Riassunto
Riassunto di Viaggi nel Nord
A chi è rivolto
Readers who love journeys to far places, polar light, frozen landscapes, old sleds and sailing steamers, and the small human scenes of inns, hosts and strangers. Anyone curious about Scandinavia in the 1850s will find a lively guide.
Che cos’è questo libro
Northern Travel is the account of a journey through Sweden, Lapland, Norway and Denmark, written by the American traveler Bayard Taylor and published after he returned home from ten months in the North in 1856 and 1857. Taylor had already crossed Egypt, India and other warm lands, and he wanted to see the opposite extreme: the Arctic winter and then the midnight sun of summer.
He sets out with a friend, Braisted, on a Baltic steamer in December and drives by sled to the Finnish border, then crosses the Arctic Circle and travels by reindeer to Kautokeino. In summer he returns for a carriole journey through Norway and a voyage along its coast to Hammerfest and the Varanger Fjord. The book gives you cold, colors, food, inns, rogues and kind hosts, and plain opinions on how the northern peoples live.
It is a book of weather and of people, told in a direct, humorous voice. Let us begin with the winter voyage that nearly ends before it starts.
In questo riassunto
- 1A winter crossing to StockholmFree
- 2Learning to travel by post
- 3Arctic cold and the great storm
- 4Northern lights and the Finnish border
- 5Crossing the Arctic Circle by sled
- 6Reindeer, Lapps and a day without sun
- 7The return and the cost of cold
- 8Stockholm, Dalecarlia and Swedish manners
- 9Norway by carriole, coast and fjord
Punto chiave 1 di 9
A winter crossing to Stockholm
The journey begins on the first of December 1856, when Taylor and Braisted board the small Swedish steamer Carl Johan at Lübeck. The cabin is stacked with wool and butter, and the two passengers are shown to a narrow stateroom the crew calls a hut. A cheerful Polish passenger, said to have been condemned to death once and to have invented cheap gas, keeps the table amused.
The Baltic is cold and stormy, and the overloaded ship feels its way through fog and snow to Ystad. A cabin boy is thrown into the icy water by a lurch and cannot be saved, and the sad event hangs over the voyage. The ship cannot reach Stockholm because ice blocks the harbor, so it lands at little Dalarö.
After a very careful customs search, the travelers hire horses and sleds with their companions. They drive through pine forests so covered with frost that they look like bronze trees dusted with silver. Taylor notes that the wrapped-up travelers guess twenty degrees and are told it is below zero.
In Stockholm a sudden thaw spoils the wintry mood. Taylor finds that nobody can tell him how to travel in the far north in winter, and the maps are only detailed as far as Torneå. He buys furs, boots and a few supplies, studies Swedish for a week, and tells himself that frightening stories dissolve when you face them boldly.
The opening shows the book's habits: honest detail, dry jokes, and a firm wish to go farther than anyone advises.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Viaggi nel Nord
What is Northern Travel by Bayard Taylor about?
It tells of the author's journey through Sweden, Lapland, Denmark and Norway in 1856 and 1857, from a winter crossing by sled and reindeer to a summer voyage along the Arctic coast to see the midnight sun.
Who is Braisted in Northern Travel?
Braisted is Taylor's companion on the winter journey, a former sailor. He shares the sleds, the cold and the jokes, sings hymns to stay awake, and takes charge when postillions turn lazy.
Is Northern Travel a true story and when was it written?
Yes, it is a true travel account of a journey made in 1856 and 1857, written by the American author soon afterward, with dated stops, real people and places, and daily temperature records.
What does the title's mention of Summer and Winter Pictures mean?
The book covers two seasons of the far north. In winter Taylor crosses Swedish and Finnish Lapland in dark and extreme cold, and in summer he travels Norway under endless daylight, including the midnight sun.
Is Northern Travel easy to read?
Taylor writes in a lively, direct voice, with short scenes, humor and many dialogues. Each chapter covers one stage of the trip, so you can follow it step by step like a travel diary.