Between 1540 and c.1700 there persisted a cartographic anomaly known as ‘Frisland’ [the most
common spelling]. Frisland came into being in the mid-16th century for two reasons:-
1) As a result of scanty geographical knowledge of the Iceland-Greenland- N.E. Canada region.
2) As the result of transferring the Earth to a flat map. It seems to have started with Ptolemy’s Geographica Universalis [1540] with the island ‘Coterati’
[A] off ‘Francisca’ [now called Labrador]. A, B, E and F resemble parts of Newfoundland [known
before 1627 as ‘Terra de Baccalaos’] as seen on maps today. Only Pierre Descaliers in 1550 came
close to accurately depicting the whole landmass. [Ortelius showed a group of islands]. With relative
distances, landmass sizes and positions distorted it is clear how Frisland became a distinct location
lying between Greenland and Iceland. In fact C resembles the latter on modern maps. The form
and size of Frisland seems to have depended on the whim of the cartographer:-
Note the similarities in the coastlines of D, E, G, H and I. On most maps in that c.160 year period
the bays or headlands aren’t named, neither are any ‘towns’ marked. When they are, their names
and siting are fairly consistent, as though they were actual places:-
Had it existed, Frisland would surely have been mentioned and mapped by Viking seafarers.
Between c.980-986 Eirik Thorvaldson [known as ‘the Red’ because of his hair colour] voyaged from
Iceland to Greenland, as he’d been exiled for manslaughter. Greenland had been sighted a few years
earlier by Gunnbjörn Úlfsson, but Eirik was the first to land and settle there. He gave the island its
name to try and encourage others to join him! The fact it was four-fifths ice meant that his two bases
were coastal. The Western Settlement, near present-day Nuuk (Godthåb), was the starting point for
his son Leif’s journey westwards in c.1000.
There has been much debate about the location of Leif’s ‘Vinland’, Labrador, Newfoundland,
Nova Scotia and New England all being candidates. The epic explorations of Helge Ingstad in the
1950s and 1960s convinced him that the only location “that would have fully corresponded with the
sagas” [C.W. Ceram] was Newfoundland. Instead of meaning ‘wine land’ , he argued, it simply
referred to a fertile region. Near the fishing village of L’Anse aux Meadows’ [an Anglo-French name
meaning ‘The Bay by the Meadows’] Ingstad discovered remains “that were clearly not those of
Indian or Eskimo settlements” [Ceram], including a vast longhouse. Archaeological finds confirmed
their Scandinavian origin, the radiocarbon date of charcoal pieces c.1000. The longhouse was
thought to have been Leif’s residence.
In c.1700 A.F. Zurner in his World Map finally dispatched Frisland [J} with the terse “vol fabulosa
vol submersa”, thereby consigning the island to the status of mere myth... . As the cartography of the
region improved Frisland was no more.
Friesland:
The Land That Never Was
By JJ
A. Sebastian Münster, 1540; B-D. Abraham Ortelius, 1570; E. Ortelius, 1587; F. John Speed, 1627,
and Henricus Hondius, 1630; G. Nicholas Visscher, 1652; H. Joan Blaeu, 1662/3; I. Moses Pitt, 1680
[similar to Jodocus Hondius’, 1623]; J. A.F. Zurner, c.1700.
1. Caboru; 2. Aqua; 3. Campa; 4. Rane; 5. Frisland; 6. Rovea; 7. Godmec [T. de Bry - Gramec];
8. Sor[i]ando; 9. Ocibar; 10. Sanestol; 11. Hondius and Pitt - Banar [Ortelius - Venden dea Portos].
CB. Cape Bovet; CC. Cape Cunalar; CS. Cape Spag[n]ia; GN. Golfa Norda; SG. Sudero Golfo.
• copyright © 2000 - Readers wishing to discuss any points raised by the
. .author of this article can e-mail JJ at: DSh8521036@aol.com
