Folklore and Myth
Historic European maps are well-known for their fanciful engravings of sea monsters, sirens, and other strange beings out in the ocean. However, this is not the only way myth and legend have made their way into cartography. It’s not uncommon for maps to acknowledge the folklore tied to the places depicted or even to display wholly imaginary locations.
The Labyrinth of Daedalus
For centuries, maps of Crete marked the supposed location of the mythical labyrinth said to have housed the Minotaur. It often appears as a small maze icon southeast of Mount Ida, near what is today the municipality of Gortyn.
Brasil & Asmaide
The popular imagination is full of stories of islands and their civilizations that have been swallowed by the sea. While Atlantis is perhaps the most widely known among these, it is far from the only example. The mythical islands of Brasil and Asmaide (or Maidas) featured on European maps throughout the 16th and into the 17th century. They’re commonly depicted southwest of Ireland, though some maps place them near the east coast of North America.
Prester John was a fictitious king in European folklore. The medieval Christians of Europe imagined that there was a Christian ruler somewhere in “the East”, that is to say out beyond the bounds of their known Christendom, and they referred to this figure as “Prester John”. When diplomats arrived with the information that Ethiopia was (and indeed, had long been) a Christian empire, Ethiopia and the notion of Prester John became linked in the European imagination. Well into the 17th century, European-made maps sometimes referred to Ethiopia as “the kingdom of Prester John” – even though this name was never actually used by the Ethiopian people for their emperor.
The harsh environment of the Lop Desert may have induced frightening hallucinations in travelers on the Silk Road. This map mentions “demonic illusions” witnessed there and illustrates them with tiny drawings of devilish creatures.
The Harz mountains feature prominently in German folklore and literature. Their highest peak, known as the Brocken, was said to be the site of witches’ sabbaths.
Celestial maps and atlases are of course a rich source of mythological imagery. In Western maps, it’s common to see planets and constellations represented by their namesake deity or creature from Greco-Roman mythology.
Meagan Trott - Digitization Lab Assistant, Stanford Libraries.
Becoming part of Stanford Libraries' digitization team five years ago was my introduction to the world of maps archiving. I quickly found that there is a lot of overlap between this work and my fine art background. I’m always fascinated by the imagery and stories humans have used over the centuries to understand the spaces we inhabit.