among search results.

* Violently destroying an object (especially electronics and appliances) rather than just throwing it away is often referred to as giving it a viking funeral. Fire and boat are optional, but encouraged. Usually this is also reserved of a higher (initial) value that have "served dutifully" before dying (breaking or being replaced).

* Unsurprisingly considering it's a tale of an Arab experiencing Viking culture, two of these feature in the film version of ''Film/TheThirteenthWarrior'', one near the beginning and one near the end of the film. In [[Literature/TheThirteenthWarrior the novel it was adapted from]], Ahmad ends up GoingNative to the extent of sleeping with and helping strangle the girl chosen for the viking funeral. At least in this case the [[TogetherInDeath girl is a willing participant]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS3E4ToAnotherShore To Another SHore]]", Wonder Woman launches an actual Viking longship into ''[[HurlItIntoTheSun the Sun]]''. While reading ''Literature/TheRimeOfTheAncientMariner'', 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 FlyingDutchman tie-in, but viewers who recognized the poem were still somewhat taken aback. What kind of elegy is that for a Viking prince?

->''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 burning to the sky, my spirit will never die!''
-->-- Music/{{Manowar}} - "Swords In The Wind"

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' launched an actual Viking longship into ''[[HurlItIntoTheSun the Sun]]''. While Diana read ''Literature/TheRimeOfTheAncientMariner'', 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 FlyingDutchman tie-in, but viewers who recognized the poem were still somewhat taken aback. What kind of elegy is that for a Viking prince?

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': In "Frybo", after Steven's attempt to animate the costume of the fry stand's eponymous mascot goes horribly wrong, Mr. Fryman has what's left of Frybo pushed out to sea in a burning raft. With [[ItMakesSenseInContext Steven's animated clothing]] acting as the pallbearers.

-->''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''
-->''Fire burn into the sky''
-->''My spirit will never die!''

* In the ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt,'' once Geralt arrives in Skelliga he witnesses King Bran's funeral. For extra points, one of Bran's lovers throws herself onto the burning boat as it is sent off to sea.

-->"I'm gonna send Yamagata his wheels!"

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Impossible Astronaut", [[spoiler:the Doctor]] gets one of these. "Last of the Time Lords" featured [[spoiler:TheMaster]] getting one as well. The in-universe reason is that a Time Lord's body, to any other species, is considered a miracle of nature, and sufficiently-advanced societies could potentially reverse-engineer some kind of bio-WMD from even a single cell.

* In the ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' episode "The Day We Died", [[spoiler: Peter Bishop performs one for his wife, Olivia Dunham.]]

* ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}'':
** [[spoiler: Merlin gives one to Freya, sending her floating on a lake before setting her body on fire magically, from afar.]]
** Happens again in [[spoiler: Lancelot's second funeral. It's the same lake. Since he CameBackWrong the first time, this is partially as a gesture of respect and partially a way to insure it never happens again.]]
** In the GrandFinale, Merlin sends off [[spoiler: Arthur]] also in this manner, except that he does not set fire to the body. Earlier in Series 5, the Camelot court give this to [[spoiler:Elyan]]

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', this is the customary burial rite for the Lords of the Riverlands. Played for few laughs at Hoster Tully's funeral, when Edmure repeatedly fails to hit his father's boat with a flaming arrow. Unlike in the [[Series/GameOfThrones TV show]], it's due to him spending the previous night grieving and [[INeedAFreakingDrink drinking]] than simple inadequacy, and his uncle Brynden ends up doing it for him more out of pity than frustration.

* A skit in ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'' has Mario and [=SMG4=] taking the first batch of their online merchandise onto a boat and pushing it out to sea before burning it with a flame arrow to make room for their new merchandise.

* The vikings themselves (duh) as reported by Ahmad ibn Fadlan, though, it was generally reserved only for really remarkable chieftains and warlords. Usually the Norsemen simply either interred their dead or cremated them and interred the ashes. If a boat was used, it usually was a simple rowing boat, and it was often used simply as a casket. The reason is obvious: boats, and more so ships, are expensive investments and of more use in mundane and martial tasks than as funerary implements. To be more practical, the vikings would sometimes instead build fake [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_ship Stone ships]] and bury their dead in them, instead of burning real ones. Sometimes, the ship was burned on land and a mound was raised above it. The religious idea behind it was simply that the deceased would travel in the ship to the other side. And sometimes they were buried with a horse so they could ride there.

* In ''Literature/TheDarkIsRising'': Will gets the sixth and last sign from a great ship, carrying a long dead king who was a an ally of the Light (but not King Arthur), and all his possessions. After he claims it, in an [[KickTheDog act of spite]] the Dark sets the whole ship on fire. Will is horrified by it, but Merry points out that Dark was so eager to be spiteful that they didn't think it through. All they have done is give the King a Viking Funeral, which is exactly what he deserves.