What can you say about funerals? At their best, they're sad. At their worst, they're sad AND boring.

So what can you do? Well, you could dress the deceased in a funny outfit. Turn the eulogy into a roast. But let's face it, funerals are solemn occasions, and there isn't a whole lot you can do to spice them up... unless you choose to go out Viking style!

WHAT IS A VIKING FUNERAL?

Lore suggests that a Viking funeral involves placing the deceased on a boat, sometimes along with personal items and/or offerings from loved ones, and set ablaze as the boat drifts across open water. Some movies and TV shows depict people firing flaming arrows at the boat in order to ignite the fire, which is even more badass.

Some experts don't believe Vikings actually did it quite like this, but somehow it entered the popular culture that they did, so that's what we're calling a "Viking funeral" for the purposes of this article.

As cool as it sounds, would something like this even be legal to do in the state of New York?

VIKING FUNERALS ARE ILLEGAL IN ALL 50 STATES

Unfortunately, as it turns out, Viking funerals are not legal anywhere. And if the law isn't enough to deter you, how about the fact that this stunt -- while sounding cool -- would not produce a fire adequate enough for proper cremation. To fully cremate a human body, you would need to maintain a temperature of 1400 degrees Fahrenheit for a duration of two to three hours. So what you'd have on your hands is a maybe a burned boat? With a slightly-seared corpse that would probably float if it managed to make it into the water at all.

Not exactly a funeral fit for Erik the Red.

ONE STATE LETS YOU HAVE A 'RETURN OF THE JEDI' FUNERAL

According to an article from Cowboy State Daily, "a single town in Colorado is the only place in the country where you can legally burn a corpse on a dry-land funeral pyres." You might remember the scene from Return of the Jedi where Luke burns the corpse of his father, Darth Vader, on Endor.

Only in Crestone, Colorado is this allowed.

Sorry to rain on your Viking boat parade, but sounds like when you kick off, the only place you'll be sailing to is to your local funeral home. (Lame.)