British adventurer, historian, author and history explorer. 1940 – 2020
Ever since childhood I have been fascinated by tales of the sea (although I am terrified of all things boaty). From Thor Heyerdahl to Alain Bombard to the fictional Moby Dick, i would read them all. Despite being terrified of actually being on the water I would devour the stories and revel in the lives of the people who braved this most dangerous of the elements. Tim Severin was one of those people who filled me with awe.
I stumbled across him soon after reading Heyerdahl's The Kon-Tiki Voyage, when my geography teacher recommended I read Severin's recreation of the Voyage of Saint Brendan from Ireland to north America. I plunged into the book, thrilled that someone would try to recreate this (possibly mythical, but legendary) trip across the North Atlantic, using ninth-century technology and methods. I was impressed by his attention to detail as well as his determination; he researched boat-building methods that would have been used at the time, as well as how to use historically appropriate materials, even to the point of learning how to tan leather to build a curragh, a boat made of leather. Then he details getting a crew together and learning how to sail this ridiculous vessel and pilot it across an entire ocean.
Fascinating? Yes, the young me was thrilled to read the journey he undertook.
Biography and highlights of his travels
Severin was born on 25 September 1940 in Assam, India, where his father managed a tea plantation. He was sent to be educated in England, attending the Tonbridge School and later Keble College, Oxford, where he gained degrees in geography and history.
It seems that his life was driven by and dedicated to these two disciplines; he travelled extensively across land and sea following in the footsteps of previous explorers. In 1961 he traced the journey of Marco Polo, a nail-biting adventure which he couldn't complete due to visa issues going into China. I long to read this tale, sounds exciting.
Other projects followed, most notably his recreation of Saint Brendan's legendary voyage to America during the years 1976–1977. Speaking of America, he underwent a voyage along the Mississippi River in 1967
He seems to have been particularly fascinated with recreating legendary voyages; The Sindbad Voyage (1980–1981), Jason and the Argonauts' voyages, Ulysses' voyage home as told in The Odyssey. In 1990 he followed the trail of Genghis Khan's courier route, a trip he undertook with Mongol herdsmen. In 1987/88, as detailed in his book By Horse to Jerusalem he followed the Crusader route from Belgium to Jerusalem.
His final sea voyage was emulating the journeys of Hsu Fu, a Chinse navigator and explorer sent by the first Emperor of China in 218 BCE, although Severn did it in 1993.
Altogether I am sure you will agree, a masterful resumé. He always documented his trips, and wrote about them. No hero, he wanted to satisfy his curiosity and share his experiences; he was after all, an historian who deserves his own place in history. Also, I want to read all his books.
Bibliography
Non fiction
Tracking Marco Polo (1964) – Motorcycle ride from Oxford to Venice to Central Asia along the Silk Road
Explorers of the Mississippi (1968)
The Golden Antilles (1970)
The African Adventure (1973)
Vanishing Primitive Man (1973)
Adventurers and Explorers (1973) - Severin wrote the text for all fifty tea cards in the Brooke Bond collectionof PG Tips tea cards on the theme of Adventurers and Explorers
The Oriental Adventure: Explorers of the East (1976) – A history of European explorers in Asia
The Brendan Voyage (1978) – Sailing a leather currach from Ireland to Newfoundland
The Sindbad Voyage (1983) – Sailing an Arab dhow from Muscat, Oman to China
The Jason Voyage: The Quest for the Golden Fleece (1986) – Sailing from Greece to Georgia
The Ulysses Voyage (1987) – Sailing from Troy to Ithaca
Crusader (1989) – Riding a heavy horse from Belgium to the Middle East
In Search of Genghis Khan (1991)
The China Voyage (1994) – Across the Pacific Ocean (almost) on a bamboo raft named Hsu-Fu
The Spice Islands Voyage (1997) – a voyage through the Indonesian archipelago
In Search of Moby-Dick (1999)
Seeking Robinson Crusoe (aka In Search of Robinson Crusoe10) (2002)
The Man Who Won Siberia (2014)
Fiction (as if real life weren't enough for him!)
Viking Series
Odinn's Child (2005)
Sworn Brother (2005)
King's Man (2005)
Saxon
The Book of Dreams (2012)
The Emperor's Elephant (2013)
The Pope's Assassin (2015)
The Adventures of Hector Lynch
Corsair (2007)
Buccaneer (2008)
Sea Robber (2009)
Privateer (2014)
Freebooter (2017)
Sadly, this fascinating man died on 18 December 2020, aged 80, at his home in Timoleague, Cork, hopefully satsified with years and experience.
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This only took me 22 years to write, since making the nodeshell after writing
The Everything People Registry : Whales. It was languishing in
wertperch's nodeshell challenge for altogether too long =\