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Hello from gorgeous cow country in upstate NY! If you were intrigued by the title of the email today, I am of course talking about the best terrible movie of all time, The Thirteenth Warrior! For most people, that fun bit of made-up history is all they've heard of any actual interaction between Vikings and Moslems. What you might not know is that they actually had a lot of interaction at the height of the Islamic Empire in the 10th century. In fact, did you know that we never would have heard about Viking funerals if not for the travelogue of an Arab traveler? So it's with great pleasure that I agreed to take part in a very cool project, an anthology that collects short historical stories about the interactions (real or imagined) of Vikings and Moslems in the 10th century. My own story is inspired by Russia, naturally, but they were all basically Vikings in the 10th century anyway, so it works :) Here's the intro to my story in the anthology: There are many legends of the historical Prince Oleg of Kiev. One of the least known is perhaps the most likely in terms of actual history. Al-Masudi, the “Herodotus of the Arabs”, wrote of a fleet of 500 Russian ships that attacked the Kerch Strait in 912 AD, led by two warriors he named “Al-Dir and Olvang,” presumably, Oleg of Kiev. The Khan of the Khazar Khaganate allowed the Rus access through the Don River to the Volga, and from there into the Caspian Sea. In return, he was to receive half of their spoils of war. The goal of this adventure was the legendary riches of Persia itself. One of the results of this invasion was the almost complete destruction of Persian Azerbaijan. When the loot from “Persia” came back to the Khan, some of his Moslem mercenaries were so incensed at the deaths of their fellow Moslems in Azerbaijan that they decided to attack the Russians. The Khan of the Khazars didn’t warn his allies, and the chronicles claim that 30,000 Russians were killed in retaliation. Some historians believe that this was the most likely demise of Oleg of Kiev. Nicholas Kotar's story "The Gold of Iskander" is a fictionalized account of this semi-legendary adventure. I'm pleased to say that at least one advance reviewer has enjoyed the whole anthology, and my story in particular :) Here's what Madeleine Holly-Rosen of Fanbase Press had to say: "One of my favorites was "The Gold of Iskander" by Nicholas Kotar. A fictionalized version of Prince Oleg of Kiev’s attack on Persian Azerbaijan, it was told from the point of view of a poor Russian farm boy who joined the army after killing his brother. (It doesn’t end well.)" So if you're interested in reading my story or the whole anthology, the project is entering its final few days of crowdfunding over at Kickstarter. Can you, my dear readers, be the ones that push the project over the finish line? It would be really great if you could. That's all I have for you today, but stay tuned next week for my regular newsletter with a slightly new format. I think you'll like it. Thanks again for coming along with me on my writerly adventures! ~Nicky Nicholas Kotar, Author | PO Box 607, Richfield Springs
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