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Terra Nova: the northeast coast of America before 1602: Annals of Vinland, Markland, Estotiland, Drogeo, Baccalaos and Norumbega,
Format Hardcover Subject Literary Collections
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1935
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 22, 2025
This book was first published in 1935. I ordered it used, sight unseen from a "Cover Unavailable" listing on Amazon, expecting a poorly-formatted facsimile reprint. What I received instead was a first edition hardcover with a beautiful brown New York Genealogical and Biographical Society bookplate, stamped "WITHDRAWN September 14, 1935."
I harbor no illusions of such an obscure reference book being worth anything, but this in combination with the many references to Geographical Review or American Anthropologist, as well as various shout-outs to Dr./Col./Miss So-and-So in Spain or France or the Library of Congress for sending/translating/discovering bits of vital info, made for a perfectly wonderful Indiana Jones-esque reading experience. It has also made me yearn for the companion volume, The Real Founders of New England.
Although one recognizes that some pretty fantastical anthropologies were flying around in the 1930s, the ones theorized throughout this book regarding Icelanders, Greenlanders, Eskimos, and Indians are utterly fascinating, if only of entertainment value. I'd love to do more updated research sometime to find out if they hold up.
My favorite chapter was "Ten Men Red With Blood and Dead," which explores the reputed and disputed Norse expedition to Minnesota, as evidenced by the Kensington Runestone and various medieval Scandinavian implements unearthed around the region.
But enough about Indiana Jones.
I went into this knowing nothing of the topic beyond the existence of Leif Erickson, so I presumed Markland, Estotiland, Drogeo, Baccalaos, and Norumbega were mythologies of various primitive cultures that moderns attached to the North American continent.
While Vinland and Markland are Norse titles given (probably) to Cape Cod and Nova Scotia, it turns out the other names are much more recent history (albeit still disputed) thanks to the fishing trade the Norsemen had established from Erickson's day between Greenland, Iceland, the Faroes, and Norway.
Estotiland and Drogeo find their origins in 1370-1390 via a Venetian sailor named Zeno, and they refer to the discovery of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia (respectively) as a result of shipwrecks outbound from Greenland.
Baccalaos comes from the Basque word for codfish, refers to Newfoundland, and although it can only be attested to 1508, Sebastian Cabot reported he first heard it from the Indians there. Thus, speculation suggests French and Spanish sailors, following after the Germans' 1350s bid for a fish monopoly over the English and Norwegians, brought it there before the Cabots.
Norumbega can be traced back to a 1529 map by the explorer Verrazzano and refers to a region of Maine, likely on the Penobscot river.
All in all, a fun and informative book, and the best part? The index at the back detailing every individual recorded on America's northeast coast prior to 1602, from ship's boys to natives.
I harbor no illusions of such an obscure reference book being worth anything, but this in combination with the many references to Geographical Review or American Anthropologist, as well as various shout-outs to Dr./Col./Miss So-and-So in Spain or France or the Library of Congress for sending/translating/discovering bits of vital info, made for a perfectly wonderful Indiana Jones-esque reading experience. It has also made me yearn for the companion volume, The Real Founders of New England.
Although one recognizes that some pretty fantastical anthropologies were flying around in the 1930s, the ones theorized throughout this book regarding Icelanders, Greenlanders, Eskimos, and Indians are utterly fascinating, if only of entertainment value. I'd love to do more updated research sometime to find out if they hold up.
My favorite chapter was "Ten Men Red With Blood and Dead," which explores the reputed and disputed Norse expedition to Minnesota, as evidenced by the Kensington Runestone and various medieval Scandinavian implements unearthed around the region.
But enough about Indiana Jones.
I went into this knowing nothing of the topic beyond the existence of Leif Erickson, so I presumed Markland, Estotiland, Drogeo, Baccalaos, and Norumbega were mythologies of various primitive cultures that moderns attached to the North American continent.
While Vinland and Markland are Norse titles given (probably) to Cape Cod and Nova Scotia, it turns out the other names are much more recent history (albeit still disputed) thanks to the fishing trade the Norsemen had established from Erickson's day between Greenland, Iceland, the Faroes, and Norway.
Estotiland and Drogeo find their origins in 1370-1390 via a Venetian sailor named Zeno, and they refer to the discovery of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia (respectively) as a result of shipwrecks outbound from Greenland.
Baccalaos comes from the Basque word for codfish, refers to Newfoundland, and although it can only be attested to 1508, Sebastian Cabot reported he first heard it from the Indians there. Thus, speculation suggests French and Spanish sailors, following after the Germans' 1350s bid for a fish monopoly over the English and Norwegians, brought it there before the Cabots.
Norumbega can be traced back to a 1529 map by the explorer Verrazzano and refers to a region of Maine, likely on the Penobscot river.
All in all, a fun and informative book, and the best part? The index at the back detailing every individual recorded on America's northeast coast prior to 1602, from ship's boys to natives.
Displaying 1 of 1 review