The 13th Warrior
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The 13th Warrior |
| Abbreviation(s): | 13th Warrior, 13W |
| Creator: | Michael Crichton (author), Touchstone Pictures |
| Date(s): | 1999 |
| Medium: | Film |
| Country of Origin: | USA |
| External Links: | The 13th Warrior on IMDb 13_warrior on LiveJournal |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The 13th Warrior is a 1999 film starring Antonio Banderas. It is an adaptation of the novel Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton.
The premise of the film and book is a retelling of the Old English epic poem Beowulf. Crichton responded to a challenge to make Beowulf more interesting to modern audiences by writing Eaters of the Dead. With the book he appropriated the history and work of Ahmed ibn Fadlan, a 10th century Persian traveler who wrote of meeting Northmen near what is now Russia. Ibn Fadlan becomes the storyteller and the Northmen his objects of study. Grendal becomes a savage tribe of indigenous people called the wendol or wen, who are cannibalistic. The Northmen, with Fadlan, battle the wendol and eventually defeat them.
The film co-stars several European actors who were unknown to American film. The other main roles are those of Buliwyf, played by Czechoslovakian actor Vladimiar Kulich, and Herger, played by Norwegian actor Dennis Storhøi.
It is the on-screen relationship between Banderas' character Ahmed ibn Fahdlan (h added) and Storhøi's character Herger that prompted a fandom for this media.
Fandom
M'lyn began slashing Herger/Ahmed in December 2005, but there wasn't an established fandom. Exhaustive Google searches turned up some feral fan pages and the occasional fic. M'lyn founded the LiveJournal community 13_warrior and wrote a ship_manifesto for Herger/Ahmed. In addition, M'lyn wrote a great deal of Herger/Ahmed fic, one fic for Buliwyf with hints of a het relationship, and two vids . These can be found at the community, on Archive Of Our Own, and at her personal websites (see User page).
Fannish participation by other fans has remained limited to LiveJournal icons and banners, and the occasional post of Viking-related news. Interest in the actor Dennis Storhøi spun off a small Yahoo Groups-focused fandom, but the movie and its fandom are rarely mentioned.
Community
Mailing Lists
- the13thwarriorclub Yahoo Group, general interest[dead link]
- Dennis Storhøi Circle Yahoo Group, not focused on The 13th Warrior fandom[dead link]
Resources