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HORIZONS: EXPLORATION AND FANTASY

A series of pages and sources on fantastical voyages to the furthest reaches of the mythical imagination.

EGYPTIAN TEXTS

  • Harkhuf's travels in Nubia - the Old Kingdom dignitary Harkhuf detailed his travels in Nubia south of Egypt, the primary goal of which was to conduct trading missions to the lost kingdom of Yam.

CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY

Homer.Hesoid.Aeschylus.Herodotus.

IRISH TALES

BRENDANIANA

St. Brendan is the protagonist in a wide range of stories featuring his quest for the Promised Land of the Saints.

St. Brendan and company.The surly miller.The building of the abbey of Clonard.The Atlantic coast of Ireland.

THE IMMRAMA

Christian tales of oceanic exploration.

The voyage of Bran.A Celtic trumpet end.Liam & Clothra.Art mac Conn.

THE ECHTRAE

Encounters in the otherworld.

Statue of Manannan mac Lir.Oisín & Niamh.Queen Medb.Riders of the Sidhe.

FROM THE MYTHOLOGICAL CYCLE

Fionn.The Tuatha Dé Danaan.Hy Brasil.The sons of Turenn.

... AND MORE

  • The unfortunately-named Richard Head tells a tale of one John Nisbet's visit to the mysterious Hy Brasil.

WELSH TALES

Coat of arms of the Aberffraw dynasty of Gwynedd.Head of 'the Dagda' from the Gundestrup cauldron.
  • Culhwch ac Olwen - a cousin of King Arthur seeks his aid in a quest to woo a beautiful young maiden.

ARAB SOURCES

The Tabula Rogeriana.Text of a Qur'an in Arabic.The Hidden 'Imam, Master of the Age.Christian vs. Muslim - chess off.
  • Al-Idrīsī on the Baḥr al-Muẓlim - my translation from the French of Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad al-Idrīsī's notices about islands in the Baḥr al-Muẓlim (the "Sea of Darkness").

MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN TALES

The maelstrom off Lofoten island, Norway.Mercator's map of the north.Screenshot from Howl's Moving Castle.Prester John.
Sir Graham