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IN NORTHERN MISTS




[Illustration:

  "THE GOLDEN CLOUDS CURTAINED THE DEEP WHERE IT LAY,
  AND IT LOOKED LIKE AN EDEN AWAY, FAR AWAY"]




  IN NORTHERN MISTS

  ARCTIC EXPLORATION IN EARLY TIMES


  BY FRIDTJOF NANSEN
  G.C.V.O., D.Sc., D.C.L., Ph.D., PROFESSOR OF OCEANOGRAPHY
  IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHRISTIANIA, ETC.


  TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR G. CHATER

  ILLUSTRATED

  VOLUME ONE

  LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN: MCMXI




  PRINTED BY
  BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD
  AT THE BALLANTYNE PRESS
  TAVISTOCK STREET COVENT GARDEN
  LONDON




PREFACE


This book owes its existence in the first instance to a rash promise made
some years ago to my friend Dr. J. Scott Keltie, of London, that I would
try, when time permitted, to contribute a volume on the history of arctic
voyages to his series of books on geographical exploration. The subject
was an attractive one; I thought I was fairly familiar with it, and did
not expect the book to take a very long time when once I made a start with
it. On account of other studies it was a long while before I could do
this; but when at last I seriously took the work in hand, the subject in
return monopolised my whole powers.

It appeared to me that the natural foundation for a history of arctic
voyages was in the first place to make clear the main features in the
development of knowledge of the North in early times. By tracing how ideas
of the Northern World, appearing first in a dim twilight, change from age
to age, how the old myths and creations of the imagination are constantly
recurring, sometimes in new shapes, and how new ones are added to them, we
have a curious insight into the working of the human mind in its endeavour
to subject to itself the world and the universe.

But as I went deeper into the subject I became aware that the task was far
greater than I had supposed: I found that much that had previously been
written about it was not to be depended upon; that frequently one author
had copied another, and that errors and opinions which had once gained
admission remained embedded in the literary tradition. What had to be done
was to confine one's self to the actual sources, and as far as possible to
build up independently the best possible structure from the very
foundation. But the more extensive my studies became, the more riddles I
perceived--riddle after riddle led to new riddles, and this drew me on
farther and farther.

On many points I arrived at views which to some extent conflicted with
those previously held. This made it necessary to give, not merely the bare
results, but also a great part of the investigations themselves. I have
followed the words of Niebuhr, which P. A. Munch took as a motto for "Det
norske Folks Historie":

"Ich werde suchen die Kritik der Geschichte nicht nach dunkeln Gefühlen,
sondern forschend, auszuführen, nicht ihre Resultate, welche nur blinde
Meinungen stiften, sondern die Untersuchungen selbst in ihrem ganzen
Umfange vortragen."

But in this way my book has become something quite different from what was
intended, and far larger. I have not reached the history of arctic voyages
proper.

Many may think that too much has been included here, and yet what it has
been possible to mention here is but an infinitesimal part of the mighty
labour in vanished times that makes up our knowledge of the North. The
majority of the voyages, and those the most important, on which the first
knowledge was based, have left no certain record; the greatest steps have
been taken by unknown pioneers, and if a halo has settled upon a name here
and there, it is the halo of legend.

My investigations have made it necessary to go through a great mass of
literature, for which I lacked, in part, the linguistic qualifications.
For the study of classical, and of mediæval Latin literature, I found in
Mr. Amund Sommerfeldt a most able assistant, and most of the translations
of Greek and Latin authors are due to him. By his sound and sober
criticism of the often difficult original texts he was of great help to
me.

In the study of Arabic literature Professor Alexander Seippel has afforded
me excellent help, combined with interest in the subject, and he has
translated for me the statements of Arab authors about the North.

In the preparation of this work, as so often before, I owe a deep debt of
gratitude to my old friend, Professor Moltke Moe. He has followed my
studies from the very beginning with an interest that was highly
stimulating; with his extensive knowledge in many fields bordering on
those studies