Rus Viking

RUS VIKING on the Volga (10th century), roughly based on the account of the Arab chronicler from Baghdad Ahmad ibn Fadlan, who encountered the Rus during his diplomatic journey to the khanate of the Volga Bulgars, in what is now western Russia.

According to Ahmad ibn Fadlan, the Rus were “as tall as date palms, blond and ruddy” and didn’t wear tunics, going bare-chested and wearing just pants and a cloak (which I have omitted here to make the tattoos more visible).

RUS TATTOOS?
I made two versions, one without tattoos (which is safer) and a more speculative one with tattoos. Ahmad ibn Fadlan suggested that the Rus were covered from neck to toe in dark green or dark blue patterns resembling trees (possibly referring to the abstract forms of Norse art), an ambiguous quote that MIGHT refer to tattoos, or something else (alternative theories range from body paint to embroidery on clothes or even decorated sword scabbards, all being equally valid). There are different modern English translations of that quote by the Arab chronicler. One of such translations mentions the word “tattooed”, a term that wasn’t used by the original Arab author and has caused some misunderstanding (not only because the word “tattoo” is of Polynesian origin, but Ahmad doesn’t even use the Arabic equivalent of the word, which is suspicious). Additionally, we can assume Ahmad ibn Fadlan would have been familiar with the practice of tattooing, as several pre-Islamic tribal tattooing traditions survived within the Islamic world, and the practice itself is considered haram in Islam, so why then would he describe the tattoos of the Rus so ambiguously and without condemning them? It’s up to you to decide whether you believe there’s enough evidence to support Rus tattoos. That said, the evidence for tattoos in Viking Age Scandinavia is a big fat zero. IF SOME Rus were tattooed, it could be a practice they adopted from some Eurasian population during their journeys to the East. We can assume that if Norwegians, Danes or Swedes were tattooed, Christian monks all over Europe would have used such heathen body marks as a pretext to demonise the Vikings even more than they did.

References:
- Sword based on a replica by Dimitry Hramstov, after a find from Ukraine.
- Long knife from Gnezdovo, with parallelisms in the Baltic and Sweden. Replica by Lars Jensen.
- “Tarsoly” Magyar (Hungarian) pouch with bronze appliques after a find from Shestoviсa (Ukraine). Replica by Helgi’s True History Shop. Fancy eastern pouches of this type were luxury items among the Rus and even among some Swedes. Notice that I made it smaller than the oversized replicas worn by most modern reenactors, because unlike us, they didn’t have giant smartphones in the Early Middle Ages.
- The baggy pants are based on the famous find from Hedeby (German part of Jutland), as well as numerous depictions in runestones and other artifacts, mostly from Sweden. This seems to be the most up-to-date interpretation of the baggy pants from Hedeby, much more pleated than the ones worn by most modern reenactors. Replica made by Kvetun.
- Magyar-style belt from Kyiv, Ukraine. Fancy belts of Hungarian or Eurasian manufacture were another popular exotic item among the Rus.
- Sword suspension belt with a buckle and fittings from Birka, Sweden.
- Islamic silver coin (dirham) worn as a necklace. Islamic coins have been found in huge numbers in Viking Age sites all over Europe, often worn as pendants.