Overview

This volume of folk tales collected by Heinrich Rink, by native Greenlanders, is the translation of the first book printed in Greenland. Rink began his career as an administrator based at the Moravian mission at Godthaab, on the southwest coast of Greenland. He used the press to produce both official notices and literary works. Rink was determined to collect legends and folk tales of Greenland natives and publish them, an ambition achieved in these volumes, published over a five year span. Rink collected oral tales from throughout Greenland, although mainly in the southern area he administered. The remarkable oral tradition of the Inuit, unaffected by few outside influences, is traced through their history on the land. Many of the stories describe the clashes between the Norse and the Inuit. Rink recognized that some of the tales existed in the realm of pure myth, but that others represented recollections, passed from one generation to the next, of events of many centuries earlier. Translated from Danish, this is the first English translation of these stories. Illustrations are by Aron of Kangeq, a sealer and walrus hunter who lived at the Moravian mission at the small trading station of Kangeq. His illustrations of the oral storytelling tradition have gained status as a symbol of the new artistic tradition developed in Greenland in the mid-19th century.

Full Product Details

9780996748087

Table of Contents

Reviews

Lovers of folk narrative who may wish to sample a less familiar-to many of us at least-storytelling tradition will find much to delight and much to ponder in the present book, which I warmly recommend for its fascinating storytelling and fine illustrations. * Journal of Folklore Research *

Lovers of folk narrative who may wish to sample a less familiar—to many of us at least—storytelling tradition will find much to delight and much to ponder in the present book, which I warmly recommend for its fascinating storytelling and fine illustrations. * Journal of Folklore Research *

Author Information

Illustrations are by Aron of Kangeq, a sealer and walrus hunter who lived at the Moravian mission at the small trading station of Kangeq. Aron was stricken with tuberculosis (which was epidemic in Greenland in that era) and confined to bed. His illustrations are famous for depicting these early encounters. Heinrich Rink began his career as an administrator based at the Moravian mission at Godthaab, on the southwest coast of Greenland, in 1848. He was determined to collect legends and folk tales of Greenland natives and publish them, an ambition achieved in a five year span. Rink collected oral tales from throughout Greenland, although mainly in the southern area he administered. He was a renowned geologist, promoter of the Inuit people and scholar.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available