« History, in depth? | Main | Elections? »
June 13, 2005
Eaters of the Dead
Last night, my friends and I had a movie night and we watched The 13th Warrior, starring Antonio Banderas.
I am not sure if anyone has seen this film, but if you have, you surely have noticed that it was based on a Michael Crichton novel called "Eaters of the Dead". Since the idea of watching it was mine, I took it to myself to buy and read the book.
The book is based on two historical/literary sources. One is the Travelogue of Ahmad ibn Fadlan who was sent in 921 AD as an ambassador by Caliph Al Muqtadir to the Khan of the Volga Bulgars. His account is very famous and has been quoted by almost all later Islamic geographers. In the 20th century, it became particularly famous for its vivid description of a Viking funeral which included group-intercourse and burning of the dead body along with a whole Viking Longship!
The second part of the book is based on Beowulf, the famous Old English poem that should be familiar to all modern speakers of English.
Chrichton paraphrases most of Ibn Fadlan in the first half of the book and translates his description of various tribes of the Russian Steppe pretty faithfully. I know this since my term paper this last quarter was about Ibn Fadlan! So, I was very impressed by Chrichton's work!
The second half, after Ibn Fadlan's description of the Viking Burial, is the imaginitive part where Chrichton inserts Ibn Fadlan to the group of 13 Berserkers who go to help the king of Denmark. The work is done very well and the character of Ibn Fadlan is developed fully. I like the ideas that Chrichton has used, particularly the way he has humanised Bodvar Bjarki and Svipdag (the Danish version of the names of the Beowulf heroes).
The film, as usual, had taken part of the book and forsaken the rest, and it was an average film. Some interesting sections, including the burial. were depicted very briefly, while they could potentiallyhave formed one of the high points of the movie. Alas, thus is the Hollywood!
I certainly recommend Eaters of the Dead, and applaud Michael Chrichton on this book. He has even included seven pages of bibliography, and this is a novel!
Posted by Khodadad at June 13, 2005 10:32 PM
Comments
The story sounds interesting. Maybe I will rent the movie. The Beowulf story is not really familiar to me any more. I remember studying it a little in school years ago, but I have forgotten everything. Perhaps the movie will revive a few dormant memories. :)
Btw, my new post is up and waiting for you. :)
Posted by: David at June 14, 2005 12:16 PM