Legend of Thule

In classical sources Thule is a place, usually an island located either in the far north, often northern Great Britain, possibly the Orkneys or Shetland Islands, or Scandinavia. In the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance the location of Thule was thought to be in the west and north, often Iceland or Greenland. The name also denotes any distant place located beyond the borders of the known world.

The Greek explorer Pytheas was the first who wrote of Thule after his travels between 330 BC and 320 BC. Strabo in his Geography written in 30 of our era, mentions that Thule is a six days’ sail north of Britain, and is near the frozen sea. Half a century later in 77, Pliny the Elder mentions Thule again and even describes it as a place in which there be no nights at all. Other late classical writers and post-classical writers keep on mentioning Thule over and over again. Some of them state that Thule is a large island in the north inhabited by twenty-five tribes.