Ibn Faḍlān’s Encounter with the Vikings (267 AH / 881 CE)

In the year 267 AH (881 CE), Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān (d. after 309 AH / 921 CE), an ambassador dispatched by the ʿAbbāsid Caliph of Baghdad, was sent on a diplomatic mission to the lands of the Volga Bulgars. During his journey, he encountered a group of Norse traders, commonly identified as Vikings. His account constitutes the earliest known first-hand Muslim description of the Vikings.

Ibn Faḍlān described them as follows:

“I have never seen more physically perfect specimens. They are tall like date palms, fair-haired and ruddy-complexioned. Each man wears a garment that covers one side of the body while leaving one arm uncovered. Every man carries an axe, a sword, and a knife, which he keeps close at all times. Their swords resemble Frankish swords, with broad blades marked by grooves. Each man is tattooed in dark green with intricate designs covering his entire body, from the tips of his toes to his neck.

All of their women wear a circular brooch, the size and value of which corresponds to the wealth and social status of their husbands. They are among the filthiest of Allah’s creatures. They do not cleanse themselves after relieving themselves, nor after sexual intercourse.

After eating, they do not wash their hands. They wander about like stray asses. They engage openly in sexual relations with their slave girls. Should a merchant enter at such a time in order to purchase a slave girl and find her master having intercourse with her, he does not desist until he has satisfied himself.

They wash their faces and hair each day using the foulest and dirtiest water imaginable. Each morning, a young serving girl brings a large basin of water. The man washes his hands, face, and hair in it, combing his hair within the basin. He then blows his nose, spits, and performs every other repulsive act in the same water. Once he is finished, the basin is passed to the next man, until all have used it in turn.

When one of them falls ill, they pitch a tent for him at a distance and leave him with bread and water, but they neither visit him nor speak to him, especially if he is a slave or a poor man. If he recovers, he rejoins them; if he dies, they burn him. If he is a slave, they leave him where he lies, to be devoured by dogs and birds of prey.

When they capture a thief or bandit, they take him to a large tree, tie a rope around his neck, and hang him there until wind and rain cause his body to disintegrate.

When a man of distinction dies, his family asks his female and young slave girls: ‘Who among you will accompany him in death?’ Once one of them volunteers, her decision is irrevocable. On the day his body is burned, together with the girl who volunteered to die with him, I went to the riverbank where his ship lay.

One of the customs of their king is that he maintains four hundred warriors within his palace. These are his bravest companions, men upon whom he relies completely. When the king dies, they die with him and allow themselves to be killed on his behalf.”

Viking Presence in al-Andalus and Conversion to Islam

Ṣalāḥ al-Irānī – It has been reported that Viking groups conducted repeated raids on both Muslim and Christian territories throughout the Iberian Peninsula during the ninth century CE. Over time, a number of Vikings settled in the region surrounding south-eastern Seville, where they embraced Islam.

These converts gained particular renown for their production of cheese, which became a valued commodity in the major cities of Cordoba and Seville. Their cheese was widely traded and well regarded in these urban centres.

In 2015 CE, archaeologists conducting excavations uncovered a ninth-century burial site belonging to a woman. Among the artefacts discovered was a silver ring set with a purple stone. Experts identified an Arabic inscription engraved upon it reading “li-llāh”, meaning ‘For Allah’.

It has been stated that pork was highly prized among the Vikings. Even those who had embraced Islam continued to yearn for it and were particularly fond of it. These Viking Muslim communities nonetheless became known for supplying cheese to Spanish cities, including Cordoba and Seville.

Reference:

Summarised from Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān (d. after 309 AH / 921 CE), Risālat Ibn Faḍlān, edited by Sāmī al-Daḥḥān, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, Beirut, 1960.