Thule (ancient area)

Thule (ancient area), name generally given by the ancients to the most northerly part of Europe known to them. Pytheas of Massalia (present-day Marseille), a Greek navigator of the 4th century bc, was the first to mention the island of Thule, stating that it was a six-day voyage north of Britain and that the midsummer sun never set there. It is not known, however, whether Pytheas ever reached Thule. In antiquity Thule was considered Mainland, the largest of the Shetland Islands, but modern scholars believe that Pytheas may have been referring to either Iceland or northern Norway. The Romans used the phrase Ultima Thule to denote the most distant unknown land.