It's not the first piece concrete piece of evidence that Vikings interacted with the Arabic world (more on that in a minute), but it does make a compelling case for the exact nature of that interaction.
If Vikings in Sweden were burying their dead with reverent references to Allah, that suggests that the relationship that spanned the European continent was far from acrimonious. The Vikings didn't appear to have ransacked an Arabic treasure hoard for its valuables — they had taken a sacred tradition and integrated it into their own.
It's actually not exactly news that Viking and Arabic cultures interacted at different points in history. Written accounts from 10th-century ambassador Ahmad ibn Fadlan (Antonio Banderas' character in the movie) tell of meeting Vikings sailing the Volga, but for many years there was a question about how reliable that written record was.
At some point, though, you've got to just accept it. In 2008, a cache of Viking era silver coins from Baghdad and Damascus was found near the site of Stockholm's Arlanda airport. And in 2015, a silver ring was found in a Scandanavian site bearing an inscription reading "or to Allah". Other research has shown a link between Arabic and Viking metal-smithing techniques as well — Vikings almost certainly learned certain methods from their trading partners on the southern end of the Volga. It all makes the ancient world seem a lot smaller, doesn't it?
Want some sci-fi in your historical epic? Check out "Eaters of the Dead", or find the real story of Arab and Viking interactions in "Ibn Fadlan in the Land of Darkness: Arab Travelers in the Far North". Any purchase you make from that link will help support Curiosity.
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