Editing Thule (section)

{{short description|Island mentioned in Ancient Greek and Roman literature}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}{{Use British English|date=January 2025}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox fictional location
| name       = Thule
| image      = Thule carta marina Olaus Magnus.jpg
| imagesize  = 250px
| caption    = Thule as ''Tile'' on the ''[[Carta marina]]'' of 1539 by [[Olaus Magnus]], where it is shown located to the northwest of the Orkney islands, with a "monster, seen in 1537", a whale ("balena"), and an [[Orca#Cultural references|orca]] nearby
| source     = On the Ocean
| creator    = [[Pytheas]]
| genre      = Classical literature
| type       = Unidentified historical island
| locations  =
| people     =
}}

'''Thule''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|θ|j|uː|l|iː}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] second edition |title=Thule |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/201483 |access-date=18 November 2021| date=1989 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> {{langx|grc|Θούλη|Thúlē}}; {{langx|la|Thūlē}} also spelled as ''Thylē''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ampelius |first=Lucius |title=Liber Memorialis |year=c. 217 |pages=6}}</ref>) is the most northerly location mentioned in [[ancient Greek literature|ancient Greek]] and [[Latin literature|Roman]] literature and [[cartography]]. First written of by the Greek explorer [[Pytheas]] of [[Massalia]] (modern-day [[Marseille]], France) in about 320 BC, it was often described by later writers as an island north of [[Ireland]] or Britain. Modern interpretations have included [[Orkney]], [[Shetland]], [[Northern Scotland]], the [[Faroe Islands]], and [[Iceland]]. Other potential locations are the island of [[Saaremaa]] (Ösel) in Estonia,<ref name="Raamat: Saaremaa ongi Ultima Thule">{{Cite web | url=https://www.saartehaal.ee/2015/10/17/raamat-saaremaa-ongi-ultima-thule/ | title=Raamat: Saaremaa ongi Ultima Thule| work=Saarte Hääl| date=2015-10-16}}</ref><ref name="err.ee">{{Cite web | url=https://www.err.ee/550811/saaremaal-arutati-kuidas-ultima-thule-muuti-turundamisel-ara-kasutada | title=Saaremaal arutati, kuidas Ultima Thule müüti turundamisel ära kasutada| date=2015-12-12}}</ref> or the Norwegian island of [[Smøla (island)|Smøla]].<ref name=Germania>Andreas Kleineberg, Christian Marx, Eberhard Knobloch und Dieter Lelgemann: ''Germania und die Insel Thule. Die Entschlüsselung von Ptolemaios' "Atlas der Oikumene".'' Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2010.</ref>

In [[Classics|classical]] and [[medieval literature]], '''''ultima Thule''''' (Latin "farthest Thule") acquired a [[metaphor]]ical meaning of any distant place located beyond the "borders of the known world".<ref>{{cite book|first1=Nieves|last1=Herrero|first2=Sharon R.|last2=Roseman|title=The Tourism Imaginary and Pilgrimages to the Edges of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qu3jCQAAQBAJ&q=%22In+medieval+geography%2C+however%2C+Ultima+Thule+referred+to+any+far+away+place%22&pg=PA122|page=122|publisher=Channel View Publications|year=2015|isbn=9781845415235}}</ref> By the [[Late Middle Ages]] and the [[early modern period]], the Greco-Roman Thule was often identified with the real Iceland or [[Greenland]]. Sometimes ''Ultima Thule'' was a Latin name for Greenland, when ''Thule'' was used for Iceland. By the 19th century, however, ''Thule'' was frequently identified with Norway, Denmark, the whole of [[Scandinavia]], one of the larger [[List of islands of Scotland|Scottish islands]], the Faroes, or several of those locations.<ref name="oxforddictionaries.com">{{Cite web | url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0862120#m_en_gb0862120 | title=English Dictionary, Thesaurus, & grammar help &#124; Oxford Dictionaries}}{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>Bostock & Riley (1893) page 352 (on "Chapter 30 (16) – Britannia") assert: "Opinions as to the identity of ancient Thule have been numerous in the extreme." The notes on Book IV of Pliny in an 1829 translation into French by Ajasson de Grandsagne mention six, which are taken word-for-word in translation by Bostock & Riley (their words in quotes): ―
* "That Thule is the island of [[Iceland]]." Burton (1875) pages 1, 25.
* "That it is either the [[Faroe Islands|Ferroe Group]], or one of those islands." Burton pages 22–23.
* "The notion of [[Ortelius]], Farnaby, and Schœnning, that it is identical with [[Telemark|Thylemark]] in [[Norway]]." Burton page 25.
* "The opinion of [[Conrad Malte-Brun|Malte Brun]], that the continental portion of [[Denmark]] is meant thereby, a part of which is to the present day called [[Thy (district)|Thy]] or Thyland." Fotheringham (1862) page 497.
* "The opinion of [[Olaus Rudbeck|Rudbeck]] and of Calstron, borrowed originally from [[Procopius]], that this is a general name for the whole of [[Scandinavia]]." Grandsagne (1829) page 338: "L'idée de Rudbeck ... et de Calstron ... due originairement à Procope, qui ... a prononcé nettement que sous ce nom était comprise toute la Scandinavie." The reference is to Procopius Book III No. 4.
* "That of Gosselin, who thinks that under this name [[Mainland, Shetland|]], the principal of the [[Shetland Islands]], is meant. The reference to "Gosselin" or elsewhere "M. Gosselin" and his monumental work dating from the time of the French Revolution is much copied even though miscited. ("M." stands for ''Monsieur''.) The [[Library of Congress]] catalog cites the work as: {{cite book|first=Pascal François Joseph|last=Gossellin|title=Recherches sur la géographie systématique et positive anciens; pour servir de base à l'histoire de la géographie ancienne|location=Paris|publisher=L'imprimerie de la république [etc.] an VI|orig-year=1798|year=1813|lccn=02007793}} 
The Thule reference is to be found here [https://books.google.com/books?id=pcdYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA233 ''Vol 4 page 162'']
Bostock and Riley continue: "It is by no means impossible that under the name of Thule two or more of these localities may have been meant, by different authors writing at distant periods and under different states of geographical knowledge. It is also pretty generally acknowledged, as Parisot remarks, that the Thule mentioned by Ptolemy is identical with Thylemark in Norway."</ref>

Thule formerly gave its name to real places. In 1910, the explorer [[Knud Rasmussen]] established a missionary and trading post in north-western Greenland, which he named "Thule". It later gave its name to the northernmost [[United States Air Force]] base, Thule Air Base, in northwest Greenland. With the transfer of the base to the [[United States Space Force]], its name was changed to [[Pituffik Space Base]] on April 6, 2023.