Dealing with corpses in winter?

[Ireth]

My latest WIP begins with a battle, and there are casualties on both sides. The MC's best friend is one of them. The issue of what to do with him is rather problematic for a few reasons. It is the dead of winter and the ground is frozen, so simply burying him would be quite difficult. Cremation is also problematic, as that would require the use of quite a lot of wood, and the MC's people are VERY anal about harming trees needlessly (read: will mercilessly slaughter those who so much as break a branch) -- not to mention they live in the middle of a forest, so a fire could be tricky to contain. Leaving the body to the carrion is out of the question, as that fate is reserved for foes who don't deserve a decent burial.

 

[Scribe Lord]

I'm assuming cannibalism isn't an option. Bury him in snow? Frozen lake? I suppose he would probably be able to keep the body until he can dispose of him properly. When the body is frozen the decomposing slows down a lot.

 

[Ireth]

I'm assuming cannibalism isn't an option. Bury him in snow? Frozen lake? I suppose he would probably be able to keep the body until he can dispose of him properly. When the body is frozen the decomposing slows down a lot.

Good ideas. ^^ And yes, cannibalism is out of the question. The characters in question would be horrified by the very idea.

 

[Saigonnus]

I would say it isn't "needless" to use pretty much the only option available to them for disposing of a body in a dignified manner. It will really depend on the surroundings though, they could carry him to a place in the woods with alot of dead wood around (fallen trees, branches etc.) and in that way they won't have to harm a tree to make a fire for the cremation. Not to mention using green wood is exceptionally difficult to get burning in the first place and it burns with ALOT of smoke.

 

[Kahle]

Giving the body to a lake or river sounds good, as long as the water isn't needed as a resources (the body might foul the water and poison it). They would have to be weighed down pretty well so the bodies don't come back up. Eventually the fish etc. would consume the body and the skeleton would lie on the lake/river bed.

They could also build a cairn(s) if they have the time and enough loose stone lying around. When the spring/summer comes just throw dirt over the rocks and plant some flowers and you have a burial mound. The rocks should be enough to prevent scavengers reaching the body and defiling it.

 

[Ireth]

Giving the body to a lake or river sounds good, as long as the water isn't needed as a resources (the body might foul the water and poison it). They would have to be weighed down pretty well so the bodies don't come back up. Eventually the fish etc. would consume the body and the skeleton would lie on the lake/river bed.

They could also build a cairn(s) if they have the time and enough loose stone lying around. When the spring/summer comes just throw dirt over the rocks and plant some flowers and you have a burial mound. The rocks should be enough to prevent scavengers reaching the body and defiling it.

Of the two, I think a cairn is the better idea. Many of the lakes and rivers are occupied by aquatic Fae such as Kelpies, who wouldn't appreciate their home being used as a grave.

 

[TheokinsJ]

The two most common methods (burning and burying) are as you have said, impracticle for disposing of a large number of bodies. Usually after a battle, the bodies of the side that lost were simply left to rot or were thrown into a river or lake ect, and the winning side would have gathered their dead and buried them properly. In the case of your main character's friend, perhaps there is some alternative way to conduct a funeral, think of Borromir in the Lord of the Rings for example. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli didn't have the time nor the tools to bury him, so they sent him in a boat down the river with all his belongings. Similarly, you could have him be put in a cave or under a sheltered tree, or put in a river or left wrapped in cloth in the middle of the battlefield- his funeral doesn't have to be something time consuming or honourable, it just needs to be a last act by his friends to say farewell, anyway, hope I've helped with a few suggestion.

 

[SeverinR]

If you have time, burn the enemy bodies, then move the ash and dig under where the fire was, to bury the friendlies?
Not sure how far down the frost goes and if time to burn the bodies would produce enough heat to thaw the ground deep enough.

If you think about it, really no difference in the end, with leaving the bodies where they lay(feeding the scavengers) or throwing in a river to feed the scavenger fish.

Unless this is a artic area (never thaws), snow burial would be a temporary burial and when the snow melted, they would be eaten then. If there is sufficient rocks, a few could be buried under rock, this would prevent large animals from eating but worms, mice and rats would feast(when they could survive the weather.) But this is very slow and needs alot of rocks to entomb each body. And the rocks could be frozen.

 

[Ireth]

If you have time, burn the enemy bodies, then move the ash and dig under where the fire was, to bury the friendlies?
Not sure how far down the frost goes and if time to burn the bodies would produce enough heat to thaw the ground deep enough.

If you think about it, really no difference in the end, with leaving the bodies where they lay(feeding the scavengers) or throwing in a river to feed the scavenger fish.

Unless this is a artic area (never thaws), snow burial would be a temporary burial and when the snow melted, they would be eaten then. If there is sufficient rocks, a few could be buried under rock, this would prevent large animals from eating but worms, mice and rats would feast(when they could survive the weather.) But this is very slow and needs alot of rocks to entomb each body. And the rocks could be frozen.

Well, I doubt the MC and other characters in question would want to stay near the enemy bodies long enough to build a pyre, or even to pile and burn the enemy bodies. The corpses are all armored and armed with iron and steel, and there is also iron in their blood, which is dangerous to Fae -- uncomfortable to get close to, very painful to touch, and deadly to be wounded with (which is what caused the death of the MC's friend in the first place). Throwing them into a river is also unwise, as it would anger any aquatic Fae inhabiting the river, or make the water unpleasant to drink, if not poisoning it outright.

In canon, I've gone with keeping the MC's best friend's body in a cold underground place (specifically an icy castle dungeon), where it will be out of the way and safe from scavengers until spring thaw. The cold will also keep it from decaying, at least for a while.

 

[skip.knox]

Stone cairn, absolutely. But icy castle dungeon works too.

But I had to laugh because you said in the OP: "It is the dead of winter ..." ... and so is he!

(sorry, but not very)

 

[wordwalker]

But I had to laugh because you said in the OP: "It is the dead of winter ..." ... and so is he!

And now you know were George R.R. Martin got his whole concept. (Well, except for all those human and dragon types.)

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

A lot of old cultures and some newer ones lay bodies to rest in caverns / caves / crypts where they essentially dry out and become mummified. And there's also a South American culture - Inca's maybe, who throw the bodies off cliffs to be broken up by the fall and then consumed by birds.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Varamyrr]

In your world, are there any animals that are worshipped? You could give the corpse to this revered creature. Sounds like a win-win for me. You get rid of the body and the animal gets fed. Potentionally, you could be worshipping a god.

 

[Ireth]

In your world, are there any animals that are worshipped? You could give the corpse to this revered creature. Sounds like a win-win for me. You get rid of the body and the animal gets fed. Potentionally, you could be worshipping a god.

No, the Fae don't worship anything. They're practically demigods in their own right.

 

[SeverinR]

Game of thrones makes them walk, no rest for the dead.
"When winter comes the dead shall walk again."

Winter is coming. :0

 

[teacup]

I have an idea. I think it would be great, since they like the trees in such a way, to bury the corpse beneath a tree or with seeds or something. The idea of "returning to the earth" to bring new life I think would be a good and, if you want, emotional send off.

Of course you have the frozen ground to think of, but I think if you want to use this idea you could easily work around that. As far as I'm aware there is magic in your WIP? If so magic could be a solution. Otherwise, if it was a good friend who died the others might want to give them a "proper burial" and so put in the work to dig even in the frost and such, and for them to go to such effort would show their connection with the dead person too wouldn't it?