''Eric de Noorman'' ("Eric the Norseman") was a Dutch comic strip, published in text comic format, and drawn by Hans G. Kresse from 1946 until 1964. The stories featured a

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

king, Eric, and his adventures overseas. Together with ''

Kapitein Rob ''Kapitein Rob'' ("Captain Rob") was a Dutch adventure comic strip, created and drawn by Pieter Kuhn and written by journalist Evert Werkman. The series ran from December 11, 1945 until January 21, 1966. Together with Marten Toonder's '' Tom ...

'' and ''

Tom Poes ''Tom Puss'' (''Tom Poes'' in Dutch) is a Dutch comic strip, created by Marten Toonder. Together with Hans G. Kresse's '' Eric de Noorman'' and Pieter Kuhn's ''Kapitein Rob'' it is regarded as the Big Three of Dutch comics. ''Tom Poes'' was a ...

'', ''Eric de Noorman'' is widely considered to belong to ''the Big Three'' in Dutch comics history. Kresse's well documented stories and high quality drawing are praised and have influenced many other European comics artists. ''Eric de Noorman'' is one of the few Dutch comics to gain popularity in foreign translations. In the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, it was published in ''Het Vaderland'', ''De Nieuwe Haarlemsche Courant'' and ''Tom Poes Weekblad'', in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

in '' Het Laatste Nieuws'' and ''De Nieuwe Gazet'', in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

in ''

Le Soir ''Le Soir'' (, "The Evening") is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel, it was intended as a politically independent source of news. It is one of the most popular Francophone newspapers in Belgium, competing ...

''. The comic has been translated into French,

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and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. From 1948 on the stories were published in oblong format books at the low price of 75 cent.

Concept

''Eric de Noorman'' is set during a vague

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

. Eric is a young Norse Viking king who lives together with his wife, Winonah, and son Erwin. Pum-Pum, a midget servant, is his trusty aid and advisor. He often travels abroad which brings him into all kinds of fights and adventures. In the earliest stories Eric is both seen in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

as well as the Dark Ages of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. In one story he fights against Roman Emperor Commodus (177-192) in the arena. Afterwards he returns to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, where he is in the presence of noblemen living in castles in fashions that are more reminiscent of the 12th and 13th centuries. Apart from these anachronisms, Kresse also used a lot of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

elements, such as Norse mythology and the Isle of

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

. From the story ''De Witte Raaf'' ("The White Raven") on, Kresse used more documentation which made the stories more historically accurate. He set the stories in a specific time period, namely the 5th century. This allowed Eric to meet historical and mythological characters such as the British king

Vortigern Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in ...

(Vitalinus), King Arthur, Attila the Hun and

Flavius Aetius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 454) was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433454). He managed pol ...

. Apart from historical accuracy Kresse also drew real-life locations such as Hadrian's Wall, Stonehenge, the menhir field of Carnac and the

Mousa Broch Broch of Mousa (or Mousa Broch) is a preserved Iron Age broch or round tower. It is on the island of Mousa in Shetland, Scotland. It is the tallest broch still standing and amongst the best-preserved prehistoric buildings in Europe. It is th ...

. The more magical elements disappeared from the series. Originally Kresse followed scripts by Dirk Huizinga and Waling Dijkstra, but he eventually went his own way.

List of characters

* Eric: A young noble, intelligent and brave Norse king * Winonah: Eric's beloved wife. * Erwin: Eric's son. * Pum-Pum: Eric's trusty midget servant. * Yark: A bad-tempered Norwegian nobleman. * Halfra: A nobleman who is very aware of his blue blood. * Axe the Archer: Both a friend as well as a rival to Erwin. * Aranrod: Axe's wife and queen of Harragh. * Orm: The

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...

. He is very pessimistic about the outcome of every adventure. * Ragnar the Red: A pirate captain who can't be trusted. * Cendrach: An old, but reliable builder of ships. * Branwen: Cendrach's daughter. * Svein Longtooth: A Saxon warrior who likes fighting. * Baldon: Eric's

archenemy In literature, an archenemy (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) is the main enemy of someone. In fiction, it is a character who is the protagonist's, commonly a hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional cha ...

* Lauri: A magician who is Eric's second

Publication history

In total about 67 ''Eric'' stories were published between 1946 and 1964. All of them were drawn in the text comic format, which was the dominant comic strip genre in the Netherlands until deep into the 1950s. Some stories of Eric have been published with text balloons for publication too. Since the 1970s publishing company ''Panda'' has republished all stories chronologically and integrally. Historian Rob van Eijck, a fan of the series, wrote the introductions to these volumes. From 1966 to 1974 Kresse drew a spin-off series, ''Erwin de Noorman'', about Eric's son Erwin. These stories were published with text balloons.

Translations

''Eric de Noorman'' was translated in several languages. *

: ''Erik Vidfare'' (published in the magazine ''Kong Kylie'' ) *

: ''Eric the Norseman'' * French: ''Eric, l'Homme du Nord'' (Belgium), ''Eric le Brave'' (France) (published in the Walloon newspaper ''

'' and the French monthly magazine ''Aventures Boum'', ''Vécu'' and ''Pierrot Champion'') *

: ''Erik, der Wikinger'' (published in ''Boni Bilderpost'') *

: ''Erico, Homem do Norte'' *

''Erik, El Hombre del Norte'' *

: ''Erik Vidfare'' (published in the magazines ''Vecko Nytt'' and ''

Året Runt ''Året Runt'' ( Swedish: ''All Year Around'') is a weekly women's and family magazine published in Malmö, Sweden. Founded in 1946 it is one of the longest-running magazines in the country. History and profile ''Året Runt'' was started by Åhl ...

'')

Adaptations

In 1949 Riny Blaaser adapted the comic strip into a play.

In popular culture

''Eric de Noorman'' was first published in the Flemish newspaper '' Het Laatste Nieuws''. Their youth magazine ''Pum-Pum'' (1951-1967) was named after the eponymous midget character in the series.

Willy Vandersteen Willy Vandersteen (15 February 1913 – 28 August 1990) was a Belgian creator of comic books. In a career spanning 50 years, he created a large studio and published more than 1,000 comic albums in over 25 series, selling more than 200 million c ...

was a fan of the series and used it as an inspiration to his own realistically drawn adventure stories, such as ''

De Rode Ridder ''De Rode Ridder'' (''The Red Knight'') is a Belgian Flanders, Flemish comic book series set in medieval Europe. It stars the title character Johan, the Red Knight, easily recognizable by his red tunic. It appeared six days a week in the newspaper ' ...

''. Dutch comics artist

Dick Matena Dick Matena (born 24 April 1943) is a Dutch comics writer and cartoonist. He has also published under the pseudonyms A. den Dooier, John Kelly and Dick Richards. He has made several kinds of comics, from humor comics to erotic comics, but is bes ...

also sees Kresse as a personal hero and published a homage to ''Eric de Noorman'', titled ''Mijmeringen bij een mythe''. He also once drew a parody of the series for ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

'' In 2006, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the comic, twenty large drawings were attached to the walls of several buildings in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

Sources

{{Reflist

External links

TV-interview with auteur Hans G. Kresse (1985)
(archived) Dutch comic strips 1946 comics debuts 1964 comics endings Drama comics Nautical comics Text comics Adventure comics Comics characters introduced in 1946 Comics set in the 5th century Comics set in the Viking Age Comics set in Norway Dutch comics characters Fictional kings Fictional Norwegian people Fictional Vikings Male characters in comics Comics adapted into plays