Norumbega
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Norumbega, or Nurembega, is a
legendary Legendary may refer to: * Legend, a folklore genre * Legendary (hagiography) ** Anjou Legendarium * J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium Film and television * ''Legendary'' (film), a 2010 American sports drama film * ''Legendary'', a 2013 film fea ...
settlement Settlement may refer to: * Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building *Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...
in northeastern
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
which was featured on many early maps from the 16th century until European colonization of the region. It was alleged that the houses had pillars of gold and the inhabitants carried quarts of pearls on their heads. The word "Norumbega" was originally spelled ''Oranbega'' in
Giovanni da Verrazzano Giovanni da Verrazzano ( , , often misspelled Verrazano in English; 1485–1528) was an Italian ( Florentine) explorer of North America, in the service of King Francis I of France. He is renowned as the first European to explore the Atlanti ...
's 1529 map of America, and the word is believed to derive from one of the
Algonquian languages The Algonquian languages ( or ; also Algonkian) are a subfamily of indigenous American languages that include most languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically simi ...
spoken in New England. It may mean "quiet place between the rapids" or "quiet stretch of water". In 1542,
Jean Allefonsce Jean Fonteneau, dit Alfonse de Saintonge (also spelled Jean Allefonsce) or João Afonso in Portuguese (also spelled João Alfonso) (, Portugal – December 1544 or 1549, off La Rochelle) was a Portuguese navigator, explorer and corsair, promi ...
reported that he had coasted south from
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
and had discovered a great river. It often appeared on subsequent European maps of North America, lying south of
Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and earl ...
in what is now
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
. The town of
Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...
, commemorated the legend during the nineteenth century, naming their municipal hall "Norumbega Hall". In 1886, inventor Joseph Barker Stearns built a mansion named "
Norumbega Castle Norumbega Castle is a historic house at 63 High Street in Camden, Maine. Built in 1886-87 for duplex telegraph inventor Joseph Barker Stearns, it is one of Mid Coast Maine's most elaborate 19th-century summer houses, exhibiting a sophisticated ...
", which still stands on
US Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, makin ...
in
Camden, Maine Camden is a resort town in Knox County, Maine. The population was 5,232 at the 2020 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is a summer colony in the Mid-Coast ...
, overlooking
Penobscot Bay Penobscot Bay (french: Baie de Penobscot) is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean in south central Maine. The bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River, downriver from Belfast. Penobscot Bay has many working waterf ...
. During the late 19th century, Eben Norton Horsford associated the name and legend of Norumbega with supposed Norse settlements on the
Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles bac ...
, and built the
Norumbega Tower The Norumbega Tower is a stone tower erected by Eben Norton Horsford in 1889 to mark the supposed location of Fort Norumbega, a legendary Norse fort and city. It is located in Weston, Massachusetts at the confluence of Stony Brook and the C ...
at the confluence of Stony Brook and the Charles River in
Weston, Massachusetts Weston is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, about 15 miles west of Boston. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, the population of Weston was 11,851. Weston was incorporated in 1713, and protection of the town's historic resourc ...
, where he claimed Fort Norumbega was located. In honor of Horsford's generous donations to
Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial ...
, a building named Norumbega Hall was dedicated in 1886 and celebrated in a poem by
John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...
. Presently, the myth is commemorated by such place names as Norumbega Mountain (formerly Brown Mountain) in
Acadia National Park Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park preserves about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, an ...
.Acadia National Park - Norumbega Mountain Loop
accessed 2018.01.25.


References


Further reading

*DeCosta, B.F. 1890. ''Ancient Norumbega, or the voyages of Simon Ferdinando and John Walker to the Penobscot River, 1579-1580.'' Joel Munsell's Sons, Albany, NY * R. H. Ramsay, 1972. ''No Longer on the Map'', Viking Books *Baker, Emerson W., Churchill, Edwin A., D'Abate, Richard S., Jones, Kristine L., Konrad, Victor A. and Prins, Harald E.L., editors, 1994. ''American beginnings: Exploration, culture, and cartography in the land of Norumbega'' (University of Nebraska Press) * Reider T, Sherwin '' The Viking and The Red Man '' {{Authority control Mythological populated places Canadian mythology Pseudohistory Norse colonization of North America Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact