On a remote, windswept island off Norway’s coast, a centuries-old tradition teeters on the brink of extinction. Here, in the unforgiving environs of the Arctic Circle, a dwindling number of “duck people” carry on the painstaking practice of harvesting eiderdown – the ultra-soft, highly prized feathers of the eider duck. It’s a livelihood and way of life that acclaimed author James Rebanks, best known for his shepherding memoirs, set out to document before it fades into the mists of history.
Seeking Authenticity at the Edge of the World
Rebanks’ latest book, The Place of Tides, recounts his journey to Norway’s Lofoten archipelago and his time learning from Anna, one of the country’s last remaining duck women. Driven by a sense that “something alive in her had died in me,” Rebanks immerses himself in Anna’s spartan, solitary existence on the island of Fjærøy.
Amidst the craggy landscapes and crashing waves, he discovers a profound connection between the duck people and the eiders they tenderly steward. In scenes evoking Moby-Dick, Rebanks shadows Anna as she methodically arranges piles of kelp into nesting cushions for the wild ducks, scavenging seaweed from the shore to create sanctuaries where the birds can safely lay their precious down.
A Vanishing Breed
Yet as Rebanks learns, the eiderdown harvesters’ ranks have rapidly dwindled in recent decades. Invasive mink have decimated duck populations, while the grueling, isolated lifestyle holds little appeal for younger generations. Even Anna herself came to it late, leaving behind a more conventional mainland existence only after turning 50.
There was something alive in her that had died in me. I had seen it in her eyes.
– James Rebanks
Through Anna’s story, Rebanks grapples with larger questions about our fraying connection to the natural world. He presents the duck people not as quaint relics, but as custodians of age-old wisdom increasingly drowned out by the clamor of modernity.
Lessons from the Duck People
As in his acclaimed works about traditional farming, Rebanks argues that the duck harvesters’ seemingly anachronistic ways hold vital lessons for navigating today’s ecological crises. Their careful stewardship of the eiders models a more symbiotic relationship between humans and nature, one based on attentiveness and reciprocity rather than exploitation.
Moreover, through Anna’s willingness to upend her life in middle age, Rebanks finds a powerful example of the adaptability and resilience needed to weather a rapidly changing world. Her story, he suggests, demonstrates that it’s never too late to forge a more authentic path.
An Ode to Forgotten Ways
At times, Rebanks’ eiderdown epic veers into esoterica, lavishing detail on the ins and outs of nesting habits and feather grading. But his poetic, fiercely unsentimental prose anchors the narrative, imbuing quiet moments with luminous grace. “My companions were staring at a woman on the shore,” he writes of his first encounter with Anna. “Her hair was blowing loose in the wind … She made the little hairs between my shoulder blades stand up.”
Ultimately, The Place of Tides stands as a haunting elegy to a disappearing way of being, one achingly specific yet universally resonant in an age of relentless change. As the duck people’s numbers dwindle and seas rise, Rebanks invites us to look to Fjærøy’s wind-scoured shores for glimmers of enduring truths – of patience, presence, and our inextricable bond with the creatures whose fates we share.
