Eaters Of The Dead

“Well, very shortly, a sense of permanence.”

The Norsemen’s culture is almost mystical to Ahmad, especially in the preliminary stages of his encounter. Just as the Norsemen appear out of the mist, Ahmad finds them difficult to define. To him, the Norsemen are as evasive and as opaque as the drifting mists of Northern Europe.

“In any case, the reader may judge for himself.”

The question of truth is left to the reader to decide. As such, the novel rejects the idea of an objective, authoritative truth, and demands a metafictional engagement that maintains the reader’s awareness that they are engaging with a fictionalized text. The reader becomes the ultimate arbiter of reality, deciding for themselves whether Ahmad is telling the truth or embellishing his memories, and what liberties Crichton has taken.

“This was a poor lie and he did not believe it.”

Ahmad willingly admits that he is not a good liar; as a poor liar, his mystical and outlandish recollections are given additional weight. A bad liar could not tell a false story so convincingly, suggesting that Ahmad should be believed and that his story is true, at least from his perspective. 

“They have no religious bonds with God.”

To Ahmad, one of the strangest parts of the Norsemen’s culture is that they lack a relationship with God. The Norsemen have gods, but they regard their pantheon of deities with suspicion and intrigue, rather than the religious devotion that Allah inspires in Ahmad and his fellow Muslims. For a person as devout as Ahmad, the lack of a relationship with God suggests a hollow and meaningless life, yet Ahmad is intrigued rather than appalled by the religious differences. 

“This was reason for further laugher, but I do not know for what cause they should find a joke.”

Ahmad’s role as a careful observer of a foreign culture is validated by his willingness to include details which confuse him or even mock him. When the Norsemen make fun of him, he includes their mockery to provide a greater depth of insight into their culture, even if this insight comes at his own expense. That Ahmad is willing to sacrifice his own reputation in the name of accuracy lends credibility to his work.

“We, on the other hand, burn him in a twinkling, so that instantly, without a moment’s delay, he enters into Paradise.”

Ahmad asks questions about the nature of the funeral ceremony and the Norsemen speak to him as though their beliefs are self-evident. The cultural differences are a bilateral exchange, in which each party believes their own culture to be normal and the other culture to be strange. Ahmad’s inclusion of this perspective is a show of respect toward the Norsemen, as he shows the reader that there is no singular, default cultural norm.

“A poor man or a slave is a matter of indifference to them, and even a chieftain will provoke no sadness or tears.”

The more time Ahmad spends with the Norsemen, the more their culture intrigues him. The way they treat their slaves is markedly more egalitarian compared to other cultures Ahmad knows, suggesting that the Norsemen possess an underlying humanity which was hidden from him by their rough and dirty appearance. The way the Norsemen treat slaves, poor people, and death in general suggests to Ahmad that the Norsemen’s culture has hidden depth. 

“The name cannot be said, for it is forbidden to speak it, lest the utterance of the name call forth the demons.”

The difficulty of translating certain words or phrases can change the presentation of a situation or idea. Here, the beliefs of the characters and the difficulties of translation combine to create an ominous sense of dread and foreboding. No one will tell Ahmad what he is about to face, nor will his language adequately be able to express the horror of what he will encounter.

“In the same way, they treat their slaves with much kindness, which was a wonder to me.”

While Ahmad assumed slavery to be a natural phenomenon, the kinder way in which the Norsemen treat their slaves makes him question the institution of slavery and the morality of his own culture. For the first time, Ahmad is beginning to wonder whether the Norsemen might be more civilized than his own people, at least in some respects.

“None of the warriors looked back at the burning town of Yatlam; I alone did this, and I saw the smoking ruin, and the mists in the hills beyond.” 

As the dramatic tension builds toward the encounter with the wendol, Ahmad realizes that he cannot ignore the brutal truth. If he wants to survive, he must accept the horrors that lay ahead. While the Norsemen know what they are about to face and they react stoically to the destruction of Yatlam, Ahmad stares death in the face to prepare himself for what is to come.

“You Arabs are stupid beyond counting, and know nothing of the ways of the world.”

The relationship between Herger and Ahmad is built on their cultural differences and similarities. Herger’s perspective shows Ahmad that his own point of view is not necessarily correct. Ahmad views himself and his culture are enlightened, refined, and superior. Herger’s jokes show Ahmad that his knowledge and experience are limited; by joking about the cultural differences, Herger diffuses Ahmad’s sense of cultural superiority and bonds them together in a shared understanding of the world. 

“The ship was beached at the time of the afternoon prayer, and I begged the forgiveness of Allah for not making supplication.”

As Ahmad travels further north, he loses contact with the society and culture he once knew. Praying and religious rules seem to have no place in the chaotic, dangerous north. The more Ahmad learns about the strangeness of the world, the more he begins to abandon the religious practices which once defined his identity. 

“I am not a warrior and know it full well.”

Despite his fear, Ahmad follows in the Norsemen’s footsteps. Ahmad may not consider himself to be brave, but his actions suggest that he is as courageous as the rest of the warriors. Ahmad’s self-image contrasts with the reality of his actions, until he is able to acknowledge his own bravery. 

“Indeed, I was vain as a young cock, and I am abashed now to think upon my strutting.”

The first battle gives Ahmad a fleeting glimpse of life as a warrior. He is briefly filled with a sense of pride and vanity, strutting around the town as though he is Buliwyf. This pride fades away quickly, and Ahmad is left with a sense of embarrassment. As the narrator, these confessional moments add legitimacy to Ahmad’s narrative.

“Instead I aided in the work as best I could, pausing only once to have my way with a slavewoman in the Northman’s fashion.”

Ahmad’s cultural integration continues. Not only does he abandon his old religious routines and practices, but he adopts the culture of his hosts. He wears their clothes, learns their language, and copies their attitudes toward women and alcohol.

“Then he offered me a cup of mead to ease the chill, and I drank this cup of mead without a pause, and was glad for it.”

Ahmad’s cultural integration continues as he makes bargains with himself based on religious doctrine. While most Muslims interpret the rule against alcohol in the Koran in a broad sense, mead is not specifically mentioned. Ahmad, cold and shaken by the violence he has witnessed, reasons himself into a position where he can retain his faith while still drinking alcohol, becoming a mix of both cultures.

“He gave me a draught of mead, which I drank gratefully, with praise to Allah that it is not forbidden, or even disapproved of.”

Shortly after his first drink of alcohol, Ahmad has fully convinced himself that his actions are completely justified. This quick abandonment of one of the defining characteristics of his culture evinces how extraordinary circumstance and cultural immersion have changed Ahmad’s perspective.

“You set out upon a false mission, and deep in your hero’s heart you knew it was unworthy.”

Buliwyf’s failure is not caused by an external enemy. Rather than beating the wendol, he can only succeed by turning his attention inward and addressing his own failures. Buliwyf cannot win if he does not adhere to the Norsemen’s idea of honor. He must prove that he is worthy of winning before he is able to claim victory.

“You dress and now you speak as a Northman, and not a foreign man.”

Buliwyf points out that Ahmad is not only dressed like a Norsemen and speaking their language, but he is able to understand their culture. Ahmad is now fully integrated into the Norse culture and he has Buliwyf’s approval. This external confirmation of Ahmad’s integration shows that he has earned the respect of his fellow warriors, even if he still doubts himself.

“I do not want to be a hero.”

Ahmad’s honest confession is taken as a joke by the other warriors. To them, the idea that a person would not want to be a hero is absurd. Even as Ahmad becomes fully integrated into the culture, moments like this remind the reader that there are still differences between Ahmad and the Norsemen. While the other characters may show their bravery by charging into battle against the enemy, Ahmad shows his bravery by admitting that he is scared.

“They appeared to be manlike in every respect, but not as any man upon the face of the earth.”

The wendol are described as occupying the uncanny space between human and not-human. They are so similar to humans that Ahmad can empathize with them, but so removed from the basic precepts of humanity that they remain alien to him. The wendol represent the wild and the unknown which exists outside of civilization.

“A dead man is no use to anyone.”

Buliwyf knows that he is going to die. He deals with his impending death using dark humor. The Norsemen struggle to admit to their sincere emotions, often framing their thoughts in terms of stoicism or jokes. Ahmad is different, in that he willingly and frequently admits that he is scared.

“Herger heard these words, and I also did, and I was the first to draw my sword.”

When Wiglif insults Buliwyf, Ahmad is the first to draw his sword and he does so without thinking. Wiglif is bigger than Ahmad and a more skilled warrior. Earlier in the novel, Ahmad would have hesitated before he even thought about challenging Wiglif to a duel. Now, however, he is so integrated into the Norsemen’s culture that he reactions quicker than Herger.