Thule
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.4|Thule as Tile on the Carta marina of 1539 by [[Olaus Magnus, where it is shown located to the northwest of the Orkney islands, with a "monster, seen in 1537", a whale ("balena"), and an orca nearby]]
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Classical and medieval accounts
- Modern research
- Namesakes
- Literary references
- Classical literature
- Medieval and early modern literature
- Modern literature
- In Nazi ideology
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
thumb|upright=1.4|Thule as Tile on the Carta marina of 1539 by [[Olaus Magnus, where it is shown located to the northwest of the Orkney islands, with a "monster, seen in 1537", a whale ("balena"), and an orca nearby]]
Thule ( ; also spelled as Thylē) is the most northerly location (if not Hyperborea) mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman literature and cartography. First written of by the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, France) in about 320 BC, it was often described by later writers as an island north of Ireland or Britain, despite Pytheas never explicitly describing it as an island. Modern interpretations have included Orkney, Shetland, Northern Scotland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland. Other potential locations are the island of Saaremaa in Estonia, or the Norwegian island of Smøla.