The Nordic Atlantis
Video info
Transcription
| Description | A video talking about the historical and mythical Thulê, but it's mainly a video about the MYFAROG setting and a great free tool you can use in that context. The map resource: http://kart.gulesider.no/ MYFAROG on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/MYFAROG-Mythic-Fantasy-Role-playing-Game/dp/1522875077/ref=la_B00IVZ2KPO_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472374433&sr=1-2 |
| Collections | RPG |
| Uploaded | 2016-08-28 |
A Nordic Atlantis. Is there such a thing? Let's find out.
The Nordic Atlantis
There are a lot of myths about lost lands and ancient civilizations that we no longer know much about. And one of these myths were created by Pytheas of Massalia, a modern Marseille, a Greek who travelled north and came to the land he called Thule. He met a people on what he thought was an island[1] and described them and explained how they painted their bodies blue when they went to war and so forth. And as we know, all Northern Europeans did that, either blue or black.[2]
Modern historians have concluded that the land of Thule fits the description of Northern Norway.[3] In Northern Norway we have an area called Hålogaland. This area is, just like Thule in Pytheas' description, a land where the sun never sets in the summer. And the name itself, Hålogaland, means "The sacred land". Interestingly, this land, during the Ice Age, a small part of Hålogaland, which by the way was a petty kingdom in the Viking Age, a small part of Hålogaland was not covered in ice.[4] So, because of the warm currents from the south and also because of cold air being pushed south in America actually and warmed up before it arrives up in Northern Europe. So, a portion of Hålogaland was ice-free even during the Ice Age and it's located in the Arctic area and it was ice-free. So in theory, some ancient tribes could have survived there during the Ice Age.
And this is the basis for the setting in my role-playing game. And what I'm going to talk to you about today is a very useful resource that you can use when you play mythic fantasy role-playing game MYFAROG, or when you prepare adventures.[5] Thule, the name, is a Greek variant, probably of the proto-Nordic term ÞulaR, which we know from Norse as þulr. This means simply "sage" and if you take the root of the word "þul" and then you add the "e" to the word to make Thule, then you have a Greek name meaning "Land of the sages".[6]
So what I did for MYFAROG was to take that part which was ice-free during the Ice Age and use that as the basis for my role-playing game. The only thing I changed was the scale. One kilometer on a real world map is equal to four miles in the Thule setting of MYFAROG. Also I cut off a bit to make it separate from mainland Norway and that's it.[7] When you see a modern construction on the Thule map you can use it to pretend there has been an ancient civilization there that was destroyed a long time ago and that these airports, harbors and so forth are the remains of.[8] And of course they're in a ruined state. So you can use everything on the map and it's very detailed, you can zoom in to the extreme and see every single house and every single building and every single path and track and road. So this is for a Mythmaster an incredible tool and it's free.[9]
The Nordic Atlantis
There are a lot of myths about lost lands and ancient civilizations that we no longer know much about. And one of these myths were created by Pytheas of Massalia, a modern Marseille, a Greek who travelled north and came to the land he called Thule. He met a people on what he thought was an island[1] and described them and explained how they painted their bodies blue when they went to war and so forth. And as we know, all Northern Europeans did that, either blue or black.[2]
Modern historians have concluded that the land of Thule fits the description of Northern Norway.[3] In Northern Norway we have an area called Hålogaland. This area is, just like Thule in Pytheas' description, a land where the sun never sets in the summer. And the name itself, Hålogaland, means "The sacred land". Interestingly, this land, during the Ice Age, a small part of Hålogaland, which by the way was a petty kingdom in the Viking Age, a small part of Hålogaland was not covered in ice.[4] So, because of the warm currents from the south and also because of cold air being pushed south in America actually and warmed up before it arrives up in Northern Europe. So, a portion of Hålogaland was ice-free even during the Ice Age and it's located in the Arctic area and it was ice-free. So in theory, some ancient tribes could have survived there during the Ice Age.
And this is the basis for the setting in my role-playing game. And what I'm going to talk to you about today is a very useful resource that you can use when you play mythic fantasy role-playing game MYFAROG, or when you prepare adventures.[5] Thule, the name, is a Greek variant, probably of the proto-Nordic term ÞulaR, which we know from Norse as þulr. This means simply "sage" and if you take the root of the word "þul" and then you add the "e" to the word to make Thule, then you have a Greek name meaning "Land of the sages".[6]
So what I did for MYFAROG was to take that part which was ice-free during the Ice Age and use that as the basis for my role-playing game. The only thing I changed was the scale. One kilometer on a real world map is equal to four miles in the Thule setting of MYFAROG. Also I cut off a bit to make it separate from mainland Norway and that's it.[7] When you see a modern construction on the Thule map you can use it to pretend there has been an ancient civilization there that was destroyed a long time ago and that these airports, harbors and so forth are the remains of.[8] And of course they're in a ruined state. So you can use everything on the map and it's very detailed, you can zoom in to the extreme and see every single house and every single building and every single path and track and road. So this is for a Mythmaster an incredible tool and it's free.[9]
- BTW: Scandinavia means "The Isles of Skanþan"
(from proto-Nordic *Skanþinawiô) - Blue or black tribal patterns, a custom that is best known from the Picts (Britons). Something like this.
- Blue/black: "Barbarian" colour. Red: Roman colour.
- How Europe probably looked during the last Ice Age.
- This site (much better than Google maps). Address: kart.gulesider.no) Zoomed in on Lofoten and Vesterålen (Thulê in MYFAROG). Zoomed in on the realm "Troskenia". The maximum details you can get from any part of "Thulê".
- You have several views on "Gule Sider". This is "map" view. This is "aerial photo" view. This is "sea map" view. This is "hybrid" view (a cross between map and aerial photo).
- Well, Thulê in MYFAROG is heavily forested.
- And their purpose would be unfathomable to the Thulêans.
Like a saddle in a land with no horses. Like a sail in a land with no wind. - See link to the site in the video description below. The MYFAROG map, made by Marie Cachet. Available in digital version (free) from myfarog.org I can add that MYFAROG is available from Amazon. See link in the video description.