 | |
| Author | Ejnar Mikkelsen |
|---|---|
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Rupert Hart-Davis |
Published in English | 1957 |
Two Against the Ice is a non-fiction book authored by Danish explorer Ejnar Mikkelsen. The book details the author's exploration into Greenland, a journey made with his compatriot Iver P. Iversen in 1910. The book was originally published in Danish (1955) and later translated into English by Maurice Michael (first published in 1957).
Mikkelsen recounts his round-trip 2,500 mile sledge journey from Shannon Island to Danmark Fjord. A task which soon became a battle for survival as rations ran low, and the sled dogs began to starve to death, or were intentionally shot in order to provide food for the other dogs. The two adventurers became so hungry that they began to hallucinate. In a notable moment that typifies the hunger pains that the men were suffering, Iversen no longer wished to carry his rifle out of a fear he may be compelled to shoot Mikkelsen.
The purpose of their travels was to locate the maps and journals of previous explorer Mylius Erichsen of the ill-fated Denmark Expedition. They found these articles in a cairn. Taking the journals with them they eventually made it back to their ship, only to find it crushed in pack ice, and with no sign of the other members of their expedition. The pair waited for two years in a small hut until finally being rescued by a sealing vessel. [1]
The journals that were recovered by Mikkelsen included Brønlund’s diary and Hagen’s cartographic drawings, which helped settle the question of whether Peary Land—a vast area explored by American Robert E. Peary for the first time around 1892—was a peninsula or an island. In showing that it was peninsula, the expedition affirmed Denmark's claim to the land, rather than, potentially, America's. [2]
A film adaptation, Against the Ice , was released on Netflix on March 2, 2022. The film was watched for 30.73 million hours in its first five days, placing second on Netflix's top ten. [3]
Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen was a Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" and was the first European to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled. He remains well known in Greenland, Denmark and among Canadian Inuit.
Robert Edwin Peary Sr. was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for, in April 1909, leading an expedition that claimed to be the first to have reached the geographic North Pole.
Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen was a Danish author, ethnologist, and explorer, from Ringkøbing. He was most notably an explorer of Greenland.
Donald Baxter MacMillan was an American explorer, sailor, researcher and lecturer who made over 30 expeditions to the Arctic during his 46-year career.
Watkins Island is a low lying, ice-covered island 5 miles (8 km) long, lying 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Lavoisier Island in the Biscoe Islands. The island was first mapped by the French Antarctic Expedition under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, 1903–05 and 1908–10, but remained unnamed until resighted by the BGLE under Rymill, 1934–1937. He gave the name Mikkelsen Island after Ejnar Mikkelsen, Danish Arctic explorer. In applying the name, Rymill was unaware of the existence of Mikkelsen Islands 75 mi (121 km) southwestward, named in 1908–1910 by Charcot. To avoid confusion of the two, the UK-APC recommended in 1952 that the Rymill naming be amended. The new name, Watkins Island, commemorates Gino Watkins, leader of the British Arctic Air Route Expedition, 1930–1931. A new feature, Mikkelsen Bay, has been named for Ejnar Mikkelsen.
Mikkelsen Bay is a bay, 27.8 kilometres (15 nmi) wide at its mouth and indenting 18.5 kilometres (10 nmi), entered between Bertrand Ice Piedmont and Cape Berteaux along the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. First seen from a distance in 1909 by the French Antarctic Expedition under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, but not recognized as a large bay. First surveyed in 1936 by the BGLE under Rymill, and resurveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1948–49. The name was proposed by members of BGLE for Ejnar Mikkelsen, Danish Arctic explorer and Inspector for East Greenland, 1934–50.
Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of Greenland's mainland, and Cape Bridgman in the northeast.
Sir Walter William Herbert was a British polar explorer, writer and artist. In 1969 he became the first man fully recognized for walking to the North Pole, on the 60th anniversary of Robert Peary's disputed expedition. He was described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as "the greatest polar explorer of our time".
Ejnar Mikkelsen was a Danish polar explorer and writer. He is most known for his expeditions to Greenland.
Ernest de Koven Leffingwell was an arctic explorer, geologist and Spanish–American War veteran.
Arctic exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic region of the Earth. It refers to the historical period during which mankind has explored the region north of the Arctic Circle. Historical records suggest that humankind have explored the northern extremes since 325 BC, when the ancient Greek sailor Pytheas reached a frozen sea while attempting to find a source of the metal tin. Dangerous oceans and poor weather conditions often fetter explorers attempting to reach polar regions, and journeying through these perils by sight, boat, and foot has proven difficult.
Vice Admiral Sir Georg Carl Amdrup, RN was a Danish naval officer, Vice Admiral and Greenland researcher.
Hovgaard Island is a large uninhabited island of the Greenland Sea, Greenland. The island was named after Andreas Hovgaard, a Polar explorer and officer of the Danish Navy who led an expedition to the Kara Sea on steamship Dijmphna in 1882–83.
The Denmark expedition, also known as the Denmark Expedition to Greenland's Northeast Coast and the Danmark Expedition after the ship's name, was an expedition to northeastern Greenland in 1906–1908.
Niels Peter Høeg Hagen was a Danish military officer, polar explorer and cartographer. He participated and perished in the ill-fated Denmark expedition to NE Greenland in 1906.
The Peary Channel was a hypothetical sound or marine channel running from east to west separating Peary Land in northernmost Greenland from the mainland further south.
Against the Ice is a 2022 historical survival film directed by Peter Flinth and written by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Joe Derrick, based on the true story recounted in Two Against the Ice by Ejnar Mikkelsen. It stars Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole, Charles Dance, and Heida Reed. The film was shot in Iceland and Greenland. Against the Ice premiered at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2022. It was released on Netflix on March 2, 2022, and received mixed reviews from critics.
Alabama Nunatak is a nunatak in the King Frederik VIII Land area of northeastern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park zone.