The shock of the new

摘要

Edieval Europe could never quite decide whether to fear or fantasise about the undiscovered lands beyond Christendom, Some talked ! of the monstrous realms of dog-headed men and satyrs, or of the distant kingdom of Gog and Magog, from which - so the Book of Revelation promised - the carnage of the Apocalypse would be launched. Others were more sanguine, dreaming of the legendary St Bernard's Island, where the daughters of Atlas cared for trees heavy with golden apples, or the peacock-crowded land of Ophir, from which Solomon shipped the gold for his famous temple.