The Telegraph's travel section on Norway and Amundsen:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/norway/8879509/Roald-Amundsens-Norway.htmlTo be frank, I'm not impressed.
A hundred years ago next month, on December 14 1911, man reached the South Pole. It was one of the last and most obsessed-over trophies in the "heroic era" of terrestrial exploration. To the vexation of post-Edwardian England, the pole's discoverer was not their countryman, Capt Robert Falcon Scott, but a Norwegian, Roald Amundsen.
He got this much right. Amundsen still vexes England, as we can judge from the rest of this topic.
The story of Amundsen's expedition exemplifies either the ruthless endeavour of the consummate explorer or the duplicity of a pole-bagging bounder. It was arguably both. Amundsen's relentless professionalism and quick temper, as well as the fact that he duped everyone about his expedition's true intentions, do not make him an endearing figure, even in Norway. In one of the definitive matches between Gentlemen and Players, the Gentlemen appeared to have lost. Today, though, the story of those who came second is as well – if not better – known than the winner's tale.
Here we go again, slagging Amundsen. I wouldn't call Amundsen ruthless, he did have feeling, but he also didn't let it interfere with what he had to do. For the record, Amundsen decided to go for the South Pole
before Scott announced his intentions, not after. He did indeed dupe nearly everyone (he had to let a few of his men in on the secret), but at the time Britain practically thought it had a deed to the Ross Sea, and if the Norwegian government (who technically owned the
Fram) had any clue Amundsen was heading for the South Pole, they would have stopped him rather than risk offending Britain. Furthermore, if he isn't an endearing figure, why has Norway officially declared 2011 to be the Nansen-Amundsen Year? Amundsen was a professional, and not everyone liked him, but he was a nice guy, in my opinion. I never thought anyone could mix pragmatism and humor until I read
The South Pole. Scott wasn't much of a gentleman, making snide comments about Amundsen and Shackleton pretty much at will. As for their story, Britain sure is trying hard to make sure Scott's story is told, while neglecting the stories of those like Campbell.
In Britain, his lectures were unassumingly entitled "How we reached the Pole"; in the US Amundsen was billed as "Discoverer of the South Pole and Winner in the International Race for the Southern Extremity of the Earth".
Yes, he had to drop any pretense of winning to get an audience in Britain. We Yanks were happy to give him the credit he deserved. We would remember him better than Britain would.
In the living room is a monochrome photograph of the English explorer Sir John Franklin, who in 1845 led an expedition to chart the Northwest Passage. He and his 126 companions disappeared without trace or explanation. It was a story that hijacked the imagination of the teenage Amundsen, and supplied the first set of bearings for the course his life would take.
A bit of a factual inaccuracy. We have some idea of what happened to the Franklin expedition, from Inuit stories and some discovered notes. We also know from consistent Inuit stories and archaeological evidence that at least some of the members resorted to cannibalism. Moving on:
Trygve Gran was now in the invidious position of competing with his compatriots. According to his son, Trygve would never have accompanied Scott had he known Amundsen's true intention. "But he always talked about Scott favourably," Herman told me. "He was very loyal. He never accused Scott of anything."
In all the controversy that swirls around the two expeditions, one of the most moving and perceptive epitaphs for Scott came from Trygve Gran. He was in the search party that found the frozen bodies of the British explorers. He wrote: "I almost envied Captain Scott as he lay on the field of honour. He had achieved something great for his country, for his family and indeed morally for the whole of mankind."
Of course, these comments are made after Scott's death is known to the public and the cover-up began. Everyone (except for Meares) got involved, including Gran. Everyone just ignored their own diaries and wrote fairy tales. Gran may have wanted to help England by writing this: as Huntford recounts, he made a promise to Oates to be on Britain's side should she be forced into another war. He kept it by flying with the RFC in Sopwith Camels. I think he wanted to continue keeping that promise in spirit. Still, this cannot discard Gran's statement in his diary after finding the rock samples on the sledge: "I think they might have saved themselves the weight".
In the end, honour is all.
Rather poignant, when held against Scott's and Bowers' falsification of their weather logs, eh?
