The Mythical Land of Thule, Birthplace of the Nazis?

By | January 24, 2019

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Gabriel de Valseca's 'Portolan Map' 1439, depicts the imaginary islands of Thule. Source: (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

In the 4th century B.C., Pytheas, a Greek explorer returned to Athens with a fantastic tale about a faraway island to the north where the sun never sets and the air and sea form a gel. His stories struck a chord with the Greeks and philosophers and poets included references to the beautiful icy Thule in their writings. On maps, Thule was often depicted as the northernmost land. Much later, Germany’s Nazi party latched onto the myth of Thule and claimed it was the birthplace of the Aryan race. The problem was, Thule doesn’t really exist. Let’s see how the legend of Thule spread through Europe. 

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The Greek explorer, Pytheas. Source: (historydisclosure.com)

What Did Pytheas Find?

Pytheas did his traveling between 330 and 320 BC. According to some of his reports, he was a competent observer of the natural world. Among his accomplishments is describing the effect of the moon on the tides and mapping the coastline of Great Britain. So there was no reason to doubt his claims of a remote island some six days journey across the sea from the Scottish isles of Shetland and Orkney. This is where he claims to have found the land of Thule.