Half a million known graves survive from the Viking period. Many contain whole ships, sumptuous goods and even the bodies of slaves or loved ones sacrificed with the dead. Odin's Whisper shows that it was in death itself that the Viking view of life was most clearly distilled--and it is through an understanding of Viking burial that we can best understand the thought and mythology of this most fascinating of cultures. Odin's Whisper provides the first full treatment of this subject, giving an in-depth account that uses the stories of Norse mythology and the most recent archaeological evidence to draw a vivid picture of the Viking mind. Neil Price contextualizes their understanding of death within the Ragnarök , the immense battle of living and dead, gods and humans that would ultimately consume all the world in fire, to illustrate that the Vikings' conception of the afterlife was only ever viewed as a respite before this ultimate end. The violence and extravagance that marked their conception of the afterlife equally informed their funeral practice, as Price illustrates with blood-curdling contemporary accounts of the sacrifices and rapes that occasionally marked Viking burial. Packed with striking illustrations and reconstructions of the graves, Odin's Whisper covers the full range of Viking burial practice, revealing in detail the sometimes shocking, always fascinating nature of their funerals, as well as casting light on Norse beliefs about death, and what that reveals about their beliefs regarding life. This book will be essential reading for anyone fascinated by Viking culture, or the human condition in general.