Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, Ahmad ibn Fadlan's medieval Arab travel account in Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone's 2012 scholarly translation from Penguin, is the primary tenth century eyewitness record of Ibn Fadlan's journey among Volga peoples, in a vetted modern English rendering. Its strength is that it is a primary historical account in a translation prepared with scholarly apparatus rather than a loose popular retelling. Its limit is that Ibn Fadlan wrote as an outside Arab observer of the peoples he describes, so his account reflects his own categories of description as much as those peoples' self understanding.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier2
Reliability tier 2: a primary tenth century eyewitness account in a scholarly translation prepared with critical apparatus, reflecting the outside observer's own categories of description as much as the peoples he described. NotesScholarly translation of Ibn Fadlan's medieval Arab travel account of the far north, Penguin, 2012.
Citation
AuthorAhmad ibn Fadlan; translated by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone
PublisherPenguin
Publication Year2012
Source TypePrimary text in translation
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Arabs directly: "Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, Ahmad ibn Fadlan's medieval Arab travel account in Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone's 2012 scholarly translation from Penguin, is..."
Claims Backed By This Source (12 claims)
This source backs 12 claims across the atlas. As facts: 8 well-attested, 2 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 1 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Rituals, 4 claims: 1 well-attested, 2 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
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