“He was the prophet, to whom I always looked up in awe,” said Roald Amundsen of Fridtjof Nansen. Nansen was one of Amundsen’s earliest sources of inspiration and Norway’s first great polar hero. His return to Norway on May 30, 1889, with the other members from the expedition that had just crossed the Greenland Ice Sheet, was received by thousands of people celebrating in Kristiania’s (Oslo’s) streets. The 17-year-old Roald Amundsen was one of those present, as he would later describe: “That day I wandered with throbbing pulses among the bunting and the cheers, and all my boyhood’s dreams reawoke to tempestuous life. For the first time something in my secret thoughts whispered clearly and tremulously: ‘If you could make the Northwest Passage!’”📜
A few years later, in 1893, Nansen led the first Fram expedition to the Arctic. He was convinced at the time that the North Pole region must be mostly covered by ocean, and that he could reach the Pole by freezing a ship fast in the ice and drifting with the current. The expedition successfully drifted across the Arctic Ocean, and so proved the theory of a dominant current through this region, but it didn’t reach the Pole itself. In an effort to penetrate further, Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen left Fram at 84° north in March 1895, with skis, sledges, dogs and kayaks. This piece of daring brought the two closer to the Pole than any had come before, when they reached 86° 14′ north, and their return journey over the ice, including overwintering in a shelter they built on Franz Josef Land and a remarkable meeting there with the English Jackson-Harmsworth expedition, is recognised as one of history’s most spectacular polar expeditions.
When Nansen and the rest of the expedition returned to Norway in September 1896, there was, if it were possible, even greater rejoicing than had greeted his return from Greenland seven years earlier.
Roald Amundsen was at this time sailing the coast of Western Europe with his brother Gustav aboard the cargo ship Huldra. According to Odd Arnesen’s account, the Amundsen brothers took the opportunity to visit Adrien de Gerlache in Brussels in advance of the Belgica expedition. When the seafarers checked into a hotel, they had no luggage and were rather looked down upon by the staff and other guests. But news of the triumphant return of the Fram expedition gave the irritated Roald an idea, and he mischievously signed the guest book “Fridtjof Nansen and Otto Sverdrup, Norway.” After this, the hotel staff are said to have completely changed their tune, and even provided the Amundsen brothers with a carriage and guard of honour as they left! 📜
Roald Amundsen’s first face to face meeting with Nansen was in Sandefjord on June 19, 1897, aboard the Belgica while the ship was in Framnæs shipyard in preparation for Antarctica.
Nansen (second from left) visiting Belgica. Amundsen fifth from left. Photo: National Library of Norway.
After the Belgica expedition, Amundsen was keen to present Nansen with his plans for an expedition to the Northwest Passage with the Gjøa. So, in winter 1900, he was received at Godthaab, Nansen’s home in Lysaker, Oslo. Amundsen later wrote of the meeting:
“I think it is Mark Twain who tells of a man who was so small that he had to go twice through the door before he could be seen. But this man’s insignificance was nothing compared to what I felt that morning as I stood in Nansen’s villa in Lysaker and knocked at the door of his study –
‘Come in!’ came a voice from inside. And then I stood face to face with the man who for years had loomed before me as something almost superhuman; the man who had achieved exploits which stirred every fibre of my being.” 📜
Nansen became heavily involved in several aspects of the Gjøa preparations, and before the expedition’s departure gave Amundsen a signed photograph that was hung on the wall of the ship’s salon. The dedication read: “To Captain Roald Amundsen with wishes for good luck and success on the journey, from his friend, Fridtjof Nansen, 16 June 1903.”
Amundsen tells that when the expedition had come safely through the Northwest Passage in 1905, he stopped and looked at the portrait of Nansen: “It seemed as if the picture had come to life, as if he winked at me, nodding – ‘Just what I thought, my boy!’ I nodded back, smiling and happy, and went on deck.” 📜 The portrait was later hung on the wall of Amundsen’s study at Uranienborg. The dedication of the book about the expedition to Nansen is evidence of his value to Amundsen’s preparations.
The portrait of Nansen that now hangs in the study at Uranienborg. Photo: Follo museum, MiA.
Dedication in “Roald Amundsen’s ‘The North West Passage’ : being a record of a voyage of exploration of the ship ‘Gjøa’ 1903-1907”, London, 1908.
In 1907, Amundsen again sought out Nansen, this time because he had asked to borrow Fram for an expedition to the North Pole. Amundsen’s timing, however, was problematic for Nansen, who himself wanted to take an expedition to Antarctica. Nevertheless, when the two met at Polhøgda, Nansen’s new home in Lysaker, Amundsen’s request was granted. The encounter is most notably described by Nansen’s daughter, Liv Nansen Høyer, in her book about her parents 📜. When Amundsen abandoned his plan to drift over the Arctic Ocean in favour of a push for the South Pole, he delayed informing Nansen until the expedition was under way. On August 22, 1910, Amundsen wrote a three-page letter in which he described the new plan and apologized for his secrecy. 📜
Source: National Library of Norway.
Nansen officially supported Amundsen’s new plan, and in 1912, when the expedition had succeeded, he was one of three – along with the King and Roald’s brother, Leon – to receive a coded telegram from Hobart in Tasmania 📜.
Nansen (left), with his daughter Liv and Roald Amundsen in Washington, USA, in 1918. Photo: National Library of Norway.
Following his use of Fram for the South Pole expedition, Amundsen is often portrayed as being under great pressure from Nansen to realize the originally planned drift across the Arctic Ocean. Although Amundsen did attempt this with the Maud in 1918-25, recent research has tended to downplay Nansen’s influence and his alleged pressure on Amundsen’s scientific work.
Soon after Amundsen’s return from the Norge expedition in 1926, Nansen spoke in his honour at a party held at Akershus fortress to celebrate the explorer’s 54th birthday. The manuscript of Nansen’s speech is preserved in the National Library of Norway 📜.
Nansen climbs into Amundsen’s car on the way to the birthday celebration at Akershus fortress, 16 July 1926. Photo: National Library of Norway.
Nansen and Amundsen chat in the back seat on their way to Akershus, 16 July 1926. Photo: National Library of Norway.
Although Nansen was privately critical of Amundsen’s statements in relation to his autobiography “My life as an explorer“, his public stance towards his fellow polar hero remained positive and balanced.
After Amundsen’s disappearance in 1928, the Norwegian Geographical Society arranged a commemoration at which Fridtjof Nansen spoke. Originally given on 25 October, the eulogy was later recorded to be broadcast on radio and sold on a 78-rpm disc.
In June 1929, Nansen also spoke at a memorial service held on the cruise ship M/V Stella Polaris off Tromsø. With delegates from France and the Norwegian Navy present, the event marked the first anniversary of the disappearance of Latham 47.02.
Nansen recording his eulogy for Roald Amundsen. Photo: National Library of Norway.
Nansen speaking at a memorial service held off Tromsø for those lost with Latham 47.02. Photo: National Library of Norway.
Fridtjof Nansen lived a very rich life, as researcher, polar explorer, diplomat and humanist, and his career is described in several works and biographies. He died in 1930 and was buried in the garden at Polhøgda. Nansen’s study at Polhøgda remains as he left it and the property is managed by the Fridtjof Nansen Institute.
One of the Netsilik Inuit Amundsen met during the expedition through the Northwest Passage, 1903-06. A tinted photograph of him hangs in Amundsen’s home.
The girls Nita and Camilla Carpendale went to Norway and Svartskog together with Amundsen in 1922 where they lived until 1924. The girls called Amundsen “Grandpa”.
Betty was one of the key women in Amundsen’s life. She was the nanny when he grew up, and when Amundsen moved to Svartskog, she joined him and moved into the gatehouse, which became “Betty’s house”.
Eivind Astrup became one of the world’s most experienced polar explorers of his time and a great role model for Roald Amundsen. He chose to end his life when only 24 years old.
Roald Amundsen had strong feelings for Kristine Elisabeth “Kiss” Bennett. She visited Uranienborg several times, but even though Amundsen transferred ownership of it to her, she never moved in.
The girls Nita and Camilla Carpendale went to Norway and Svartskog with Amundsen in 1922 and lived there until 1924. The girls called Amundsen “Grandpa”.
Sigrid Flood Castberg, often called “Sigg”, was one of the women Amundsen had a relationship with. But when Amundsen proposed, she was already married and wanted to wait, and when she was ready he wanted…
Håkon Hammer met Roald Amundsen in Seattle in 1921. He quickly became a collaborator and supporter, but was later named by Amundsen as one of the reasons for his personal bankruptcy.
Participated in the Maud expedition, but left the expedition in 1919, together with Peter Tessem. Both perished. What really happened to them is still unknown.
The Alaska Inupiaq called Elizabeth Magids “Queen of the Arctic”, Amundsen’s crew referred to her as “the mysterious lady”. Amundsen called her “Bess”. She went to live with Amundsen in Norway in 1928….
Participated as a research assistant on the Maud expedition, and as a meteorologist on the Norge expedition. Died on Umberto Nobile’s airship expedition in 1928.
One of the Netsilik Inuit Amundsen met during the expedition through the Northwest Passage 1903-06. A coloured picture of him decorates a window in Amundsen’s home.
Nobile was the airship engineer whom Amundsen criticized after the expedition in 1926. During the search for his wrecked expedition in 1928, Roald Amundsen disappeared.
Joined the Maud expedition after visiting the ship in Khabarovsk. Also participated in the Norge expedition, but was left out from the actual voyage across the Arctic Ocean.
One of the Netsilik Inuit Amundsen met during the expedition through the Northwest Passage 1903-06. A coloured picture of her hangs in Amundsen’s home.
One of the Netsilik Inuit Amundsen met during the expedition through the Northwest Passage 1903-06. A coloured picture of him decorates a door in Amundsen’s home.