Polar literature has been very popular and widely read, as well as examined by historians, ethnograpers and antropologists, but it is not included in any Norwegian literary histories. Therefore the question remains: what are its literary qualities? My pro ject is to examine Norwegian Polar literature from the turn of the last century from a literary perspective, by studing its aesthetic qualities and placing it in the context of the great travelogues of that time. The focus will lie on Fridtjof Nansen´s På ski over Grønland (1890), Eivind Astrup´s Blandt Norpolens naboer (1898), Roald Amundsen´s Nordvestpassajen(1907), Otto Sverdrup´s Nyt land (1903) and Harald U. Sverdrup´s Blandt rentsjuktsjere og lamuter (1929).