Ohthere’s Account

Ohthere told his lord, King Alfred, that he lived northernmost of all the Northmen. He said that he lived in the north of the country by the West Sea. He said though that the land stretches a long way north from there, yet it is completely unpopulated, except for a few places here and there, where Finnas [Sami] camp, hunting in winter and fishing by the sea in summer.

He said that on one occasion he wanted to find out how far north the land went, and whether anyone lived to the north of the wilderness. So he sailed north along the land; he kept the waste land to his starboard and the open sea to port for three days. By then he was as far north as the whalehunters travel at the farthest. So he went still northward as far as he could sail in the next three days. Then the land turned to the east, or the sea went into the land, he did not know which, but he did know that he waited there for a wind from the west north-west and sailed then east along the coast as far as he could sail in four days. Then he had to wait there for a due north wind, because the land turned south there, or the sea turned into the land, he did not know which. Next, he sailed south along the land as far as he could sail in five days. There a large river opened up into the land. They turned into the river, not daring to travel beyond it for fear of hostility, because the land on the other side of the river was all settled. He had not before then met any populated land since leaving his own home.

Many tales the Beormas told him, both about their own land and about the lands which lay around them, but he did not know how true these tales were because he did not see it for himself. It seemed to him that the Sami and the Beormas spoke almost the same language. He travelled there mainly, in addition to the exploration of the land, for the walrus, because they have very fine bone in their teeth – they brought some teeth for the king – and their hide … … is very good for ships' ropes. This whale is much smaller than other whales, being no more than seven ells [14 feet] long; but in his own land is the best whalehunting: there they are forty-eight ells [96 feet] long, and the biggest fifty ells [100 feet] long; of these, he said that he and six other men killed sixty in two days. He was a very wealthy man in those possessions that comprise their wealth, that is, wild beasts. He still had, when he visited the king, six hundred unsold animals. These animals are called reindeer; of these six were decoy reindeer, which are very valuable to the Sami because they catch wild reindeer with them. He was among the most prominent men in that land, yet he had no more than twenty horned cattle, twenty sheep, and twenty swine, and the little land that he plowed, he plowed with horses. Their property, however, is mostly the tribute paid to them by the Sami. This tribute consists of animal hides, bird feathers, whale bone, and ships' cables made from whale and seal skins. Each pays according to his rank. The highest ranking must give fifteen marten skins, five reindeer hides, a bear skin, ten ambers of feathers, a bear or otter skin coat, and two ships' cables, each sixty ells long, one made from whale skin and the other from seal.