Eaters of the Dead
| First edition cover | |
| Author | Michael Crichton | 
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Paul Bacon | 
| Language | English | 
| Genre | Plausible historical novel | 
| Publisher | Knopf | 
| Publication date | March 1976 | 
| Publication place | United States | 
| Pages | 288 | 
| ISBN | 0-394-49400-8 | 
| OCLC | 1959473 | 
| 813/.5/4 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.C9178 Eat3 PS3553.R48 | 
| Preceded by | The Great Train Robbery | 
| Followed by | Congo | 
Eaters of the Dead: The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan Relating His Experiences with the Northmen in AD 922 (later republished as The 13th Warrior to correspond with the film adaptation of the novel) is a 1976 novel by Michael Crichton, the fourth novel under his own name and his 14th overall. The story is about a 10th-century Muslim Arab who travels with a group of Vikings to their settlement.
Crichton explains in an appendix that the book was based on two sources. The first three chapters are a retelling of Ahmad ibn Fadlan's personal account of his actual journey north and his experiences with and observations of Varangians. The remainder is a retelling of Beowulf.