This is a point-by-point rendering of an account by an Arab traveler of a Viking funeral he witnessed in what is now Russia in the Tenth Century. Detailed descriptions and dialogue have been added, little more.
"And so now we must ask," Eric was saying to the assembled people. "Which of you chooses to accompany him?" His eyes searched the group of young women before him.
There was a brief pause. Then, one of the girls stepped out from the rest. "I will," she said loudly. All eyes turned, focused on her.
"Good, good," he said. "Come forward, child. Eva, is it not?"
She nodded, barely glancing up at his face.
Smiling broadly, he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Let us see you, child," he instructed.
Nodding again, she undid the straps at the shoulders of her simple dress and let it fall. When she was naked, she turned slowly around, as she knew was expected. Her face was broad, her hair long, thick, and dark; her mouth and nose were small, childlike, her eyes very large. Her neck was long and slender, her breasts high and firm, but not too large; her nipples were dark, and they were beginning to push out a little. Below them, her waist was tiny, her hips ample, her pubes high and lightly haired. Her long legs were gracefully muscled; she held one knee slightly bent, one hand on her stomach as she stood watching him.
He held out four golden bracelets to her. "Here," he said. "You will wear these."
As the eyes of the watching men remained fixed on her body, she put the bracelets on, one on each wrist, one on each delicate ankle.
"And now," he told her, clapping a hand on her shoulder, "we must do you honor! Come! Come!" He glanced back at the other girls, pointed at two of them. "You two! You shall be her handmaidens henceforth! For the rest of her life, you shall do her bidding! Never leave her side, never!" He turned, started walking away. The three girls followed, those assigned as Eva's handmaidens flanking her; they giggled together as they moved toward the large tent that had been set up. The feast and celebration had been prepared in advance; for more than a day, nothing was done except to offer Eva honor. Then, as one of the men explained to her, she went outside to "view her road."
Slowly, accompanied by her two servants, Eva stepped up to the structure that had been built and stood gazing up at it for a few moments. Made of wood, it was in the form of an H, the cross-bar about eight feet up. She'd seen this before, knew what was expected of her.
She turned and smiled at the men. "Well?" she asked. "Are you ready?"
Returning her smile, two of them came forward, stood beside her. She was still nude except for the four gold bracelets; they knelt beside her, put their hands on her smooth calves, her perfect thighs.
Then they lifted her, high into the air. Someone handed her a chicken; with her own small hands she wrenched its head off. Releasing the bleeding and wildly flapping body, she tossed the head over the crossbar. Spots of blood from the dead bird splattered her skin as she continued to stare over the bar.
"I can see," she cried, her voice sounding distant, her eyes unfocused. "I can see, they call to me! Oh, my friends, oh, I want to go there! Ah, such a beautiful place, I can see so many of my old friends there! Such honor I will have! Such joy! Oh, friends, oh, send me there, oh, send me soon!"
Slowly, they brought her down; when she stood on the ground again, she found Eric standing beside her. "Take her now, wash her," he instructed the two waiting servant girls. Then he turned back to Eva. "When they have finished, Sven and the others await. You should hasten to them."
"Ah, yes!" she agreed happily. "Ah, yes, let it be soon!"
Again giggling among themselves, the three girls went off through the camp. Their destination was one of the larger tents; when they got there, a large man with a full red beard was waiting to greet them.
He took them inside; there, amid scattered piles of possessions, the man's young wife watched them closely. The red-bearded man ignored her, kept looking up and down Eva's nude body.
"You must tell your master," he told her as he began to undress, "that I have done this from respect for him."
She nodded, smiling up at him coyly. "I won't forget," she said softly.
He touched her shoulders; with the other two girls guiding her, she dropped to her knees. His penis was about half-erect. As she took it between her lips, it immediately began to grow, pushing itself upward, into her mouth. For a few moments she remained on her knees in front of him, her lips working around his erection, his fingers toying with her nipples. Then he pulled away, started pushing her back. The two servant-girls assisted, reaching down to spread her vaginal lips. The man grinned at them as he pushed his erection into her.
"You're going to him tonight," he muttered as he pumped his hips hard.
"Yes..." she murmured. "Tonight, tonight... oh, I cannot wait!"
Evidently excited by her words, he was soon pressing against her, grunting with his orgasm. Slowly, he withdrew; helped by her handmaidens, she stood up, a string of thick white semen trickling down the inside of her leg. After embracing the red-bearded man briefly, she allowed herself to be led from the tent.
And went immediately to another. Here, a younger blonde man awaited them; as before, Eva went to her knees as he undressed, brought him to full erection with her lips and tongue. Instead of lying her back, he stretched himself out on one of the skins, his penis pointing rigidly toward the roof of the tent.
Smiling at him, Eva stepped over him, lowered herself to a sitting position; one of the two girls held the blonde man's penis, guided it up into her. Facing away from him, she wriggled her hips as she settled down.
"Are you afraid?" the man asked her. "Are you afraid to start your journey?"
She turned her head. "Afraid?" she answered, smiling. "No! I can hardly wait!"
"Do you know how they'll do it?"
She leaned forward, put her hands on his knees, shuddered. "Yes," she told him. "I do!"
His hand came up, caressed her breast; his finger pinched her nipple lightly. "Here," he said quietly, poking his fingers between her ribs under her breast. "Right here."
"Mm, yes," she responded. "Yes. My chest, yes, my chest..."
"I've seen them do one," he said softly.
She glanced back at him again, her eyes wider. "You have? Were you one of the six?"
"I was," he said, still pressing his fingertips against her chest. "I was."
"You have to tell me," she begged. "Tell me about it!"
"It was very beautiful. They took her into the tent, we Six did our part. Then we sent her on her journey. She wanted to go, she was very brave."
"I too," Eva whispered. "I want to go too."
He pushed against her, letting his hand move down to the soft yielding of her stomach. "Then your journey will be beautiful too," he told her.
She sighed, squirmed hard down against him, brought his hand back up with the own, pressing it against her chest. She tossed her head back; he lifted her with his hips as he sprayed his semen up into her.
After a moment, she pulled herself up off him; the girls led her to the next tent, and to the next. For the next several hours they moved around the camp, and she had intercourse with dozens of men. Many of them asked her how she felt about her trip, always she told them she was eager, that she could not wait. And finally, this part of her duty was finished; still accompanied by her girls, she walked toward the beached ship. She looked eager, excited.
The guards watched as the three girls walked up to the tent. Eva, still nude, stood in front of it, looking around. Her eyes were turned when Eric came out.
"The bracelets," he said without preamble.
A little wide-eyed, looking a little nervous now, she glanced at him. "Yes... yes, of course... the bracelets, of course..." As she spoke, she began removing the ones encircling her arms. After giving one of these to each of her handmaidens, she lifted each leg in turn, removed the anklets. These too went to the servant girls.
"You will go on your journey, now," one of them said. "I - I wish I had had your courage..."
Eva smiled at her, embraced her. "There will come another time," she said encouragingly.
The girl nodded. "And I will do as you have done, Eva," she assured her.
Eva embraced the other girl; then Eric took her by the hand, led her into the tent. On the floor was a thick rug; he directed her to sit on it. "I am ready," she said, looking directly into his eyes.
Reaching out, Eric stroked her cheek and smiled. "Some," he told her, "become anxious when this time comes. You are not."
"No," she murmured. "I've not forgotten what I'm doing, nor why." She pressed her hands up under her breasts. "I'm ready - I want to go..."
He nodded, rose, and walked to the doorway of the tent. At his signal, six men came in; he returned to his place behind her, told her to lie down. She did, her head almost touching his folded legs.
The six men who'd just entered approached her; only then did she see that they'd removed their clothing. Carefully, with a certain formality, one of them knelt between her legs, the others gathering around closely. Immediately, the man at her hips began rubbing his flaccid penis against her pubes. Involuntarily, she winced.
"Gently with her," Eric warned. "Remember, she has been with many men this day."
The man glanced up and nodded. He was erect by then; he kept rubbing against her until she was at least a little wet, then pushed slowly inside her.
As he began sliding his penis in and out, one of the other men offered his organ to her mouth; she took it in willingly, and it began to harden between her lips. The others played with her breasts, teasing her nipples until they too stood stiffly upright. Another of the men stroked his penis against her cheek; she released the man she was pleasuring, turned her head and accepted the other man's penis. While this was happening, two men laid one of her hands each on their organs; her fingers wrapped around them, massaged them. The sixth man was forced to content himself, for the moment, with rubbing his penis against her smooth thigh.
But not for long. Soon, the man having intercourse with her ground himself against her, sprayed his fluid into her body. He pulled out, moved to the side; one of the men already excited by her skilled lips and tongue took his place, and the sixth man, in turn, moved into his. The cycle continued until all six men had ejaculated into her vagina.
They took up positions around her; she lay still, perspiring, looking from one face to another. Her legs remained spread; semen drained steadily from her, staining the rug, accompanied by a small amount of blood. She was breathing heavily.
"Now I must ask you," Eric said. "Are prepared for your journey?"
Her eyes flicked up. "I am," she told him, her voice almost inaudible. Still, she gave him a smile.
Nodding, he gave a hand signal; one of the men transmitted it out the doorway. Immediately, a sound of heavy drumming began, surrounding the tent.
Eric fixed his eyes on her, returned her smile. "Lift your hair, Eva," he told her.
Using both hands, she pushed her long hair up, let it spread out on the rug. Two of the men knelt beside her head, while the other four picked up her hands and feet. She closed her eyes, sighed deeply.
Then Eric carefully wound a short piece of rope around her smooth throat, leaving it loose. Opening her eyes, she looked up as he handed each end of the rope to the two kneeling men. Gently, they pulled it snug; then, without warning, they suddenly pulled it tight.
She gave a tiny cry, one that was stopped almost instantly. Her eyes snapped closed again, and her face contorted a little as her air was cut off. They kept pulling; Eric sat down beside her, brought a small, wide-bladed dagger up to her chest. He located its point carefully between two of her ribs, just under her right breast.
"Now," one of the two men strangling her said, and Eric pierced her with it, slipping it in between her ribs.
Her body jerked, her eyes flying open again; blood welled up around the blade as he slid it deeper into her chest, continuing until only the hilt remained exposed. A surge of blood came out with each beat of her heart, washing down her side, soaking into the rug she was lying on.
"Only a few moments of pain," one of the men whispered, pulling the rope even tighter, letting it cut into her throat. "Only a few brief moments. Then you shall be on your way, on your journey." In spite of the choking rope and the steel in her chest, she nodded, her eyes fixed on his face.
Eric yanked the knife out of her; a rush of blood followed. Selecting a new spot on the opposite side of her chest, he again thrust the dagger in between her ribs. She stared at Eric's face now, her eyes blinking rapidly. She looked perhaps surprised; she seemed to be in a frenzy of excitement, but if she felt pain, she wasn't showing it.
He smiled at her, glanced down at the dagger that was half- buried in her chest. Again he started grinding it in; her eyes popped open and shut, but she kept staring at his face as it sank on into her. He kept pushing until it was as deeply buried as possible. Then he pulled it free, selected another spot, and drove it in a third time.
Her body was jerking spasmodically, her legs stretching out hard, her toes curling back. Her fists closed, then opened again, her fingers twitching. She blinked rapidly again; blood began running from her swollen lips. Her eyelids were also swelled, and her face was turning quite dark. The man stabbed her a fourth time, again between her ribs. This time, when he began forcing the blade deeper into her body, she rolled her body into it, helping him. He smiled, pushed the blade on in, held it deep inside her for a moment, then pulled it free.
As he pierced her once more, high in her chest this time, the blade gliding through her breast just above her nipple, she gave a final surge against it, pushing her breast up into it. Urine flowed from between her legs; her body became still, except for a few final twitches and some quivering of her arms and legs.
But they kept strangling her for quite a while, and Eric thrust the blade into her several more times. These last ones, though, were really not necessary. Her journey had already begun.