Eaters of the Dead
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| Author | Michael Crichton |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy, Historical novel Adventure |
| Publisher | Alfred a Knopf (US 1976) & Jonathan Cape (UK 1976) |
| Released | March 1976 (USA) & August 1976 (UK) |
| Pages | 288 p. (US hardback edition) & 192 p. (UK hardback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-394-49400-8 (US hardback edition) & ISBN 0-224-01306-8 (UK hardback edition) |
Eaters of the Dead: The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan Relating His Experiences with the Northmen in A.D. 922 is a 1976 novel by Michael Crichton. Crichton explains in an appendix that the book was based on two sources. The first three chapters are a retelling of Ibn Fadlan's personal account of his actual story journey northwards and his experiences with and observations of the Rus', the early Russian people. The remainder is based upon the story of Beowulf.
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[edit] Plot
The novel plays in the 10th century. The Caliph of Baghdad sends his ambassador, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, to the king of the Volga Bulgars. He never arrives but is instead captured by a group of Vikings. This group is sent on a hero's quest to the north. Ahmad ibn Fadlan is taken along, as the thirteenth member of their group, to bring good luck. There he battles with the 'mist-monsters', a relict group of Neanderthals.
Eaters of the Dead is narrated as a scientific commentary on an old manuscript. A sense of authenticity is supported by occasional explanatory footnotes with references to a mixture of factual and fictitious sources.
[edit] Sources & Inspiration
In an afterword in the novel Crichton gives a few comments on its origin. A good friend of Crichton's was giving a lecture on the 'Bores of Literature.' Included in his lecture was an argument on Beowulf and why it was simply uninteresting. Crichton stated his views that the story was not a bore and was, in fact, a very interesting work. The argument escalated until Crichton stated that he would prove to him that the story could be interesting if presented in the correct way.
In a seemingly offhand referance, H.P.Lovecraft's Necronomicon is quoted in the in-character bibliography.
[edit] Film or TV adaptations
The novel was adapted into film as The 13th Warrior, directed by John McTiernan. Crichton himself did some uncredited directing for a reshoot at the request of McTiernan who was working on another film when reshoots were needed. Ibn Fadlan was played by Antonio Banderas. Crichton writes that he was "quite pleased" with the film, though it earned mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office, earning about $62 million worldwide; the film's budget was over $80 million.
[edit] Differences between film and novel
In the book, during the first fight Ibn Fadlan is nearly helpless against the monsters and must depend entirely on the Vikings to slay them. Later on Ibn Fadlan becomes convinced that death is only a moment away and decides to become a fighter. In the movie Ibn Fadlan kills several Wendol and is shown the equal of the Vikings in combat by his use of a scimitar, also it is his idea that the Wendol are sleeping in caves. The Tengol (leader of the dwarves) from the book is replaced by an old mad woman in the film (unknown whether a dwarf or normal human). In the movie Ibn Fadlan travels with a friend when he meets the Vikings; in the book that friend was sick during a hard winter and is left behind. In the movie, Buliwyf doesn't acknowledge Ibn Fadlan as much of a friend; in the book they were so close that Ibn Fadlan was one of the few that got the honor to be in the ceremony of Buliwyf's funeral.
Another big difference is the fact that in the book, the Wendol (mist monsters) actually seem to be another than human spieces (Ibn Fadlan makes a few accurate descriptions on how their faces and bodies differ from those of "normal" humans) while in the movie they appear to be humans who assume another form by wearing animal's heads. Later in the book one also finds a suggestion that the Wendol are actually the last tribe of the Neandertal sub-spieces.
[edit] References
- Crichton, Michael. "A Factual Note on Eaters of the Dead" in Eaters of the Dead. New York: The Ballantine Publishing Company, 1992. ISBN 0-345-35461-3.
