I'm afraid I would suggest that the answer is more simple than Jan
suggests, although I accept that given Kipling's contemporary imperial
and racial views, such an interpretation may be made by our 20/21
century minds. There is no suggestion that the Vikings with whom Hugh
and Sir Richard made their enforced voyage were off on a colonial
venture - they weren't equipped in any way to settle anywhere: they were
just curious: merely seeing how far they could go before they fell off
the edge of the world (not that they were expecting that - it was
pure curiosity - how far could they go? - what would they find?).
Had things turned out otherwise, they might have returned to their
homeland, and set out again with more pots and pans and some of
their womenfolk to establish a colony , all same like Vinland in
the New World.
And the gorillas they found were devilish - undoubtedly like
humans, but clearly not human. And if they weren't human, they
were unlike any animals the vikings would have known in
Scandinavia, or wherever they came from: therefore
they were devils. After all, Hugh and Sir Richard were educated
men, with, one assumes, at least a passing acquaintance with the
Bible and at least a rudimentary grasp of the theology of Hell and
the Devil.
Alastair Wilson
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