Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Black Ships of the Dead: Funeral Voyages and Underworld Crossings in Myth

The Black Ships of the Dead: Funeral Voyages and Underworld Crossings in Myth

Hurn, Raymond
Kelly, S. J.

Paperback

Series: S. J. Kelly Mythology & Legends

General Fiction

ISBN13: 9798181652118
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jun 15 2026
Pages: 156
Weight: 0.48
Height: 0.33 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
They did not see death as an end. They saw it as a departure.

Before the grave, before the tomb, there was the voyage. Across black water. Through mist. Past the shores of the living and into the realm of ancestors, gods, and monsters. The Black Ships of the Dead is an atmospheric journey into the most haunting tradition in human storytelling: the funeral voyage.

Why did the Vikings burn their dead inside dragonships and push them out to sea? Why did the Egyptians build solar barques for the pharaoh's final passage through the underworld? What terrifying river did the Greeks believe awaited every soul, and what ferryman demanded payment for safe crossing? From the ghost ships of Celtic legend to the floating pyres of Southeast Asia, from the drowned warriors of Norse saga to the weeping women of Slavic folklore who lit lanterns for the dead, this book unearths the forgotten rituals and myths that transformed death into a journey across sacred waters.

Meet Charon and his silver coin. Sail with Ra through the twelve hours of night. Cross the Sanzu River with the Japanese dead. Fear the draugr who could not sail. Weep with the banshee who announces every departure. This is not an academic textbook. It is a storyteller's guide to the dark waters between worlds. Written for readers of mythology, folklore, ancient history, dark fantasy, and atmospheric nonfiction, The Black Ships of the Dead will transport you to a time when death was not a wall but a harbor.

Push off from the shore. The tide is turning. The black ships are waiting.

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