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The two prompt words today made me think of a movie I saw several years ago for the first time but one I’ve watched several times. It’s called, “The 13^th Warrior” and stars Antonio Banderas as a Muslim who gets pulled into an adventure with a dozen Vikings. The Vikings are called upon to investigate some creepy murders by “supernatural” creatures who live in the caves who begin attacking a village.

There are a lot of scenes of gruesome violence that are downright terrifying. There are a couple of memorable scenes aside from the violence. One is the “tent house” that the Vikings live in on the road, where they take their meals and conduct their business. It is at one of the meals where the soothsayer reads the bones/tea leaves/oracle (can’t remember what it was) and is given the message that the 12 warriors need a 13^th to complete the team for the adventure.

If you can imagine a Viking, you probably see a robust-looking sturdy blonde with lots of facial hair who laughs a lot and who rides a knight-sized horse. If you can imagine a Muslim back in the days of the Vikings, you might see a darker complected smaller stature individual wearing a long robe and riding an Arabian horse. OK now that you have this in your mind, imagine the group of 12 hearty, jovial Vikings taking pot shots at the Muslim guy in their own language, knowing he can’t understand them. Now imagine the Muslim guy sitting at the fire with these guys night after night and, unbeknownst to them, learning how to speak their language. The movie is worth seeing for this part alone.

If you like monster movies with heroes who kill monsters, you will like, The 13^th Warrior.

The End.

Fandango’s FOWC is house and the Word of the Day Challenge is Viking.