Coincidentally I am reading Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings, and there is a chapter on Viking burial practices and similarly archaeologists are left to do a lot of guesswork and hypothesizing despite these being only 1000-1200 years old since there’s quite a bit of variation and all of the written records comes via contemporary visitors from much different cultures or hundreds of years later via the Christian tinted lenses of transcribers who may have been conquered or invaded by Vikings of various sorts. There’s a lot of space for fictionalization that could fit the evidence like this novel - à la Vinland Saga manga.
"10th-century Arab traveler from Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate,[a] famous for his account of his travels as a member of an embassy of the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir to the king of the Volga Bulgars, known as his risāla ("account" or "journal").[b]
His account is most notable for providing a detailed description of the Volga Vikings, including eyewitness accounts of life as part of a trade caravan and witnessing a ship burial. "
Yes, there are a couple of Arabic and other visitors quoted in this book as well, I think this is the primary one. It’s a fascinating part of history and a tantalizing glimpse.
stevenwoo · · focus · HN ↗
trhway · · focus · HN ↗
that isn't necessarily bad, anyway in the context of your post reminded of
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Fadlan" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Fadlan
"10th-century Arab traveler from Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate,[a] famous for his account of his travels as a member of an embassy of the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir to the king of the Volga Bulgars, known as his risāla ("account" or "journal").[b]
His account is most notable for providing a detailed description of the Volga Vikings, including eyewitness accounts of life as part of a trade caravan and witnessing a ship burial. "
stevenwoo · · focus · HN ↗