Viking Funeral in Ibn Fadlan's Account

This is a text of Ibn Fadlans account of the Rus and funeral translated by Mario Martin Merino along with my notes and analysis. It is a fantastic translation and you can find it at the link below.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379927777_The_travels_of_Ibn_Fadlan_A_new_translation

Ahmad ibn Fadlan was a tenth-century Abbasid envoy and scholar sent on a diplomatic and religious mission from Baghdad to the Volga region. His account, commonly known through the Risāla, records his journey across the Near East and eastern Europe and offers detailed observations of the peoples he encountered along the way. Ibn Faḍlān writes as a firsthand witness, describing customs, beliefs, trade practices, and rituals with an immediacy that sets his work apart from many later medieval sources.

While much of his narrative concerns Islamic lands and neighboring cultures, more than twenty sections are devoted to a group he calls the Rus. These passages have attracted sustained scholarly attention because the Rus are widely understood to have been Scandinavian Vikings who had migrated eastward into Slavic territories. The central question that arises from Ibn Faḍlān’s account is how closely their culture still resembled that of Scandinavia at the time he encountered them. It remains unclear how much of what he describes reflects inherited Viking Age practices and how much may represent adaptation, syncretism, or influence from the Slavic and steppe cultures among whom they settled.

Ibn Faḍlān’s testimony is especially valuable because it predates most surviving written sources on Norse religion and society and is not filtered through later Christian reinterpretation. Many Christian accounts of Scandinavian paganism were written centuries after conversion and often with polemical intent. By contrast, Ibn Faḍlān reports what he personally saw, though his descriptions are shaped by his own cultural, religious, and moral framework, which at times leads him to misunderstand or emphasize practices he found shocking or alien.

This analysis proceeds section by section through Ibn Faḍlān’s account of the Rus, comparing his observations with archaeological evidence and later Scandinavian sources where possible. The aim is not to accept or reject his narrative wholesale, but to distinguish what can be reasonably confirmed, what remains uncertain, and what is likely shaped by cultural bias. Through this approach, we can better understand both the mindset of the Rus he encountered and the extent to which their practices may reflect pagan Scandinavian Viking Age beliefs and customs.

 

Ibn Fadlans Work starts here [My notes below each chapter]

82. The beauty of the Rus

I saw the Rus, who had arrived to trade and had camped on the bank of the Itil. I have never seen more harmonious bodies. They are tall like palm trees, pale and blonde. They do not wear qurtaq or caftans, but rather a type of clothing that covers part of the body and leaves one handfree. Each of them carries an axe, a sword and a knife. They never stray from their weapons. Their swords have broad blades and grooves like those of the Franks. They are tattooed from head to toe in a dark green color, with drawings and other marks.

[This description largely aligns with other classical and medieval accounts of Germanic peoples, particularly in its emphasis on height, fair hair, and a warrior identity defined by constant weapon-carrying. The mention of Frankish-style swords further situates the Rus within the broader Viking Age and northern European martial world known through archaeology and written sources. The most problematic element is the claim that they are tattooed “from head to toe,” as this is the only source to make such an assertion. Given the lack of corroborating evidence, it remains unclear whether Ibn Faḍlān is describing permanent tattoos, temporary body paint, or decorative markings, and the passage should be treated with caution rather than taken at face value.]

83. Brooches, torcs and necklaces

Rus women wear on their chest a circular brooch made of gold, iron, silver or copper, depending on the wealth and position of their husband. Each brooch has a ring, where they put a dagger. On their necks they wear gold and silver torcs, and every man who manages to possess ten thousand dirham has the right for his wife to also wear one. When he has twenty thousand, his wife can have two, and so on. Every time his fortune increases byten thousand dirham, his wife has the right to have a new torc. The most desired ornaments by the Rus are green ceramic beads that they keep safely on their ships. They pay up to one dirham for each bead they add to their women's necklaces.

[This section closely aligns with both archaeological evidence and other written sources from the Viking Age. Brooches, torcs, and bead necklaces are well attested in women’s graves across Scandinavia and the wider Norse world, reinforcing the reliability of Ibn Faḍlān’s observations here. The link between a man’s wealth and his wife’s jewelry reflects a broader Germanic pattern in which female adornment functioned as a visible marker of household status and success in trade. The specific mention of imported beads further supports the picture of the Rus as deeply embedded in long-distance exchange networks rather than existing as an isolated or purely local culture.]

84. Hygiene of the Rus

They are the dirtiest creatures created by Allah. They do not wash after urinating or defecating...or after copulating. They do not wash their hands before eating. They are like wild donkeys.

[Ibn Faḍlān’s claim that the Rus are exceptionally unhygienic must be read through a strong lens of cultural bias. Standards of cleanliness in the medieval Islamic world differed significantly from those of northern Europe, particularly regarding ritual purity and the preference for washing with running water. While his observations may reflect specific practices he personally witnessed, they do not necessarily indicate broader norms. Other European sources consistently describe Scandinavians as well groomed and notably clean, including regular bathing practices, such as the well-attested weekly bath on laugardagr (“bath day”). It is therefore likely that Ibn Faḍlān’s judgment reflects differing cultural expectations rather than an objective assessment of hygiene.]

85. The Rus fornicate with their slaves in public

When they arrive from their land, they anchor their boats in the Itil, which is a great river, and build large houses on the banks. About ten or twenty people live together in them. Each man has a platform that he uses to sit on. They bring beautiful slaves to be sold. The men copulate with their female slaves while their partners watch. If a merchant comes in to buy a slave woman and finds that one of them is fornicating with her, he cando nothing but wait.

[This passage is more difficult to corroborate, as no Scandinavian sources explicitly describe public sexual relations with slaves. However, saga literature does indicate that sexual access to enslaved women was socially accepted, as seen in Vatnsdaela saga, where a newly purchased slave woman is taken sexually almost immediately. While the saga does not specify a public setting, it does suggest that such acts were not surrounded by the same moral or ritual boundaries applied to free or noble women. The key distinction here is social status: enslaved women occupied a fundamentally different ethical category, and sexual exposure that would have been unthinkable for noble women may have carried little stigma when applied to slaves. Ibn Faḍlān’s description may therefore exaggerate the public nature of the act while still reflecting real differences in class, honor, and sexual norms.]

86. Aberrant customs

Every day they wash their faces and hair with the dirtiest and most putrid water imaginable. A young servant arrives every morning with breakfast and a large basin of water. She gives it to her master to wash his face, hands and hair. They use combs and blow their noses and spit into the water, corrupting it. When he has finished, the young servant gives it to the man next to her master and so on.

[The practices described here—communal washing in fouled water and the repeated contamination of a shared basin—have no clear parallels in Scandinavian or wider Germanic sources. No archaeological or literary evidence supports such behavior, making this account difficult to verify. It is possible that Ibn Faḍlān either misunderstood an unfamiliar practice, witnessed an isolated or degraded situation, or emphasized the episode to reinforce an existing moral judgment about the Rus. Given the lack of corroboration and the overtly disgusted tone of the passage, this section should be treated with particular caution and not assumed to represent normative behavior.]

87. Offerings to pagan idols

As soon as they dock their ships and unload their provisions, which usually consist of bread, meat,onions, milk and nabidh, they gather around a wooden post stuck in the ground with a carved face, andaround it are small figures .Behind these, there  are some long stakes driven into the ground. Each one of the Rus prostrates himself before the great idol, saying these words:

“Oh my Lord! I have arrived from a distant land with several young slave girls and marten skins (theylist all their belongings) …and I offer you this present.”

After that they get up, leave the offering before the great idol and say:
“I want to earn your favor so that you send me a rich merchant with many dirhams to buy all my merchandise without haggling over the price.”

Then they leave. If they have difficulty selling their goods and their stay lasts too long, they return to the idol with new offerings. If they do not get what they want, they bring a present to each of the little idols saying:

“These are the wives of our Lord, and his sons and daughters.”

They continue making that request to each of the idols. If they manage to sell everything easily, theysay:

“My Lord has heard my requests and I must reward him for it.”

Then they bring several sheep and cows which they sacrifice in front of the great idol, distributing the meat among the figurines, as well as new offerings. The heads of the sacrificed animals are nailed to stakes. When night falls, the dogs come and eat all the meat, and the one who has made the offerings exclaims:

“My Lord is satisfied and has eaten what I have given him.”

[Roughly half of the practices described in this section align well with what is known from Scandinavian archaeology and later Norse sources. Wooden idols carved with faces are well attested, and the use of multiple figures likely reflects a pantheon rather than a single deity. The act of sacrifice itself is also consistent with Germanic ritual practice. However, the explicit request for success in trade and business is not clearly attested in surviving Norse texts, making this element more uncertain and possibly shaped by Ibn Faḍlān’s interpretation or by local variation among the Rus. The final stage of the ritual—leaving the sacrificed meat exposed so that animals consume it—is strongly supported by comparative evidence; consumption by animals was commonly understood as a sign that the gods had accepted the offering, even if the specific animals involved differ from what is more typically implied in Scandinavian contexts.]

88. They abandon the sick

If one of them falls ill, the other Rus pitch a tent away from the houses. They leave him there with some bread and water, but they do not approach or talk to the sick person, especially if he is a poor man or a slave. If he recovers, he returns to them. If he dies, they burn his corpse. If he is a slave, they leave him to be devoured by wild animals.

[This account is plausible but difficult to confirm. No surviving Norse sources explicitly describe the abandonment of sick adults, yet practices such as child exposure are well attested, particularly in cases of deformity or illness. At the same time, saga literature and eddic material provide clear examples of sick individuals being cared for within the household, including nursing, changing bedding, and attempts at healing through ritual and rune magic. Egil's saga provides numerous examples of this. This suggests that care for the ill was both known and expected among free members of society. As with several other practices described by Ibn Faḍlān, social status is likely crucial: enslaved individuals may have been treated very differently from free people, and the abandonment he describes may reflect class-based distinctions rather than a universal cultural norm.]

89. How they punish thieves

If they capture a thief, the Rus take him to a tree, put a rope around his neck and hang him. They leave his corpse hanging until it completely rots.

[The method of execution described here—hanging from a tree—fits well within the broader Germanic tradition, where hanging was commonly associated with the punishment of the most serious criminals and had strong symbolic overtones. However, the specific application of this penalty to thieves is more difficult to reconcile with Norse legal sources, which more commonly emphasize fines, compensation, or outlawry for theft. Executing thieves in this manner appears unusually harsh when compared to what is preserved in Scandinavian law codes and saga material. This may indicate either a local Rus practice, an exaggeration by Ibn Faḍlān, or a misunderstanding of the crimes involved, with the punishment perhaps reserved for offenses more severe than ordinary theft.]

90. The funeral of a great man

When a great man dies, the Rus do all kinds of things to honor him, the last of which is cremation. I wanted to know this custom in more detail, and one day I received news that one of his most important men had died. They put him in a tomb that they covered with a roof. They left the body in that place for ten days until they finished preparing his trousseau.

[Much of this description cannot be directly compared with Norse literary sources, as detailed accounts of funeral procedure are absent from the surviving texts. As a result, Ibn Faḍlān’s testimony is especially valuable here. The practice of keeping the body for several days is plausible, particularly in the case of an elite individual whose funeral required extensive preparation, including the assembly of grave goods, ritual materials, and participants. Such a delay would not necessarily reflect a general rule, as simpler burials—especially for non-elites—were likely conducted much more quickly. The passage therefore appears to describe an exceptional, high-status funeral rather than a universal norm.]

91. The burial of a poor man

If the deceased is a poor man, they build a small boat, place the corpse in it and set it on fire.If he was rich, they gather all his belongings. They divide them into three parts, one for her family,another to make clothes for the funeral, and a last to make enough nabidh for a young slave girl to drink before being sacrificed and cremated with her lord. The rest of the nabidh will be for those attending the funeral. They drink a lot...and some of them even die drinking.

[The repeated reference to nabīdh is particularly noteworthy. While the term is often translated simply as an alcoholic drink, its broader meaning is “intoxicating beverage” and does not necessarily imply alcohol alone. This opens the possibility that the drink contained additional psychoactive ingredients beyond fermented grain or fruit. There is good comparative evidence for the later use of herbs such as henbane in intoxicating mixtures, and the discovery of henbane seeds in a seer’s grave at Fyrkat, Denmark, strengthens the plausibility of such practices in ritual contexts. Ibn Faḍlān’s remark that some participants “even die drinking” further suggests that nabīdh in this setting may have been far more potent than ordinary beer or mead, pointing toward a ritual intoxication rather than casual consumption.]

92. The funeral of a nobleman

When a great man dies, his relatives say to his younger male and female slaves:

“Who wants to die with him?”

One of them will answer:

"I want".

Once they have expressed their desire, there is no turning back. If they change their mind, they can't do it. Usually it is a young slave girl who is willing to die. When the man I mentioned before died, his relatives asked his young slave girls:

“Who will die with him?”And one of them responded:"It will be me".

Then they chose two other young slave girls to attend to the young woman chosen for her sacrifice, accompanying her at all times and even washing her feet. Everyone prepared for the great man's funeral, making clothes for him and anything else that was needed. Meanwhile, the young slave girl spends her days drinking and singing happily. When the day of the cremation arrived, I went to where the Rus had docked one of their ships. They had run the ship aground, and raised four poles of khadank or other similar wood to build a platform. They made sure the boat was firmly situated on the platform. Then the assistants arrived, saying some words that I could not understand.

[This section is often the most troubling to modern readers, yet the evidence suggests that the slave woman’s participation was, at least outwardly, willing. Ibn Faḍlān explicitly notes her voluntary declaration and her continued happy singing and drinking in the days leading up to the funeral, giving little indication that she was resisting or coerced at this stage. This interpretation aligns closely with archaeological evidence from high-status Scandinavian burials, where individuals of lower status are frequently found interred with elites and rarely show signs of physical struggle. While social pressure and cultural expectation must be considered, the convergence of Ibn Faḍlān’s account with the material record strongly suggests that such accompanying deaths were understood within that society as honorable and voluntary acts rather than purely forced executions.]

93. The angel of death

Next they take a bed and place it inside the boat. They cover it with a mattress and brocade cushions from  Byzantium.   Then  an  old   woman,  who   is  called   the   angel  of  death,  appears   to  place   the aforementioned items on the bed. She is also in charge of making and preparing all those things... as well as killing the young slave girls. I realized that she was a sorceress, thin and surrounded by a sinister aura. When they reached the grave of the deceased, they removed the earth and the roof that covered it. They took the body, which was wrapped in a shroud that they had used to bury him. The corpse had turned dark due  to the cold. They had  placed  nabidh, fruit   and a drum  in the grave. They   took everything out. The body did not smell bad, and nothing about it had changed...except its color. They dressed the deceased in trousers, socks, boots, a tunic and a brocade caftan with gold buttons. They covered the head of the corpse with a brocade and sable fur cap. After that, they took the body to a pavilion on the ship and laid it on the bed. They brought more nabidh, fruit and basil which they placed nearby. Also bread, meat and onions that were left at the feet of the deceased.

[Only part of this passage can be confirmed through Scandinavian evidence. The figure described as the “angel of death” has no clear parallel in surviving Norse texts, but this absence is not decisive, as detailed funeral specialists are missing from saga literature. It is therefore possible that such a role existed but went unrecorded. Several elements of the burial preparation—high-quality clothing, weapons, and valuable textiles—are well supported by archaeological finds from elite graves. Other items mentioned, such as food, drink, and perishable ritual objects like a drum, would not survive archaeologically and cannot be confirmed or disproven. Overall, the passage likely combines accurate ritual practices with elements that remain invisible to the material record rather than pure invention.]

94. Animal sacrifice

Later they brought a dog, which they cut in two and threw into the ship. Then they put the weapons next to the corpse. They made two horses ride towards the ship before killing them with sword blows and throwing their meat into the ship. Next they took two cows, which they also killed and cut into pieces to put their meat inside the boat. Finally they killed a rooster and a hen, and threw their bodies on the ship.

[This section aligns very closely with Scandinavian archaeological evidence. Dogs and horses are among the most commonly found animals in high-status graves, strongly supporting Ibn Faḍlān’s account of their ritual killing and inclusion in elite funerals. The detail that the horses were made to run—sometimes described as being ridden or driven until exhausted—may point to a ritualized state of heightened excitement or frenzy prior to death. This can be plausibly interpreted in light of the concept of óðr, the ecstatic force associated with Odin, involving frenzy, inspiration, and altered states of consciousness. Sacrificing the animals at the peak of such excitement may have been understood as preparing them to accompany their lord into the afterlife in an appropriately empowered state.]

95. The young slave fornicates with those present

Meanwhile, the young woman who was going to be sacrificed entered and left each of the houses that the Rus had built on the shore, and the owner of each of them copulated with her saying: “Tell your lord that I only do it out of respect for him.”

[This passage is among the most difficult to interpret and cannot be corroborated by Norse literary sources. Ibn Faḍlān’s description may reflect a ritualized state of heightened arousal or frenzy surrounding the funeral, rather than sexual behavior understood in ordinary social terms. It is plausible that such acts were perceived as contributing to an ecstatic or liminal condition preceding death, comparable to the altered states associated with battle fury and ritual intensity in Germanic belief. While this interpretation remains speculative and cannot be proven archaeologically or textually, it offers a possible framework for understanding the episode without assuming it reflects normative or everyday practice.]

96. The sacrificed young woman sees Paradise

On Friday, coinciding with the afternoon prayer, they took the young woman to a structure similar to alarge door. The young slave put her feet in the hands of the men who accompanied her, and they lifted her into the air. The young woman said a few words and they took her down. She was lifted twice more and did the same. After that, they brought a chicken and gave it to the girl, who cut the head of the animal and threw the decapitated body into the boat. I asked the interpreter what they were doing, and he answered:

“The first time they pick her up she says, here I see my father and my mother.

The second time she says: I see all my ancestors sitting before me...

 and the third time she says: I see my lord sitting in Paradise, which is green and beautiful. He is with many men and young people who are calling me. Take me to them”

The men carried her towards the ship. The young woman took off the two bracelets that she was wearing and gave them to the angel of death, who is in charge of sacrificing her. She took off two anklets from her and gave them to the two slaves who had been with her, the daughters of the angel of death. Some men lifted her up to enter the boat, but they did not allow her to approach the deceased. Some men arrived with shields and staffs and offered the young slave girl a cup of nabidh. The young woman began to sing and drink. The interpreter translated for me what the girl was saying. He told me that she was saying goodbye to her fellow slaves. She was given another drink, and she continued singing while an old woman encouraged her to drink more before joining her lord in Paradise. I realized that the slave girl was not aware of what was going to happen. She wanted to go to where thebody was, but she hesitated for a moment. The old woman pulled her hair and forced her into the boat. The  men began to hit the shields with their sticks to drown out the young woman's screams and prevent other slaves from refusing to die when the time came. Six men entered and copulated with the girl, one after another, before leaving her with the deceased. Two of them took her by her feet and two others by her hands and lifted her towards the sky. The angel of death put a rope around the slave's neck. She made it a certain way so that two of the men could pull the ends of it. The old woman approached the girl carrying a wide-bladed dagger that she stuck several times between the slave's ribs while the two men pulled the rope to drown her.

[This ritual cannot be directly confirmed by Scandinavian sources, as no comparable descriptions survive, but its symbolic structure is coherent within a broader Norse and later Scandinavian worldview. The act of lifting the woman above a doorframe places her in a liminal position, physically and symbolically between worlds, which may represent a threshold between the living and the dead. Her visions are plausibly connected to intoxication, possibly intensified by hallucinogenic substances, reinforcing her conviction that she is seeing into the afterlife. Similar ideas appear in later Scandinavian folk traditions, where liminal spaces—such as gates, doorways, fences, or hedges—are associated with prophecy, second sight, and glimpses beyond the ordinary world, suggesting continuity in symbolic logic even if the specific ritual is unattested.]

97. The burning of the ship

The closest male relative of the deceased is in charge of setting fire to the boat. He approached with a burning stick, but first he walked towards those present, covering his butt. He was completely naked. He lit the funeral pyre that they had prepared under the ship after they had placed the girl's body next to the corpse of the deceased. The attendees approached with sticks that they threw at the bonfire. The fire began to consume everything. A strong and terrifying wind began to blow, the flames fanned and the heat became stronger.

98. Why do the Rus burn their dead?

One of the Rus who was next to me said something to the interpreter, and I asked him what he had told him.

“He said that Arabs are fools.”

“Why?”The interpreter responded: “You leave your dead underground to be eaten by worms and insects. We burn them quickly so that they can enter Paradise without delay.

”Then he started laughing uncontrollably and said to me: “His Lord, out of love for the deceased, has sent the wind so that his body may be consumed in the shortest possible time.”In less than an hour nothing was left, just dust and ashes.

[These sections are especially valuable because they preserve an explicit explanation of cremation given by a Rus man himself. The reasoning—that burning the body allows the deceased to reach the afterlife more quickly by preventing prolonged decay—offers a rare insider perspective on funerary logic. This explanation aligns well with the widespread use of cremation in the Scandinavian and wider Germanic world during the pagan period. It also provides a useful contrast to bog burials, where bodies were placed in conditions that halted decomposition entirely. From this perspective, bog burial may represent the opposite ritual intent: a deliberate suspension of transition rather than acceleration toward the next life. Ibn Faḍlān’s account therefore supplies a coherent interpretive framework that helps explain otherwise puzzling variations in Germanic mortuary practice.]

99. The burial mound

Where they burned the ship, the Rus built something resembling a circular hill. In the center they nailed a large khadank post on which they engraved the name of the deceased and the king of the Rus. Once done, they left.

[This practice closely parallels what is known from Scandinavian memorial traditions. The erection of a marker bearing the name of the deceased strongly resembles the later runestone tradition, particularly in Sweden, where thousands of such stones commemorate the dead. While Ibn Faḍlān describes a post rather than a stone, the underlying function is the same: to mark the burial site and preserve the memory and status of the deceased. The difference in material likely reflects regional practice or availability rather than a fundamentally different custom, making this account highly plausible and consistent with the broader Norse commemorative tradition.]

100. The king of the Rus

One of the customs of the king of the Rus is to have four hundred men in his palace. They are the bravest and most faithful he can count on. They are those who die when his master dies, and are willing to die for him. Each of them has a young slave girl who serves them, washes their hair and prepares what they eat and drink, and they have another with whom they lie. These men sit around the throne, which is immense and richly adorned with gems. Forty young slave girls, who are meant to please and serve him, also sit around the throne. Sometimes the king fornicates with one of them in the presence of everyone, without getting up from the throne. When he wants to urinate or defecate, he does it in a urinal. If he wants to ride a horse, they take the horse to the throne. If he wants to dismount, they make the horse go to the throne. He has a lieutenant who leads his army, fights against his enemies and represents him to his vassals.

[This final section is difficult to verify in detail, as most of the specific practices described have no clear parallels in Norse literary or archaeological sources. What can be confidently confirmed is the emphasis on extreme loyalty to a leader, including the willingness to die for him, which is deeply rooted in Germanic tradition and attested from Roman-era accounts onward. Other elements—such as the constant sexual availability of slave women, the intimate servicing of the ruler, and the physical handling of the king and his horse—remain unproven and may reflect exaggeration, misunderstanding, or local variation. Particularly significant is Ibn Faḍlān’s use of the term “king,” since the eastern Rus are generally understood to have been led by princes or chieftains rather than kings in a Scandinavian sense. This suggests that his description may partially conflate the Rus with Scandinavian elites more broadly, treating them as a cultural extension of the Norse world. Taken together, the account underscores both the value and the limits of Ibn Faḍlān’s testimony, highlighting where his observations can be corroborated and where they must remain open to interpretation.]