The Viking Age. Volume 1 (of 2) / The early history, manners, and customs of the ancestors of the English-speaking nations

by Paul B. Du Chaillu

Or are drowned,

Or killed in battle,

Let a bath be made[^[192]]

For those who are dead;

Wash their hands and head,

Comb and dry them

Ere they are laid in the coffin,

And bid them sleep happily.

(Sigrdrifumál.)

It appears to have been a case of outlawry not to cover a body with mould, and if a slayer maimed the body of his enemy when dead he was fined. The body seems to have been left on a cover until they could lay it in the mound.