Another book by Estrid Ott, from Svalbard

... except that for this book (and others) she assumed a pen name, Magnus Moen (although Narvik Folkebibliotek seems to think it´s the other way round, which is a little amusing).

I´ve mentioned Estrid Ott before, because of her book "Siri from Svalbard", which was about a young girl´s life in Longyearbyen sometime in the 1930´s. Most of what I´ve learnt about coal-mining I got from that book. In "Sverre på Svalbard" (1951) Estrid has taught me a few things about driving dog-sleds, and as I´ve just had a chance to try it myself, I was eager to learn.

Sverre is a resourceful young man from the north of Norway, who leaps at every chance to travel and have exciting adventures (he goes to Africa and Canada in other books). This time he overwinters in a small cabin somewhere on Svalbard with a trapper. They shoot seals and polar bears, and they catch foxes. There´s also a dramatic bit about two bandits who try to rob them, and about their sad ending. But despite the dramatic parts, the book also gives a picture of the trapper´s everyday life through autumn, winter and spring - taking care of furs and clothes, finding water, stocking supplies, and cooking and cleaning. As a whole, you´re left with an impression that in general, trappers in the Arctic were clean, polite and sober. Which is a nice illusion.



Here´s a list of Estrid Ott´s books, which I expect is complete - except that I can´t find "Sverre på Svalbard" on it... It could be that the book "Sverre i fangstlære" ("Sverre is a trapper") from the same year is an early title.

It´s interesting that Estrid Ott chose a male pseudonym for the books about Sverre, probably on the publisher´s assumption that boys wouldn´t read books written by a woman (publishers seem to believe this still - Joanne Rowling used only her initials when the books about Harry Potter were published, because her publishers wanted to conceal the fact that she was a woman. Which in hindsight seems pretty silly).

So which do I like best, Siri or Sverre? I think probably the book about Sverre. He did more interesting things, and had a lot more freedom. Which is not Siri´s fault, and which I have a feeling Estrid Ott was the first to regret.