97 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
97 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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header-includes:
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- \usepackage{setspace}
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- \doublespacing
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---
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Not sure exactly what my thesis will be, but something about the evolution of
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the myth; how it began, how it evolved, and how people used it over time. It
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initially survived because of geographical ambiguity, and was rediscovered by
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Horsford. He introduced Vikings into the myth, most likely as an expression of
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anti-catholic/anti-irish sentiment to take the credit of discovering america
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away from Columbus. Horsfod was also an interesting guy, a lot to write about
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him. Unclear why exactly he was so keen on building monuments to Ericsson, and
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why he was so convinced he landed in Massachusetts -- still the in the process
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of reading his books on the subject.
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# Paragraph 1: The First Mentions of the Myth, and some of its Founding Properties
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The myth of Norumbega can trace its beginnings back to the Age of Exploration.
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The first description of Norumbega as a city was in 1548, on a map by Giacomo
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Gastaldi.[@KirsNor98, 34] How it found its way there is
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As with many myths and legengs, "just about everything concerning Norumbega is
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in dispute."[@KirsNor98, 35]
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Tracing the etymology of the name "Norumbega" reveals much about the Age of
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Exploration.
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The first person to explore the area associated with Norumbega was Giovanni da
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Verrazzano in 1524.[@KirsNor98, 36] Recounting his journey in a letter, he
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described a pleasant harbor inhabited by friendly and civil
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natives.[@KirsNor98, 39]. They were "very like the manner of the ancients" and
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practiced "more systematic cultivation [of crops] than the other
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tribes."[@KirsNor98, 39] "More civilized" natives seems to have been from the
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beginning a core aspect of the myth of Norumbega. Verrazzano named this place
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*Refugio*, "on account of its beauty."[@KirsNor98, 39]
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They are "now believed to have been [in] the area around Narragansett Bay,
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Rhode Island,"[@KirsNor98, 39] far distant from where Norumbega would
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eventually be described. However, due to geographical ambiguity at the time,
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Verrazzano's *Refugio* nevertheless became "at the heart of the Norumbega
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legend."[@KirsNor98, 39] Five years later, Giovanni's brother Girolamo marked a
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"small inlet labelled *oranbega.*"[@KirsNor98, 35] Around fifteen years after
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that, Jean Alafonce, sailing up a river we know now to have been the Penobscot,
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described a city called *Norombegue*.[@KirsNor98, 40-41] Just as with
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Varrazzano's *Refugio*, Alafonce described "clever inhabitants [...] The people
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used many words which sound like Latin and worship the sun, and they are fair
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people and tall."[@KirsNor98, 41] Over time, these similar stories of civilized
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natives and a river combined to form the basis for the myth of
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Norumbega.[@KirsNor98, 41]
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# Later Developments of the Myth in the Age of Exploration
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Another factor that may have contributed to the idea Norumbega as a city was
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the philosophy of natural harmony. "Many Renaissance cosmographers subscribed
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to the philosophy [which stated] the physical world was governed by laws
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ensuring perfect equilibrium."[@KirsNor98, 35] "Accordingly, when Europeans
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heard about the New World, they anticipated that it would contain at least an
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embryonic counterpart of features of the geography and human behavior of the
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Old World."[@KirsNor98, 35] This may have contributed to the city's association
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with more civilized inhabitants.
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# How the Myth Found new Popularity in the Late 19th Century
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The myth of Norumbega saw a brief resurgence in late 19th century Boston. Eben
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Norton Horsford was a chemist working in Boston, best known for his work in
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baking powder.[@HorsBread61] Throughout his life, however, he showed some
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interest in history and archaeology. He would collect fossils around his
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father's farm in Moscow (now Leister) New York where he grew up,[@JackHors92,
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340] and expressed interest in learning the language of the Seneca
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Indians[@JackHors92, 340], to which his father worked as a
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missionary.[@JackHors92, 103] Later in his life, he would often visit his
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wife's family's estate on Shelter Island, New York.[@AdamsMemBiog08, 104]
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There, he became interested in the island's history and "erected a monument to
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the Quakers, who found shelter there from Puritan
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persecution."[@AdamsMemBiog08, 104] He would later repeat this pattern of
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interest and monument construction in Massachusetts.
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It'd be nice to include a bit about how Horsford came about the myth here. Also
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whether it was Norumbega or the Viking sagas he learned about first.
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Horsford did not take up the myth unchanged, however. He became convinced the
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city of Norumbega was the remains of a Norse settlement.
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Write summary of the dedication of the statue of Lief Ericsson[@HorsDisc87]
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include part by that historian who wrote about how wrong he was[@HorsProb89, 1]
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Summary of Horsford's defense, letter to judge Daly source[@HorsProb89]
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Write about Horsford's "archaeology," what he says he found, his methods
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Write about the dedication of the Norumbega Tower
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\pagebreak
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# References
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