Greenland whalers and life on a Wadden Sea Island in the eighteenth century

Abstract

Focusing on the Danish island Rømø, this article explores how the local community was influenced by the fact that, from the late seventeenth until the early nineteenth century, most of the men migrated every year to the big European cities to work as captains or crew on whaling and sealing ships bound for Arctic waters. This way of living brought the men from Rømø into contact with the cultural and financial centres of Europe. Several aspects of life and practices on Rømø were influenced by the annual migration of labour. While the men were away, women had to take responsibility for running both farms and households. Due to the men’s absence, farming became part of the women’s sphere to such a degree that it was almost the norm that older people would hand over the farm to a daughter and not a son. Farming was, however, marginal and the main incomes of families were earned at sea. Because the men were paid in money and not in kind, the island was permeated by an economy based on the exchange and investment of money. The material culture on the island was influenced by a growing wealth among the islanders and their connections to the world beyond. This was shown through both the cotton shirts of the women and the buildings richly decorated with Dutch tiles. On one hand, certain practices were practical solutions to specific problems connected to the conditions in a maritime community, rather than being inspired by life and practices seen elsewhere. On the other hand, living and behaving in this manner may have been a premise for upholding a connection to the networks that bound the men to communities in the European harbours.