The Travels of Marco Polo
MECHANICSVILLE, Va.—I think it’s safe to say that Marco Polo was the most famous European explorer prior to Columbus. He has to have been, in any event, as his Travels…
Read moreThe Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela
MECHANICSVILLE, Va.—Benjamin was a twelfth century Jewish scholar from the town of Tudela in Navarre, in what is now Spain. In 1165, Benjamin set off on a journey across the…
Read moreVinland History of the Flat Island Book
MECHANICSVILLE, Va.—The Flat Island Book is a medieval manuscript containing a number of Icelandic tales, including the “Saga of Erik the Red” as well as the “Greenland Saga,” from which…
Read moreThe Saga of Erik the Red
MECHANICSVILLE, Va.—The Saga of Erik the Red documents the first sustained European contacts with North America from the latter part of the tenth century to the beginning of the eleventh.…
Read moreWhat I Read (and Am Re-Reading), and More
MECHANICSVILLE, Va.—The list of references below formed the basis of one of two literature reviews I conducted in the Spring of 2013 for my dissertation prospectus. My dissertation committee member…
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Literary Traditions (A Preliminary Analysis)
MECHANICSVILLE, Va.—The tradition of exploration/environmental narratives is in itself ancient—in the West extending back to the Greek world and beyond—but the written record is spotty, with many works lost through…
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