Ultima Thule: Histoire d'un lieu et genese d'un mythe

by Monique Mund-Dopchie

This is the story of an island that cannot be located on a map. Only one certainty remains from the scarce information gathered in ancient Thule was somewhere in the high latitudes of Northern Europe, with a very uncommon natural environment. Many locations have been proposed, including Iceland, the Shetlands, and Scandinavia, but their identification with Thule was often guided by ideological debates, national pride and a strong desire by some nations to relate to very old ancestors. Because of its insularity, association with the confines, and communication with the beyond, Thule has progressively become a primary source of dreams for poets and novelists. With his famous "Ballad of the King of Thule", Goethe was a foremost artisan in a new transformation in which Thule became the country of nowhere (either in a positive or negative vision). Monique Mund-Dopchie describes this process as the start of a new myth. French text.

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009