Frisland, also called Frischlant, Friesland, Frislanda, Frislandia, or Fixland, is a phantom island that appeared on virtually all of the maps of the North Atlantic from the 1560s through the 1660s.

History

Frisland appears to have been born out of the confusion between an imaginary island and the actual southern part of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

. Frisland originally may also have been a cartographic approximation of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, but in 1558 the influential

Zeno map Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...

charted the landmass as an entirely separate island south (or occasionally south-west) of Iceland. After this incorrect charting, the phantom island appeared that way on maps for the next 100 years. Its existence was given currency in manuscript maps of the 1560s by the Maggiolo family of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, and the island was accepted and reproduced by cartographers

Gerardus Mercator Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a 16th-century geographer, cosmographer and Cartography, cartographer from the County of Flanders. He is most renowned for creating the Mercator 1569 world map, 1569 world map based on ...

and Jodocus Hondius. Some early maps by

Willem Blaeu Willem Janszoon Blaeu (; 157121 October 1638), also abbreviated to Willem Jansz. Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer, atlas maker and publisher. Along with his son Johannes Blaeu, Willem is considered one of the notable figures of the Netherlandis ...

, such as his 1617 map of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, omit it, but it reappeared on his 1630 world map as one of many islands shown off the eastern coast of

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

, which was then believed to extend to within a few hundred miles of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It also appeared on a 1652 world map by

Visscher Visscher is a Dutch occupational surname. ''Visscher'' is an archaic spelling of Dutch ''visser'' meaning "fisherman". Varianta are ''Visschers'' and '' De Visscher''. The latter form is now most common in East Flanders.Vincenzo Coronelli Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (August 16, 1650 – December 9, 1718) was an Italian Franciscan friar, cosmographer, cartographer, publisher, and encyclopedist known in particular for his atlases and globes. He spent most of his life in Venice. Biog ...

map places it close to

. Frederick J. Pohl identified Frisland with an island he referred to as "Fer Island", modern English

Fair Isle Fair Isle (; sco, Fair Isle; non, Friðarey; gd, Fara) is an island in Shetland, in northern Scotland. It lies about halfway between mainland Shetland and Orkney. It is known for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting. Th ...

, an island lying between mainland Shetland and the Orkney islands in his book arguing the case that

Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, Lord of Roslin () was a Scottish and a Norwegian nobleman. Sinclair held the title Earl of Orkney (which refers to Norðreyjar rather than just the islands of Orkney) and was Lord High Admiral of Scotland unde ...

visited North America. Even in the mid-18th century, explorers' maps clearly depicted Frisland as separated from Greenland by a wide strait. The myth of Frisland was gradually dispensed with as explorers, chiefly from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, charted and mapped the waters of the North Atlantic.

Depiction

Frisland was shown as a roughly rectangular island, with three triangular promontories on its western coast. In some mappings, it is identified as "''Fixland''". ( map of 1553, from Library of Congress, see upper right of map; see also, page 88 for other clearer source; See also Catalan map of 1480 showing "Fixland"; original source map copied in this article, page 64)

History

Depiction

See also

References

Further reading