The Vikings

Timo Nieminen · 4th January 2016, 07:32 PM

Ibn Fadlan's description of the funeral is the only detailed contemporary description of a Viking ship-burning funeral.

A good translation, and also of other accounts of travel to such northern areas, is:
http://www.amazon.com/Ibn-Fadlan-Lan...dp/0140455078/
http://www.bookdepository.com/Ibn-Fa.../9780140455076

kronckew · 4th January 2016, 11:04 PM

cool info. Ahmad ibn Fadlan was the arab scholar/warrior character in the '13th warrior' movie.

Forja Fontenla · 6th January 2016, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kronckew

cool info. Ahmad ibn Fadlan was the arab scholar/warrior character in the '13th warrior' movie.

Good movie... and bad-looking swords

kronckew · 6th January 2016, 07:44 PM

their armour was fantastic, as in fantasy, not as in accurate. looked like whatever they had in the prop room. the wurm people had fantasy weapons too.

ahmad 'converted' a 'heavy' viking sword into a saif with a few minutes at the forge and a bit of grinding. heck i have a hand forged and finished - made to period spec - viking sword, weighs about the same as my shamshir. i suspect in reality he might have wanted to modify the grip more than the blade. arab swords of the period were likely straight double edged anyway.

reminds me of the old movie 'prince valiant' with his huge aluminum singing sword, prince v. had a great accent too! and his lady love would have taught madonna a thing or two about breast augmentation and display.

one must suspend belief and reality a bit for most hollywood films, or you'd go crazy. like an 1803 british cavalry bad guy's sabre in the american revolution film with mel gibson. drove me nuts for a while, but i gave up. especially when they portray yorktown at the end of the al pacino revolution movie, it looks more like new zealand topography than the real thing that i drove thru every day for 3 months to get to the coast guard base for classes.

RobT · 1st February 2016, 01:24 AM

Hi All,
The movie (and the book) was originally written by Michael Crichton and titled Eaters of the Dead. It is actually a retelling of Beowulf's fatal encounter with the dragon.
Sincerely,
RobT

6th January 2016, 07:44 PM	#4
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,224	their armour was fantastic, as in fantasy, not as in accurate. looked like whatever they had in the prop room. the wurm people had fantasy weapons too. ahmad 'converted' a 'heavy' viking sword into a saif with a few minutes at the forge and a bit of grinding. heck i have a hand forged and finished - made to period spec - viking sword, weighs about the same as my shamshir. i suspect in reality he might have wanted to modify the grip more than the blade. arab swords of the period were likely straight double edged anyway. reminds me of the old movie 'prince valiant' with his huge aluminum singing sword, prince v. had a great accent too! and his lady love would have taught madonna a thing or two about breast augmentation and display. one must suspend belief and reality a bit for most hollywood films, or you'd go crazy. like an 1803 british cavalry bad guy's sabre in the american revolution film with mel gibson. drove me nuts for a while, but i gave up. especially when they portray yorktown at the end of the al pacino revolution movie, it looks more like new zealand topography than the real thing that i drove thru every day for 3 months to get to the coast guard base for classes. Last edited by kronckew; 6th January 2016 at 07:56 PM.

1st February 2016, 01:24 AM	#5
RobT Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 550	Actually Beowulf Hi All, The movie (and the book) was originally written by Michael Crichton and titled Eaters of the Dead. It is actually a retelling of Beowulf's fatal encounter with the dragon. Sincerely, RobT

4th January 2016, 07:32 PM	#1
Timo Nieminen Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 422	Ibn Fadlan's description of the funeral is the only detailed contemporary description of a Viking ship-burning funeral. A good translation, and also of other accounts of travel to such northern areas, is: http://www.amazon.com/Ibn-Fadlan-Lan...dp/0140455078/ http://www.bookdepository.com/Ibn-Fa.../9780140455076

4th January 2016, 11:04 PM	#2
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,224	cool info. Ahmad ibn Fadlan was the arab scholar/warrior character in the '13th warrior' movie.