Need Help - Elven Funeral Ceremony

[ivocaliban]

Maybe I will try Edvard Grieg's "Death of Ase" from Peer Gynt Suite (though I know three of them have performed it, because I was conducting).

Nice choice!

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I've always pictured elven funerals taking place in a sacred grove of trees, with the body washed and dressed in white silk robes, and buried in a hole in the ground in a fetal position. A sapling is then planted over top of the body, where it will be able to gain nourishment from the body as it decomposes, helping the tree to grow. The tree is then named after the elf, as "Glorfindal's Tree" (or whatever the elf's name was) and it becomes part of the sacred grove, and is believed to contain the spirit of the dead elf. If the tree dies, it is considered a sign that the spirit has not been absorbed into the tree, so the groves are carefully tended and watched by druids who devote their entire lives to making sure that the trees always receive nourishment and only the strongest saplings are used during funerals. The type of sapling used during a funeral depends on the elfs life choices-an oak for a mighty warrior, a white birch for a cleric, a maple for a wizard, a pine for a druid, etc. Some of these ideas I took from a book I read in college, Women on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy.

 

[Klaus]

Unlike others, I came up with a very simple elven ceremony for my game (where the half-elf PC had to bury her elf father).

The body is wrapped in natural fabric (cotton, for instance), and buried at the roots of a tree. The deceased's name is carved onto the tree. As the tree grows and is nourished by the deceased's body, elves believe that the deceased's spirit can be contacted through that tree, and customarily talk to the tree, as if the deceased could hear.

It is not uncommon for entire generations of the same family to be buried under a particularly large tree.

 

[DarrenGMiller]

Nice choice!

Thanks!

DM

 

[DarrenGMiller]

I've always pictured elven funerals taking place in a sacred grove of trees, with the body washed and dressed in white silk robes, and buried in a hole in the ground in a fetal position. A sapling is then planted over top of the body, where it will be able to gain nourishment from the body as it decomposes, helping the tree to grow. The tree is then named after the elf, as "Glorfindal's Tree" (or whatever the elf's name was) and it becomes part of the sacred grove, and is believed to contain the spirit of the dead elf. If the tree dies, it is considered a sign that the spirit has not been absorbed into the tree, so the groves are carefully tended and watched by druids who devote their entire lives to making sure that the trees always receive nourishment and only the strongest saplings are used during funerals. The type of sapling used during a funeral depends on the elfs life choices-an oak for a mighty warrior, a white birch for a cleric, a maple for a wizard, a pine for a druid, etc.

These are also good suggestions. Thank you. I have until about 2:30 p.m. EST tomorrow (Sunday) when the two players arrive for this. I should be able to put something together from my own ideas and these suggestions.

Thanks to all those who helped thus far!

DM

 

[Napftor]

GREAT IDEA! I don't have that one, but am sure I have some other appropriate funerary music. This really appeals to me as a musician and music teacher. I like the use of music to enhance the game, but my players, most of whom are musicians or at least avid music listeners recognize much of it and associate it with the movie it is from, or a performance they heard or performed in instead of the game.

Hmmm... off to find some obscure funeral music. Maybe I will try Edvard Grieg's "Death of Ase" from Peer Gynt Suite (though I know three of them have performed it, because I was conducting).

DM

Another obscure musical cue to use is an excerpt from Faure's Requiem. The movement is the Agnus Dei and the particular bit is at the end of the track I believe, where the voices crescendo to a halt and a sorrowful french horn finishes off the movement. It's quite moving and my players enjoyed it.

 

[Storyteller01]

I envision the body wrapped in silks and carried to a sacred burial ground by his closest friends/family. There a special ceremony is performed. When the ceremony is completed, the trees, the plants, the very earth come alive to reclaim the body (a modifed entanglment?). The lost friend, family member, and hero is now one with his beloved home...

Side note: You could also make a cultural statement by somehow alluding that evil/undeserving elves are denied this rite.

 

[Tonguez]

When an Elf dies the immediate family discretely takes the body and hides it in the highest branches of ancient tree in the middle of 'their communal grove'. The body is left to decompose and be eaten by birds and insects wherein it becomes part of the forest. Nobody mentions the name of the deceased for they have become one of the whisperers in the trees.

Yep - Elfs don't make a big deal of death, it is not something elven society enjoys instead it is a private and moving affair (and one of the few times where elfs can actually enact their inaccurate 'treehugger' reputation)

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

I'm with the fertilizer crowd; especially since the sister is a druid.
Since the body is mutilated I would imagine the remains would be places on a bier of fallen branches and covered with a cloth. The proper prayers would be made to whichever elven gods are appropriate and then the body would be buried directly in the soil to facilitate the deceased’s "return to the earth". Mourning songs are always appropriate.
Also, they could have a tradition of the attendants telling a story about the deceased for each year he was alive, so that he can be remembered by all present. For some elves this could mean A LOT of stories...

 

[Steverooo]

The Songs of the Winds ceremony, from The Lord of the Rings sounds made for your group, being musically inclined... Have the PCs make up a song about one of the four winds, and sing Nym off like Aragorn & Legolas did Boromir... with or without the boat!