Compared to other Elizabethan mariners, John Davis has received surprisingly little attention in recent years. This paper aims at suggesting that Davis should be brought back to the center of the narrative, if only to restore some historical balance with Frobisher. We argue that his detached and comparatively unbiased description of the Inuit and (some of) their customs sets him apart from Frobisher. But we also believe that Davis approached their language with remarkable linguistic acuity. One of our main contentions in this paper, which we base on a detailed linguistic analysis of the forty words compiled by Davis, is that the attention he paid to their language provides strong grounds for a revaluation of his role in the history of the quest for the Northwest Passage.

The authors argued that the attention he paid to their language provides strong grounds for a revaluation of his role in the history of the quest for the Northwest Passage and argued that his detached and comparatively unbiased description of the Inuit and (some of) their customs sets him apart from Frobisher.