Maps, Myths, and Men : The Story of the Vinland Map

by Seaver, Kirsten A.

• ISBN13: 9780804749633
• ISBN10: 0804749639
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-07-15
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

The "Vinland Map" first surfaced on the antiquarian market in 1957 and the map's authenticity has been hotly debated ever sincein controversies ranging from the anomalous composition of the ink and the map's lack of provenance to a plethora of historical and cartographical riddles.Maps, Myths, and Menis the first work to address the full range of this debate. Focusing closely on what the map in fact shows, the book contains a critique of the 1965 workThe Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation; scrutinizes the marketing strategies used in 1957; and covers many aspects of the map that demonstrate it is a modern fake, such as literary evidence and several scientific ink analyses performed between 1967 and 2002. The author explains a number of the riddles and provides evidence for both the identity of the mapmaker and the source of the parchment used, and she applies current knowledge of medieval Norse culture and exploration to counter widespread misinformation about Norse voyages to North America and about the Norse world picture.

Author Biography

Kirsten A. Seaver is an independent historian, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London, a novelist, and a translator. She is the author of The Frozen Echo (Stanford, 1996).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	xiii
Acknowledgments	xv
Note to the Reader	xxi
1. An American Place Named Vinland	1	(18)
America and the Medieval Norse
The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation	2	(1)
The Vinland Map	3	(5)
Sources for the Vinland Map	8	(5)
Guaranteeing Authenticity	13	(3)
Showing the Map to a Wider World	16	(1)
Father Time and Daughter Truth	17	(2)
2. The Norse in and near North America	19	(68)
A Flawed Source of Information	19	(2)
Who Were the Norse?	21	(2)
Voyaging to New Lands	23	(2)
Far North Was Far Away	25	(1)
No Help from the Norse	26	(2)
Eirik the Red, Mariner and Merchant	28	(3)
Norarseta: The Northern Hunting Grounds	31	(2)
Norse Relations with Arctic Natives	33	(2)
From Arctic Greenland to Arctic North America	35	(1)
The Vinland Voyages	36	(2)
L'Anse aux Meadows	38	(3)
Grapes and Grain	41	(1)
Abandoning Vinland	42	(5)
Continued American Connections	47	(6)
The Literary Aftermath	53	(1)
Disputed American Destinations	54	(5)
Sustaining Life in Norse Greenland	59	(4)
Everyday Life	63	(1)
How Cold Was It?	64	(2)
Did Hard Times Become Harder in Greenland?	66	(5)
Tusks, Tithes, and Other Troubles	71	(4)
The Many Names of a Much Loved Child	75	(3)
The Cod Wars Begin	78	(2)
Did a New Beginning Become an End?	80	(7)
3. The Black Hole of Provenance	87	(21)
A Child of Unknown Parentage	87	(2)
Early Misgivings About the "Private Collection"	89	(2)
The Spanish Connection	91	(2)
An English Sojourn	93	(3)
The Map's Provenance No Clearer by 1974	96	(2)
A Muddied Pond	98	(1)
A Companion to the Vinland Map Volume	99	(6)
Where Did the Profits Go?	105	(3)
4. Creating Matter from Wormholes	108	(36)
The Joy of Discovery	108	(2)
General Description of the Two Volumes	110	(3)
Scrutiny by Experts	113	(3)
Who Ordered the "Improvements"?	116	(1)
The Bindings	117	(3)
The Handwriting	120	(2)
A Widening Inquiry	122	(2)
Watermarks	124	(5)
The Speculum Pastedowns and the Council of Basel	129	(6)
Why the Council of Basel?	135	(4)
Wormholes	139	(5)
5. A Star Is Born	144	(20)
The Vinland Map Reaches Yale	144	(1)
The Big Secret	145	(2)
The Big Names	147	(2)
The Big Launch	149	(3)
The Big Discussion	152	(5)
Dissidents Need Not Apply	157	(1)
The Cost of Public Stargazing	158	(6)
6. Portrait of the Vinland Map	164	(41)
A Map with No Equal	164	(1)
Immediate Visual Appearance	165	(3)
The Map Parchment and Its Flaws	168	(4)
The Handwriting	172	(1)
Delineacio prima pars . . .	173	(4)
The Wormholes on the Map	177	(5)
European Medieval Ink	182	(4)
The Vinland Map Ink Debate	186	(12)
Modern Anatase	198	(7)
7. The Vinland Map as a Cartographic Image	205	(51)
A Flat Earth-or a Globe?	205	(3)
Was Skelton a Reluctant Commentator?	208	(2)
Many Cartographical Traditions-and None	210	(3)
Adam of Bremen	213	(6)
Inventio Fortunata	219	(3)
The Influence of Claudius Ptolemeus	222	(4)
Claudius Clavus Niger	226	(4)
Leading up to Circa 1440: The European View	230	(4)
A Subtle Composite	234	(2)
Northern Geographical Conventions	236	(8)
Snorri Sturluson's Universe	244	(3)
Ginnungagap and the Birth of a Cartographic Myth	247	(6)
Navigating by the Vinland Map	253	(3)
8. The Vinland Map as a Narrative	256	(41)
The Roman Church at the "End of the World"	256	(4)
A Haphazard Quest	260	(2)
Luka Jelic	262	(2)
The Land "Our Brothers" Saw	264	(3)
The 1245-47 Carpini Visit to the Mongols	267	(4)
Mounting Troubles	271	(2)
Which Way to the Caspian Sea?	273	(4)
Room for Prester John	277	(2)
"A New Land"	279	(3)
"Tartars, Mongols, Samoyeds, and Indians ..."	282	(2)
Adding to the Vinland Myth	284	(2)
Who "Discovered" Vinland?	286	(3)
Missionary to the Samoyeds	289	(4)
Further Ambiguities	293	(2)
Searching for the Author	295	(2)
9. The Vinland Map as a Human Creation	297	(80)
Father Josef (Joseph) Fischer, S.J. (1858-1944)	297	(3)
Scholarly Connections	300	(5)
America's "Baptismal Certificate" and Its 1516 Sibling	305	(8)
The Norse Discovery of America	313	(12)
An Active Life	325	(12)
Public Recognition	337	(1)
Returning to the Norse	338	(5)
A Moravian Castle Library	343	(10)
Father Fischer's Choice	353	(1)
Annus horribilis-1933	354	(4)
Retirement	358	(10)
Last Return to Wolfegg	368	(3)
A Map Without a Home	371	(6)
Notes	377	(62)
Bibliography	439	(24)
Index	463

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