Eaters of the Dead was my first introduction to - well - anything Norse. It's part fiction, part fable, and it's a pretty entertaining book. The audio version - read by one of my favorite narrators, Simon Vance, is awesome.
It's the story of Ibn Fadlan, who was a scholar and a traveler in the tenth century. He's one of the writers that captured the state of the Norsemen and their tribes in historical accounts. He was an outsider, which made his observations on their rituals and behavior all the more poignant.
Ibn Fadlan was sent by the caliph of Baghdad to deliver a message to king in a faraway land. During his travels he was united with the Vikings and kept a firsthand account of his interactions with them. He discussed the way they ate to the way they copulated and everything in between. Anyone who is fussy about their own cleanliness will enjoy this book, as Ibn Fadlan is truly disgusted many times over in this book. I laughed a few times at his reaction to certain standard Viking practices. He also emerges from the experience a different, more resilient person.
The Eaters of the Dead contains a theory that the "monsters" discussed in Ibn Fedlan's account could actually be the last remaining Neanderthals. I hadn't heard of this theory before. Since we don't know for sure, I sort of feel like, "Well, why not?"
I really liked this book and I'd listen to it again in an instant.
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