sea goes into Njorvasound,[1] and up to the land of Jerusalem. From the same sea a long sea-bight stretches toward the northeast, and is called the Black Sea, and divides the three parts of the earth; of which the eastern part is called Asia, and the western is called by some Europe, by some Enea.[2] Northward of the Black Sea lies Svithjod the Great,[3] or the Cold. The Great Svithjod is reckoned by some not less than the Saracens' land,[4] others compare it to the Great Blueland.[5] The northern part of Svithjod lies uninhabited on account of frost and cold, as likewise the southern parts of Blueland are waste from the burning sun. In Svithjod are many great domains, and many wonderful races of men, and many kinds of languages. There are giants,[6] and there are dwarfs,[7] and there are also blue men.[8] There are wild beasts and dreadfully large dragons. On the north side of the mountains, which lie outside of all inhabited lands, runs a river through Svithjod, which is properly called by the name of Tanais,[9] but was formerly called Tanaquisl or Yanaquisl, and which falls into the ocean at
- ↑ Njorvasound, the Straits of Gibraltar; so called from the first Norseman who sailed through them. His name was Njorve. See Ann. for nordisk Oldkyndighed, Vol. I, p. 58.
- ↑ See note, page 221.
- ↑ Svithjod the Great, or the Cold, is the ancient Sarmatia and Scythia Magna, and formed the great part of the present European Russia. In the mythological sagas it is also called Godheim; that is, the home of Odin and the other gods. Svithjod the Less is Sweden proper, and is called Mannheim; that is, the home of the kings, the descendants of the gods.
- ↑ The Saracens' land (Serkland) means North Africa and Spain, and the Saracen countries in Asia; that is, Persia, Assyria, etc.
- ↑ Blueland, the country of the blacks in Africa, the country south of Serkland, the modern Ethiopia.
- ↑ Tartareans.
- ↑ Kalmuks.
- ↑ Mongolians.
- ↑ The Tanais is the present Don river, which empties into the Sea of Asov.
