The Legacy of Saint Brendan: A History of the Western Hemisphere, 512 to 1400
- Thread starter Rognvald
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Looking forward to it!
I'm intrigued to read what will happen when the Norse start raiding the British Isles - will that encourage 'emigration' (to get away), slow it down it as there's opportunity for the would-be heroes to make their mark at home, or a combination of both? I look forward to finding out what you've come up with - everything, not just that point, of course!
Chapter Three, Part Two: The Second Generation Companies
Chapter Three, Part Two: The Second Generation Companies, 750-800
As patterns of settlement continued to change in the New World in the latter half of the 8th Century, new trends emerged in the cultural and political landscape. Many of these had their origins in the Heroic Period that had “ended” in, for a few, living memory. Because of this, some historians have applied the label of the “Secind Heroic Period” to the years following the general end of Fánaithe familial settlement. [1]
The most important of these trends was the further development of Companies as the new social structure of the Irish settlers. While the Companies had been objects of loyalty and devotion during the Heroic Period, they were an entirely masculine affair, taking notes from earlier Irish warrior cults that were steeped in pagan mythology. They were headed by men elected from within the membership of the Company- a uniquely democratic idea for the time. The earlier companies were known for being full of hard-fighting, hard-drinking men who lived and died by the knife and spear and bow- not exactly the best environment for women and children.
The later Companies chipped away many of the more brutal aspects, replacing them with more welcoming and familiar cultural mores, resembling more and more the family clans of old Ireland. Some of the traditions remained, however, setting them apart. The democratic aspect remained, with men (exclusively) able to vote for the leader of the Company. [2] The pagan traditions were blanketed with a Christian veneer, with each Company often boasting their own priest to provide them with an added measure of legitimacy. These priests often fulfilled the role of initiator, bringing young men into the warrior traditions of the Company.
Another tradition of the earlier Companies that held true was the rivalries between them. While not approaching the levels of the Fánaithe Wars that had ripped the Insula Benedicta apart in the 7th Century, Companies generally had a fairly low level of trust for one another. Combined with the ritualized rules of formal combat that still held over from the Late Heroic Period, the stage was set for more petty violence to claim lives.
Unique to this period in consideration, however, was the surprising lack of invocations for formal combat between the Companies. Most disputes were simply allowed to simmer in a slowly escalating pattern of crop-burning, robbery, and occasional murder. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the Tale of the Brindle Cow.
Cattle were extremely rare at this point in time, due to the difficulty of transporting livestock in even the largest of currachs. Therefore, they were considered to be a very valuable resource. One cow (a brindle, as the story goes) was particularly valued for its sweet milk. Because of this, it changed hands six times, as Companies raided each other for it. The story comes to a tragic end for the poor beast, as the Bishop of Tairngire, fed up with it being an object of violence, slaughters it to prevent further conflict. [3]
While that story may be considered an exaggerated work of fiction, it does a fine job of representing the endless cycles of crime that predominated in this time period.
This crime also had the effect of hastening Measctha integration into the Companies. Much to the Bishop’s dismay, the Measctha did not last long as a calming influence on the Company men. Instead, the Measctha began to be, for lack of a better term, assimilated into the Company milleau. In a large part, this was due to the Measctha being targeted in the same raiding and plundering system as their Irish neighbors. This drove them to seek refuge in the nearby Companies, which had military experience and traditions that the Measctha themselves lacked. In turn, this gave the Companies more men and women to help build up their territory.
While this was the most likely reason for Measctha assimilation, several other theories have been floated from time to time. One of the most intriguing is the population theory. The European and Measctha population in the New World was still extremely small in this period, and though the Measctha were the overall majority, as they emigrated from the Insula to the various Company settlements on the mainland, they found themselves outnumbered or dominated by Irish immigrants.
Unfortunately for the Bishop of Tairngire, as the Continental Measctha (for this was the beginning of a division within that previously solid bloc) drifted into the spheres of the Company, the mainland drifted further and further out of his jurisdiction. Though he still had the authority of enforcing the Peace of Armagh there, he lacked the ability to project power beyond the Insula. This created a vaccuum, resulting in Company rule and rivalry dominating the Bay of Saint Peter for decades to come. It also created an opening for Owain in the 9th Century (as discussed later in this chapter).
[1] – This author also uses this term, but applied to the period immediately after that being currently considered.
[2]- The democratic nature of the Companies faded over time, as population grew and other outside factors came into play, but the idea of an election of some kind continued almost as long as the Companies did.
[3]- The Tale of the Brindle Cow is unique for many reasons. First, it remains wholly complete as a story, with an unbroken chain of manuscripts between the original and the oldest surviving copy (1087). We know this due a “pedigree” of scribes attached to the 1087 manuscript. Second, it was originally written in ogham, as attested by an entry in its pedigree stating its “translation to Latin”, meaning the alphabet. Third, it is the first time a story written by an author in the Western Hemisphere became exceedingly popular outside of it.
As patterns of settlement continued to change in the New World in the latter half of the 8th Century, new trends emerged in the cultural and political landscape. Many of these had their origins in the Heroic Period that had “ended” in, for a few, living memory. Because of this, some historians have applied the label of the “Secind Heroic Period” to the years following the general end of Fánaithe familial settlement. [1]
The most important of these trends was the further development of Companies as the new social structure of the Irish settlers. While the Companies had been objects of loyalty and devotion during the Heroic Period, they were an entirely masculine affair, taking notes from earlier Irish warrior cults that were steeped in pagan mythology. They were headed by men elected from within the membership of the Company- a uniquely democratic idea for the time. The earlier companies were known for being full of hard-fighting, hard-drinking men who lived and died by the knife and spear and bow- not exactly the best environment for women and children.
The later Companies chipped away many of the more brutal aspects, replacing them with more welcoming and familiar cultural mores, resembling more and more the family clans of old Ireland. Some of the traditions remained, however, setting them apart. The democratic aspect remained, with men (exclusively) able to vote for the leader of the Company. [2] The pagan traditions were blanketed with a Christian veneer, with each Company often boasting their own priest to provide them with an added measure of legitimacy. These priests often fulfilled the role of initiator, bringing young men into the warrior traditions of the Company.
Another tradition of the earlier Companies that held true was the rivalries between them. While not approaching the levels of the Fánaithe Wars that had ripped the Insula Benedicta apart in the 7th Century, Companies generally had a fairly low level of trust for one another. Combined with the ritualized rules of formal combat that still held over from the Late Heroic Period, the stage was set for more petty violence to claim lives.
Unique to this period in consideration, however, was the surprising lack of invocations for formal combat between the Companies. Most disputes were simply allowed to simmer in a slowly escalating pattern of crop-burning, robbery, and occasional murder. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the Tale of the Brindle Cow.
Cattle were extremely rare at this point in time, due to the difficulty of transporting livestock in even the largest of currachs. Therefore, they were considered to be a very valuable resource. One cow (a brindle, as the story goes) was particularly valued for its sweet milk. Because of this, it changed hands six times, as Companies raided each other for it. The story comes to a tragic end for the poor beast, as the Bishop of Tairngire, fed up with it being an object of violence, slaughters it to prevent further conflict. [3]
While that story may be considered an exaggerated work of fiction, it does a fine job of representing the endless cycles of crime that predominated in this time period.
This crime also had the effect of hastening Measctha integration into the Companies. Much to the Bishop’s dismay, the Measctha did not last long as a calming influence on the Company men. Instead, the Measctha began to be, for lack of a better term, assimilated into the Company milleau. In a large part, this was due to the Measctha being targeted in the same raiding and plundering system as their Irish neighbors. This drove them to seek refuge in the nearby Companies, which had military experience and traditions that the Measctha themselves lacked. In turn, this gave the Companies more men and women to help build up their territory.
While this was the most likely reason for Measctha assimilation, several other theories have been floated from time to time. One of the most intriguing is the population theory. The European and Measctha population in the New World was still extremely small in this period, and though the Measctha were the overall majority, as they emigrated from the Insula to the various Company settlements on the mainland, they found themselves outnumbered or dominated by Irish immigrants.
Unfortunately for the Bishop of Tairngire, as the Continental Measctha (for this was the beginning of a division within that previously solid bloc) drifted into the spheres of the Company, the mainland drifted further and further out of his jurisdiction. Though he still had the authority of enforcing the Peace of Armagh there, he lacked the ability to project power beyond the Insula. This created a vaccuum, resulting in Company rule and rivalry dominating the Bay of Saint Peter for decades to come. It also created an opening for Owain in the 9th Century (as discussed later in this chapter).
[1] – This author also uses this term, but applied to the period immediately after that being currently considered.
[2]- The democratic nature of the Companies faded over time, as population grew and other outside factors came into play, but the idea of an election of some kind continued almost as long as the Companies did.
[3]- The Tale of the Brindle Cow is unique for many reasons. First, it remains wholly complete as a story, with an unbroken chain of manuscripts between the original and the oldest surviving copy (1087). We know this due a “pedigree” of scribes attached to the 1087 manuscript. Second, it was originally written in ogham, as attested by an entry in its pedigree stating its “translation to Latin”, meaning the alphabet. Third, it is the first time a story written by an author in the Western Hemisphere became exceedingly popular outside of it.
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Thebrindle cow story is neat; I can imagine this easily becoming a fable that works its way into stories for children, perhaps becoming as popular as those of Aesop.
Presumably the name of the period was to have been inserted here. (‘The Second Generation Companies’? - unless that is the name that the in-universe author is going to use for the next period?)
Edit: this continues to be good, and rather plausible.
As always very intriguing. Never been so interested in a AH timeline on the site this much. I especially like the fable about the cow, nice touch on the start of Insula Benedicta culture. I have just two questions.
1. What is the approximate population of Europeans and Measctha in the New World at this point?
2. How much of the New World, specifically Bay of St. Peter (which I assume is Gulf of St.Lawrence?) has been explored at this point?
Not yet, though the Measctha Irish is weird. There are words from various Irish regional dialects, as well as some hand downs from the long extinct Skin People. Over time, though, it will change.
Hey thanks for reading and thanks for the nice words!
1. At the start of this period we hit above 1500 (majority Measctha), and we’re rising from there.
2. Yep, the Bay of St. Peter is the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Almost all of the coastline has been seen by an Irishman, though the interior mostly remains a mystery and less habitable patches of coast are spotty.
Well didn't two Italian cities have a war over a fucking bucket. Human pettiness has no limits.
I wonder if Owain will rise to power by helping some Companies in a feud against their rivals, and then later shifting into the role of a mostly-neutral arbiter that resolves feuds and steadily builds up a monopoly of force. Essentially, filling the vacuum that the good Bishops are currently unable to fill.
EDIT: In fact, the Bishop could possibly delegate some of his office's Peace-of-Armagh prerogatives to the rising Briton king, which would double as an undisputable recognition of Owain's right to rule and cement an alliance between the established Church and aspiring state.
EDIT: In fact, the Bishop could possibly delegate some of his office's Peace-of-Armagh prerogatives to the rising Briton king, which would double as an undisputable recognition of Owain's right to rule and cement an alliance between the established Church and aspiring state.
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That’s what Measchta are, in the most basic sense of the term.
So I'm guessing the Measchta are going to fill the niche of the Metis IOTL serving as the link for peaceful cooperation and trading between the Natives and Europeans. How will the Great Lakes Region look ITTL, with both Irish and Native traders flocking there? Might we even see a city(OTL Detroit?) form there? Also since the Natives are contracting the diseases that ravaged them IOTL 800-1000 years earlier, might we see Native population in areas besides the East Coast recover to a certain extant by 1000 AD?
I would have to imagine the constant voyages will not only have the knock-on effect of improving Irish sailing traditions and experiences, but also additionally advance European seafaring by a few hundred years down the line, eh? There's real incentive in Ireland currently (and maybe in Europe later) to "build a better mousetrap", so to speak, in getting goods to (and especially from) the New World.
This, combined with the near-butterflying of non-European (including partial European) peoples in the New World for the most part, will have gigantic consequences, as will earlier introduction of New World goods (somewhat inevitable if very slow, first going through Ireland in these simpler times) will revolutionize Europe. As you mentioned, though, it was your intention to keep the changes contained at first, so I'm very excited to see how you play it.
This, combined with the near-butterflying of non-European (including partial European) peoples in the New World for the most part, will have gigantic consequences, as will earlier introduction of New World goods (somewhat inevitable if very slow, first going through Ireland in these simpler times) will revolutionize Europe. As you mentioned, though, it was your intention to keep the changes contained at first, so I'm very excited to see how you play it.
What plants and animals have been brought over, have any gone wild or been adopted by the natives?
Chapter Three, Part Three: The "Second Heroic Period"
Chapter Three, Part Three: The "Second Heroic Period", 800-880
As the 9th century dawned on the New World, it dawned on a new age of continual struggle for supremacy between the Companies as the temporal authority of the Bishop of Tairngire continued to decline. Though this age would not be as celebrated in Irish literature as the first Heroic Period, it was, in this author's opinion, more influential on the development of the New World than the first. Had circumstances been slightly different at the close of the chaotic 7th Century, then the trials of the Streachailt might have caused a general abandonment of the Insula and the only-then being explored coast of the mainland. While such speculation is merely an exercise in "what ifs", it serves to illustrate the almost exclusively cultural impact of the First Heroic Period.
The Second Heroic Period, the term applied in this work to the years between 800 and 880 A.D., mark the lowest point of influence of the Bishop of Tairngire. Though still the nominal ruler of all the lands in the New World, whether on the Insula or on Terra Ursus, he lacked the ability to project his power. The three Bishops of this period, Eidigean, Robartach, and Muirchu, also lacked the motivation to change the situation. Eidigean had come over from Thule [1] in the 780s or 790s, and was of a decidedly contemplative temperament. Robartach and Muirchu were of a similar style, resulting in a Bishopric focused on scriptural work. While undoubtedly resulting in some of very important pieces of historical significance (such as the lovingly illuminated "Tairngire Psalter", the best example of this period), it did result in generations of Company men living under the impression that there was no higher authority then their Company Chief.
On the mainland, then, the Companies were free to pursue their feuds against each other. It is during this period that we see a sharp uptick in the number of formalized battles between Companies, as well as the almost universal raiding. This reason for this uptick is not fully known; similar rates of raiding and murder were seen in the half-century preceding this period, yet there is very little record of formal battles in this period. The most likely reason to this author is that the Companies were now secure in their individual patrimonies, having survived winters and seen births on the shores of Terra Ursus. This made them more willing to pursue any and all avenues to protect their territories and those that held loyalty to their banner.
Over time, formalized combat also began to take on a more violent meaning. While always bloody, many of the formal battles of the First Heroic Period had surprisingly few deaths. The combatant groups were smaller, and often the Companies were so concerned about preventing a total loss of the Fanaithe on their payroll that they would withdraw or end combat quickly. The Second Generation Companies now had a full footing on Terra Ursus; additionally, this settlement encouraged higher rates (though arguably less intense) of robbery and raiding than that undertaken in the First Heroic Age. By 880, formalized combat was seen as the climax of a conflict, where one would seek to destroy as many young men of the opposing Company as possible in order to protect one's own Company from further raids.
Of course, with this in mind, it is worth noting that the number of formal combats went down during the latter part of this period in review after hitting a spike in 860, likely due to the increased stakes. Not all Companies were blindly led by their passions, calling for blood at the smallest slight. Companies were now more willing to resort to fine payment, arbitration, or simply maintenance of the raiding status quo to avoid the invocation of the now intensely violent formal combat. It is also worth noting that in the latter part of this period, those Companies that got involved in formal combat bled themselves out so much that their land became easy pickings for other Companies to take over. Life in Terra Ursus was much more peaceful, relatively, at the end of this period, likely simply due to burnout and worry over the total loss of one's fighting men.
Despite the violence of the period, it was no total anarchy like that portrayed by later historians. Though raiding was commonplace, so was trading; commercial ties between Companies may have also contributed to the eventual decline in formalized combat. A few trading hubs developed at this time, the two most notable being Cósta Dhearg and Rineen [2] on Nuadu's Isle [3]. Furs remained a fairly important item, though the Companies increasingly moved away from the fur trade in favor of other economic pursuits, most revolving around fishing and agriculture with some limited mining. This reflected a more internal turn of the Companies, as they focused less on making money in the overseas trade, and more on their own internal economies and the general economy of Terra Ursus.
Instead, the transoceanic trade became dominated by outside groups that came in to hunt and trap. These "later Fanaithe" lacked the cultural impact of their earlier brothers in the 6th and 7th Centuries, often more focused on securing their goods than engaging in some sort of grand adventure (though, to be fair, it did take an adventurous spirit to make the trip across the Atlantic, especially as the seas became more and more plagued by Ostmen). These later Fanaithe bands were also notable for their diversity. While the traditional Fanaithe Companies were almost exclusively Irish (with a few exceptions), these later bands had Britons, Picts, and one or two Anglo-Saxons in their midst. They remained majority Irish, but their composition was reflective of an increasing outside interest in securing the wealth of the West.
One notable later Fanaithe, who has been mentioned once before in this chapter already, was a young Briton man named Owain. Owain was the third son of Cadog, a powerful Brittonic monarch whose realm dominated much of North-Western Britain. With many brothers ahead of him, Owain had little to do with his time besides train for the coming showdown with the Anglo-Saxon King of Bernicia, Hussa, a young and ambitious ruler who coveted Cadog's realm. However, endless training did not please Owain overmuch; he had an adventurers soul, and so in 876, at the age of 17, he sailed away from home (without his father's permission) and made for the New World.
He trapped and hunted for a season, and made preparations to leave with his Company. He was apparently impressed with what he had seen, and was taken in by the beauty and wealth of the land. His rank made the Bishop of Tairngire, at the tim Muirchu, invite him to winter at Brendan's, rather than in Peace Town with his Company. Owain agreed, and spent a rather tedious winter listening to Muirchu ramble on about the intrinsic beauty found within the 117th Psalm. He did, however, find a kindred spirit in a monk named Columb. Columb was fed up with the way that the Bishopric was being run; he would complain to Owain about how the Companies refused to heed the authority of the Bishop, and that the Bishop refrained from trying to enforce that same authority. Owain commiserated with him, and encouraged him to speak out.
Owain left in the spring of 878, with the seed of an idea planted in his head. It would sprout two years later, in the midst of a war that his people were losing.
[1]- The Christian name for Askraland during the early Medieval Period. Thule was Irish in character, and originally home to a few monastic settlements until its importance along the route to the New World saw new towns be established by enterprising traders. Ottraland was termed "Ultima Thule", and, while also a stop (or at times just a landmark) on the circuitous route to the Insula, was home only to some temporary outposts by very brave (or stupid) Irishmen. Thule in the 9th Century was beginning to suffer from raids from the Ostmen, the first waves of what would ultimately cause the end of Irish Thule and the beginning of Ostish Askraland. (Authors Note: Askraland can be roughly rendered as Ashland in English, and Ottraland as "dread" land)
[2]- OTL Port-Menier
[3]- OTL Anticosti Island
As the 9th century dawned on the New World, it dawned on a new age of continual struggle for supremacy between the Companies as the temporal authority of the Bishop of Tairngire continued to decline. Though this age would not be as celebrated in Irish literature as the first Heroic Period, it was, in this author's opinion, more influential on the development of the New World than the first. Had circumstances been slightly different at the close of the chaotic 7th Century, then the trials of the Streachailt might have caused a general abandonment of the Insula and the only-then being explored coast of the mainland. While such speculation is merely an exercise in "what ifs", it serves to illustrate the almost exclusively cultural impact of the First Heroic Period.
The Second Heroic Period, the term applied in this work to the years between 800 and 880 A.D., mark the lowest point of influence of the Bishop of Tairngire. Though still the nominal ruler of all the lands in the New World, whether on the Insula or on Terra Ursus, he lacked the ability to project his power. The three Bishops of this period, Eidigean, Robartach, and Muirchu, also lacked the motivation to change the situation. Eidigean had come over from Thule [1] in the 780s or 790s, and was of a decidedly contemplative temperament. Robartach and Muirchu were of a similar style, resulting in a Bishopric focused on scriptural work. While undoubtedly resulting in some of very important pieces of historical significance (such as the lovingly illuminated "Tairngire Psalter", the best example of this period), it did result in generations of Company men living under the impression that there was no higher authority then their Company Chief.
On the mainland, then, the Companies were free to pursue their feuds against each other. It is during this period that we see a sharp uptick in the number of formalized battles between Companies, as well as the almost universal raiding. This reason for this uptick is not fully known; similar rates of raiding and murder were seen in the half-century preceding this period, yet there is very little record of formal battles in this period. The most likely reason to this author is that the Companies were now secure in their individual patrimonies, having survived winters and seen births on the shores of Terra Ursus. This made them more willing to pursue any and all avenues to protect their territories and those that held loyalty to their banner.
Over time, formalized combat also began to take on a more violent meaning. While always bloody, many of the formal battles of the First Heroic Period had surprisingly few deaths. The combatant groups were smaller, and often the Companies were so concerned about preventing a total loss of the Fanaithe on their payroll that they would withdraw or end combat quickly. The Second Generation Companies now had a full footing on Terra Ursus; additionally, this settlement encouraged higher rates (though arguably less intense) of robbery and raiding than that undertaken in the First Heroic Age. By 880, formalized combat was seen as the climax of a conflict, where one would seek to destroy as many young men of the opposing Company as possible in order to protect one's own Company from further raids.
Of course, with this in mind, it is worth noting that the number of formal combats went down during the latter part of this period in review after hitting a spike in 860, likely due to the increased stakes. Not all Companies were blindly led by their passions, calling for blood at the smallest slight. Companies were now more willing to resort to fine payment, arbitration, or simply maintenance of the raiding status quo to avoid the invocation of the now intensely violent formal combat. It is also worth noting that in the latter part of this period, those Companies that got involved in formal combat bled themselves out so much that their land became easy pickings for other Companies to take over. Life in Terra Ursus was much more peaceful, relatively, at the end of this period, likely simply due to burnout and worry over the total loss of one's fighting men.
Despite the violence of the period, it was no total anarchy like that portrayed by later historians. Though raiding was commonplace, so was trading; commercial ties between Companies may have also contributed to the eventual decline in formalized combat. A few trading hubs developed at this time, the two most notable being Cósta Dhearg and Rineen [2] on Nuadu's Isle [3]. Furs remained a fairly important item, though the Companies increasingly moved away from the fur trade in favor of other economic pursuits, most revolving around fishing and agriculture with some limited mining. This reflected a more internal turn of the Companies, as they focused less on making money in the overseas trade, and more on their own internal economies and the general economy of Terra Ursus.
Instead, the transoceanic trade became dominated by outside groups that came in to hunt and trap. These "later Fanaithe" lacked the cultural impact of their earlier brothers in the 6th and 7th Centuries, often more focused on securing their goods than engaging in some sort of grand adventure (though, to be fair, it did take an adventurous spirit to make the trip across the Atlantic, especially as the seas became more and more plagued by Ostmen). These later Fanaithe bands were also notable for their diversity. While the traditional Fanaithe Companies were almost exclusively Irish (with a few exceptions), these later bands had Britons, Picts, and one or two Anglo-Saxons in their midst. They remained majority Irish, but their composition was reflective of an increasing outside interest in securing the wealth of the West.
One notable later Fanaithe, who has been mentioned once before in this chapter already, was a young Briton man named Owain. Owain was the third son of Cadog, a powerful Brittonic monarch whose realm dominated much of North-Western Britain. With many brothers ahead of him, Owain had little to do with his time besides train for the coming showdown with the Anglo-Saxon King of Bernicia, Hussa, a young and ambitious ruler who coveted Cadog's realm. However, endless training did not please Owain overmuch; he had an adventurers soul, and so in 876, at the age of 17, he sailed away from home (without his father's permission) and made for the New World.
He trapped and hunted for a season, and made preparations to leave with his Company. He was apparently impressed with what he had seen, and was taken in by the beauty and wealth of the land. His rank made the Bishop of Tairngire, at the tim Muirchu, invite him to winter at Brendan's, rather than in Peace Town with his Company. Owain agreed, and spent a rather tedious winter listening to Muirchu ramble on about the intrinsic beauty found within the 117th Psalm. He did, however, find a kindred spirit in a monk named Columb. Columb was fed up with the way that the Bishopric was being run; he would complain to Owain about how the Companies refused to heed the authority of the Bishop, and that the Bishop refrained from trying to enforce that same authority. Owain commiserated with him, and encouraged him to speak out.
Owain left in the spring of 878, with the seed of an idea planted in his head. It would sprout two years later, in the midst of a war that his people were losing.
[1]- The Christian name for Askraland during the early Medieval Period. Thule was Irish in character, and originally home to a few monastic settlements until its importance along the route to the New World saw new towns be established by enterprising traders. Ottraland was termed "Ultima Thule", and, while also a stop (or at times just a landmark) on the circuitous route to the Insula, was home only to some temporary outposts by very brave (or stupid) Irishmen. Thule in the 9th Century was beginning to suffer from raids from the Ostmen, the first waves of what would ultimately cause the end of Irish Thule and the beginning of Ostish Askraland. (Authors Note: Askraland can be roughly rendered as Ashland in English, and Ottraland as "dread" land)
[2]- OTL Port-Menier
[3]- OTL Anticosti Island
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