Thule

The ancient Thule (Greek Θούλη Thoule, even Tuli, Tile or Tyle ) is an island described by the ancient Greek explorer Pytheas of Massilia (Marseille ) in the 4th century BC, which was a quasi- mythical significance later.

Origin: report of Pytheas

To 325 BC Pytheas traveled to the Iberian Peninsula and North West Europe. According to his reports Thule is located in the extreme north, six days trips north of Britain. Hence the name Thule was literally since antiquity for the extreme northern edge of the world (Latin ultima Thule). Since Thule etymologically urindogermanisch * Telu, soil ',' level ' could be related ( cf. Latin tellus or urkeltisch * telǝ - mō ' earth ' ), the meaning was probably in Celtic mythology and Germanic mythology " last country " (cf.. the Celtic Otherworld, sometimes, as in the case of Tír na nÓg, in the form of an island far to the west - was thought ) - so the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Pytheas work "On the ocean " is only by short quotations in the works of other authors (among Strabo, Eratosthenes and Pliny the Elder ) are known. He Thule situate in the far north (today's Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands or the Shetland Islands), as one of his notes, according to the " congealed sea " (ie probably the Arctic Ocean ) starts away in a day's drive from Thule.

Thule in Roman times

The historian Tacitus reported in his biography of Julius Agricola (Chapter 10, Section 4) that at the time of Agricola, a Roman fleet sailed around the British Isles, while the island shape Britain have proved. During the trip, which were discovered " Orcades " ( Orkney Islands) and been " defeated ". Then the theorem follows:

" Dispecta est et Thule, quia hactenus iussum, et hiems adpetebat. "

"Just came into view Thule because the order was only enough so far and also the approaching winter. "

The Romans understood by " Thule " So something that lay beyond the " Orcades ". Whether therefore the Shetland Islands are meant is questionable, since it is assumed that these already Pomponius Mela of ( AD 43 ) and Pliny the Elder ( 77 AD) as Haemodae, or Acmodae, were named.

Thule in the Middle Ages

" Thule " was mentioned in late ancient and medieval writings in a variety of contexts. So reported about the late antique historian Procopius ( 500-562 ) in his work " The Gothic war ":

"When the Heruli were defeated by the Lombards and their old residences tasks, a part of the same [ ... ] was in Illyria down, the other did not want to cross the Danube, but founded residences at the far end of the inhabited world: Underpass many members of royal families, they first attracted by all countries of the Slavs, then through the desert, until they came to the warning. Then she wandered through the land of the Danes. And all these savage nations did nothing to them. By the ocean arrived, they came to the ship and went to Thule, where they stayed. Thule is a very large island, about ten times larger than Britain; it is from there further north. "

However, it is not clear whether they would actually pytheische the Thule was meant as Bede and Adam of Bremen used the name for a place with which also could be meant Iceland. It is likely that the well-known through the ancient writings designation was transferred to the variety of places in northern Europe, without that there must exist.

The mythical Thule

The fragmentary nature of ancient tradition also requires that Thule since Roman times and the Middle Ages was a mystical meaning, which is more reminiscent of Avalon, Atlantis or Camelot as the sober pytheische geography.

In this tradition, the name " Thule " was in the song The King of Thule, Gretchen in Goethe's Faust sings, used, and even the cartoon character Prince Valiant is described as the son of the King of Thule.

The name of the ethnically oriented Thule society of the Weimar Republic recalls ariosophische fantasies of a prehistoric, led by Priest-Kings racially pure society. Today's right-wing extremists also refer to it as within the neo-pagan influenced Thule - Seminar.

Probable geographical location

A research team from the Institute for Geodesy and Geoinformation Science at TU Berlin tried as part of the exploration of the map series Ptolemy ' the actual geographical location of Thule prove. In these maps was the research team believes the situation " Thule " shown here, but so far have not been verified, because Ptolemy one for Northern Europe systematically distorted method for determining the latitude used in the preparation of his cards and probably much more accurate determination by Pytheas ignored them. After correcting this error had been found that the Thule probably located in front of Trondheim Norwegian island of Smøla corresponds to that Pytheas had entered the first Greek. This orientation would match well with antique distance information for boat trips. Unable to determine can be, whether with Thule only the Smøla was meant or all of the fertile region was at the Trondheim bay, a brisk trade with the Mediterranean operation at least since the Roman Empire, but not readily identifiable as the mainland, if you she was heading from Britain with the ship.

Ultima Thule

As the " Ultima Thule " is called by geologists the northernmost point on earth. It is a small island located on the continental shelf of the northern Greenland coast. As this sea area but is pervaded throughout by ice, diving repeatedly to new islets, which are designated by the year of their discovery. In places, these discoveries have often proved but only as a mud and stone deposits on the drifting ice. As the northernmost point of the island is considered since 2008 Ultima Thule 2008, which was discovered by an American expedition in the presence of a film crew of the NDR.