Elling Carlsen (8 September 1819 – 18 April 1900) was a Norwegian skipper, seal hunter and explorer. He is credited with the discovery of

Kong Karls Land Kong Karls Land or King Charles Land is an island group in the Svalbard archipelago, in the Arctic Ocean. The island group covers an area of and is made up of the islands of Kongsøya, Svenskøya, Abel Island, Helgoland Island, and Tirpitzøya. ...

Adolf Hoe
''The Discovery of King Karl Land, Spitsbergen''
(Geographical Review Vol. 25, No. 3. July 1935, pp. 476-478) and was one of the crew of the 1872 Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition. He is also known for the 1871 discovery of the lodge of

Willem Barentsz Willem Barentsz (; – 20 June 1597), anglicized as William Barents or Barentz, was a Dutch Republic, Dutch navigator, cartographer, and Arctic explorer. Barentsz went on three expeditions to the far north in search for a Northern Sea Route, N ...

, which had stood for 270 years since Barentsz sheltered there on his third and final voyage.De Jonge, J.K.J. ''"Nova Zembla: De voorwerpen door de Nederlandsche Zeevaarders na hunne overwintering aldaar in 1597 achtergelaten en in 1871 door Kapitein Carlsen teruggevonden, beschreven en toegelicht."'', 1872.

Life

Elling Carlsen was born in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

, Norway. Carlsen took the mate exam in 1846 and that same year he was given responsibility for his first ship. Carlsen made his first voyage out of

Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerfe ...

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

, Norway. In 1859, Carlsen discovered the island group that would later be named

in the

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

archipelago in the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

. Although Carlsen is credited with the finding, the islands may have been first sighted by the whaler

Thomas Edge Thomas Edge (1587/88 – 29 December 1624) was an English merchant, whaler, and sealer who worked for the Muscovy Company in the first quarter of the 17th century. The son of Ellis Edge, Thomas Edge was born in the parish of Blackburn in Lancash ...

in 1617. In 1863, Carlsen completed the first circumnavigation of

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norw ...

. In 1868 and 1869, Carlsen sailed to

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, ...

and into the

Kara Sea The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. ...

, pioneering Norwegian hunting in the region. During a voyage to the

in 1871, Carlsen discovered the lodge of

on the north-eastern shore of the archipelago of

. This winter camp had been used as shelter by Barentsz and his crew on their third voyage in 1597, shortly before Barentsz's death. The lodge had been perfectly preserved when Carlsen found it, and he made a sketch of its construction. He records finding two copper cooking pots, a barrel, a tool chest, clock, crowbar, flute, clothing, two empty chests, a cooking tripod and a number of pictures. Carlsen was ice master and harpooneer on the 1872–1874 Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition led by Julius von Payer and

Karl Weyprecht Karl Weyprecht, also spelt Carl Weyprecht, (8 September 1838 – 2 March 1881) was an Austro-Hungarian explorer. He was an officer (''k.u.k. Linienschiffsleutnant'') in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. He is most famous as an Arctic explorer, and a ...

, which discovered the archipelago of

Franz-Josef Land , native_name = , image_name = Map of Franz Josef Land-en.svg , image_caption = Map of Franz Josef Land , image_size = , map_image = Franz Josef Land location-en.svg , map_caption = Location of Franz Josef ...

during two years stuck in the ice in the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...

. At the conclusion of that expedition, Carlsen returned to his hometown of Tromsø, and he retired from exploration five years later. Carlsen died in Tromsø in 1900.

Recognition

The crew of the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition were celebrated throughout Europe, in part due to their diversity and the trials they had overcome, but Carlsen's quick return to Tromsø meant he never achieved celebrity status in Europe. After his death in 1900, Carlsen was posthumously made a Knight of the

Order of St. Olaf The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

Carlsen Island Carlsen Island''Norway, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Official Standard Names Approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names''. 1963. Washington, DC: Office of Geography, p. 875. ( no, Carlsenøya) is one of the Rønnbeck Islands in the Svalba ...

, one of the

Rønnbeck Islands The Rønnbeck Islands ( no, Rønnbeckøyane) are a group of islands in Hinlopen Strait, Svalbard. They are located south of the Bastian Islands, southeast of Wilhelm Island. The islands are named after Norwegian sailor and seal hunter Nils Fredrik ...

in the Svalbard archipelago, is named after Carlsen.National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: Geographical Names
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlsen, Elling 1819 births 1900 deaths Norwegian sailors People from Tromsø Explorers of the Arctic Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal