According to heathen custom the corpses were laid in the royal grave upon pillows filled with down, with wax candles at their sides.
[1][2][dubious – discuss] In the barrow was also found a wooden figure that has been interpreted by some as Christ.
[2][dubious – discuss] The cup is of silver, gilt inside, and ornamented with an old half mythological pattern of twisted snakes and fantastic animals.
[1] The burial-chamber was almost certainly closed in 958 or 959: which was no more than seven years before Denmark was officially Christianised, according to the Saxon chronicler Widukind of Corvey.
[3] The small silver cup from the grave has been interpreted by some scholars as a Christian chalice,[3] but others have thought it a drinking vessel for the alcoholic beverage called beor.