--- In cybalist@..., tgpedersen@... wrote:
>
> The old association is red-south, white-west, black-north, yellow-
> east. That's also where the four colored Seas are (the
Mediterranean
> is still the White Sea to the Turks). Therefore the Black Sea is
the
> Northern, Polar Sea. It follows that there *must* be a navigable
> passage from the Black Sea to the Baltic. That's why the classic
> writers find Tanais's etc. at both ends of the supposed passage.
>
As for why "Odin" would choose faraway Fyn, here's what that island
has to offer.
Fyn (like Sjælland, Zealand) is a roughly circular island, 80 km
diameter, with an incision, inlet to the middle (where Odense is,
which has a harbor). This is ideal for a society which for transport
knows only ships (long distance) and carts (short distance). The city
and harbor of Odense has an opland (Danish word with the closest
English equivalent = hinterland, except this is (with an economical,
market sense) all around the (low-lying) market town) with a natural
size for cart transport. And it has 8 market towns along the coast,
which are also ferry towns, for access to the nearest Jutland or
Zealand coast.
And first of all, it offers security. This is the island security
that enabled Britain, on a much larger scale, to ignore threats from
her neighbors and concentrate on conquering the world.
> Torsten