Many people thought b/c he mentions vikings that Ibn Fadlan reached Scandanavia.........but he mentions the Volga river.................and Germanic tribes..................of course the British ilses were populated by Germanic tribes.............................so my question, since he specifically mentions the Volga river and the Turks...............he was physically in Western Russia.................................my questions......is:   Is much of Germany, Scandanavia...........Denmark, the British isles...........etc.........................a good bit Russian?????????  This was in the 900s.................the 10th century AD.............................................

§ 93. It is the custom of the king of the Rus to have with him in his palace four hundred men, the bravest of his companions and those on whom he can rely. These are the men who die with him and let themselves be killed for him. Each has a female slave who serves him, washes his head, and prepares all that he eats and drinks, and he also has another female slave with whom he sleeps. These four hundred men sit about the king's throne, which is immense and encrusted with fine precious stones. With him on the throne sit forty female slaves destined for his bed. Occasionally he has intercourse with one of them in the presence of his companions of whom we have spoken, without coming down from the throne. When he needs to answer a call of nature, he uses a basin. When he wants to ride out, his horse is brought up to the throne and he mounts. If he wishes to dismount, he rides up so that he can dismount onto the throne. He has a lieutenant who commands his troops, makes war upon his enemies, and plays his role vis-à-vis his subjects.

Outstanding men among them are inclined to occupy themselves with tanning and are not ashamed of this lowly occupation. The cloth of these lands and localities is famous, especially that of their capital, which is called Kyawh. Famous and noted cities of the Rus are Crsk and Hrqh.

Note: Here Ibn Fadlan is reporting hearsay about the distant capital of the Rus and the state in which their king resides. While the jewel-encrusted throne is certainly an exaggeration, the war-band that surrounds the king is reminiscent of the comitatus of Germanic practice. While it does seem extremely unlikely that the Rus king would mount and dismount from his horse directly from his high seat in the hall, Yngvars saga tells of one instance in which warriors ride into a hall and up to the king's throne there. The Rus king's delegation of war- making and civil administration to a lieutenant is not a Norse practice, but rather seems to be borrowed from the practice of the Khagan (King) of the Khazars or other Turkish tribes, who would appoint an official termed a bey for these activities.