Greenland under Danish Rule

Abstract

HANS EGEDE landed in Greenland in 1721: for three centuries the Norse colonies had been ' lost '; and Egede's landing was therefore the beginning of a new era of Scandinavian over-lordship. The missionary himself wrote a description of the country and its native inhabitants, published in Danish in 1741, and translated into English four years later. There have been other general accounts, but the latest and perhaps the best known is Dr. Rink's " Danish Greenland," which appeared in 1877. Early in the following year the Danish Government authorised the formation of a Commission for the Direction of the Geological and Geographical Investigations in Greenland: publications under the title " Medde-lelser om Gronland " began in 1879, and there are now no less than seventy volumes of this well-known series. In more recent years, therefore, the position has been that those wishing to obtain first-hand and up-to-date information could only do so by searching through the seventy volumes of the " Meddelelser." The work under review is definitely meant to remove this difficulty. Essentially it is a summary and co-ordination of the fifty years' research contained in the " Meddelelser." It is hoped to complete it in three volumes in 1929: the present deals with, the discovery, exploration, and general nature of the country; the second with the past and present population; and the third with the colonisation and history.

Greenland.

Published by the Commission for the Direction of the Geological and Geographical Investigations in Greenland. Editors: Prof. M. Vahl Vice-Admiral G. C. Amdrup Dr. L. Bobé Prof. Ad. S. Jensen. Vol. 1: The Discovery of Greenland, Exploration and Nature of the Country. Pp. vii + 575. (London: Oxford University Press; Copenhagen: C. A. Reitzel, 1928.) 40s. net. 3 vols., 100s. net.