Would Thorfinn Want a viking Funeral?
In the episode "Viking Funeral" the bones of a medieval Scandinavian Thorfinn are found on the property, and Thorfinn requests to be given a "Viking Funeral" by the living, despite it being against the current laws of that place.
I should point out that there never were any Vikings, people of the imagianry Viking ethnicity. Instead medieval Scandinavians were ethnic danes, Swedes , or Norwegians. Most of them were farmers or fishermen, but a minority had the occupation of "viking", sea raider or pirate.
And a lot of pagan Scandinavians were cremated, and rich and powerful Scandinavians were buried in ships under large mounds - often with human sacrifices for company. But apparently there is no historic example of someone put in a ship, floated in the water, and the ship set fire by a fire arrow.
As I remember, Beowulf said that the legendary Danish king Scyld or Sceaf was "buried" in a ship that was released to drift away. But the ship wasn't burned and anyway, the account could have been as fictional as the dragon in the poem.
TV Tropes says:
. The idea of the ship being put to sea only occurs in a single mythic event: Baldr's funeral.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VikingFuneral
Scandinavians, many accompanied by Christian Irish and Scottish slaves, settled in Iceland in the periord of 874-900 or so.
King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark convered to Christianity about the 960s, and began the process of converting the Danes. Several Norwegian kings tried to convert the country starting in the 900s, but there were several pagan reactions. King Olaf II succeeded in making Norway Christian from 1015-1028. Sweden gradually became Christian about 990 to 1100.
Erik the Red sailed from Iceland to Greenland with 14 ships to establish the Norse settlment there in 985.
In 1000, Iceland decided to officially adopt Christianity, though private pagan worship was allowed.
Erik the Red was a pagan, but his wife and his son Leif Erikson were Christians. Leif Erikson was said to have first glimpsed the coast of North America while sailing to Greenand to introduce Christianity. Leif later explored and attempted to settle in Vinland about 1000. And the Norse settlements in Greenland may have sent expediitons to North America for timber for centuries aferwards.
So Thorfinn is quite likely to have a Christian (possibly descended from many generations of Christians), or a more or less partial Christian, or a pagan who had a number of Christian associates and wasn't very vehement about following pagan rituals. Since the popular idea of a "Viking Funeral" is more or less fictional, and reserved for great and powerful persons anyway, there is no reason to believe that Thorfinn would have had any expectation of such a funeral. Thorfinn might want to be cremated and have his ashes buried, or to be buried in a Christian grave.
Added 12-24-2021.
Thorfinn has the same personal name as Thorfinn Karlsefni, who led an attempt to settle in Vinland a few years after Leif Ericksson. And Thorfin karlsefni and some members of his expediton were said to be Christians. Thorfin Karlsefni's son Snorri was born in Vinland, and was considered a leader in the Christianization of Iceland.
And Wikipedia claims that Thorfinn in Ghosts is Thorfinn Karlsefni, making it even less likely that Thornfinn would want a Viking funeral!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorfinn_Karlsefni#In_popular_culture
This article dates Thorfinn's death to about the time that Thorfinn Karlsefni visited North America.
https://ghosts-bbc.fandom.com/wiki/Thorfinn share