Re: Digest Number 605

From: Dave Bell <bellplace_at_...>
Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2001 17:03:54 -0000

> Hi all,
>
> Ian was talking about Viking hygiene - It is my understanding that
Vikings
> were fastidious about cleanliness (bathing several times a week and
often
> washing the hair twice a day), current theory suggests they did
this to ward
> off disease as well as to be clean (although it is also suggested
that the
> water was a major source of disease)....
> Simon

A nice (?) account of viking cleanliness is given in Risala: Ibn Fadlan's Account of the Rus.

  Ibn Fadlan was an Arab chronicler. In 921 C.E., the Caliph of Baghdad sent Ibn Fadlan with an embassy to the King of the Bulgars of the Middle Volga. Ibn Fadlan wrote an account of his journeys with the embassy, called a Risala. This Risala is of some value as a history, although it is clear in some places that inaccuracies and Ibn Fadlan's own prejudices have slanted the account to some extent.

During the course of his journey, Ibn Fadlan met a people called the Rus, a group of Swedish origin, acting as traders in the Bulgar capital.

He refers to their habits...
"They are the filthiest of God's creatures. They have no modesty in defecation and urination, nor do they wash after pollution from orgasm, nor do they wash their hands after eating. Thus they are like wild asses." and later...

"Every day they must wash their faces and heads and this they do in the dirtiest and filthiest fashion possible: to wit, every morning a girl servant brings a great basin of water; she offers this to her master and he washes his hands and face and his hair -- he washes it and combs it out with a comb in the water; then he blows his nose and spits into the basin. When he has finished, the servant carries the basin to the next person, who does likewise. She carries the basin thus to all the household in turn, and each blows his nose, spits, and washes his face and hair in it."

Anyone who has seen the film "Thirteenth Warrior" will recognise the passage - Michael Crichton used this and other passages from the Risala almost intact.

Of course Ibn Fadlan may have exaggerated to make his account more colourful. It makes interesting reading though.

For the full text and commentary of Ibn Fadlan's account of the Rus, please see:
Smyser, H.M. "Ibn Fadlan's Account of the Rus with Some Commentary and Some Allusions to Beowulf." Franciplegius: Medieval and Linguistic Studies in Honor of Francis Peabody Magoun, Jr. eds. Jess B. Bessinger Jr. and Robert P. Creed. New York: New York University Press. 1965. pp 92-119.

I got this from a website but I can't recall the URL. Try a search engine for more stuff (it's how I came across this piece).

Dave Bell