And Hekla is here in its greatest majesty, described in Latin as a stone-throwing place of eternal damnation. Glaciers are shown and named for the first time. For example, on Reykjanes there are statements about two springs, one that turns white wool into black, the other black to white. On the map, there are also small stories or statements. Most of these are from known sources, mainly Olaus Magnus and Münster, but some are Icelandic and so could have come from
Each swimming creature has a letter attached which refers to the explanation on the verso. There are no less than fifteen polar bears on the drift ice East of the country. The sea is swarming with creatures, and many are menacing looking.
They thus form a chain to reach the eggs. The third one bites the tail of the second one and he goes off the cliff as well, etc. The first fox is lowered from the top, with the second biting his tail. As an example, there is the story of foxes so smart that they work together to get otherwise unreachable eggs on cliffs. Some of the things in his description are actually shown on the map. Ortelius says that Iceland is not Thule, for that notion was mostly relegated to the past. On the verso (reverse) of the map is a description of Iceland, which was followed closely by later writers. The Prime Meridian (mark 0/360°) goes through Iceland roughly a third of the way through from the West. The position of the country N/S is between 64° and 67° ¾ N latitude. It is approximately on the scale 1:1,700,000.
#Mapa abraham ortelius full#
It is one of the most decorative maps ever made and it is full of legends and small stories. Apart from being a breakthrough as a depiction of Iceland, the Ortelius map is a work of art. To put it another way, there wasn’t anyone else smart enough or learned enough in Iceland at this time to have completed such a work.
Thus, it is likely he has the honor of creating this map. Guðbrandur was the most learned man in the country at that time he had even made a different map and took some measurements using the stars. This is not beyond doubt, but it is clear that someone in Iceland helped create this map, at the very least. It is now generally accepted that the map was made by Guðbrandur Þorláksson, bishop at Hólar in Northern Iceland. How else could he have been this accurate about the outlines and place names, roughly 250 in all? Even the beasts around the country are given Icelandic names. But what were Vedel’s sources? It is obvious from this map that the author knew Iceland rather well. In this case, Ortelius tells us in the box in the lower right corner that the maker is Andreas Velleius (Anders Vedel (1542–1616), a famous Danish historian. Ortelius was actually very open about using others’ work and frequently listed his sources. Most of his maps were based on the work of others as must have been true of most cartographic work at this time. Ortelius did not create this map himself. Islandia, by Abraham Ortelius, is not only the most beautiful stand-alone map of Iceland but among the most revered printed maps available.
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