Iceland, Thule, and the Tilensian Precedent in Medieval Historiography

Abstract

This article brings into focus the convention of calling Iceland by the name Thule, best known to scholars of Old Norse literature from the prologue to Landnámabók. I review the occurences of this convention in Icelandic and other European literatures in order to characterise its contemporary historiographical usage. I show that medieval historians used the antique name Thule (and demonym Tilenses) to extend Icelandic history into classical antiquity, and show the relatedness of their native historiographical endeavours to pan-European written traditions. This article then examines the appearance of the names Iceland and Thule on contemporary world maps, and asks whether or not an Icelandic map, which charts both names, could be a visual manifestation of the convention encountered elsewhere in the Icelandic Landnámabók and Breta sögur.