For the record, this conceit is both terrifically clever and utterly impossible. He will not speak, since he is dead”). As the journey goes we are shown a series of spirited conversations between various North Men. ( Log Out /  We see a reluctant traveler forced to adapt to a completely foreign culture or die. There is no getting around it, The 13th Warrior was a phenomenal flop at the box office. Alas, the opening shot nearly wrecked my excitement. Melchisidek (in English): Apparently, the king will not speak to us, because he is dead. However, it was rather entertaining to watch it again, taking a few notes in the process. One of the warriors is a Celt and wears a Scottish kilt, which was not developed until the 16th or 17th century, either. One of them wears a Roman Gladiator helmet, which is very unlikely but still theoretically possible. On the Modern Problem of Spoilerphobia. Voilà, our Russians will now speak English (at least until the final scenes where they’re joined by actual English speakers), and we have a movie that’s easier to follow. The resulting book (and thus the other source Crichton used) is called the Risala, and it’s most famous for Ibn Fadlan’s eyewitness account of the ship-burial of a king among the Rus—a band of Vikings who plied their trade along the Volga River and (fun fact alert!) In spite of some geographic and armament inaccuracies, to this day out is one of the most grounded and honest depiclikes of ancient Norse culture in mainstream cinema. In his travels he encounters a group of nordic traders and, amid a particularly intense pagan ritual, is involuntarily recruited to go with them on a dangerous mission against an ancient enemy. Second, the movie was based on Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead, a novel that was, in turn, based on both the great Old English epic Beowulf and the very real account of Ahmad Ibn Fadlan’s embassy to the Volga Bulgars on behalf of the Caliph of Baghdad in the year 922. Moreover, the first time Melchisedek says hymereton instead of hymeteron. Through cut scenes we watch as the men around the campfire go from all-Norwegian to mostly-Norwegian-but-a-little-English—McTiernan uses repeat cuts, zooming in on their mouths to show Ibn Fadlan’s focus—to mostly-English to this moment when Ibn Fadlan reveals his new language abilities: Skeld the Superstitious: Blow-hards the both of you. So, if you want to watch this movie—and you should, because I sorta guiltily love it—you’ve got to skip the first 3 minutes and 45 seconds of it. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), © 2020 Macmillan | All stories, art, and posts are the copyright of their respective authors, a KGB officer starts to question Connery’s sub-captain, Ten International Horror Movies to Stream This Halloween, Spoiler Alert! There were the occasional less than horrible write-ups, like this from The Washington post: “The summer’s primo guilty pleasure… red meat for the soul”. One of the more interesting cultural moments in The 13th Warrior occurs early in the film. It’s Vikings on a longship in a storm …laughing. Study abroad language immersion for the win, kids! Melchisedek tries to speak to Vikings in Greek: he repeats something like ἡγεμόνα ὑμέτερον, βασιλέα ὑμέτερον (hegemona hymeteron, basilea hymeteron), which means “your chief, your king” in the accusative case, which makes little sense without a verb. Wait…does that map place the city of Baghdad between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, somewhere around modern-day Vladikavkaz in Russia? What happens next is based on the actual account of historical Ibn Fadlan. Despite some occasional career blunders, he’s helmed both Die Hard (1988) and The Hunt for Red October (1990). To that, I say that no, apparently ‘you’ can’t. Your king?”, is incorrect grammar (this is not his native tongue, you see). Melchisidek (in English): He says their king is out there in that tent. In the time of “Me Too” and “representation matters”, it is definitely worth noting the distinct lack of any meaningful female presence. While not the first adaptation of his writing, the obsessive author became a box office darling after the release of Stephen Spielberg’s version of his novel Jurassic Park. There’s more! “The short version is, I wrote Eaters of the Dead on a bet that I could make an entertaining story out of Beowulf.”. Ultimately their bravery, cunning, and honor shine through. To that, I say that no, apparently you can’t. (What they are actually speaking, in fact, is Norwegian, which is a descendant of Old Norse tongues and convenient for the filmmakers because it was the native language of many of the actors. All in all, The 13th Warrior is definitely one of my go-to “medieval” films despite the many historical issues. The Thirteenth Warrior is not meant I believe to be taken as literal or as even accurate. To cite but one reason, our sole surviving copy of Beowulf was written at the end of the tenth century, which totally works for Crichton’s re-imagining—but the story it relates takes place some five centuries earlier, which doesn’t work at all. Add more and vote on your favourites! We can literally see his transformation as he sheds his traditional Arabic robes along with his preconceived notions. To show how the Arab traveler was first able to understand only parts of phrases, Vikings’ speech is heard to be a strange mix of English and Norwegian, like “Do not fortelle my wife, for jeg will be coming.” The Difference Is Entirely One of Setting: Iain Banks’, Something in the Water, Something in the Air: Kaaron Warren’s “The Diesel Pool”, Never Say You Can’t Survive: Find Your Voice and Make It LOUD, “I am done being reflexively supportive” —, Reading The Wheel of Time: Long Journeys and Painful Emotions in Robert Jordan’s. As a medievalist I get pumped about most big-budget quasi-medieval films (and, yes, a lot of low-budget ones, too! The protagonist in particular undergoes a remarkable journey from a self-important man to one who, the moment before a dire battle, can earnestly make this prayer: Ibn Fadlan: Merciful Father, I have squandered my days with plans of many things. ), but this one had me more excited than usual. Herger (in Norwegian): Det er en Araber fra Baghdad. Roger Ebert gave it 1.5 stars and complained: “It’s a little unsettling to sit through nonstop slaughter and then witness a pious conclusion”, “A bloody but anemic story of he-men with broad swords and long ships”. The North Men, on the other hand, are introduced as vulgar, unclean, violent, and uncivilized barbarians. Later on, Ibn Fadlan studies the language of Vikings simply by listening to them, over a very short period of time. As a conceit, Crichton’s plot is a fun one. Though their speech is foreign to him, over time he is able to acquire enough of the nordic language (in this case Norwegian) to hold a conversation. Even if the amazing language sequences weren’t there, the filmmakers still made a movie with some great visual moments, a good score (two of them, as it turns out), some tight battle sequences, a solid plot, and some truly enjoyable characters. But some folks over the course of a week of immersion really can pick up more than enough to get by. Ahmad, who is neither a warrior nor an adventurer, is suddenly swept up in a world that he does not understand, fighting a foe that he isn’t even sure he believes exists. The filming location of British Columbia serves as an accurate substitute for the Scandinavian wilderness. Both the film and the novel it is based on merge two historically important texts, the Old English epic poem Beowulf and Ahmad ibn Fadlan’s real-life account of the Volga Vikings. Professor Michael Livingston of The Citadel in Charleston, SC says this about The 13th Warrior‘s representation of immersion learning: “Some reviewers gripe about this sequence, complaining that you can’t learn a language so quickly. 2 on its opening weekend behind The Sixth Sense. Luckily for him, Ibn Fadlan has a companion with him named Melchisidek (played by the wonderful Omar Sharif) who begins trying some of the different languages he knows on various bearded fellows in the crowd. There are some points, however, where the film hit the nail on the proverbial head. That’s good for something. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. However, the Spanish Morion helmet, worn by another Viking, was not invented until the 16th century (Ibn Fadlan met Vikings in 922). Ignoring my attempts to get this timeline to make sense, the movie presses on, and Ibn Fadlan’s delegation is indeed beset by dangerous Tartars—which is cool for the few seconds of screen time it requires in order to serve as an overly complex reason for Ibn Fadlan to run toward a river where he and his company see a longship.