Abstract
A juxtaposition of Roald Amundsen’s relishing of victory brought about by his reliance on sled dogs, and Robert Falcon Scott’s acceptance of defeat brought about by his not relying on dogs, is formed in this chapter. Using the respective diaries of Amundsen and Scott, as well as the Fram’s captain’s diary and ship’s log, this chapter compares the events occurring concurrently for the Norwegian expedition and the British expedition during the month of March 1912, wherein Amundsen is about to embark on a victory tour, and Scott is sadly about to witness the last days of his life. Diametrically opposite experiences with/without sled dogs are documented here—Amundsen’s success and good fortune, and Scott’s failure and tragic fate. Thorvald Nilsen, meanwhile, as the acting captain on the Fram during its voyage to Buenos Aires, resumes his role as dog minder and observer, and takes care of the 18 dogs remaining on board, including reporting on new life born to one of the female dogs, who has puppies on board the ship, increasing the number of dogs. During this time of new life on the Fram, however, death meets Scott in the Antarctic, as he joins his four expedition mates in succumbing to the unforgiving cold and hunger.
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References
Amundsen, R., Antarctic expedition diary, 7 March 1912–12 June 1912, NB Ms.8º 1196, Manuscripts Collection. Oslo: National Library of Norway.
Amundsen, R. (1912). The South Pole: An account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the “Fram”, 1910–1912, 2 vols (A. G. Chater, Trans.). London: John Murray.
Nilsen, T. (2011). Thorvald Nilsens dagbøker: Sydpolsekspedisjonen 1910–1914 [Thorvald Nilsen’s Diaries: The South Pole Expedition 1910–1914] (G. O. Kløver, Ed.). Oslo: The Fram Museum.
Scott, R. F., Antarctic expedition diary, Captain Scott’s Final Diary—South Pole 1910–1912, part of BL Add MS 51024–51042, (51033–51035, vol I-vol III), digitized on the BL virtual library, British Library, London. https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/virtualbooks/viewall/index.html and https://www.bl.uk/turning-the-pages/?id=12878b6a-36b9-44db-a940-365b21bfe524&type=book
Tahan, M. R. (2019). Roald Amundsen’s sled dogs: The sledge dogs who helped discover the South Pole. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
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Notes on Original Material and Unpublished Sources
Notes on Original Material and Unpublished Sources
Roald Amundsen’s expedition diary, quoted in this chapter, is in the Manuscripts Collection at the National Library of Norway (NB) in Oslo. (The excerpts quoted are translated from the original Norwegian.)
Robert Falcon Scott’s expedition diary, quoted in this chapter, is digitized on the BL virtual library website of the British Library in London.
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R. Amundsen Antarctic expedition diary, 20 March 1912, NB Ms.8º 1196.
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R. Amundsen Antarctic expedition diary, listings and notes following the 20 March 1912 entry, NB Ms. 8º 1196.
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R.F. Scott Antarctic expedition diary, 7 March 1912, digitized on BL virtual library.
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R.F. Scott Antarctic expedition diary, 8 March 1912, digitized on BL virtual library.
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R.F. Scott Antarctic expedition diary, 27 February 1912, digitized on BL virtual library.
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R.F. Scott Antarctic expedition diary, 10 March 1912, digitized on BL virtual library.
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R.F. Scott Antarctic expedition diary, 10 March 1912, digitized on BL virtual library.
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R.F. Scott Antarctic expedition diary, 29 March 1912, digitized on BL virtual library.
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R.F. Scott Antarctic expedition diary, Message to Public, digitized on BL virtual library.
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Tahan, M.R. (2021). A Tale of Two Fates: Roald Amundsen’s Victory and Robert Falcon Scott’s Tragedy. In: The Return of the South Pole Sled Dogs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65113-8_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65113-8_8
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