[7] Despite its critical and box office failure, the film has since cultivated a devoted cult following, and is credited with pioneering a Muslim hero in Hollywood blockbusters.

[8] Ahmad ibn Fadlan is a court poet of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtadir of Baghdad until his amorous encounter with the wife of an influential noble gets him exiled as an "ambassador" to the Volga Bulgars.

That is followed by the funeral of the dead king, who is traditionally cremated on a Viking ship, set adrift with a female slave who offers to sacrifice herself and accompany him to Valhalla, the Norse afterlife (or "heaven").

The next day, the young Prince Wulfgar enters the camp to request Buliwyf's aid; his father, King Hrothgar, has asked for assistance, as his lands in the far north are under attack from an ancient evil so frightening that even the bravest warriors dare not name it.

However, he earns a measure of respect by quickly learning their language as he starts mentally translating it into Arabic, demonstration of horsemanship, and his ability to write.

Reaching Hrothgar's kingdom, they confirm that their foe is indeed the ancient "Wendol", fiends who come with the mist to kill and take human heads.

Ahmad witnesses Buliwyf's royal funeral alongside the four surviving members of the 13 (Herger, Weath, Edgtho, and Haltaf) before returning to his homeland, grateful to the Norsemen for helping him to "become a man and a useful servant of God".

Originally titled Eaters of the Dead, production began in the summer of 1997, but the film went through several re-edits after test audiences had not reacted well to the initial cut.

"[14] Roger Ebert gave the film one and a half stars out of four, remarking that it "lumber[s] from one expensive set-piece to the next without taking the time to tell a story that might make us care.

[16] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly rated it A− and called it "the most unexpectedly audacious, exhilarating, and wildly creative adventure thriller I have seen in ages".