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Thule

Island in the far north in classical European literature

Also known as ultima Thule · Thoúlē · Thūlē

Instance of: phantom island
Part of: Greek mythology

Overview

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Thule is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman literature and cartography. First written of by the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia in about 320 BC, it was often described by later writers as an island north of Ireland or Britain, despite that Pytheas never explicitly described it as an island. Modern interpretations have included Orkney, Shetland, Northern Scotland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland. Other potential locations are the island of Saaremaa in Estonia, or the Norwegian island of Smøla.

Overview

All data

19 statements · 5% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: Thule
Thule

On other databases

16 identifiers linking Thule across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

externally sourced

Source last edited July 25, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). Thule (Q671008). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/thule-Q671008