New book on arab chronicles of Northern Europe

[bigdummy]

Ariella Elema did me the great favor of notifying me of the arrival of this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Ibn-Fadlan-Land-D ... 663&sr=8-1

Most people have heard of Ibn Fadlan, the Arab traveler who famously witnessed the funeral of a Rus chieftain during a Diplomatic visit to the Bulgars. This short but evocative (and provocative) account was repeated in Michael Crichtons rather silly novel "Eaters of the Dead", and then again (in more fanciful form) in the even sillier film 13th Warrior.

Some are also familiar with some other fragments, such as a more sympathetic account of some Vikings in the trading town of Hedeby. Well, it turns out there are quite a few of these little fragments, almost all of which are collected in this book "Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness", along with other equally interesting accounts of travels by Muslim merchants and diplomats in Northern Europe and Western Central-Asia, among such interesting characters as the Slavs, the mysterious and evocative Khazars (the Worlds only ever Empire of Jewish Turks), the Bulgars, the Magyars, Norsemen and Saxons.

Among other things I found interesting it includes the first ever (early 10th Century) account of Prague at a time when I thnk it was still pagan, (described as a prosperous stone city with very cheap provisions and good quality trade goods) a 10th Century description of Mainz (in which they mention the markets included cloves and ginger from the East Indies) and a first hand account of the then Danish town of Schleswig in which the locals are described as wearing eye-makeup, as well as trips into the far north (the land of darkness) and descriptions of ice skating and dog sleds and other exotica.

Maybe the most gripping part was a short but by far the most epic account of a (Rus) Viking raid that I've ever read. A very vivid and evocative description of a large 'Rus' invasion and their capture and subsequent abandonment of a large Muslim town in the coast of the Caspian Sea, which virtually demands to be made into a movie.

Most of the accounts are from the 9th-10th Centuries, and almost all from Arab, Moorish (in one case Moorish-Jewish), Turkish or Persian authors, with a couple of short excerpts from the Russian Primary Chronicle and Marco Polo thrown in for variety.

If you have any interest in the Vikings or in this early period of Medieval history, this is a must-read in my opinion.

BD

[admin]

Sounds fascinating.

[fullplate]

I actually thought Eaters of the Dead was a lot of fun The 13th Warrior was very silly in parts, the second half closer to the book than the first half(They employed Crichton to sort out the mess half way through)
Phil

[Dithyrambus]

I ordered a copy of this book last week, looking forward to reading it. I haven't read Crichton's book, but I do like the film, it is silly in parts but still a fun movie with lots of one liners.

[bigdummy]

Let me know what you think of the book

BD

[Dithyrambus]

Received it yesterday, need to finish the Hellenika before I crack open another book, looking forward to it though!

[Dithyrambus]

Okay, not finished with other books yet, but curiosity got the better of me and I read the historic time line and introduction, these alone are worth the price of the book. Miraculous that Fadhlan actually witnessed a viking ship burial on his travels and very fortunate for those of us interested in this period that his description (the only written description) has survived to us.

[Dan Howard]

You have to switch your brian off when watching movies. Otherwise I would have thrown something through my TV years ago. 13th Warrior is one of my favourite movies. Right up there with Highlander. At least they don't pretend to be anything other than entertainment. It is the so-called "documentaries" on the History Channel that I have problems with.

Looking forward to reading the book. Thanks for the review.