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Rupes Nigra and the

4 Islands of the North Pole

Printable version of this map (both approx. 280K):   GIF      PDF 

This map was made by Bertius in 1618, based on an earlier map by Mercator.  It shows the 4 Polar Islands, with "Gronland" on the lower left, and the "Rupes Nigra" shown twice, once at the pole, and again at the top of the map.  The text on the right, under the pole, claims that "Pygmies" live there.  See a picture of the 1595 Mercator Map

In the 1300's, many believed that the Polar Region was 4 large islands with a polar sea in the middle. This idea came from a lost work titled "Inventio Fortunata" which told that water was sucked into the center of the earth from the North Pole, and also told of a black rock 33 miles wide called the "Rupes Nigra". The "Rupes Nigra" was magnetic, and was what compasses pointed to (magnetic north.)

The Inventio Fortunata is a mysterious document that has never been found.  It is referred to in a letter written in 1497 or 1498 by John Day, an English merchant.  The letter may have been written to Christopher Columbus.  In the letter, Day says "I do not find the book Inventio Fortunata, and I thought that I (or he) was bringing it with my things, and I am very sorry not to find it because I wanted very much to serve you. I am sending the other book of Marco Polo and a copy of the land which has been found." 

Not much is known about the Inventio Fortunata, but an excellent article has been written by Chet VanDuzer and is available here in PDF format. Link to article- will open in new Window.  It originally appeared as:

Van Duzer, Chet, “The Mythology of the Northern Polar Regions: Inventio fortunata and Buddhist Cosmology,” At the Edge: Exploring New Interpretations of Past and Place in Archaeology, Folklore, and Mythology 9 (March, 1998), pp. 8-16.

There are many travelers' tales of magnetic islands or mountains.  Ptolemy mentions them, and Sir John Mandeville claims that they existed in the Indian Ocean.  Ships built with iron nails would be drawn towards these islands.