SC - Unbathed Vikings!?!?!

[UlfR]

On Tue, 24 Oct 2000, david friedman wrote:

> At 12:59 AM -0500 10/25/00, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> >the paraphrase is that the Norse were dirty and stinky and didn't
> >bother to bath even after sex.
> 
> I believe that ablutions after sex may be a religious duty in Islam; 
> my basis for that is a bit I remember from the Nights. If so "don't 
> always" would be grounds for disapproval, and could easily convert to 
> "don't."

Ibn Fadlan, IIRC. I also think this is one of the few mentions of
unsanitary practices among Norse. His description of the bathwater was
too graphical to have any resemblance to reality, IMHO.

/UlfR

- -- 
Par Leijonhufvud                                      parlei at algonet.se
Artificial Intelligence stands no chance against Natural Stupidity.