Naglfar, the Demon Ship

One of my favorite images from Ragnarok is Naglfar, an enormous ship made entirely out of the finger and toe nails of dead men. It brings hordes of demons across the sea from the east to do battle against the gods. The ship's commander is the Jotun Hrym, arch enemy of the goods.

The significance of the ship is interesting in two ways beyond its impressive appearance at the end of times. It tells us about the burial rituals of the Vikings as well as their attitude towards life and death.

The Vikings tended their dead, trimming their nails and hair before burial. The reason for this was that demons would use any untended nails or hair for their own purposes. By keeping the availability of building material for Naglfar to a minimum, Ragnarok could be postponed. However, Ragnarok could not be avoided.

In the face of evil, postponing the inevitable was preferred. Vikings did not gladly go to battle. They tried to avoid it as much as possible. However, when the inevitable happened, and there was no way around it, they would fight to the death, and to this day, this is considered the correct approach to conflicts in the West. Vikings were no more eager for war than are modern day soldiers.

The Gokstad Viking Ship - By Karamell - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link