(The following was written for the 10/99 Nordic Saga of the Barony of Northkeep, Kingdom of Ansteorra)
by Berengaria Ravencroft (Berengaria@hotmail.com); (http://geocities.datacellar.net/athens/styx/5781)
"When Fortune means to men most good,
She looks upon them with a threatening eye."
William
Shakespeare (1564-1616) King John. Act 3 Scene 4.
This month, I want to print a correction. Several months ago, Lord Merrik Viltar Har asked "What designs would a 800-900ish Norseman consider 'appropriate' for body art, (tattoo). I have it in my head fighters would adorn the sword arm, etc.". What I told him was that my research staff had failed to find any solid documentation for Norse tattoos, and that while he probably could get away with getting a Norse tattoo, there was nothing I could tell him about what that should be.
Happily, I misspoke myself. A few weeks ago I was reading the novel of the "13th Warrior" and read something about tattoos. So I went to my research staff and asked them if what the book said was true. I got a long, boring lecture on why you really ought not base research on a Michael Crichton novel. So I took it upon myself to visit the library for a change. Now, you may remember, I'm not a historian, and since I haven't stepped foot in a library since college I was ready to not find anything.
Ok, most of the novel is total fiction, But there was an Ahmed Ibn Fadlan who traveled to the Northmen in 922 and wrote about it when he got home. He says
81. Each man has an axe, a sword, and a knife and keeps each by him at all times. The swords are broad and grooved, of Frankish sort. Every man is tatooed from finger nails to neck with dark green (or green or blue-black) trees, figures, etc.
He also has a lot of other things to say, but at least it should give you an idea of what to use for tattoos.
Sources:
Smyser, H.M. "Ibn Fadlan's Account of the Rus with Some Commentary and Some Allusions
to Beowulf." Franciplegius: Medieval and Linguistic Studies in Honor of Francis
Peabody Magoun, Jr. eds. Jess B. Bessinger Jr. and Robert P. Creed. 1965.
"So, when did the Mamlukes take possesion of the Iberian Peninsula?" -- Honorable Lady Bonita alDrayaayiaa bint Yusef
I'm sorry, My Lady, but I am told that the "Mamluks" never took possession of the Iberian Peninsula. The Mamluks (sometimes written Mamelukes --in Arabic "Owned Ones") were a sort of Turkish warrior/slave class that appeared first under the Ayyubid Sultans. They brought the Mongols to a standstill. Under Baybars in 1249 they came to rule Egypt. They eventually pushed out the Crusaders from Outremer, and and spread their influence into Arabia, Anatolia and in to the 'Abbasid land of Persia, until they were finally defeated by the Ottomans around 1517.
The conquerors of the Iberian peninsula of Andalus were Arabs and Berbers under the 'Abbasids and later the Umayyads. They first landed in 710 CE (c.88 AH) and continued north until being turned back at the battle of Tours in 732 CE (c.110 AH). by Charles Martel, a whole century before the Mamluks were created in Egypt.
Sources:
Crone, P. Slaves on Horses.
Donner, F.M. Early Islamic Conquests.
Hourani, Albert. A History of the Arab peoples.
If you have any questions about things that interest you, please send them to me directly, or by way of Chronicler.