Then Hildeburh ordered her own son's body be burnt with Hnaef's, the flesh on his bones to sputter and blaze beside his uncle's. The woman wailed and sang keens, the warrior went up. Carcass flame swirled and fumed

Then Hildeburh ordered her own
son’s body be burnt with Hnaef’s,
the flesh on his bones to sputter and blaze
beside his uncle’s. The woman wailed
and sang keens, the warrior went up.
Carcass flame swirled and fumed,
they stood round the burial mound and howled
as heads melted, crusted gashes
spattered and ran bloody matter.
The glutton element flamed and consumed
the dead of both sides.

– Beowulf, Seamus Heaney (trans.)

Lines 1115-1125: Cremation was a way of carrying the deceased to Odin, on a pyre with their weapons and horse.

Beowulf Quotes