What does it actually say on the Carta marina?

by ProtagonistOfLife

Not necessarily the place names, but the descriptions on the monsters, in the corners etc. I have tried googling it for a while now, but can find no other answers than ones supposedly hidden in library books miles and miles away from me.

If there's anyone who has actually read these books, or is just better at finding these answers than me, please help.

Platypuskeeper

Well it says a lot. If you've seen a copy in person, it's a huge map. Anyway, the text is just Latin with customary scribal abbreviations, not too hard to look up yourself if you want.

As for some of the monsters:

Pistrum sive Phiset - "Pisrum or Phiset"

Monstrum MDXXXVII Visum - Vision of 1807 monsters

Balena - whale

Orcha - orca

Ursi Albi - white bears

Moanchus [sic: Monachus] - Monk seal.

Ros marus piscis - invented term for walrus

"300 pedum" - 300 feet , presumably the length of the creature attacking a ship.

Ziphius - beaked whale

Vacca Marina - Sea cow (very literally, apparently)

Vermis 40 pe lo - worm 40 ft long

Some random notes:

Tile (Thule) - Hic habitat dominus insularum - here lives the lord of the islands

Hec est Horrenda caribdis - There is a horrendous whirlpool (charybdis) here (Moskstraumen)

Insule Hebrides sive Muanides - Hebrides or Muandes islands.

Amplissimum regnum Scotorum - Great kingdom of the Scots.

Antiq sepul regum - Ancient royal tomb

Insula magnetum - magnetic island

The North Sea nations (and Hanseatic members) are represented with their ships: Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck, Danzig, the English, Scots, Danes, Geats, Norwegians, Holland

The bottom right is a big family tree showing how all cool peoples of the world are descended from Scandinavians. Including but not limited to the Goths, Vandals, Longobards, Huns, Picts, Amazons, Dacians, Slavs, etc.

In northern Sweden you have Arngrim, king of the Helsings (rex helsingorum) fighting Thengil, king of the Sámi (Tengilus, rex scricfinorum - 'skiing finns'); this is from Norse mythology via Saxo Grammaticus.

Another legendary figure near the top there is "Starkad, Swedish fighter" (Starcaterus pugil sueticus), with the Latin also transliterated to the rather idiosyncratic runes of Olaus Magnus on the staffs he's holding.

Anyway, the creator of the map, Olaus Magnus, wrote a big book - A Description of the Northern Peoples (Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus) and most of what's on his map is explained in greater detail there, such as the various kinds of sea monsters.