Extreme North by Bernd Brunner

Here in New York City, it's still very cold and icy outside following this past weekend's blizzard. So, what better way to contemplate the elements than to snuggle up with a book about an even colder and snowier place — the Nordics!

Extreme North, a 2022 book by historian Bernd Brunner, promises a sweeping cultural history of the world's northernmost regions. I wasn't familiar with this book until I picked up a copy in the sale section at my local bookstore. I’ve been interested in learning more about the Nordic countries since traveling to Denmark and Sweden last year, and the author's premise sounded intriguing.

North originally meant "left of sunrise"

This book, translated from German, is made up of lots of short chapters on the theme of how the north — derived from an Indo-Germanic word for “left of sunrise" — has been imagined, romanticized and mythologized over centuries. The north, with its fjords, mountain landscapes and Viking legends, has long captivated explorers, artists and writers. Brunner is as interested in the idea of the north, and what it represents to a range of different cultures, as he is in the actual physical region. His central argument is that north is not only a geographic location, but also a political, economic and cultural construct that represents vastly different things to different people.

Early cartographers presented east or south at the top of maps, and only later did north move up to that position. To illustrate how the idea of “north” is relative, Brunner provides the example of Norway's Bouvetøya, an uninhabited volcanic island situated between South Africa and Antarctica. This island is considered to be in the north, although this is true only if you happen to be standing at the South Pole.

Closer to home, Americans' concept of North and South is shaped much more by the legacy of the Civil War than by latitude. Why, for instance, is Idaho generally not considered a "Northern" state, while New Jersey always is?

Explorers, writers and artists have long been inspired by the North.

The "extreme" in the book's title carries a number of meanings. During the Middle Ages, many Europeans considered the north to be the dark realm of the devil. It was the fearsome home of the Vikings, who carried out terrifying raids on their cities, including an invasion of Paris in the year 885. "Extreme" north also refers to the Nazis' sinister obsession with the supposed superiority of the "Nordic race" and their twisted misappropriation of Norse mythology.

There are many interesting tidbits in this book. For example, I learned that the bright and airy aesthetic of Ikea furniture was inspired by designs popular during the reign of 18th century Swedish King Gustav III.

I enjoyed reading this book, although I found the structure to be somewhat scattered and repetitive. Still, I'd recommend it as a basic introduction to the history, culture — and furniture — of the Nordics, right down to the Billy bookcases and Ektorp sofas you can find at Ikea.