Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan
Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan[a] ("A Guide and List of Cities") is an itinerary written c. 1157 by Níkulás Bergsson (a.k.a. Nikolaos), the abbot of the monastery of Þverá in Eyjafjörður, Northern Iceland.
It is a guidebook for pilgrims about the routes from Northern Europe to Rome and Jerusalem. It contains two descriptions of lands around Norway that the Abbot seems to have acquired for his book from independent sources.[1][2]
Itinerary[edit]
In the following list there are the towns in the different itineraries described in Leiðarvísir,:[3]
Denmark[edit]
Germany[edit]
First variation
- Verden
- Nienburg
- Minden
- Paderborn
- Niedermarsberg, former Horhausen ('Horus'), near Marsberg;[4]
- 'Kiliandr', probably Caldern in Lahntal;[5]
Second variation
- Harsefeld
- Walsrode
- Hanover
- Hildesheim
- Bad Gandersheim
- Fritzlar
- Arnsburg near Lich;[6]
Third variation
France[edit]
Switzerland[edit]
Italy[edit]
- Great St Bernard Pass
- Etroubles
- Aosta
- Pont-Saint-Martin
- Ivrea
- Vercelli
- Pavia
- Piacenza
- Fidenza
- Borgo Val di Taro
- Crucis markaðr (?)
- Frackaskáli (?)
- Pontremoli;
- Mariogilldi (?)
- Santo Stefano di Magra
- Marioborg (?)
- Luni
- Kjóformunt (?)
- Lucca
- Altopascio
- Ponte a Cappiano;
- Sanctinusborg (Borgo San Genesio)
- Martinusborg (Borgo Marturi, current Poggibonsi)
- Semunt (Monte Maggio, south of Monteriggioni)
- Siena
- San Quirico d'Orcia
- Acquapendente
- Bolsena
- Montefiascone
- Viterbo
- Sútarinn micli (?) ("large Sutri")
- Sútarinn litli (?) ("small Sutri")
- Monte Mario
- Rome
- First variation
- Second variation
- Capua
- Benevento
- Siponto
- Barletta
- Trani
- Bisceglie
- Molfetta
- Giovinazzo
- Bari
- Monopoli
- Brindisi
Greece[edit]
- Peloponnese;[b]
- Kos;[7]
- Constantinople;[7]
- Rhodes;[7]
- Kastellorizon;[7]
- Patara;[7]
- Cyprus;[7]
- Paphos;[7]
Holy Land[edit]
- Acre;[7]
- Capharnaum;[7]
- Caesarea Palaestina;[7]
- Jaffa;[7]
- Ascalon;[7]
- Serkland;[7]
- Tyre;[7]
- Sidon;[7]
- Tripoli;[7]
- Latakia;[7]
- Antioch;[7]
- Syrland;[c]
- Galilee;[7]
- Mount Tabor;[7]
- Nazareth;[7]
- Jenin;[7]
- Iohannis-kastali;[d]
- Jacob's Well;[7]
- Nablus;[7]
- an unidentified casalis;[7]
- Bira;[7]
- Jerusalem;[7]
- Bethlehem;[7]
- Bethany;[7]
- Sodom and Gomorra;[7]
- River Jordan;[7]
- Mount of Olives;[7]
- Kidron Valley;[7]
- Monastery of the Temptation;[7]
- Abraham's Castle;[7]
- Jericho;[7]
- Abrahams-veller;[e]
- Rabitaland;[f]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈleːiðarvisɪr ɔːɣ ˈpɔrkar̥scɪpan].
- ^ Bolgaraland, land of the Bulgars (i.e., Slavs), in the Leiðarvísir. Willibald, a northern European pilgrim of the 9th century, likewise called the Peloponnese Slavinia on account of its Slavic inhabitants.[7]
- ^ According to Níkulás, this was the Saracens called the Kingdom of Jerusalem.[7]
- ^ "John's castle", modern Sebastia, was correctly identified by Níkulás with ancient Samaria.[7]
- ^ The "plains of Abraham" were the fertile heights around Jericho. The designation is of crusader origin.[7]
- ^ The land beyond the Jordan, i.e. Arabia.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ Luana Giampiccolo: Leiðarvísir, an Old Norse itinerarium: a proposal for a new partial translation and some notes about the place-names, skemman.is
- ^ Carl Christian Rafn (1852). Antiquités Russes d'apres les Monuments historiques des Islandais et des Anciens Scandinave (in French). pp. 404–405. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
- ^ "Peter Robins: Medieval Itineraries: Nikulas of Munkathvera". 2013-04-21. Archived from the original on 2013-04-21.
- ^ Marani (2012) p. 20
- ^ Marani (2012) p. 20
- ^ Marani (2012) p. 21
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao Joyce Hill (1983), "From Rome to Jerusalem: An Icelandic Itinerary of the Mid-Twelfth Century", The Harvard Theological Review 76(2): 175–203.
Further reading[edit]
- Gelsinger, B. E. (1972). "The Mediterranean Voyage of a Twelfth-Century Icelander." The Mariner's Mirror, 58(2), 155–165. doi:10.1080/00253359.1972.10658648
External links[edit]
- Ericus Christianus Werlauff: Symbolae ad Geographiam Medii Aevi, Ex Monumentis Islandicis, Copenhagen, 1821 - septentrionalia.net (Leiðarvísir in Old Icelandic, including a Latin translation)
- Luana Giampiccolo: Leiðarvísir, an Old Norse itinerarium: a proposal for a new partial translation and some notes about the place-names
- Tommaso Marani: Leiðarvísir. Its Genre and Sources, with Particular Reference to the Description of Rome. 2012, Durham.
- Interactive map of all locations mentioned in Leiðarvísir (Marani, 2011)