[Tirned Tinnu]

Great thread. I loved 13th Warrior, and have it in my permanent collection, not for its action, but for its actors and love of language. I regularly watch it with the subtitles on so that I can read everything. It's great to see the names of the Vikings spelled correctly. <BR>Now here is what I found on the Rus, the Vikings depicted in 13th Warrior, (at least I think so.) <P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>The Vikings came to Russia through the trade routes from Sweden down the Russian rivers, particularly the Don and the Dnieper, which led south to the markets of Bulgar, Khazaria, Byzantium and the Caliphate. Some reached as far East as the Caspian Sea and as far south as Baghdad. They traded amber, furs, honey, slaves, wax and weapons, for the luxuries of civilization, silk and silver (large hoards of Arab dirhems have been found throughout Scandinavia.) They founded the great cities of Starja Ladoga, Kiev and Novgorod. They were known as Rus, a name whose origins are the subject of some controversy. The majority view seems to be that it is a Finnish name for the Vikings of Sweden, but it seems to have ended up being used to describe all Russians, whether Norse or Slavic. The earliest mention of the name is in the Frankish Chronicles of St Bertin, where emissaries of the Svear (Swedish) people appeared in the court of Louis the Pious (son of Charlemagne). They had travelled from Byzantium, and asked for safe conduct home to Scandinavia, as the danger of attack by the tribes on the Russian rivers had made it impossible to return the way they had come. Louis was subject to attacks from the Vikings, and regarded these people as possible spies.<P>The Rus were certainly in the region as early as the beginning of the 9th century. According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, compiled in Kiev in the early 12th century, the Slavs invited the Swedish chieftain Rurik and his two brothers to rule them in 862 AD. In fact, the Rus seem to have kept mainly to the regions along the rivers - their relations with the Slavs being mostly confined to exacting tribute and raiding for slaves. Among their neighbours was the empire of the Khazars, stretching around the Black Sea from the Danube to the Caspian. The Khazars were a Turkic race which had been converted to Judaism in the 8th century AD, and according to some sources were the overlords of the Rus.<P>The Rus were described in 922 by the Arab diplomat Ibn Fadlan thus:<P>“Never before have I seen people of more perfect physique. They are tall as date-palms, blonde and ruddy.” (Roesdahl, 1991)<P>However, he also said of them:<P>“They are the filthiest of Allah’s creatures; they do not wash after ****ting and peeing, nor after sexual intercourse, and do not wash after eating. They are like wayward donkeys” (Ibid.)<P>According to Ibn Fadlan, the Rus he encountered did wash once a day, but all used the same water, and their ablutions included spitting and blowing their noses into the communal washbowl and handing it to the next person. He may have been exaggerating to shock his fastidious Arab audience. After all, the Anglo-Saxons at about the same time were railing against their own people taking up the effeminate Viking practices of washing and combing their hair. Or maybe this is a comment on how much worse the English were! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Wow... now we know where this knowlege came from...interesting, no?