norumbega/Paper.md

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title: Norumbega
author: Jacob Signorovitch
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In Weston, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Brandeis University, an
unusual structure rises between the trees; a forty foot stone tower, complete
with spiral staircase and ramparts, weathered and stained with time, looking
distinctly out of place within earshot of I-95. The story of how it came to be
involves Vikings, a baking soda magnate, the discovery of America, and at the
center of it all is the myth of Norumbega. As one explores the area, the name
comes up again and again; a map will tell you the structure's name is Norumbega
Tower, and running alongside is Norumbega Road. Further south, one finds a
Norumbega Park, and another road called Norumbega Court. This paper will
explore how one man in the late 19th century, Eben Norton Horsford, brought
together two seemingly disconnected ideas into a theory for the original
discovery of America, what motivated him to do so, and what he left behind.

The myth of Norumbega originated during the Age of Exploration. It was
variously a town, city, or country, somewhere along the coast of New England,
inhabited by amiable and civilized natives. First given the name *Nurumberg* by
Giacomo Gastaldi in a 1548 edition of Ptolemy's Geography,[@KirsNor98, 34] the
myth can be traced back to a conflation of two separate accounts. The first is
that of Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer under King Francis I of
France.[@GreeneLife37, 4-7] He was one of the first Europeans to explore the
area around Narragansett Bay in 1524[@KirsNor98, 36, 39], far distant from
where Norumbega would eventual be described. However, due to geographical
ambiguity at the time, his account would later become "at the heard of the
Norumbega legend."[@KirsNor98, 39] He recounted his experiences in a letter to
the king, where he described a pleasant harbor inhabited by friendly and civil
natives.[@KirsNor98, 39] They practiced "more systematic cultivation [of crops]
than the other tribes," and were "very like the manner of the
ancients."[@KirsNor98, 39] In the letter, Giovanni names the place *refugio*,
"on account of its beauty."[@KirsNor98, 39] Civilized inhabitants became one of
the core aspects of the myth, present throughout its evolution even as its
exact location and size varied. The second account is that of Jean Alfonce de
Saintonge, pilot on Jacques Cartier's exploration of the Penobscot Bay area
[KirsNor98, 41]. Sailing up the Penobscot River, which he called the
*Norenbègue*, he described "a city called *Norombegue* with clever inhabitants
[...] The people use many words which sound like Latin and worship the sun, and
they are fair people and tall."[KirsNor98, 41] These two accounts, Giovanni s
*refugio* and Saintonge's *Norombegue*, eventually merged into a single myth,
canonized by Gastaldi, of an advanced Native American city whose manners were
closer to those of Europe than their neighbors.[@KirsNor98, 41]

Eben Norton Horsford was a chemist working in Cambridge, best known for his
invention of modern baking powder.[@JackHors92, 343] In addition to his work,
he showed some interest in history and archaeology throughout his life. He
would collect fossils around his father's farm in Moscow (now Leister), New
York where he grew up,[@JackHors92, 340] and expressed interest in learning the
language of the Seneca Indians[@JackHors92, 340], to which his father worked as
a missionary.[@JackHors92, 103] Later, he would often visit his wife's family
estate on Shelter Island, New York.[@AdamsMemBiog08, 104] There, he became
interested in the island's history and "erected a monument to the Quakers, who
found shelter there from Puritan persecution."[@AdamsMemBiog08, 104] He would
later repeat this pattern of investigation and monument building in
Massachusetts.

While in Cambridge, Horsford became very interested in the Vikings. This was
part of a widespread movement; rising anti-irish and anti-catholic sentiment
had put Columbus in an unfavorable light, and many casting around for some
non-catholic discoverer of America settled on Leif Erickson as suitable, albeit
pagan, predecessor [[NEED SOURCES FOR ALL THIS]]. When New England area
newspapers at the time mentioned Erickson, they often made a comparison of his
achievements to those of Columbus, who never fared well. In 1887,[@HorsDisc87,
10] Horsford wrote the dedication for a large bronze statue of
Erickson,[@GuttVal18, 86] commending him for his early discovery of America. He
doesn't stop just there, though; he additionally asserts Leif sailed south
after making the continent, all the way to Cape Cod. He explains his reasoning:

> ...if you will be kind enough to hold up to your mind's eye, now for a
> moment, any familiar map of North America. Look at the east coast. From
> Greenland, along the line to the southwest, you will notice three projections
> into the sea. They are Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Cape Cod.[@HorsDisc87,
> 9]

He disregards Newfoundland as an option, saying "[it] is bold, rocky,
mountainous, of meagre vegetation, and with few beaches."[@HorsDisc87, 10]
Ironically, the best evidence archaeologists have now for the location of
Vinland is L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Horsford 

-- How horsford disproves Nova Scotia 
-- How Horsford uses etymology

How his views were received in the
moment, if those around him were surprised by this theory, is unclear. But his
theories would see much criticism once published. One author, Justin Winsor,
found issue with Horsford's theory that Vikings had left a noticeable imprint
on Native American language:

> Nothing could be slenderer than the alleged correspondences of languages, and
> we can see in Horsford's *Discovery of America by Northmen* to what a
> fanciful extent a confident enthusiasm can carry it.[@WinsNar89, 98-99]

Horsford begins his next book on the Vikings, *The Problem of the Northmen*, by
directly addressing Winsor's comment,[@HorsProb89, 1] demonstrating that he was
willing to openly spar with historians to defend his theory. Horsford's belief
and confidence that there were Nordic elements present in Native American
language may have been informed by his early years with the Seneca in New York.
Horsford then continues to present evidence for the location of Leif Erickson's
houses: "If anyone interested will walk from the junction of Elmwood Avenue
with Mt. Auburn Street [...] he will be at the site of the objects of interest
which had once been there, and which I had predicted might there be
found."[@HorsProb89, 14] Horsford is remarkably confident in his claims,
inviting his audience to see the evidence for themselves. He claims there are
"inequalities of the surface," which are "the remains of two long log houses,
and huts, or cots."[@HorsProb89, 14] He states they are arranged "'some nearer,
some farther from the water,' as the sagas say,"[@HorsProb89, 14] again using
the sagas as a primary source of proof for his theory.

Include part by that historian who wrote about how wrong he was[@HorsProb89, 1]

Summary of Horsford's defense, letter to judge Daly source[@HorsProb89]

Write about Horsford's "archaeology," what he says he found, his methods

Write about the dedication of the Norumbega Tower

Write about how Horsford connected his interest in Vikings and Leif Ericsson to
the myth of Norumbega -- his interest in Native American language and how that
let him make the connection.

Horsford read about how Alafonce described the natives of Norumbega speaking
something closer to Latin; he interpreted that as being influenced by Norse.

The city of Norumbega was the last vestige of viking occupation

It is unclear when or how Horsford first heard about the myth of
Norumbega, but it is possible it was widely known at the time. A newspaper
(((TIME AND PAPER HERE))) mentions the myth in passing, well before Horsford

made it regionally famous. 

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# References
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