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# Paragraph 1: The First Mentions of the Myth, and some of its Founding Properties

The myth of Norumbega can trace its beginnings back to the Age of Exploration.
The first description of Norumbega as a city was in 1548, on a map by Giacomo
Gastaldi.[@KirsNor98, 34] How it found its way there is

As with many myths and legengs, "just about everything concerning Norumbega is
in dispute."[@KirsNor98, 35]

Tracing the etymology of the name "Norumbega" reveals much about the Age of
Exploration.

The first person to explore the area associated with Norumbega was Giovanni da
Verrazzano in 1524.[@KirsNor98, 36] Recounting his journey in a letter, he
described a pleasant harbor inhabited by friendly and civil
natives.[@KirsNor98, 39]. They were "very like the manner of the ancients" and
practiced "more systematic cultivation [of crops] than the other
tribes."[@KirsNor98, 39] "More civilized" natives seems to have been from the
beginning a core aspect of the myth of Norumbega. Verrazzano named this place
*Refugio*, "on account of its beauty."[@KirsNor98, 39]

They are "now believed to have been [in] the area around Narragansett Bay,
Rhode Island,"[@KirsNor98, 39] far distant from where Norumbega would
eventually be described. However, due to geographical ambiguity at the time,
Verrazzano's *Refugio* nevertheless became "at the heart of the Norumbega
legend."[@KirsNor98, 39] Five years later, Giovanni's brother Girolamo marked a
"small inlet labelled *oranbega.*"[@KirsNor98, 35] Around fifteen years after
that, Jean Alafonce, sailing up a river we know now to have been the Penobscot,
described a city called *Norombegue*.[@KirsNor98, 40-41] Just as with
Varrazzano's *Refugio*, Alafonce described "clever inhabitants [...] The people
used many words which sound like Latin and worship the sun, and they are fair
people and tall."[@KirsNor98, 41] Over time, these similar stories of civilized
natives and a river combined to form the basis for the myth of
Norumbega.[@KirsNor98, 41]

# Later Developments of the Myth in the Age of Exploration

# How the Myth Found new Popularity in the Late 19th Century

# Conclusion


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# References