Svend Foyn and the vikings...
Sep. 18th, 2010 12:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranI've been meaning to post his for a while, but haven't had time...
The green, somewhat metallic chap on the pedestal is Svend Foyn, a Tønsberg native and the father of modern whaling...
Svend Foyn is something of a local hero in Tønsberg, and in Norway in general. While other people may have contributed various ideas and inventions, Svend was the one who first put all the ingredients together to transform what was then a dying industry. A fast, agile steamship that could chase down whales. A bow-mounted harpoon cannon which could dispatch them, and, just as importantly, a means to retrieve the carcass and bring it back to where it could be processed.
All of a sudden, the game was changed. Whaling became efficient, safe (except from the whales' point of view), and economically lucrative. At last the bigger "strong" whales could be hunted down with ease, and whole new fishing grounds were opened up (and then depleted). With a patent on the new technology, Svend's company brought jobs and money to the country, and Norway became a world leader in a revitalised industry.
On hearing this story, it's not hard to reflect on maybe a different view of the vikings who preceded him. Yes, they were feared warriors (as evidenced by the Varangian Guard), but perhaps more importantly, they were, like Svend, adventurous entrepreneurs who found themselves with a new technology which they exploited both ruthlessly and audaciously. Instead of whales, they had undefended villages and monasteries, which were suddenly opened up to them by the ability of their longships to land them were the defenders were not.
Their success, in other words, was maybe not so much to do with who they defeated as who they managed to avoid altogether, in the manner of pirates and bandits of all ages.
The green, somewhat metallic chap on the pedestal is Svend Foyn, a Tønsberg native and the father of modern whaling...
Svend Foyn is something of a local hero in Tønsberg, and in Norway in general. While other people may have contributed various ideas and inventions, Svend was the one who first put all the ingredients together to transform what was then a dying industry. A fast, agile steamship that could chase down whales. A bow-mounted harpoon cannon which could dispatch them, and, just as importantly, a means to retrieve the carcass and bring it back to where it could be processed.
All of a sudden, the game was changed. Whaling became efficient, safe (except from the whales' point of view), and economically lucrative. At last the bigger "strong" whales could be hunted down with ease, and whole new fishing grounds were opened up (and then depleted). With a patent on the new technology, Svend's company brought jobs and money to the country, and Norway became a world leader in a revitalised industry.
On hearing this story, it's not hard to reflect on maybe a different view of the vikings who preceded him. Yes, they were feared warriors (as evidenced by the Varangian Guard), but perhaps more importantly, they were, like Svend, adventurous entrepreneurs who found themselves with a new technology which they exploited both ruthlessly and audaciously. Instead of whales, they had undefended villages and monasteries, which were suddenly opened up to them by the ability of their longships to land them were the defenders were not.
Their success, in other words, was maybe not so much to do with who they defeated as who they managed to avoid altogether, in the manner of pirates and bandits of all ages.
