a tour around Själland ...

... and finding an explorer

Quote of the week

“The greatest peril of life lies in the fact that human food consists entirely of souls. All the creatures that we kill and eat, all those that we have to strike down and destroy to make clothes for ourselves, have souls, souls that do not perish with the body and which must therefore be pacified lest they revenge themselves on us for taking away their bodies”
― Knud Rasmussen

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Hello,

Another week has gone by. I hope it has been a good week for all of you. After a few days at home taking care of everything that lines up when you are away, we took off for Denmark for a few days. The idea was to go around Själland, the island where Copenhagen is situated. We did not manage the whole island, so something is left for a future trip.

Denmark in all its glory

Denmark is a country made up of islands and a big peninsula. During the last two years we have visited different parts of the country. Last year we drove around the northern part of Jutland and made a lot of stopovers at Vikings settlements. Very interesting. The Vikings were everywhere in Denmark and there are many places with traces from that time.

This time we decided to go around Själland. It must be the most beautiful of the islands in Denmark. Very picturesque. We took the bridge over the Öresund, and continued on the highway towards Helsingör around Copenhagen. Drove off at Klampenborg and continued along the beautiful Strandvejen (the Beach road) along the east coast. Here you find a lot of old and grand villas, as well as newly build magnificent houses. All very neat.

Once at Helsingör we continued at the outskirt of the town driving on along the coast. Stopping at a camping at Rågeleje beach at the NNV of Själland. It was a couple of windy days, but the camping was rather protected. We took a walk down to the beach which was full of big stones. There was a pontoon bridge from where you could take a swim. A little bit too cold for me, but for some Danish people it was ok.

Hundsted and the explorer Knud Rasmussen

Two days later, after relaxing days at the camping, we continue further west along the coast. Beautiful landscape and more wonderful houses. In a brochure about the island we discovered that a Danish explorer, Knud Rasmussen, had a summer, and workhouse at the coast in Hundsted. We steered our Tomtom towards the place and found an old fashioned house, directly on the beach.

As you see from the quote above Rasmussen was a man of nature and all its glory. Rasmussen (1879-1933) was a Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He was born in Greenland as the son of a Danish missionary and an Inuit-Danish mother. He spent his early years in Greenland and moved to Denmark when he was twelve, where he attended school. He was not the best of pupils, only graduated at the age of 21. He missed his life in Greenland with dog sleds, hunters, and the Arctic life style. He tried out a career as an actor and opera singer, but it was not very successful. Instead he dedicated his life to polar studies and exploration.

He has been called the "father of Eskimology", these days Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studies. He made several expeditions, the first one in 1902-04, the Danish Literary Expedition. In 1910 he and his friend Peter Freuchen established the Thule Trading Station at Cape York, Greenland. Thule (which I wrote about in Ultima Thule … at the end of the known world) was chosen because it was the most northerly trading post in the world, thus “Ultima Thule”.

The name Thule was also used to name the seven expeditions which took place between 1912 and 1933. These made a great impact on discovering the routes and islands dividing Greenland and Canada. He was the first European to cross the Northwest passage with dog sled. He traveled for 16 months with two Inuit hunters across North America to Nome, Alaska. He tried to continue to Russia but his visa was refused.

During the Seventh Thule Expedition (1933) Rasmussen contracted pneumonia after a food poisoning, due to having eaten kiviaq. It is a “traditional wintertime Inuit food that is made of auks, a type of seabird, fermented in a seal skin”. According to the ladies in the museum, experts today believe that the cause of death was more likely blod cloths which is caused by immobility.

Very interesting exhibition, and the ladies in the museum did give us more information as we discussed the life and time of Rasmussen.

This week

While we are in Denmark I would like to mention Kim Larsen (former Gasoline) and his wonderful music. Here is one of my favourites of him, ‘Kvinde min’, ‘My Woman’. You see from the fans that they know the text from beginning to end. Here the lyrics in English.

My woman, I love you
And I know you love me
And whatever happens
Let it happen
Cause I am yours

And even though we've fought a lot
And you have cried and suffered
When it has been bad
Forget it now
Cause I am yours

Oh, I have hustled
And acted crazy
And I have cheated you
And been ashamed
And stolen from your loveYou know what I mean

Oh yeah
Oh yea
Uh wah uh wah ba ba bi di oh
Cause you are still exactly as beautiful
As the very first time you kissed me
So tenderly
So tenderly

Do you think we'll walk together
Until life is over
Oh, I hope we do
Yes, I do
Yes, I do

So woman, come and dream with me
In the long night
Where the stars sparkles
And twinkles like mad

No, don't be afraid
Of their songs
Just hold on to me
When they tell you
There are a thousand miles between you and I

No no
Oh, don't believe it
Uh wah uh wah ba ba bi di oh
Cause you are still exactly as beautiful
As the very first time you kissed me
So tenderly
So tenderly
Oh, so tenderly

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