During the Angel of Death's "recruitment drive", and just after she announces the 13th warrior must not be a Northman, Herger is standing up and looking at Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan. Just few seconds later, Herger is seen sitting down with a different set of clothing.
One warrior is missing.
Two die in the first fight.
Four die in the first battle.
There are seven left. This can be seen when they are riding for the cave. However only six enter the cave. One was lost.
The rope Edgtho slides down connecting the tree to the watchtower suddenly appears.
After one of the warriors claims "only an Arab would bring a dog to war," Ahmed displays his horse's abilities. One shot of Ahmed on his horse is shown in the rain immediately before hurdling one of the horse-mounted warriors. It is not raining during the rest of the scene.
When Herger takes Angus' head, Angus is facing Buliwyf and a waist-high rock, but when Herger walks away and Angus falls, Angus has turned 180 degrees and is facing away from Buliwyf and towards a much taller rock.
At one point, Ahmed grinds a straight broad sword into a curved scimitar. First, such an alteration to the blade could not be done with a grindstone. Such a task would require heating the blade and pounding it into the proper shape. The grindstone would only be used to polish and sharpen the blade. Also, this kind of alteration without heat treating and tempering the blade would compromise the integrity of the steel, resulting in a weapon too fragile for use. Finally, it appears as though it takes Ahmed, a man untrained in smithing, only a few hours to make these modifications on the grindstone. In reality, it would likely take a trained swordsmith days, if not weeks, to complete such a job.
Buliwyf asks Ibn Fadlan to teach him "words that stay", i.e. writing. Vikings had been writing with runes in the proto-Norse language for at least a thousand years by then.
While most warriors discarded their original weapons to swim under the cliffs, they acquired new ones: Buliwyf is given a sword by the king, Herger uses an unfamiliar halberd, and Edgtho's knives are borrowed. Thus, the last fight is not wrong.
Before the last fight, Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan invokes God by calling Him 'Father'. Muslims don't address God like this.
Ahmed also doesn't speak English. All English heard in the movie is the loose translation of what was said.
Ahmed also doesn't speak English. All English heard in the movie is the loose translation of what was said.
When Wulfgar the boy messenger talks with Buliwyf about the danger in the realm of his father King Hrothgar, Melchisidek translates Wulfgar's words for Ahmed (and the audience). However, Wulfgar doesn't speak Latin or Greek but Norwegian, when supposedly Melchisidek isn't capable of speaking it.
This also happens later in that scene. It is possible that Hargar was translating to Melchisidek, but the sound of it was omitted in order to not confuse the listener. Not a goof.
This also happens later in that scene. It is possible that Hargar was translating to Melchisidek, but the sound of it was omitted in order to not confuse the listener. Not a goof.
When Herger offers Ahmed mead, which Ahmed refuses because he can't drink fermented grapes or wheat, the shape and position of the horn of mead alters drastically.
It varied only in orientation. Pointy end up, pointy end down. He can be seen turning it while passing it.
It varied only in orientation. Pointy end up, pointy end down. He can be seen turning it while passing it.
Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan says he cannot drink beverages fermented from grapes or wheat, but drinks mead, because it is fermented from honey. In fact, any fermented beverage is forbidden to Muslims.
Fighting demons is thirsty work and he lapsed.
It is clear that in that moment of horror and desperation, especially after such a terrible battle and after hearing that four of their friends were killed, Ahmed felt the connection with the northmen through their humor (it's made from honey!) and simply said to himself: to hell with it! This is not a goof, but rather an ultimate evolution in character.
Fighting demons is thirsty work and he lapsed.
It is clear that in that moment of horror and desperation, especially after such a terrible battle and after hearing that four of their friends were killed, Ahmed felt the connection with the northmen through their humor (it's made from honey!) and simply said to himself: to hell with it! This is not a goof, but rather an ultimate evolution in character.
Right after Herger says to Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan, "Relax, little brother, there are more", Ibn runs his sword through a monster. The sword seems to be sticking out of the monster's back but if you look closely you'll see that he is only holding the sword under his armpit.
The nylon webbing strap holding the Wendol leader's bearskin cloak and headdress in place are visible during the final attack by the Wendol.
When Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan rides to save the little girl, and he pulls her up onto his horse, it's clearly a grown stunt woman, almost his size.
When Buliwyf (Vladimir Kulich) is seen using his double-handed longsword to kill the bodyguard of the "mother" in the caves, the sword is obviously a lot shorter than seen earlier for practical reasons. Had the sword been original length the killing of the bodyguard would not have worked as depicted.
During the first fight at the Castle against the Wendol, when the fight is over, one of the men tosses Ahmed one of the Wendols' claws. They all obviously could tell at once that the claw is on a stick or shaft and if wasn't a bear claw. The Wendol obviously hold onto the sticks which have bear claws attached to them. The Vikings immediately would have figured out they were not serpents or animals, but someone or something trying to impersonate bears.
Fear and superstition outweigh the leap of logic that it would take to figure that out.
Fear and superstition outweigh the leap of logic that it would take to figure that out.
The sabre Ibn Fahdlan makes is a curved sword which is exclusively Turkish. Arabs at that time used straight swords similar to Western broadswords. An Arab nobleman wouldn't know how to make one even if he had an anachronistic/exotic taste for Turkish cavalry sabres. Turkish-style curved swords became fashionable in the Middle East after large groups of Central Asian Turks began to be enlisted by Islamic armies later.
Not exclusively Turkish. Ahmed is from Baghdad, the trade and cultural center of the 10th century Islamic world, and could easily have seen the curved blade design, which had been in use for centuries. He was a quick study and may well have had help from the village metalworker to reshape the sword. The Vikings were skilled swordsmiths who used high-carbon steel to forge, for example, the famous Ulfberht swords.
Not exclusively Turkish. Ahmed is from Baghdad, the trade and cultural center of the 10th century Islamic world, and could easily have seen the curved blade design, which had been in use for centuries. He was a quick study and may well have had help from the village metalworker to reshape the sword. The Vikings were skilled swordsmiths who used high-carbon steel to forge, for example, the famous Ulfberht swords.
At the beginning of the movie, Ibn is in love. He encounters a woman in a corridor, who is wearing a strange headscarf over the low part of her face. Not only is this clothing not opaque, which is forbidden to Muslim women wearing headscarfs, but it is a Yashmak, worn first by Turkish women around 1840.
Helfdane (Clive Russel) and Buliwyf (Vladimir Kulich) wear Armour that was not invented until centuries after the film is set. Helfdane wears a solid breast breastplate. Buliwyf wears a set of plate Armour, a type which was not developed and used until the 15th, early 16th century. The movie takes place in the 10th century.
In a scene in a cave that is the lair of the "eaters of the dead," the camera takes an overhead wide angle shot of the "eaters" walking down into the cave. It is possible to see a young man wearing a burgundy t-shirt and beige shorts (a crew member), sitting against the wall of the cave cross-legged.
As the Wendel leader approaches the village for the final battle, there is a closeup shot of him on horseback, arm with weapon upraised. Look closely at his chest/underarm, and there is a plastic buckle (like a back-pack snap-in) visible holding the bearskin/costume.
On the map at the start of the film, Baghdad is in the Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. In reality, it is to the south-west of there on the Tigris River.
They enemy lives like bears in caves. Where did they get all those horses and how did they learn to ride them?