Rich Vikings got buried in the ground, along with their helmets and weapons. JASMYNE KEIMIG
The Vikings participated in the very human practice of wanting their riches even in death, as a way of honoring how they lived. While normal Vikings usually got cremated in funeral boats, the elite would load up expensive funeral boats with helmets, coins, and swords, and bury it all beneath the ground. It made me think: What would be in my funeral boat? A vibrator, probably. My gold-plated $10 hoops. All the books I bought and never got around to reading. My vape.
Walking through The Vikings Begin at the Nordic Museum, I began to understand the difficulty and importance of trying to comprehend a society from what their dead thought vital for the afterlife.
