Burning rafts don't get hot enough to cremate a corpse, it'll just scorch you and dump your body in the lake to wash up on shore and terrify children.

[–] flashgnash@lemm.ee 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Is that what happened in actual viking burials?

Surely there's some way you could make it hot enough

[–] yngmnwntr@lemmy.ml 3 points 10 months ago

Seems like actual viking burials were....burials...I'm no expert but skimming a few Google search results makes it seem like the burning ship thing never really happened, or at least rarely. Most vikings were ritually buried with weapons, grave goods and sacrifices. The burning boat thing is a Hollywood invention from a Thor myth maybe? Anyway this is why it's not allowed in most places, you'd need a professional to administer it with as you say a specially constructed ship designed to fully create a body. Your family can't tie together some logs and burn you themselves. So we're right back to an expensive funeral industry, but now we get to witness the cremations outdoors so maybe a win.