[MR] Ancient Origins: Hereford Mappa Mundi

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today one of the features on the Ancient Origins website is all about the
Hereford Mappa Mundi. A "mappa mundi" is a medieval map of the world,
usually shown with Jerusalem at its center, and lots of speculative,
fanciful and truly mythical beasties and other goodies around the edges.
Hereford's Mappa Mundi is no slouch in that department, giving us winged
salamanders, unicorns, one-footed people called "scaipods" (who reappear in
VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER by C.S. Lewis as "monopods"), people with faces
on their chests but no heads, and a curious naked "savage" with a polo
mallet.

Well, the map's artist, Richard of Haldingham and Lafford, didn't exactly
have Wikipedia as a source. His map is based on classical works, legends
and traveler's tales. The Hereford map, which was rediscovered in the 19th
century, has provided bizarre and somewhat laughable illustrations for
countless books on medieval history. But this was no joke. The map was an
important cultural and educational document in its time, and so it remains
today.

Here is the AO story:
https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/hereford-mappa-mundi-020328
. Near the end is a link to a brief and very professional BBC video on the
map and its significance. Included are some interesting scenes showing the
very medieval crypt beneath Hereford Cathedral. Just in case you want to
bookmark the video, its separate URL is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndijfk-ayuI .

Two somewhat longer videos about the map are at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4nX_FQG84c&feature=emb_rel_end  and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4uHbTtWbe8&feature=emb_rel_end .

Today the map is on display at the new Cathedral library in Hereford. Since
none of us are likely to be heading that way anytime soon, an interactive
version will have to do for now. You can play with the map at
https://www.themappamundi.co.uk/mappa-mundi/ . Be patient -- it takes a
loooooong time to load.

Finally, Wikipedia has a brief piece on the Hereford Mappa Mundi at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereford_Mappa_Mundi .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆