Legendary Islands of the Atlantic: A Study of Medieval Geography
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Legendary Islands of the Atlantic, by William Henry Babcock
Transcriber’s Note
Larger versions of most illustrations may be seen by right-clicking them and selecting an option to view them separately, or by double-tapping and/or stretching them.
AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY RESEARCH SERIES NO. 8 W. L. G. Joerg, Editor
LEGENDARY ISLANDS OF THE ATLANTIC A Study in Medieval Geography
BY WILLIAM H. BABCOCK Author of “Early Norse Visits to North America”
NEW YORK AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY 1922
COPYRIGHT, 1922 BY THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK
THE CONDE NAST PRESS GREENWICH, CONN.
The following chapters are reprinted, with modifications, from the Geographical Review : III, Vol. 8, 1919; V, Vol. 7, 1919; VI, Vol. 9, 1920; VIII, Vol. 4, 1917; X, Vol. 9, 1920; XI, Vol. 5, 1918.
( All illustrations, except Figs. 1, 15, and 23, are reproductions of medieval maps. The source is indicated in a general way in each title; the precise reference will be found in the text where the map is first discussed. )
We cannot tell at what early era the men of the eastern Mediterranean first ventured through the Strait of Gibraltar out on the open ocean, nor even when they first allowed their fancies free rein to follow the same path and picture islands in the great western mystery. Probably both events came about not long after these men developed enough proficiency in navigation to reach the western limit of the Mediterranean. We are equally in lack of positive knowledge as to what seafaring nation led the way.
William Henry Babcock
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CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Early Accounts of Big Ships
The Atlantis Legend
Phoenician Exploration
The Greeks and Romans
Irish Sea-Roving
The Norsemen
Moorish Voyages
Italian Exploration
Bretons and Basques
The Zeno Story
Portuguese Discovery
Columbus, Vespucius, and Cabot
Elements of Fact and Fancy in Plato’s Tale of Atlantis
Significant Passages from the Tale
Atlantean Invasion of the Mediterranean
Location and Size of Atlantis
Improbability of the Existence of Such an Island
Termier’s Theory of an Ancient Atlantic Continental Mass
Floral and Faunal Evidence of Connection with Europe and Africa
Evidence of Submergence
Relation of the Submarine Banks of the North Atlantic to the Problem
Facts and Legends As to Submergences in Historic Times
Reports of Obstruction to Navigation in Early Times
The Sargasso Sea As the Ancient Atlantis
Summary
The Lismore Version of the Saint’s Adventures
Another Version
Attempts to Explain the Origin of the Brendan Narratives
A Norman French Version
The Probable Basis of Fact
The Cartographic Evidence
The Hereford Map of circa 1275
The Dulcert Map of 1339
The Map of the Pizigani of 1367
First Use of “Porto Santo” as Name of One of the Madeiras
Animal and Bird Names of Islands
Madeira
The Beccario Map of 1426
The Bianco Map of 1448
Behaim’s Globe of 1492
Later Maps
Conclusion
Probable Gaelic Origin of the Word “Brazil”
Another Suggested Derivation
Free Distribution of the Name on Early Maps
Location and Shape of the Island
Significant Shape on the Catalan Map of 1375
Possible Identification with the Gulf of St. Lawrence Region
The Catalan Map of about 1480
The Sylvanus Map of 1511
Omission of the Name in Norse and Irish Records
The Island of Brazil
Antillia
The Legendary Home of Portuguese Refugees
Another Account
Mythical Location of the Seven Cities on the Mainland
Later Reappearance As an Island
Occurrence of the Name in the Azores
Possible Arabic Origin of Name
Mayda and the Isle of Man
Resumption of Name “Mayda”
Transference of Mayda To American Waters
Possible Identity of Vlaenderen Island with Mayda
Persistence of Mayda on Maps Down to the Modern Period
Probable Basis of Fact Underlying This Legendary Island
Adam of Bremen’s Account of Greenland
Its Insular Character
As “Illa Verde” on the Catalan Map of 1480
Green Island on Sixteenth-Century Maps
Various “Green Islands:” Shrinkage of the Name
Origin of the Name “Greenland” and Its Justification
Icelandic Settlement
Greenland as a Peninsula
Life of the Icelandic Colony
Explorations of Early Greenlanders
The Eskimos
First Norse Account, In Hauk’s Book
Another Account, In the Arna-Magnaean Manuscript
Later Derivative Records
Labrador as Markland
Nova Scotia as Markland
Intercourse between Greenland and Markland
Brazil Island in the Place of Markland
The Zeno Narrative
The Zeno Volume
First Use of the Names “Estotiland” and “Drogio”
Geographical Implication of the Narrative
Conjectures as to the Derivation of “Estotiland”
The Estotilanders
Drogio
Discrepancies in the Narrative of the Fisherman
The Zeno Narrative Itself
R. H. Major’s Study of the Zeno Narrative
The Work of F. W. Lucas
A Monastery in the Arctic
The Zeno Map
Frisland
Icaria
Influence of Imaginary Cartography
Antillia
Peter Martyr’s Identification of Antillia
Other Identifications
An Antillia of the Mainland
The Origin of the Name
Humboldt’s Hypothesis
The Weimar Map
The Beccario Map of 1426
The Beccario Map of 1435
The Four Islands of the Antilles on the Beccario Map
Antillia
Reylla
Salvagio
I in Mar
The Roselli Map of 1468
The Bianco Map of 1436
The Pareto Map of 1455
The Benincasa Map of 1482
The Weimar Map (after 1481)
The Laon Globe of 1493
Other Maps
Identity of Antillia with the Antilles
Origin of the Name
Ancient Memorials
Equestrian Statues
Need of Exploration
The Discovery of Buss
Its Disappearance from the Map
Islands of Demons
Saintly Islands
Daculi and Bra
Grocland, Helluland, etc.
Stokafixa
Other Map Islands in the Northwestern Atlantic
FOOTNOTES
INDEX
Transcriber’s Note
