2007 # 01 Tigoriannguaruk! Tag suluk med hjem! Your personal copy!

■ Knud Rasmussen aamma Helge Bangsted
»Supoorummi« inimi sullivimmi.
will not write much about the expeditions,
as you will receive this sort of
news with our reports.«
A declaration of love
The brown, faded exercise book with
Knud Rasmussen’s neat handwriting
and the inscription »DAGMAR« turned
up when his son Niels Christian (called
Manne) died a few years ago in the
USA. The closest family knew that a
so-called »forgotten diary« existed,
but its whereabouts and contents were
unknown.
For Greenland-enthusiasts, anything to
do with Knud Rasmussen is interesting
– even this diary. It may not contain
anything new, but it still contributes to
the picture of the famous explorer as a
person. As the first, outside of a very
small circle, Suluk’s readers have here
the opportunity to become acquainted
with this private document, that is in
private ownership.
»The Book«, as Knud Rasmussen
modestly called his little notebook was
to become, in his own words, »a one
and only, enormous epos of love«.
And to a certain degree this happened.
Time and again he expresses his
great love for his wife, together with
his deep care and concern for her. Not
least in connection with the eye condition
that made it almost impossible for
her to read and write. He uses many
pages to encourage and advise her.
She should – in his opinion – hire a
secretary and someone to read for her,
Suluk # 01•2007 30
■ Knud Rasmussen og Helge Bangsted i
»Blæsebælgen«s arbejdsværelse.
although it would affect the intimacy
of the correspondence between them.
»You might initially balk at the idea«,
he wrote, “but think it through – the
more you think about it, the more
natural you will find the idea. It is really
a question of money, but if money
can be said to be well spent, it could
not be better spent than here.«
Strenuous lecture
In Knud Rasmussen’s younger years,
money had been an ever-recurring
problem. But as he used to say:
»My kingdom is not what I own, but
what I accomplish!«
And he accomplished a lot. The Fifth
Thule Expedition was to be the
crowning glory and was to – in addition
to achieving scientific results and
world fame – make him a wealthy
man:
»I am to have DKK 50.000 for the
book I am going to write about this
expedition and it will probably take me
a half to three quarters of a year to
write it. There is already a wealth of
material – it’s an enormous job…
I would like to concentrate on the
book and prefer not to give lectures.
But if it’s necessary, I’ll have to shoulder
the burden. I would have unique
material to present – and if I had motion
pictures, my lecture would be
worth a fortune. Even without, I could
earn a couple of hundred thousand
■ Knud Rasmussen and Helge Bangsted in the
study in »The Bellows«.
crowns from a year or so in Europe
and America. But I would really rather
not, because a huge tour like this
would wear me out more than all my
travels up here put together.«
A large part of Knud Rasmussen’s diary
is dedicated to answering Dagmar’s
questions. Questions which she had
posed in the diary she had sent with
the last ship in 1921. Knud called his
answers the »catalogue of commissions«.
Sitting out in the wilderness,
encumbered by numerous problems,
he was required to make decisions
about whether she should, in his
absence, acquire new dining room
furniture, look at a new apartment or
perhaps purchase a house.
»What colour should I do the living
room in? Do you think I should buy a
new, lighter sofa?«
Read again and again
Knud almost despaired, but the diary
also brought him infinite pleasure:
»I read it nearly every day and although
I almost know it by heart, it still has its
original power. You described everything
so vividly; all the people come
alive. I feel very close to you all and
feel I take part in your experiences. In
particular, the children come alive in
my mind and I am able to follow their
development. It always strikes me how
good you are – how much you do for
others – and I feel immediately ashamed
of my own selfishness. How often
don’t I think only of myself and