Road To Hel - Rune Web Vitki

22
FUNERAL CUSTOMS
rob the barrow had providentially failed owing to the depth at which the ship was buried,
and the only damage to the contents was that caused by the fall of the roof of the burial
chamber many years after the burial, when the weight of the sand above was too much
for it. Thus we have an almost unique opportunity to examine a ship-burial on a grand
scale, in fairly good condition, and undisturbed by human agency from the day when it
was laid in the earth.
The grave-goods were found lying on the floor of the chamber, though possibly some
may have been hanging on the wall before it collapsed. There were a great number of
very varied objects. Some seemed as though they must have formed part of the
ceremonial regalia of a king; there was, for example, the boss of a mighty shield, too
huge for normal use; a vast iron object decorated with bulls’ heads, which may have been
a portable flambeau intended to be stuck in the ground or else a symbolic structure to be
borne before the king; and a great whetstone with each end decorated with strange human
heads, beautifully carved in low relief. There were also weapons: a sword in its sheath, a
magnificent helmet with a bronze face-piece and enriched with gold and silver, an ironbladed
weapon of some kind, an iron axe, and a number of other axes, angons and
socketed spear-heads thrust through the handle of a bronze bowl. There was also some
chain mail, in very bad condition. Among the other treasures there were a set of nine
silver bowls, seven of them excellently preserved; two silver spoons and a number of
horns with silver mounts, crushed beyond restoration hut still recognisable; a great dish
of silver of Byzantine workmanship, with a smaller one beneath it; six bottles made from
gourds; a silver dipper and small bowl; and two bronze hanging bowls, perhaps fallen
from the roof. There was also a wooden tub, and three bronze cauldrons and iron tackle to
support them. Finally, there were what might be called personal possessions: a small
musical instrument, a mysterious little tray of fine wood decorated with garnets, two rich
gold clasps in cloisonné work which might have been intended for the shoulders of a
cuirass, the gold frame of a purse, two buckles, some gold plaques, a strap-end, and other
small objects of a similar kind. All these ornaments, except for the largest buckle, lay in a
position which suggested that they had been hung up on the walls. A large leather bag
with a silver handle and another smaller one were found among a mass of remains of
textiles and leather, and finally there were forty Merovingian gold coins which had fallen
out of the purse.