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Ibn Fadlan, Arab diplomat, writer of one of the earliest reports of what can only be Nordic vikings (Varangians), whom he met near the Atil (Itil, Volga) river and whom he calls "Rusiyyah", which is supposedly Rus'. At the same time, Dolukhanov claims that the description presents the mixture of Varangian and Khazarian traits, indicating either his confusion of the two ethnoses, or fluid intermixture of them occurring at the described times.
Ibn Fadlan describes their hygiene as disgusting (while also noting with some astonishment that they comb their hair every day) and considers them vulgar and unsophisticated. In that, his impressions contradict to those of Ibn Rustah.
He also describes at some length the funeral of one of their chieftains, and their physical characteristics.
External link
contains Ibn Fadlan and the Rusiyyah, by James E. Montgomery, with full annotated translation of Ibn Fadlan
