596 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



A VIKING PHILOSOPHER. 



In the minds of most men the name 

 of Adolf Erik Nordenskiold is con- 

 nected with the voyage of the Vega, 

 and with that only. That is a good 

 title to fame, for his circumnavigation 

 of the Old World, the forcing of the 

 northeast passage, attempted in vain 

 for over three centuries, was an exploit 

 worthy to rank with those of Vasco di 

 Gama and Maghelhaens. But Nor- 

 denskiold was a good deal more than 

 a great explorer, and whatever he 

 might have accomplished he would 

 always have remained a singularly in- 

 teresting character. 



The doer of some striking deed soars 

 for a space to the zenith of popular 

 favor, and his fall is often the greater 

 when ousted ky the next darling of the 

 public. But Nordenskiold, from the day 

 he entered Sweden, banished from his 

 native Finland by the Russian govern- 

 ment for an over-pointed after-dinner 

 speech which he declined to withdraw, 

 to the day when he died full of honors 

 from all nations, was ever a hero of 

 the Swedes, the one man whose features 

 and fame were known in every village 

 of the land. Fifteen years after the re- 

 turn of the Vega I crossed Sweden in 

 his company. The lake steamer on 

 which we set foot was speedily dressed 

 with flags from stem to stern; as we 

 paced the railway platform, folk 

 turned to point him out to their chil- 

 dren; an apothecary into whose shop 

 we stepped drew us into his parlor to 

 point with pride to a medallion of the 

 hero hung in the place of honor; even 

 a drive with him through the streets 

 of Stockholm, where his presence was 

 familiar, was not without embarrass- 

 ment. Those who knew Nordenskiold 

 can imderstand this easily. He im- 



pressed the popular imagination like 

 some grand mysterious figure of the 

 Middle Ages. Rarely did man so com- 

 bine the profound research of the stu- 

 dent with the decisive energy of the 

 geographical explorer, the remote and 

 even fantastic speculations of the 

 philosopher with the business-like 

 ability of a prudent organizer, the 

 absent-minded reverie and complete 

 absorption of the recluse with the wide 

 sympathies and practical readiness of 

 a liberal politician. These broad out- 

 lines of his character were obvious to 

 all, and manifest too in his outer per- 

 son. The deep-set far-away eyes and 

 the furrowed forehead above the shaggy 

 eyebrows proclaimed him a seer of vi- 

 sions and a diver into nature's secrets, 

 while the hard lines of the mouth and 

 prominent underlip told of an obstinate 

 patience joined to a fiery Viking tem- 

 per; the bowed shoulders of the book- 

 worm, voracious of fusty manuscripts 

 in the dark recesses of a library, were 

 belied by the firm elastic tread of the 

 sailor and mountaineer. 



The things he did and the things he 

 said were striking in themselves, but 

 they were the outcome of his yet more 

 striking personality. People talked of 

 Nordenskiold's luck. He had the luck 

 of all who lay the foundations of their 

 plans deep, who make every prepara- 

 tion suggested by learning and ex- 

 perience, who know how to wait for 

 the fitting moment, and who have the 

 boldness to go ahead unswervingly 

 when the opening appears. It was the 

 exhaustive detail of his plans for the 

 northeast passage that awoke the ad- 

 miration, and gained the support, of 

 King and people; it was by fore- 

 thought, and not only by daring, that 

 he brought the Vega and her consorts 



