GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF DENMARK AND GREENLAND BULLETIN 21 · 2010

Exploration history and place names of northern East Greenland

Anthony K. Higgins

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF DENMARK AND GREENLAND

MINISTRY OF CLIMATE AND ENERGY

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin 21

KeywordsExploration history, northern East Greenland, place names, Lauge Koch’s geological expeditions, Caledonides.

Cover illustrationÄttestupan, the 1300 m high cliff on the north side of Kejser Franz Joseph Fjord discovered and so named by A.G. Nathorst in 1899.

Frontispiece: facing pageMap of Greenland by Egede (1818), illustrating the incorrect assumption that the Norse settlements of Greenland were located inSouth-West and South-East Greenland. Many of the localities named in the Icelandic Sagas are placed on this map at imaginary siteson the unknown east coast of Greenland. The map is from the second English edition of Hans Egede’s ‘Description of Greenland’, aslightly modified version of the first English edition published in 1741.

Chief editor of this series: Adam A. GardeEditorial board of this series: John A. Korstgård, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Aarhus; Minik Rosing, Geological Museum, University of Copenhagen; Finn Surlyk, Department of Geography and Geology, University of CopenhagenScientific editor of this volume: Adam A. GardeEditorial secretaries: Jane Holst and Esben W. GlendalReferees: Ian Stone (UK) and Christopher Jacob Ries (DK)Illustrations: Eva MelskensMaps: Margareta ChristoffersenDigital photographic work: Benny M. ScharkLayout and graphic production: Annabeth AndersenGeodetic advice: Willy Lehmann WengPrinters: Rosendahls · Schultz Grafisk a/s, Albertslund, DenmarkManuscript received: 22 April 2010Final version approved: 1 July 2010Printed: 21 December 2010. Minor factual corrections made May 2011 in the www.geus.dk version.

ISSN 1604-8156ISBN 978-87-7871-292-9

Velux Fonden supported publication of this Bulletin (see acknowledgements).

Citation of the name of this seriesIt is recommended that the name of this series is cited in full, viz. Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin. If abbreviation of this volume is necessary, the following form is suggested: Geol. Surv. Den. Green. Bull. 21, 368 pp.

Available fromGeological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS)Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, DenmarkPhone: +45 38 14 20 00, fax: +45 38 14 20 50, e-mail: geus@geus.dk

or at www.geus.dk/publications/bull

© De Nationale Geologiske Undersøgelser for Danmark og Grønland (GEUS), 2010For the full text of the GEUS copyright clause, please refer to www.geus.dk/publications/bull

Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Geographical limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exploration and discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scope of place names – approved / unapproved. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Official place names in Greenland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exploration history of northern East Greenland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pioneer exploration and discovery: c. 2500 BC – 1912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Commercial activities, early mountaineering, geological mapping: 1919–1960 . . . . . . . . . Modern scientific investigations, adventure and sporting expeditions 1961–2008. . . . . . .

Catalogue of place names in northern East Greenland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Administrative organisation of Greenland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geographical terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maps 1–3 (end of volume) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maps 4 & 5 (folded in pockets)

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11121317183065

117350350350350351365

Contents

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Higgins, A.K. 2010: Exploration history and place names of northern East Greenland. Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin 21, 368 pp. + 2 maps.

The first recorded landing by Europeans on the coast of northern East Greenland (north of 69°N)was that of William Scoresby Jr., a British whaler, in 1822. This volume includes a chronologicalsummary of the pioneer 19th century exploration voyages made by British, Danish, Norwegian,Swedish, French and German expeditions – all of whom reported that the region had previously beenoccupied by the Inuit or Eskimo; also included are brief outlines of the increasing number of gov-ernment and privately sponsored expeditions throughout the 20th century, whose objectives includedcartography, geology, zoology, botany, trapping and the ascent of the highest mountain summits.

In 1934 the Place Name Committee for Greenland was established, the tasks of which includeda review of all place names hitherto recorded on published maps of Greenland, their formal adop-tion in danicised form, and the approval or rejection of new name proposals. In northern EastGreenland, by far the largest numbers of new place names were those proposed by scientists associ-ated with Lauge Koch’s geological expeditions that lasted from 1926 until 1958. This volume recordsthe location and origin of more than 3000 officially approved place names as well as about 2650unapproved names.

The author’s interest in the exploration history and place names of northern East Greenland startedin 1968, when the Geological Survey of Greenland initiated a major five-year geological mapping pro-gramme in the Scoresby Sund region. Systematic compilation of names began about 1970, initiallywith the names given by William Scoresby Jr., and subsequently broadened in scope to include thenames proposed by all expeditions to northern East Greenland. The author has participated in 16summer mapping expeditions with the Survey to northern East Greenland. Publication of this vol-ume represents the culmination of a lifetime working in the Arctic.

Abstract

Authors’ addressGeological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, DenmarkE-mail: akh@geus.dk

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The place names of northern East Greenland, be -tween 69° and 81°21´N, provide a vivid record of theexploration of one of the least accessible parts ofGreenland. This region includes the eastern part ofthe North-East Greenland National Park, the largestnational park in the world, and extends southwardsbeyond the national park limits to include the EastGreenland settlement of Scoresbysund / Illoqqor -toor miut (Ittoqqortoormiit) that was founded in 1925.Illoqqortoormiut is the official spelling, while Ittoq -qortoormiit is the East Greenlandic dialect spellingused by the inhabitants.

All of East Greenland was formerly occupied byInuit (Eskimo) cultures, whose house ruins are foundthroughout the region, but none of the names theInuit used have survived. The region was re-discov-ered by whalers in the early 19th century and mainlyexplored by European expeditions of British, Danish,Norwegian, Swedish, French and German origin. Anincreasing number of expeditions with varied objec-tives visited the region throughout the 20th century.After formation of the Place Name Committee forGreenland (Stednavneudvalget) in 1934, the namesused on all existing published maps were systemati-cally reviewed and with few exceptions approved indanicised form. More than 190 place names used bythe Greenlandic inhabitants of Scoresbysund / Illoq -qor toormiut (Ittoqqortoormiit) since 1925 were re -corded in 1955. In this volume the term ‘Inuit’ is usedin references to the former eskimo residents of north-ern East Greenland, whereas ‘Greenlandic’ or ‘Green -landers’ is used in respect of the present day in ha bitants.

A very large number of place names were proposedby geologists and other scientists associated withLauge Koch’s expeditions between 1926 and 1958,and reflect to some extent the diverse nationalities ofthe participants; names were given after persons,towns or geographical locations of Danish, Swiss,Finnish, French, Swedish and British origin. One ofthe principal reasons that so many names proposedby Lauge Koch’s scientists have been approved is thatthe journal Meddelelser om Grønland (published bythe Videnskabelige Kommission for Grønland: theScientific Commission for Greenland) insisted thatonly officially approved place names could be used intheir publications. Up until the 1960s Meddelelser

om Grønland was the preferred publication for rou -tine geological and other scientific descriptions, be -cause it had the resources to produce well-illustratedaccounts that were often accompanied by colouredfolding maps.

The author’s interest in East Greenland’s explo-ration history and place names was stimulated duringhis first summer in East Greenland in 1968. This visitto the Scoresby Sund region was undertaken with theGeological Survey of Greenland (GGU – subsequent-ly the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland,GEUS). Between 1968 and 1998 the Survey mappedgeologically the entire region of northern East Green -land between 69° and 81°21´N, and the author partic-ipated in a total of 16 summer expeditions to thisregion with the Survey.

In about 1970 the author began compilation of theplace names used on the various discovery and explo-ration expeditions that have visited East Greenlandsince 1822, and this work has continued until publi-cation of this volume. From 1990 onwards partici-pants in the GGU/GEUS regional mapping expe di- tions were supplied with collections and explanationsof official place names relevant to the region of study(Higgins 1990, 1994a, 1997). It is these preliminarycol lec tions of place names that form the basis for thepresent work.

A variety of publications on place names used inGreenland exist, for example on the names that can betraced to the Norse settlements in South-West andWest Greenland (Vebæk 1966), and those that relateto the Dutch whale-hunting period in West Green -land (Bobé 1915, 1921; Rosendahl 1974). The onlyattempt at a regional account on the origin of placenames is Dan Laursen’s ‘The Place Names of NorthGreenland’ (Laursen 1972). Laursen’s work has closesimilarities with this volume in that the great majori-ty of place names listed relate to European and NorthAmerican voyages of exploration. However, the pre -sentation is somewhat verbose in giving very detailedinformation on each of the expeditions that visitedNorth Greenland, and the place name section is notpresented in strict alphabetical order. When develop-ing a style of presentation for this volume, I havefollowed in many respects that of the ‘Dictionary ofAlaska Place Names’ by Donald J. Orth (1967) that

Introduction

lists a very large number of place names in a compactand, for the reader, an informative and easily under-stood way. The monumental volume by Orheim et al.(2003), ‘The Place Names of Svalbard’, lists the morethan 8000 currently approved names for that region,but has only a summary section describing the explo-ration of Svalbard. The individual name entries arepresented in a very summary way, such that it is notalways obvious which expedition or person is respon-sible for the name.

Note that throughout this volume officially ap -proved names are given in ordinary type, and in theplace name catalogue in bold type. Unapproved orunofficial names are always given in italics. Thenames of ships are given emphasis by use of CAPITALS.

Geographical limits

The traditional divisions of Greenland are illustratedin Fig. 1. East Greenland (‘Østgrønland’ in Danish,‘Tunu’ in Greenlandic) comprises the entire east-facing coast from Lindenow Fjord / Kanger lus suat -siaq at 60°30´N to Nordostrundingen at 81°21´N.The boundary between East Greenland and NorthGreenland (‘Nordgrønland’ in Danish, ‘Avannaarsua’in Greenlandic) follows the SW–NE-trending water-shed in Kronprins Christian Land. This officialboundary between North Greenland and East Green -land is followed in this volume. East Greenland can beconveniently divided into northern and southern re -gions at c. 69°N, where a high ice cap and a long inhos-pitable coast have hindered migration of both theInuit and land animals. This natural boundary at69°N has been adopted in this volume as the southernlimit of ‘northern East Greenland’.

In 1976 the Geological Survey of Greenland(GGU) introduced regional subdivisions of all ofGreenland that were considered more appropriateand useful for geological descriptions (Fig. 2; Escher& Watt 1976). For northern East Greenland the sub -divisions chosen essentially follow the informal usageof Lauge Koch’s expeditions and other workers, withthe notable exception of the boundary between‘North’ and ‘East’ Greenland, that is placed at an arti-ficial limit of latitude 79°30´N rather than followingthe official boundary (Fig. 1). The Survey subdivi-sions thus somewhat illogically place the northern-most segment of the east-facing coast of northernEast Greenland in an enlarged ‘North Greenland’.

These Survey subdivisions were first used extensivelyin the Survey’s volume on the ‘Geology of Greenland’(Escher & Watt 1976). The subdivisions were slightlyamended by Ghisler (1990), mainly to bring theoffshore divisions into line with the onshore divi-sions. While these revised subdivisions have noformal official status they have been very widely usedin geological publications for the past 30 years.Indeed, the widespread usage particularly of theEnglish term ‘North-East’ Greenland has led to theassumption that there is an equivalent Danish termfor this part of East Greenland, such that ‘Nordøst -grønland’ is commonly encountered in Danish scien-tific publications and even in the formal title of‘Nordøstgrønlands Nationalpark’ (North-East Green -land National Park).

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Fig. 1. The three official divisions of Greenland: Tunu – Østgrønland (EastGreen land), Avannaarsua – Nordgrønland (North Greenland), Kitaa – Vest -grønland (West Greenland). KMJ: Kap Morris Jesup; PL: Peary Land; KCL:Kronprins Christian Land; DLL: Dronning Louise Land; R: Rigny Bjerg; G:Gunnbjørn Fjeld; KF: Kap Farvel.

Exploration and discovery

A detailed summary of all significant expeditions tonorthern East Greenland makes up the section on theExploration history of northern East Greenland (seepage 17). In this section the main phases of explo-ration are briefly outlined. Maps 1–5 at the end of thisvolume give the most important place names used innorthern East Greenland.

The former indigenous inhabitants of northernEast Greenland have left abundant evidence of theirpresence in the form of house ruins and tent rings.The Inuit (Eskimo) cultures can be related to several

waves of immigration, of which the last few survivorsof the Thule culture in northern East Greenland wereprobably the group of 12 encountered by DouglasClav ering on Clavering Ø (74°15´N) in 1823 (Clave -ring 1830).

The earliest names still applied to East Greenlandgeographical features are those found in the Icelandicsagas, but these were mainly given for distant highmountains used as landmarks when sailing to theNorse settlements of South-West and West Green land(Østerbygden and Vesterbygden; see Frontis piece)from about AD 1000; these settlements graduallydeclined during the Little Ice Age that followed, withthe last certain contacts with Europe about 1410.

Records of sightings of northern East Greenlandwere few until Henry Hudson’s voyage in 1607 thatobserved Hold with Hope at 73°30´N and reportedabundant whales in the waters near Spitsbergen in theNorth Atlantic. Whalers of many nations flocked toSpitsbergen after 1612, and when whales becamescarce there about 1630 they began to sail to EastGreen land waters in search of new hunting grounds.For more than 200 years, however, the coast of north-ern East Greenland, protected by a wide belt of packice, was widely considered inaccessible. It was notuntil 1822 that the British whaler William ScoresbyJr. made the first recorded landings around the mouthof Scoresby Sund (70°15´N). From the mid-1800sonwards there were numerous visits to East Green -land waters by whalers, and notably Norwegian seal-ers, who approached the land to supplement theircatch with walruses and muskoxen.

The German explorer Karl Koldewey made anattempt to reach the North Pole via East Greenland in1869, but his ship GERMANIA only reached as far northas Germania Havn (74°32´N) where it was forced tooverwinter. During the autumn and the spring of1870, sledge journeys were sent northwards as far as77°N, and the region from 74° to 77°N was mapped inoutline for the first time. The next major mappingexpedition was the Danish expedition led by CarlRyder in 1891–1892, that overwintered at HeklaHavn on Danmark Ø in the inner Scoresby Sund re -gion (70°–72°N). The system of fjords was exploredby boat and on sledge journeys. In 1899, a Swedishexpedition led by A.G. Nathorst visited the KongOscar Fjord region in a search for traces of SalomonAndrée’s balloon expedition that had vanished in1897 during an attempt to reach the North Pole.During the summer of 1899, Nathorst explored Kej -ser Franz Joseph Fjord and the network of fjords

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CanadaStation Nord

Ellesmere Island Peary

Land

western easterncentral

Daneborg

Mestersvig

Pituffik /Thule Air Base

MelvilleBugt

SvartenhukHalvø

DiskoDiskoBugt

Upernavik

Nuuk

Aasiaat

KangerlussuaqSisimiut

Tasiilaq /Ammassalik

Scoresby Sund

Blossevil

le K

yst

Ivittuut

Qaqortoq

Kap Farvel

Nares S

trait

centralEast

southernEast

North - East

Iceland

North - West

North

cent ralWest

southernWest

South - East

South - West

South

Arctic Ocean

North AtlanticOcean

Inland Ice

400 km

72°

76°

80°

28°36°44°52°

68°

64°

60°

Fig. 2. The subdivisions of Greenland as used by GGU/GEUS. The GeologicalSurvey’s subdivisions were based on unofficial usage in published reports bygeologists, botanists, zoologists and other scientists. Although not officiallyrecognised these divisions have been very widely used in geological publicationssince 1976.

centred on Kong Oscar Fjord (72°–74°N); the expedi-tion surveyor, Per Dusén, carried out an epic pro -gramme of mapping. The 1906–08 Danmark-Ekspe -ditionen was the largest and most ambitious of earlyDanish expeditions, whose aims were to survey thelarge unknown region north of 77°N and to link upwith the explorations of the American Robert E.Peary in North Greenland. Their success cost thelives of three members, of whom only the body of onehas been found.

Norwegian activities entered a new phase with thefirst deliberate overwintering of a fox-trapping expe-dition in 1908–09. This was the start of the Norwe -gian–Danish trapper era that was to last until 1960. Aseries of expeditions from both nations overwinteredat hunting stations with networks of small huntinghuts surrounding them, trapping foxes and occasion-al wolves for their skins. The expansion of their rela-tive trapping terrains led to the trappers becominginvolved in the Norwegian-Danish dispute over thesovereignty of East Greenland that was settled inDen mark’s favour at the International Court of Jus -tice in The Hague in 1933. During World War II Da -nish and Norwegian hunters co-operated as mem bersof Nordøstgrønlands Slædepatrulje (forerunner of thepresent Sirius Sledge Patrol). Trapping was resumedafter the war but was only sustained with governmentsubsidies, and when subsidies were suspended, fallingskin prices led to the effective cessation of hunting in1960. The full story of the trapping era is related infascinating detail by Peter Schmidt Mikkelsen (2008).

Members of the pioneer exploration voyages madeoccasional ascents of significant mountains, not ablyJulius Payer during Karl Koldewey’s 1869–70 expedi-tion, but voyages aimed primarily at climbs of thehighest known mountains in northern East Green landbegan with the British Cambridge expedition led byJ.M. Wordie that travelled to East Green land in 1926aboard the HEIMLAND. The professed objectives in -cluded surveying and archaeology, but included areconnaissance of a route to the 2940 m summit ofPetermann Bjerg, first seen by Karl Kolde wey’s expe-dition in 1870. Wordie’s second expedition in 1929was rewarded by its successful ascent. An Italian expe-dition led by Leonardo Bonzi had sailed to EastGreenland with a small climbing expedition in 1934intending to make an attempt on the Watkins Bjerge,the range of high summits south of Scoresby Sund ataround 69°N. Frustrated by ice conditions theyexplored the then unknown mountains of VolquaartBoon Kyst (c. 70°N). It was another British expedition

led by Augustine Courtauld and Lawrence R. Wagerthat made the first ascent of Gunnbjørn Fjeld (Hvit -serk) in August 1935; at 3694 m this is the highestpeak in the Watkins Bjerge and the highest summit inGreenland. These early climbing expeditions were allreliant on boats for transport.

The competing interests of Danish and Norwe -gian trappers led to signing of a treaty on East Green -land (Østgrønlandstraktaten) in 1924 that allowedboth nations to hunt, fish and carry out scientificinvestigations, but made no decision on sovereignty.However, the treaty specifically allowed Denmark toestablish a colony in the Scoresby Sund region, andthis proposal was brought to fruition thanks to theinfluence and initiative of Ejnar Mik kelsen. In 1925the Greenlandic settlement of Scores bysund / Illoq -qor toormiut (Ittoqqortoormiit) was esta blished withthe arrival of 70 Greenlandic settlers, mainly fromAmmassalik / Tasiilaq. This act and the series of geo -logical expeditions initiated by Lauge Koch in 1926were part of a strategy to expand Danish influence innorthern East Greenland that eventually led to recog-nition of Danish sovereignty over all of Greenland.

Lauge Koch’s 1926–27 expedition was followed bysummer expeditions in 1929 and 1930 and then 1931–34 Treårsekspeditionen (the Three-year expedition),the largest and most comprehensive expedition hither-to sent to East Greenland by Denmark, and also led byLauge Koch. The Danish Geodætisk Institut (Geo -detic Institute) was an integral part of this expedition,and initiated a long-running programme of surveyingleading to publication of 1:250 000 scale topographicmaps. Treårsekspe di tionen was succeeded by the so-called Two-year expedition 1936–38, but the outbreakof World War II led to a halt in scientific activities.Lauge Koch’s expeditions continued from 1947, withan almost entirely geological focus, until the annualgrants for field work were abruptly suspended after the1958 season.

Significant activities by other nations included theseven voyages to the Scoresby Sund region by Jean-Baptiste Charcot in his three-mast barque POURQUOI

PAS?, that included the setting up of the French Inter -national Polar Year station 1932–33 in Scoresbysund/ Illoqqortoormiut (Ittoqqortoormiit) and the four voy -ages by the American Louise A. Boyd with the VESLE -KARI that visited most of the northern East Greenlandfjords undertaking photography and surveying.

In 1952 an airport was constructed west of MestersVig, subsequently known as Mestersvig (one-word),in connection with exploitation of the lead deposits

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discovered by Lauge Koch’s expeditions nearby. Theexcellent 1800 m gravel airstrip has provided easyaccess to East Greenland for aircraft, and between1954 and 1985 about 200 scientific and sports expedi-tions made use of the airstrip facility to reach EastGreenland (Mestersvig was partly replaced in 1985 bythe new airport built at Constable Pynt). From themid-1950s onwards climbing expeditions paid partic-ular attention to the high mountains of the StauningAlper that could be reached either by walking in, orby using small rubber boats for transport westwardsalong the coast (Bennet 1972). In 1974 the NationalPark in North-East Greenland was established and in1988 was expanded westwards across North Green -land. At present it is the largest national park in theworld. The Sirius sledge patrol, whose primary pur -pose is to patrol the uninhabited regions of northernEast and North Greenland, also act as wardens in theNational Park; visitors can only enter the NationalPark with permits issued by the Greenland authori-ties.

In 1967 the Geological Survey of Greenland senta small reconnaissance expedition to the ScoresbySund region. This was a precursor to the major re -gional geological mapping programme that was toprepare 1:500 000 scale geological maps of northernEast Green land over a period of 30 years (Henriksen& Higgins 2008). Between 1978 and 1987 super wide-angle, vertical, aerial photographs were taken cover-ing all of Greenland, and a new network of fixedsurvey stations was established by the GeodætiskInstitut (GI, Geodetic Institute, now part of Kort &Matrikelstyrelsen – KMS). KMS has produced a newtopographic database for all of Greenland at a nomi-nal scale of 1:250 000 based on a combination of digi-tised existing published 1:250 000 scale map sheetswith new maps drawn of previously unmapped areas(http://en.nunagis.gl). In connection with their re -gional geological mapping programmes, GGU/GEUSin co-operation with KMS has prepared topographicmaps on a 1:100 000 scale for almost all of northernEast Greenland.

The Sirius sledge patrol began to use Twin Otteraircraft for transport of personnel to and from Dane -borg in 1977, and from 1978 GI and GGU/GEUSexpeditions to East and North Greenland also madeextensive use of Twin Otter aircraft, whose shorttakeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities are ideal fortransport of equipment and personnel between basecamps and ‘unprepared’ natural landing strips (usual-ly river terraces; P.S. Mikkelsen 2006). Twin Otter

aircraft chartered from Iceland were also extensivelyused to supply the DYE stations (part of the Amer -ican Distant Early Warning radar system) on theInland Ice, and to support the ice-drilling operationsat various locations on the Inland Ice. The IcelandicTwin Otter pilots thus achieved considerable experi-ence in landing on snow and ice surfaces, and theseskills have since been utilised by climbing expeditionsto provide easy access to the high mountain ranges ataround 69°N and other areas. Climbing expeditionshave also been transported by Twin Otter to lessprecipitous areas otherwise difficult to reach, andmany of these expeditions appear to have had as theirsole objective the ascent of unclimbed peaks that theycan then name after themselves or members of theirfamilies. However, no unofficial names given byclimbers have been recognised by the Place NameCommittee for Greenland since about 1960. In manyremote nunatak areas the summits climbed may beonly a few hundred metres above the surroundingglacier surfaces on which the Twin Otter aircraftlanded. Claims by such expeditions to have made ‘30first ascents’ are not unusual.

Scope of place names – approved / unapproved

The bulk of this volume comprises a catalogue ofapproved and unapproved place names, arranged al -phabetically, that have been used on maps and inpublications for localities in northern East Greenland(see page 117).

There are more than 3000 officially recognisedplace names in the region 69°–81°21´N, that is to saynames that have been approved by the Place NameCom mittee for Greenland in Copenhagen (Sted navne - udvalget) established in 1934. In 1979 Green landachie ved Home Rule (Hjemmestyre), and in January1984 the responsibility for place names in Greenlandwas transferred to Grønlands Sprognævn in Nuuk, thepresent Nunat Aqqinik Aalajangiisartut / GrønlandsStednavnenævn. A review of the work of the PlaceName Committee for Greenland from 1934 to De -cember 1983 is the subject of the section that followsbelow: Official place names in Greenland (p. 13).

Several hundred place names that appeared on the1:200 000 and 1:100 000 scale Norwegian maps of partsof northern East Greenland are also listed, althoughonly a small number were approved, the great major-

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ity being rejected by the then Place Name Committeeas being politically motivated, i.e. given to supportNorwegian arguments for claims to sovereignty overparts of East Greenland. The detailed account ofNorwegian and Danish trapping activities in north-ern East Greenland by P.S. Mikkelsen (1994, 2008)illustrates all their hunting stations and hunting huts,as well as the names and alternative names by whichthey are known. All these names receive brief mentionhere.

Unapproved names used on published maps byscientists of J.-B. Charcot’s expeditions (1925–36),Louise A. Boyd’s expeditions (1932, 1935, 1948) andin the 1968 edition of ‘Den Grønlandske Lods’ (thisvolume, published in Danish, is ‘The Greenland Pilotfor East Greenland’) are also included.

Up to 1960 many of the names given by climbingexpeditions to peaks in the Stauning Alper were ap -proved in danicised form, but the proposals for anincreasing number of foreign-sounding names led toadoption of a more critical attitude to approval ofnames by the Place Name Committee for Greenland.The existence of detailed topographic maps of theStauning Alper has allowed identification of the posi-tions of virtually all summits climbed up to 2008, anda special map on a 1:150 000 scale giving both ap -proved and unapproved names applied to features inthis region accompanies this volume as Map 5.

The large numbers of scientific, tourist and climb-ing expeditions that have visited, and continue tovisit East Greenland have inevitably led to the namingof geographical features. Only a selection of unap-proved names used for significant reference localitiesreceive mention here. In general, any names givenafter living persons, or used for minor peaks or varia-tions of climbers’ routes, are not included.

The most important source of information for thisvolume has been a near complete set of the minutes ofthe former Place Name Committee for Greenland;these include the documentation submitted to thecommittee and its various sub-committees in consid-ering place name proposals. This material was kindlylent to the author by Henry W. Bjørn of the thenGeodetic Institute (Geodætisk Institute, now incor-porated into Kort- & Matrikelstyrelsen).

Acknowledgements

Peter Schmidt Mikkelsen (Rønde, Denmark) has kind -ly allowed me to add to this volume the many varia-tions of hut names used by trappers, and to quote theGPS latitudes and longitudes he has determined forall the hunting stations and hunting huts in EastGreenland. This data, and the histories of the indi-vidual stations and huts, is taken from the Englishedition of his account of Danish and Norwegian trap-ping activities (P.S. Mikkelsen 2008).

Jan Løve (Skagen, Denmark) has for many yearsindependently compiled data on place names used byexpeditions to East Greenland, backing up his compi-lations with studies of published and unpublisheddiaries and other original material in various Danisharchives. He has freely allowed me to make use of hisdeductions and conclusions with respect to specificnames, thus correcting many of my errors and misin-terpretations; the most important corrections areacknowledged in the relevant individual entries. JanLøve’s name compilations are on file (in Danish) on thewebsite of the Danish Arctic Institute (www.arktisk -institut.dk: Østgrønlandske Stednavne).

Niels Henriksen (GEUS and Birkerød, Denmark)has been a constant source of support and encourage-ment throughout the compilation process for thisvolume. He was also leader of all the GGU/GEUS geo -logical mapping expeditions in which I have partici-pated. He has kindly read large sections of this vo lume,and provided many helpful comments and suggestions.

Many individuals have kindly provided valuableinformation on place names given by themselves or byothers during expeditions in which they participated.I am particularly grateful to: Svend Bendix-Almgren,John Cowie, Peter R. Dawes, Henrik Elling, J.D. (Di -dom) Friderichsen, John Haller, Colwyn Jones, DavidMalmquist, Arne Noe-Nygaard, N.E. Odell, Fritz H.Schwarzen bach, Cordelia Stamp, W. Stuart Watt andAnker Weidick.

The support of Velux Fonden is gratefully ac -know ledged, and is provided under the statutes of theFund that encourage and give financial support toactive pensioneers.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the very help-ful suggestions of the two reviewers, Christopher Riesand Ian Stone.

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Professor N.E. Nørlund, Director of the GeodætiskInstitut (Geodetic Institute), wished to solve the prob-lems of names given in various languages by expedi-tions of different nationalities, and also the use of Eastand West Greenlandic dialects, as East Greenlandorthography diverges from that of West Greenland.Nørlund therefore took the initiative to form the PlaceName Committee for Greenland (Sted navne kommis -sionen or Stednavneudvalget), under the auspices ofthe Scientific Commission for Greenland, with the aimof ratifying place names in Greenland. The initiativewas prompted by the introduction of the regulations ofjourneys to and from Greenland issued by the Ministryfor Shipping and Fisheries on 7 August 1930, of whichsection VIII states (in translation): Expeditions thatwish to bestow place names on localities visited, must sendproposals to the Danish Government, who will make thefinal decision.

The first meeting of the committee was held on 6June 1933. The members included prominent Green -land administrators and scientists: Jens Daugaard-Jensen, Lauge Koch, Niels Erik Nørlund, Knud Ras - mussen, William C. Thalbitzer, F.O. Jørgensen andHother Ostermann. A second meeting was held on 15November 1933. Officially the Place Name Com -mittee for Greenland was established on 1 Fe b ru ary1934, when the Danish State Department issued aregulation announcing the establishment of a PlaceName Committee, and stated that no place namesgiven to Greenland localities by expeditions would berecognised by the Danish state until they had beenapproved by the committee.

Four meetings of the Place Name Committee wereheld in 1934, eight in 1935, and regular meetings wereheld subsequently until interrupted by the war years.One of the early decisions was to establish a sub-committee with the task of considering for approval allplace names that had hitherto been used on pub lishedmaps. In respect of East Greenland, the systematic list-ing of published place names, and their approval ordeletion continued until the 1940s. In the post-war pe -riod, up to 31 December 1983, the sub-committee con -tinued to approve, modify or reject newly proposedplace names, of which final approval was then made bythe full committee. The minutes of the Place NameCom mittee for Greenland from 1933 onwards were for -

m erly accessible at the Danish Geo detic Institute, andthe main activities and conclusions of the Com mitteeand its sub-committees rele vant to northern EastGreenland are summarised here. Greenland was grant-ed Home Rule in 1979, and took over responsibility forits place names on 1 Jan uary 1984; the Place NameCommittee archives are now in Nuuk, Green land.

One of the early difficulties facing the committeewas the significant differences between the WestGreen land dialect and that of East Greenland, andthe consequent varied spelling of Greenlandic placenames. At the first meeting of the committee in June1933, Professor William C. Thalbitzer, the acknowl-edged expert on the East Greenlandic dialect, arguedstrongly for preservation of the East Greenland forms,rather than the ‘incorrect’ variations introduced in theAmmassalik / Tasiilaq region by West Green land in -ter preters such as Hansêrak. At the third meeting itwas commented that up to six dialect variations mightbe required to accurately reflect local usage. JensDaugaard-Jensen, Director of Grønlands Styrelse (theGreenland administration), expressed his preferencefor the general application of Samuel Kleinschmidt’sorthography as practised in West Greenland, a viewsupported by C. Wilhelm Schultz-Lorentzen who pro -phesied (incorrectly) that there would be a generalmovement towards a common (West Greenland) dia -lect throughout Greenland. Thalbitzer threatened toresign from the committee at the 14th meeting inNovember 1935, partly on the grounds that his viewson preservation of dialect forms were repeatedlyoverruled by other committee members, and partlydue to disagreement on the principles for approvingfuture place names. He confirmed his resignation atthe 17th meeting in February 1937. The East Green -land dialect continues to thrive today in the EastGreenland towns of Illoqqortoormiut (Ittoq qor toor -miit) and Tasiilaq / Ammassalik and outlying settle-ments. The preferred East Greenlandic spelling of thename of the town Scoresbysund is Ittoqqortoormiit,and this is the spelling used by the inhabitants and onthe official website (www.eastgreenland.com), but itis the West Greenland spelling Illoqqortoormiut thatappears on official maps of Greenland.

Early meetings of the committee were marked byat times acrimonious discussion on the commemora-

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Official place names in Greenland

tion of living persons in place names. The third meet-ing agreed that commemoration of living personsshould be reduced to a minimum. An analysis of pre -vious practice in East Greenland presented at thesixth meeting revealed that 69% of the names pro -posed by A.G. Nathorst in 1899 commemoratedpersons, and that 54% of his names had been givenafter persons then still alive. The correspondingfigures for G.C. Amdrup’s 1900 expedition to south-ern East Greenland were 80% and 74% respectively.At the fourth meeting reference was made to a some-what caustic letter by Ejnar Mikkelsen, who haddrawn attention to some of the names on the 1932edi tion of the 1:1 million scale topographic map com -piled by Lauge Koch (Geodætisk Institut 1932) thatcommemorated persons without the remotest con -nection with Greenland (e.g. Anna Sten Gletscher andGerda Gletscher that were named after actresses; seealso Fig. 15). The large number of names arising fromthe activities of 1931–34 Treårsekspeditionen hadalso attracted unfavourable press comment becauseso many had been given after living persons.

Most of the names applied to geographical fea -tures during the 1931–1934 Treårsekspeditionen byLauge Koch, and the scientists working under hislead ership, were published between the regulations of1930 and 1934, and thus essentially prior to establish-ment of the Place Name Committee. Lauge Kochthere fore argued, at the ninth meeting of the commit-tee in February 1935, that the decree of 7 August 1930was the authority. Since this stated that names shouldbe placed before the Government for approval, andsince Koch was the appointed police authority in EastGreenland during Treårsekspeditionen, then he wasalso (in his view) to be considered the Governmentauthority and thus could approve his own names. Asan additional argument for the blanket approval of allnames given during Treårsekspeditionen, Koch citedthe usage of his maps as documentary evidence at theInternational Court of Justice in The Hague, duringthe Danish–Norwegian controversy over the sover-eignty of East Greenland.

At the eighth meeting of the committee in Feb -ruary 1935, discussion on the commemoration ofliving persons in place names concluded with therecommendation that they should be avoided as far aspossible, although this might prove difficult in prac-tice. It was proposed that the committee should de -cide in individual cases, by vote if necessary. Thisdecision was soon brought into effect with, at the10th committee meeting in May 1935, the rejection of

many names proposed by J.G. Jennov (director of theDanish trapping company Nanok) and Ejnar Mik -kelsen. In rejecting Jennov’s names it was incorrectlystated that they had been given after the act of 1 Feb -ruary 1934; Jennov argued that many of his proposednames were given during the 1932 Gefion expeditionand were in common use amongst Danish hunters.Jennov’s names were rejected for the third time in1940, when a sub-committee suggested alternativesfor three of Jennov’s disputed names (Tuxen Ø, Engel -hardt Sund and Frieda Sø), which became Nanok Ø,Jægersund and Gunner Andersen Sø. Nume rous sub -se quent attempts, by various expeditions, to intro-duce names obviously given after living persons wererejected. However, the regulations were often circum-vented, for example by geologists of Lauge Koch’sexpeditions who would include personal names ontheir names lists with the discrete explanation ‘girl’sname’. Occasionally the Place Name Committee ap -pears to have simply turned a blind eye to such pro -posals, and for example approved the names Ebbe Sø,Eigil Sø and Winston Bjerg proposed by the 1952–54British North Greenland expedition, although theyobviously commemorated Ebbe Munck, Eigil Knuthand Sir Winston Churchill (all then alive). Exceptionsto the ‘living person’ rule are only officially allowedfor the Danish Royal family, a practice that has con -tinued to the present day: e.g. Dronning Margrethe IILand (1990, on the occasion of the Danish Queen’s50th birthday), Qeqertaq Prins Henrik (2004, on theoccasion of the 70th birthday of the prince consort –the Danish Queen’s husband), Kronprins FrederikLand (2008, to commemorate the military service ofcrown-prince Frederik in the Sirius Sledge Patrol).

At the sixth meeting of the committee in March1934 it was agreed to establish a sub-committee, thetasks of which were to go through all published Da -nish and foreign maps, and to make decisions on thedanicised form of names to be approved for officialusage. Name lists were drawn up for consideration bythe Geodetic Institute, divided up for convenienceinto degrees of latitude, and with the names numb -ered consecutively. This system was also to apply tofuture proposed names, with the number given toeach name following it throughout the entire ap -proval process.

The first meeting of the sub-committee was inJanuary 1935. Some principal decisions had alreadybeen made by the full committee, such as the usage ofWest Greenlandic spellings for localities in East Green -land (as noted above), and the usage of the letter q for

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the special Greenlandic ĸ introduced by SamuelKleinschmidt. Amongst other proposals, usage of theDanish aa form was preferred to the Swedish å (adecision reversed in 1948). Hyphens were to be avoid-ed, such that composite names such as Zoolog-dalenwere to be given in one word as Zoologdalen. Namesgiven after persons were to be expressed in two ormore words (e.g. Milne Land, not Milneland. In prac-tice it was the sub-committee that made recommen-dations on place names to be ap proved or rejected,their proposals then being placed before the fullcommittee.

At the first meeting of the sub-committee the newnames appearing on the maps produced by NorgesSvalbard- og Ishavsundersøkelser (NSIU) on scales of1:200 000 and 1:1 million in 1932 were considered,and with only a few exceptions all were rejected, onthe grounds that they were politically motivated. Asimilar fate was to be meted out to the 299 new namesgiven on the Norwegian 1:100 000 scale maps cover-ing Clavering Ø, Geographical Society Ø and JordanHill (Lacmann 1937). Although the committee ad -mitted that Lacmann’s maps contained significantlymore detail than the best existing Danish maps, theprocedure for approval of new names by Danishauthorities had ‘not been followed’. In the event, a fewnames used on Clavering Ø were allowed by the sub-committee in 1939, but all others were rejected.

The sub-committee approved long lists of namesgiven after localities in Denmark, notably those pro -posed by the surveyors of the Geodetic Institute.Some lists of names proposed by Swiss geologists orBritish scientists were adjudged too foreign-sound-ing, even in danicised versions, and were rejected en -tirely or replaced by the sub-committee’s own sug -gestions. Other lists of equally foreign-soundingnames were approved. Although the committee asearly as 1937 had expressed the view that large num -bers of foreign-sounding names were to be avoided asfar as possible, the rule was inconsistently applied.

The indiscriminant usage of the genitive ‘s’ inplace names was raised at the eighth meeting of thecommittee in February 1935. Following the recom-mendations of the sub-committee, already publishednames that did not use the genitive ‘s’ were consideredto have won recognition in that form, whereas newlyproposed names should use the genitive form exceptwhere circumstances argued against it. However, inpractice usage continued to be inconsistent, and theproblem was raised again in the 1960s and 1970swhen it was realised that charts published by the

Danish Hydrographic Office used one form, and theGeodetic Institute map sheets the other form. One ofthe last decisions of the Place Name Committee, torestore consistency, was to remove all the genitive ‘s’endings previously approved.

To resolve the general problem in Greenland ofthe use of both Danish and Greenlandic names forthe same feature, particularly as applied to towns andsettlements, the principle of officially approving bothDanish and Greenlandic place names was established.When Greenland acquired Home Rule in 1979 therewas a subtle change in the ‘double’ name giving, withthe Greenlandic town names taking precedence overthe Danish equivalent. However, while in some casesthe Danish town names gradually fell into disuse, inother cases the Danish town names were ‘officially’abandoned by decision of the local town council leav-ing just the Greenlandic names. In some towns thispolicy went to the extremes of deliberately replacingall former Danish street names with Greenlandicalternatives. However, maps that show the originaldouble names for Greenland towns still appear in themost recent Greenland atlases (Berthelsen et al. 1989;Jakobsen et al. 2000).

The regulations concerning travel to and fromGreenland were revised in 1939 and 1948, and a regu-lation of 11 April 1949 re-organised the Place NameCommittee, with Eske Bruun (then head of the Green -land administration) as chairman. The responsibili-ties of the new committee were essentially identical tothose of the original committee. One of the earlyinitiatives of the new committee was to undertake thesystematic collection of Greenlandic place namesused by local populations in Greenland. This processbegan in 1949, and in 1955 a two-man party from theGeodetic Institute visited Scoresbysund / Illoqqor -toor miut (Ittoqqortoormiit) and collected a total ofabout 190 names used locally, the majority being ofthe characteristic descriptive type. Following revisionof the Danish orthography in 1948, the changesproposed were also applied to danicised place namesin Greenland. The main change was that of the Da -nish aa to å, although Geodetic Institute map sheetscontinued the old usage until 1954.

In 1973 a major revision of the Greenlandic ortho -graphy was implemented (Greenland spelling re -form), with the new system notably abandoning allthe accents on letters (introduced by Samuel Klein -schmidt as an aid to pronunciation). The modernwritten language, and spelling of place names, makesextensive use of double vowels and consonants. Since

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the existing Geodetic Institute map sheets, and otheratlases, used the old-style spelling, a systematic data-base of all place names in Greenland was compiled bythe Geodetic Institute in 1986–1987, that includesboth the old and new Greenlandic spellings for placenames in Greenland. Both old and new spellings ofGreenlandic approved names in northern East Green -land are given in this volume, with the main entryunder the new spelling, with cross-references for allthe old spellings.

In 1979 Greenland was granted Home Rule, whichmeant that Greenland acquired a special status with-in the Kingdom of Denmark, with its own parliamentin Nuuk in West Greenland. As a result of this major

change many responsibilities previously carried outby Denmark on behalf of Greenland were transferredto Greenland. On 31 December 1983 the Place NameCommittee for Greenland was disbanded, and respon-sibility for place names in Greenland was transferredto Grønlands Sprognævn, today the Nunat AqqinikAalajangiisartut / Grønlands Stednavnenævn / Green -land Place Names Committee.

In 2009 Greenland was officially granted Self-government (selvstyre), a further measure of inde-pendence from Denmark, with exceptions in respectof foreign policy and defence, but still with a substan-tial annual subsidy of 3400 million Danish kroner (c.$637 million).

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