Mare Glaciale (Ice Sea)

Island (Iceland)

Frisland (Frisland)

H

Feröe (Faroe Islands)

Hetland (Shetland)

Orcades (Orkney)

Irland (Ireland)

Britannia (Britain)

Norvegia (Norway)

Biarmaland (Bjarmaland)

F

Iotun-heimar (Jötunheimr)

E

D

Narve Öe (Island of Narfi)

Riseland (Land of the Risi [Giants])

C

Grönlandia (Greenland)

Helleland (Helluland)

G

Markland (Markland)

Skrælinge Land (Land of the Skrælings)

B

Promontorium Winlandiæ (Promontory of Vinland)

Huidserk (Hvitserk)

Heriolfsnes (Herjolfsnes)

Siurdi Stephanii terrarúm hÿperborearũ delineatio - Año 1579

Depiction of the lands of the Far North (Hyperborea) by Sigurður Stefánsson - Year 1579

Characterúm in hac mappa occúrrentiúm explicatio ipsiús Aúctoris

Explanation of the letters appearing on this map by its author himself

A. Hi súnt ad quos Angli pervenerúnt, ab ariditate nomen habent, tanquam, vel solis vel frigoris adustione torridi et exsiccati

A. Those (the Skrælings) are the ones the English reached; they get their name from the aridity, in that they are roasted and dried up just as much by the burning of the sun as the cold.

B. His proxime est Vinlandia quam propter terræ fæcúnditatem et utilium rerúm ubi rem proventúm, Bonam dixere. Hanc a meridie oceanúm finire volúere nostri, sed ego ex recentiorum historiis colligo, aút fretũ aut sinúm hanc ab America distinguere.

B. Near to those (the Skrælings) is Vinland, whose land is so fertile and the useful things that come from it so abundant that it has been called The Good. Our people has wanted to delimit it to the south by the ocean, but I deduce from more recent accounts that it is separated from America by a strait or a bay.

C. Regionem Gigantúm vocant quod ibi Gigantes cornuti sint quos Skriekfiña dixere.

C. This land is called the Region of the Giants, because it is said to be home to horned giants known as Srikfinnar (scary Finns).

D. Orientalores súnt, quos Klofiña ab úngvibús appellarúnt.

D. Further to the east are the Klofinnar (Claw Finns), so called because of their nails.

E. Jotunheimar idem est ac regio Gigantúm monstrosiorúm [monstrosorum], hic Regiam [Regnum] Gerúthi & Gudmundi fuisse existimare licet

E. Jötunheimr is similar to the region of the monstruous Giants; it can be assumed that the kingdom of Geirröðr and Guðmundr was located here.

F. Sinúm hic ingentem intelligimús in Rússiam excúrrentem.

F. It seems to us that there is a vast bay here, extending into Russia.

G. Regio petrosa, hujús in historia sæpe fit mentio.

G. Rocky region, which has been little mentioned in history.

A

H. Hæc quæ sit insula nescio nisi ea forte quam Venetús ille invenit Frislandiamq[ue] Germani vocant.

H. I do not know what this island is, only that the Venetian (Zeno) discovered it by chance and that the Germans call it Frisland.

Aútor hujꝯ [hujus] tabellæ Geographicæ perhibetur esse Sigurdus Stephanius Islandus vir erúditus, Scholæ Schalholtinæ quondam Rector dignissimus, qui etiam alia nonnulla ingenii & erúditionis specimina edidit videlicet Descriptionem Islandiæ, quam apud Sereniss^æ [Serenissimæ] Regiæ Maj^is [Majestatis] Antiquarium Thormodũ Torfæum vidisse me memini, nec non opúsculum de Spectris, quod præterita æstate ab amico quodam in Patria mecúm com̃únicatum, penes me asservatur. Delineationem autem hanc súam, ex antiquitatibús Islandicis maxima sui parte desumpsisse videtúr. De Hellúlandia Marclandia & Skrælingialandia, videri poterit Arngrimus Ionas, qui ad calcem opúsculi de Gronlandia, Gronlandorúm aliquot navigationes ad has terras annotavit, in terrarúm etiam hÿperborearúm ex ultra Gronlandiam delineatione, ubi Risaland & Jotúnheima collocat, antiquitates quoq[ue] Islandicas secútúm esse Aútorem, sat scio, sed an authenticæ illæ sint dubito. Cum priore, Gronlandiæ mappa Dñi Gudbrandi, parúm consentire hanc, ^satis constat. Islandia hic justo majorem habet latitudinem, Promontorium etiam Heriolfsnæss, ingentis continentis potius quam isthmi vel promontorii speciem præsefert, út cætera omittam, quocirca curiositatis potius quam necessitatis ergò hanc mappam annotavi.

It is claimed that the author of this geographical table is the Icelandic scholar Sigurður Stefánsson, once a distinguished rector of the school of Skálholt, who also published some other works of intelligence and erudition - namely a Description of Iceland, which I remember seeing among the books of Thormodus Torfæus (historiographer to His Serene Royal Majesty), and an booklet On Spectres, which was shared with me last summer by a certain friend in the country, and which I keep at my disposal. As for this work of his, it seems that most of it was taken from old Icelandic documents dealing with Helluland, Markland and the land of the Skrælings; one might refer to Arngrímur Jónsson, who, in his booklet on Greenland, recounted several Greenlandic voyages to these lands and to the Hyperborean [Far North] countries from beyond the borders of Greenland, where he situates the land of the Risi and Jötunheimr. I am quite sure that the author followed these old Icelandic documents, but I doubt that they are reliable. Master Guðbrandur's map of Greenland bears little resemblance to this. Iceland here is at a higher latitude than it actually is, while Herjolfsnes Cape is more of a large land mass than an isthmus or promontory, not to mention other features that I will omit. Consequently, it is more out of curiosity than necessity that I have reproduced this map.