Tirned - In Crichton's book, Ibn Fadlan refers to the Vikings as "Scandinavians", though the boundries seem to be a little blurry when it comes to the "Northmen" <P>Due to Dimaldaeon's earlier post, I was curious about the difference between England's Germanic Saxons and the Scandinavian Vikings. Apparently there was very little difference. They shared a common language and pre-Christian religious beliefs. I found this interesting web site that deals with the commonality of the language and it's influence on English place names. <A HREF="http://www.regia.org/languag.htm" TARGET=_blank>Language of Anglo-Saxons and Vikings</A><P>Another topic that Ibn Fadlan deals with in the book, (but was not included in the movie) is the subject of dwarves. Yes. There were actual dwarves in the Northmen's society, though they have a very "mannish" origin. Ibn Fadlan writes that when a woman gave birth to a dwarf, it was considered a very fortunate event. These Dwarves had their own, separate society, and were regarded as being very wise, and having the powers of foretelling. The warriors in the book go to the dwarves for advise on how to defeat their enemy, and accept without question the instructions of the head dwarf. (Ibn Fadlan accepts this concept, because in Muslim society Dwarves were also considered to be very wise, which was why dwarves were favored in the courts of Kings.)<P>Oh, and one of the gifts that the dwarves give to the warriors to help them defeat their enemy? - Rope. <P>OK, this is getting to be less and less a "movie" thread, and more a "book" thread, but I'm finding this to be very facinating, none the less.
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