Eskimo Folk-Tales (1921) (Paperback)

~ Knud Rasmussen (Author), W. Worster (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Native languages and ways of living, including the arts of sea kayaking and dog sledding, fascinated Knud Rasmussen, himself of Inuit and Danish descent. Rasmussen devoted much of his life to ethnological and cultural studies throughout Arctic North America. Establishing a base station in Thule, Greenland, in 1910, he visited as many Inuit peoples as he could, taking meticulous notes and making sketches, collecting artifacts and compiling hundreds of Native legends and songs. The tales are grounded in the Inuit belief system, itself defined by superstition and transformation. Thanks to his own mixed heritage, Rasmussen understood Inuit stories at a deeper level than did most observers, and documented many priceless legends that the West might have otherwise not have noticed.

From his Thule station, Rasmussen led many ambitious Arctic expeditions. His famous "Great Sledge Journey" resulted in this priceless and beloved collection and descriptions of Inuit folktales, songs, and poetry, now finally back in print in English. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

KNUD JOHAN VICTOR RASMUSSEN (1879-1933) was a Greenlandic polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" and was the first to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC (October 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0548624798
• ISBN-13: 978-0548624791
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,185,751 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Only a portion of the original, December 25, 2008

By	Stuart Dole (Santa Rosa, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rasmussen's retelling of the folk tales gets five stars - bizarre and fascinating tales - of interest in and of themselves, and of special interest to anyone who has practical interests in shamanism or indigenous spirituality.

But this facsimile edition - at least the volume I received - is only about one quarter of the original book. The table of contents goes way past the page numbers where the text just ends (in the middle of a story). So the publisher gets only one star - what happened to the rest of the book? I'm grateful that at least some of them were republished at all, but disappointed that there weren't more!