Ibn Fadlan - A Viking Funeral - Extra History

near the banks of the Volga River a funeral ship blazes brightly against the dusk the body of a Viking chieftain and his most cherished possessions crumbled to soot and ash looking on fascinated is a man who has traveled over 2,500 miles far from his home of Baghdad he has traveled here to serve as a religious advisor for the newly converted people of Volga Bulgaria but it's another people who've captivated his attention his admiration and even his disgust the ruse Vikings this episode is sponsored by audible start your own audiobook adventures today by visiting the link in the description below in the year 9 21 the con of volga bulgaria sent embassadors to baghdad asking for military and financial aid in return for conversion to Islam in response the Abbasid caliph sent a delegation that included a an expert in Islamic law and religious practice named Ahmed even fodhla in the tradition of Islamic travel writing even fadhl on chronicled the year-long journey from Baghdad and described the cultures and people he encountered along the way a bit like the much later much more famous world traveler and side trip aficionado amid Battuta but not long after even fad lon began working in the khan's court imparting the religious and administrative knowledge of Baghdad a group of ruse arrived and set up camp along the river to trade part of the Viking expansion the ruse were one offshoot of a group that left Scandinavia century before seeking trade routes and kingdoms to plunder which if you're so inclined you can learn more about / in our Viking expansion series now settled in Eastern Europe the ruse traded northern commodities like fur wax and slaves captured in war for silk silver and other luxuries from the east and south their presence was not unusual to the Volga boulders because the Volga River ran through the center of the state the bull gars had access to trade with all manner of places and cultures Baghdad and Constantinople in the south Europe to the west China to the east and to the north of course Bruce Vikings but while the bull gars were used to the ruse they were like nothing that even fodhla had ever seen before I have never seen more perfect physical specimens he wrote tallest date palms blonde and ruddy each man has an ax a sword and a knife and keeps each by him at all times or tattooed from fingernail to neck with dark green symbols oh that's right shirtless blonde tattooed armed to the teeth and physically perfect what what where was I oh yeah that's right the Vikings were skilled jewelry makers as well by eben fat Lanza count for every ten thousand silver a man was worth he would make a silver or gold necklace for his wife and these women had many many necklaces but while he found the ruse beautiful he also found them kind of disgusting as a highly educated member of Islamic society hygiene was both a religious and social requirement hand-washing teeth cleaning and regular bathing were the norm in even Pollan's world but not so for the ruse he described their hygiene habits with revulsion telling us that they lived in long houses with 10 or 20 people to a house each household would wash their faces spit and blow their nose each morning in a communal wash bin without changing the water they had no sense of privacy when it came to having sex or answering the call of nature they didn't wash their hands before eating or ever really and perhaps most humorously fad lon found their singing to be just awful they are the filthiest of God's creatures he wrote indeed they are like wild asses and the ruse weren't just gross in his eyes they were polytheistic pagans as well a particularly abhorrent and exotic group to medieval Muslims but even fat lambs mixed feelings of attraction and revulsion aren't just valuable to us as an amusing tale of culture clash between an Islamic scholar and some very sexy very stinky Vikings the Vikings themselves were a largely oral culture that left no written accounts of their own traditions so even fodhla's travel writing is actually the only first-hand account we have of some Viking traditions but it's also important to acknowledge that his account of the ruse might not be representative of all Vikings the ruse had lived in Eastern Europe for about a century at that point and undoubtedly absorbed many local practices in fact he may not have understood what he was seeing and we aren't even sure who served as his translator and whether or not they knew what they were talking about but thanks to even fat lines obsession with recording in detail everything from daily habits to religious practices we at least have a window into how one group of Vikings conducted themselves and the most famous example of this is the Viking funeral even fat LAN was horrified to discover that the roofs cremated their dead a concept which you guessed it also fascinated him it so happened that a Viking chief recently died and the ruse allowed this strange foreigner to witness the funeral and this is the summary of what he saw first they buried the corpse in a shallow grave with offerings of bread beer and a lute allowing them 10 days to snow the funeral clothing they also gathered the family's enslaved people together and asked for a volunteer who was willing to die for their master after a pause a young woman spoke up and said that she would do it once she volunteered to be the human sacrifice fat LAN tells us there was no going back two people were assigned to stay with the volunteer night and day to make sure she didn't have any second thoughts after the funerary clothing was complete they dragged the Chieftains boat up onto dry land and an old woman who was to perform the ritual sacrifice referred to as the angel of death arranged a lavish bed of Byzantine brocade and cushions upon the deck then they exhumed the Chieftains body dressed him in his funerary clothes and propped him up on the bed also filling the ship with all manner of things herbs spices beer bread and fruit then the animal sacrifices began they ritually slaughtered chickens horses cows and even a dog and arranged the bodies on the boat and finally when the time came the human sacrifice the woman who volunteered in kind of an ecstatic trance after days of drinking and singing enters each hut in the village now what happened there is difficult to understand given that it comes to us filtered through even fat lon and an unknown translator neither of which may have understood what they were witnessing but it does seem like there was some sexual component to the ritual likely one that was violent and non-consensual she was then brought out and lifted up three times once in honor of her father and mother once in honour of her ancestors and a final time in honor of the man she was about to die for then they took her to the ship where she met the angel of death for the final time she gave her bracelets to the old woman and in return she received a bowl of beer to drink the volunteer then sang a song to bid farewell to her loved ones men with wooden staffs and shields gathered and began to beat them percussively it covered the noise as the young woman was simultaneous stabbed and strangled and with the sacrifice done they set the boat alight as even thought LAN watched the flames of the funeral boat place thinking on all of the ritual brutality he just witnessed a ruse nearby turned and spoke to him his interpreter translated you Arabs are foolish Larousse said why is that even fat lot answered you take the person who is the most beloved to you and the most respected among you and you leave them in the ground so that the earth the insects and the worms consume them we burn them with fire in an instant and they enter paradise forthwith from that very moment because of the great love that their God has for them he sent the wind to carry them off to the afterlife within the space of an hour the ruse laughed even fat LAN considered this by no means did the spectacle of the funeral make him question his own religious practices but the Viking was right an hour did not pass before the boat the girl and the Viking chief had all become dust blown on the wind even fat Lanza count is not only useful in what it describes but how it also forces us to think about the overlapping biases and filters contained even in a first-hand account is he an unimpeachable witness or misunderstanding events was this ritual a standard practice among Vikings or a blend unique to these roofs but perhaps what even fat Long's account does more than anything is tell us about his own culture how he could be both attracted and repelled by strange customs how he reacted to religious violence and how a cultured curious Islamic scholar perceived the world when he was very far from home once again thanks so much to audible for sponsoring this episode now I know I've mentioned this before but I really do have trouble just finding time to read who knows show running a YouTube channel would be so much work Oh everyone did alright fair enough but that's why I love audible and their countless audiobooks podcasts and audible originals that I can listen to while cooking working out or even playing a game and actually Rob just recommended an audiobook to me that I think is super thematically appropriate Michael Crichton's novel eaters of the Dead a fictional tale told from the perspective of even fadhl on who instead of going home to Baghdad joins up with the Vikings and finds himself witnessing the events of Beowulf yeah because you know Grendel uh finds a way and because audible offers free and easy audiobook exchanges and member credits can roll over for a year I can engage with all their cool stuff at my own pace so for a 30-day free trial plus your first audio book and two audible originals for free visit audible.com slash extra credits legendary thanks to Ahmed Zee utter kc booster dominic Valenciana gunner clovis Kyle Murgatroyd and Orioles one [Applause] [Music]

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Views: 545,325

Rating: 4.9413242 out of 5

Keywords: extra credits, extra history, extra credits history, james portnow, history lesson, world history, learn history, rob rath, matt krol, viking history, viking funeral, viking expansion, ibn fadlan, jac mindelan, the 13th warrior, world history for kids, history lessons for kids, history lessons for high school, ibn fadlan vikings, ibn fadlan funeral, ibn fadlan description vikings, ibn fadlan 13th warrior, ibn fadlan rus, ibn fadlan viking funeral, homeschool history

Id: RSURd15qfWQ

Length: 9min 41sec (581 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 11 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/InteractionNotKarma]

Great video

[u/calabim]

Eaters of the Dead vibes