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Ohthere’s voyages seen from a nautical angle

Ohthere’s voyages seen from a nautical angle

Ohthere’s Voyages, edited by Janet Bately and Anton Englert (Roskilde, 2007)

Abstract

Ohthere’s account provides details of three sailing routes, one round the North Cape, one describing the route from Halgoland (Halogaland) down the Norwegian coast to a place called Sciringes healh (Kaupang), and the third describing a voyage from Sciringes healh to Hapum (Hedeby). This text examines and attempts to Interpret the nautical details mentioned by Ohthere, drawing on modern charts of the Scandinavian coast and records of comparable voyages made by historic and reconstructed vessels. Reading Ohthere’s tale, one becomes aware that his account is very selectively re- corded. As an adventurous, high-ranking Norwegian voyager, he rnust have been füll of detailed knowledge regarding Scandina- vian trade and politics, and one might expect conversation with him to have started with polite questions such äs, “How was your voy- age across the North Sea? Have you had a good season so far? Are your people well? Is your homeland at peace?”

Click here to read this article from Oh there’s Voyages

Click here to read part 2 of this article



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