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MAN IN SVALBARD

HISTORY

The name Svalbard is first mentioned in the Icelandic archives from the year 1194, "Svalbardr
fundr" – Svalbard is found. It is uncertain, however, whether it was the land or the ice edge
that had been discovered, since Svalbard can be interpreted as "cold coast" or "cold edge". It
would take another several hundred years before any of the major nations in Europe discovered
Svalbard.
In 1596 two Dutch ships sailed north to round the tip of Norway, hoping to find a shortcut
to China and India. On board one of the ships was the pilot Willem Barents, who is officially
regarded as the discoverer of Svalbard. The Dutch were impressed by Svalbard's dramatic and
mountainous landscape, and named the land Spitsbergen.

The rumour of the new country and its vast numbers of whale and walrus spread quickly all
over Europe. Walrus were easy to kill, and one single expedition could make a whole crew
wealthy for life. In the year 1606, 700 animals were killed on Bear Island in less than six
hours, and the hunting soon spread north. Skins (excellent for manufacturing belts), the
tusks, and the fat were all valuable products. Whaling began a few years later, with the help
of Basque expertise. Basques in the Bay of Biscay had already developed a technology to
harpoon the giants of the sea from boats, and these Basques were soon hired by English and
Dutch whaling companies. Around Svalbard, the bowhead whale was decimated to the brink
of extinction in 150 years, and the hunters then headed west.

In the early 18th century, or even earlier, the Russians began to hunt walrus, seal, polar bear,
fox and birds on Svalbard. Russian Pomors from the area surrounding the White Sea were the
first whalers to spend the winter on Svalbard. Trading companies and monasteries involved
in the European fur trade sent them there. The Pomors’ ships, lodjan, were light and could
be operated in shallow waters and ice with the help of oars. The Pomors established their
winter stations on the west coast of Spitsbergen in particular, but also in Nordaustlandet
and on Edgeøya. Even today, there are remnants of these Russian trapping stations at many
locations along the coasts.

The Russian winter and land based hunting expeditions ended in the 1820s, but then the
Norwegian trappers began to settle on Svalbard. The early Norwegian expeditions were often
accompanied by Pomors who had the knowledge of how to survive in the harsh conditions of
the polar nights. Like their Russian predecessors, the Norwegians were also sent to Svalbard

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