Prior
to meeting with the Clan, Viking journeys had been dry.
The seafarers had no taps on board
their famous long boats. A MacThoy laird pointed out that any warrior worth
his salt traveled with a porter. The
MacThoys
redesigned the prow of the long boats that it might double as a keg opener.
This
exchange had effects on both cultures. MacThoys
adopted traditions for their own burials.
And the Vikings in
turn adopted some of the MacThos burial rites.
Probably the most famous one, was described in the
Risala by Ibn Fadlan in 921 C.E. A
distortion of the actual tradition to be sure.
Fadlan described a funerary service in which the
widow was gang raped, murdered and then placed
alongside of her husband at which time his funeral
boat was set afire.
MacThoy Researchers have managed to sort out the
fact from the fiction. During this time, it
was common for the males attending the funeral to
offer their condolences to the grieving
Widow.
(It should be noted that this tradition was not
long lived. It often caused competition on
increased the likelihood that a man would precede
his wife into death, especially if she was one of
much esteem.)
Due to the dynamics of the Clan,
such an offering would never be forced upon her,
but it is possible for an onlooker to be confused
by all the goings on.
This beneficent
relationship of MacThoy and Viking was not without
its mishaps. One famous encounter was a
drinking binge with Eric the Red which resulted
in the MacThois absconding with the Drinking
Horn of Odin.
Vikings
Continue. . . |
