Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x24gv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-12T19:38:54.328Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Norwegian use of the polar oceans as occupational arenas and exploration routes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Susan Barr
Affiliation:
Directorate for Cultural Heritage, P.O. Box 8196 Dep, N-0034 Oslo, Norway

Abstract

The Norwegian polar heroes Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen, and to a lesser extent Otto Sverdrup, have been profiled and their deeds described in countless publications. They were, however, not the only Norwegians to travel on and use the polar seas. A significant section of the Norwegian population used to make its living in Arctic and/or Antarctic waters, and such activities led both to new discoveries of land and knowledge of natural conditions, and to an extra occupation as support for polar scientists and explorers. Some of these lesser-known individuals and their deeds are described here in an attempt to put the expeditions of the great heroes into a broader context and to give more substance to some names that may perhaps have been noted only ‘in passing.’

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aagaard, B. 1944. Antarktis 1502–1944. Oslo: Norges Svalbard- og Ishavs-Undersøkelser (Meddelelser 60).Google Scholar
Arlov, T.B. 1996. Svalbards historie 1596–1996. Oslo: Aschehoug.Google Scholar
Armstrong, T. 1996. Historical and current uses of the Northern Sea Route. Part I. Oslo: Fridtjof Nansen Institute (INSROP Working Paper 28).Google Scholar
Barr, S. 1987. Norway's polar territories. Oslo: Aschehoug.Google Scholar
Bjerck, H.B. 2000. Stone age settlement on Svalbard? A reevaluation of previous finds and the results of a recent field survey. Polar Record 36 (197): 97112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyarsky, P.V. (editor). 1996. Novaya Zemlya: natural and cultural heritage, history of discoveries. Moscow: Russian Research Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage.Google Scholar
Ellefsen, E.S., and Berset, O. 1957: Veslekari: en fortelling om is og menn. Bergen: Eide.Google Scholar
Headland, R.K. 1993. Geographical discoveries in Antarctica by the whaling industry. In: Basberg, B.L., Ringstad, J.E., and Wexelsen, E. (editors). Whaling and history. Sandefjord: Kdr Chr. Christensens Hvalfangstmuseum (publication 29): 191202.Google Scholar
Headland, R.K. 2000. Chronological list of Antarctic expeditions and related historical events. Unpublished revision. Cambridge: Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hoel, A. 1944. Nord-norske fangstfolk som geografiske oppdagere og forskere i de arktiske egne. Håloalandsambandet: Nordens boktrykkeri a/s (Hålogalandsambandets årbok).Google Scholar
Holland, C. 1994. Arctic exploration and development c. 500 b.c. to 1915. New York and London: Garland Publishing.Google Scholar
Isachsen, G. 1921. Folk, fangst og ferder, nordmændene paa Spitsbergen og Ishavet. Oslo: Norsk Geografiske Selskab (Det Norske Geografiske Selskabs Aarbog 1916–1919). Reprinted 1997 as Svalbardminner 5.Google Scholar
Isachsen, G. 1931. Norvegia-ekspedisjonen 1930–1931: omseilingen av Sydpollandet. Oslo: Norges Svalbardog Ishavs-Undersøkelser (Meddelelser 12).Google Scholar
Isachsen, G. 1934. Norvegia rundt Sydpollandet: Norvegiaekspedisjonen 1930–31. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag.Google Scholar
Jasinski, M.E. 1993. Pomors in Grumant: archaeological studies of Russian hunting stations in Svalbard. Trondheim/Tromsø: Dr Art-thesis, University of Tromsø.Google Scholar
Liljequist, G.H. 1993. High latitudes: a history of Swedish polar travels and research. Stockholm: Swedish Polar Research Secretariat.Google Scholar
Mikkelsen, P.S. 1994. Nordøost-Grønland 1908–60: Fangst-mandsperioden. Copenhagen: Dansk Polarcenter.Google Scholar
Mohn, H. 1871. Aarsberetning fra det Kgl. Norske Frederiks Universitets meteorologiske Institut i Christiania for 1871. Oslo: The Norwegian Meteorological Institute.Google Scholar
Mook, R. 1987. Henrik Mohn og skipsførerne. Været 11 (3): 9198.Google Scholar
Mook, R. 1994. Framveksten av den maritime meteorologi, Henrik Mohn og den norske meteorologiske skipsdagboken. Vær & Klima 18 (3): 9497.Google Scholar
Nicolaysen, O. 1894. Ishavsfangsten på Tromsø og Hammerfest i dens Begyndelse og Udvikling. Norsk Fiskeritidende 13: 419448.Google Scholar
Nielsen, J.P. 1996. Historical and current uses of the Northern Sea Route. Part III: The period 1855–1917. Oslo: Fridtjof Nansen Institute (INSROP Working Paper 61).Google Scholar
Pickstone, J.P. 1995. Past and present knowledges in the practice of the history of science. History of Science 33: 203224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reymert, P.K. 1980. Hammerfest–Norges første ishavsby 1778–1820. Heimen 18: 285294.Google Scholar
Riiser-Larsen, H. 1957. Femti år for Kongen. Oslo: Gyldendal.Google Scholar
Schilder, G. 1984. Development and achievements of Dutch northern and Arctic cartography in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Arctic 37 (4): 493514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scoresby, W. Jr 1820. An account of the Arctic regions with a history and description of the northern whale fishery. 2 vols. London: Constable.Google Scholar
Slupetsky, H. 1995. A history of the Austrian discovery of Franz Josef Land. In; Barr, S. (editor). Franz Josef Land. Oslo: Norsk Polarinstitutt (Polarhåndbok 8): 107128.Google Scholar
The Old English Orosius. nd. London: British Library MS Add. 47967.Google Scholar
Thomsen, E. 1998. Ishavsfarerne og naturvitenskapen. Ottar 233: 39.Google Scholar
Varming, H. 1990. Svalbards historiske kartografi. Forskning om mennesker på Svalbard: 167175.Google Scholar
Vollan, O. 1986. Selfangst i Norden. Ålesund: Forlaget Nordvest.Google Scholar
Vorren, T. 1992. Polarforskeren Karl Pettersen. Ottar 191: 2530.Google Scholar