[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-45992-en":3,"doc-seo-45992-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":11,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},45992,13056703019404,"Miles","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0",2,"Literature","Michael Crichton Eaters of the Dead","Eaters of the Dead presents the fictionalized “Ibn Fadlan manuscript” as an early eyewitness account of Viking life, framed around Ahmad Ibn Fadlan’s failed diplomatic journey and encounters with Norsemen. The introduction and provenance sections trace how the original report vanished and survive through fragments in later Arabic, Latin, and European sources. The text describes competing manuscripts, translation lineages, scholarly disputes, and the labor required to collate versions across more than a thousand years.","EATERS OF THE DEAD  \nThe Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, Relating His Experiences with the Northmen in A .D . 922  \nMICHAEL CRICHTON  \nTo William Howells  \nCONTENTS  \nCONTENTS 8  \nINTRODUCTION 10  \nPROVENANCE OF THE MANUSCRIPT 10  \nTHE VIKINGS 11  \nABOUT THE AUTHOR 13  \nTHE DEPARTURE FROM THE CITY OF PEACE 15  \nTHE WAYS OF THE OGUZ TURKS 18  \nFIRST CONTACT WITH THE NORTHMEN 22  \nTHE AFTERMATH OF THE NORTHMEN'S FUNERAL 27 THE JOURNEY TO THE FAR COUNTRY 30  \nTHE ENCAMPMENT AT TRELBURG 38  \nTHE KINGDOM OF ROTHGAR IN THE LAND OF VENDEN 43  \nTHE EVENTS THAT FOLLOWED THE FIRST BATTLE 54  \nTHE ATTACK OF THE GLOWWORM DRAGON KORGON 62  \nTHE DESERT OF DREAD 69  \nTHE COUNSEL OF THE DWARF 74  \nTHE EVENTS OF THE NIGHT BEFORE THE ATTACK 77  \nTHE THUNDER CAVES 79  \nTHE DEATH THROES OF THE WENDOL 85  \nTHE RETURN FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY 88  \nAPPENDIX: THE MIST MONSTERS 90  \nSOURCES 93  \nI . PRIMARY SOURCE 93  \nII . SECONDARY SOURCES 94  \nIII . GENERAL REFERENCE WORKS 94  \nA FACTUAL NOTE ON EATERS OF THE DEAD 95  \nAbout the Author 98  \n\"Praise not the day until evening has come; a woman until she is burnt; a sword until it is tried; a maiden until she is married; ice until it has been crossed; beer until it has been drunk . \"  \n—VIKING PROVERB  \n\"Evil is of old date . \"  \n—ARAB PROVERB  \nINTRODUCTION  \nTHE IBN FADLAN MANUSCRIPT REPRESENTS THE earliest known eyewitness account of Viking life and society. It is an extraordinary document, describing in vivid detail events which occurred more than a thousand years ago . The manuscript has not, of course, survived intact over that enormous span of time. It has a peculiar history of its own, and one no less remarkable than the text itself.  \nPROVENANCE OF THE MANUSCRIPT  \nIn June, A .D . 921, the Caliph of Bagdad sent a member of his court, Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, as ambassador to the King of the Bulgars . Ibn Fadlan was gone three years on his journey and never  \nactually accomplished his mission, for along the way he encountered a company of Norsemen and had many adventures among them .  \nWhen he finally returned to Bagdad, Ibn Fadlan recorded his experiences in the form of an official report to the court . That original manuscript has long since disappeared, and to reconstruct it we must rely on partial fragments preserved in later sources.  \nThe best-known of these is an Arabic geographical lexicon written by Yakut ibn-Abdallah sometime in the thirteenth century . Yakut includes a dozen verbatim passages from Ibn Fadlan's account, which was then three hundred years old . One must presume Yakut worked from a copy of the original. Nevertheless these few paragraphs have been endlessly translated and retranslated by later scholars .  \nAnother fragment was discovered in Russia in 1817 and was published in German by the St .  \nPetersburg Academy in 1823. This material includes certain passages previously published by J . L . Rasmussen in 1814. Rasmussen worked from a manuscript he found in Copenhagen, since lost, and of dubious origins. There were also Swedish, French, and English translations at this time, but they are all notoriously inaccurate and apparently do not include any new material.  \nIn 1878, two new manuscripts were discovered in the private antiquities collection of Sir John Emerson, the British Ambassador in Constantinople . Sir John was apparently one of those avid collectors whose zeal for acquisition exceeded his interest in the particular item acquired. The manuscripts were found after his death; no one knows where he obtained them, or when .  \nOne is a geography in Arabic by Ahmad Tusi, reliably dated at A .D . 1047. This makes the Tusi manuscript chronologically closer than any other to the original of Ibn Fadlan, which was presumably written around A .D . 924-926 . Yet scholars regard the Tusi manuscript as the least trustworthy of all the sources; the text is full of obvious errors and internal inconsistencies, and although it quotes at length from one \"Ibn Faqih\" who visited the North countr","cbCaisH1QNc1vQhM","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisH1QNc1vQhM","pdf",201287,1,54,"English","en",105,"# Contents\n## Introduction\n## Provenance of the Manuscript\n## The Vikings\n## About the Author\n## The Departure from the City of Peace\n## The Ways of the Oguz Turks\n## First Contact with the Northmen\n## The Aftermath of the Northmen's Funeral\n## The Journey to the Far Country\n## The Encampment at Trelburg\n## The Kingdom of Rothgar in the Land of Venden\n## The Events That Followed the First Battle\n## The Attack of the Glowworm Dragon Korgon\n## The Desert of Dread\n## The Counsel of the Dwarf\n## The Events of the Night Before the Attack\n## The Thunder Caves\n## The Death Throes of the Wendol\n## The Return From the North Country\n## Appendix: The Mist Monsters\n## Sources\n## A Factual Note on Eaters of the Dead","[{\"question\":\"What is the premise of Eaters of the Dead?\",\"answer\":\"The book is presented as an annotated, reconstructed manuscript—attributed to Ibn Fadlan—describing experiences with Norsemen and Viking society during a journey in the early 10th century.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is the original Ibn Fadlan manuscript no longer available?\",\"answer\":\"The introduction states that the original manuscript disappeared over time, so later sources preserve only fragments and excerpts rather than the complete report.\"},{\"question\":\"How are the surviving sources and translations related?\",\"answer\":\"The text explains that later scholars relied on partial passages preserved in Arabic, Latin, and European translations, including named manuscript traditions with varying reliability, which required extensive collation over 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