Lost lands
Encyclopedia
Lost lands can be continents, islands or other regions supposedly existing during prehistory
, having since disappeared as a result of catastrophic
geological phenomena or slowly rising sea levels since the end of the last Ice Age
. Lost lands, where they existed, are supposed to have subsided into the sea, leaving behind only a few traces or legends. The term can also be extended to mythological lands generally, to underground civilizations, or even to whole planets.
The classification of lost lands as continents, islands, or other regions is in some cases subjective; for example, Atlantis
is variously described as either a "lost island" or a "lost continent".
Lost land theories may originate in mythology
or philosophy
, or in scholarly or scientific theories, such as catastrophic
theories of geology
.
" by L. Sprague de Camp
seeks to show, many modern writers speculate about ancient civilizations that dwelled on continents now deluged under sea level. According to de Camp, there is no real scientific evidence for any lost continents whatsoever.
, Cantref Gwaelod
(also known as Lowland Hundred), or the legend about Lomea, located at the Goodwin Sands
. Unlike the lost continents mentioned above, whose location has been a matter of speculation, these lost lands are associated with specified places.
is a phantom continent. While a few phantom islands originated from literary works (an example is Ogygia
from Homer
's Odyssey
), most phantom islands are the result of navigational errors.
The most prominent lost land mentioned in Hollow Earth theory would be Agartha
.
and held many "fictional" accounts of these places and their peoples to be true. Such accounts include:
Diverse expeditions at diverse epochs and lands, have tried to find proof of the existence of a subterranean world, from the Col. Fawcett notorious expeditions to Third Reich sponsored attempts and many private expeditions in modern times, some sponsored by cultural foundations and even magazines as the 1978 Roncador Expedition to the Roncador mountains in Matto Grosso, Brazil, sponsored by the magazine Noticias from Uruguay and led by pilot and writer A. de Souza. None have returned positive results.
. The disruption theory of the formation of the asteroid belt from a hypothetical fifth planet
has given birth to a number of these, including the doomed Phaeton
, Tiamat, and the apocalypse bringer Nibiru. Others such as Planet V
, Theia
, Planet X
and Vulcan
arose to explain irregularities in planetary phenomena.
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
, having since disappeared as a result of catastrophic
Catastrophism
Catastrophism is the theory that the Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. The dominant paradigm of modern geology is uniformitarianism , in which slow incremental changes, such as erosion, create the Earth's appearance...
geological phenomena or slowly rising sea levels since the end of the last Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
. Lost lands, where they existed, are supposed to have subsided into the sea, leaving behind only a few traces or legends. The term can also be extended to mythological lands generally, to underground civilizations, or even to whole planets.
The classification of lost lands as continents, islands, or other regions is in some cases subjective; for example, Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
is variously described as either a "lost island" or a "lost continent".
Lost land theories may originate in mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
or philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, or in scholarly or scientific theories, such as catastrophic
Catastrophism
Catastrophism is the theory that the Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. The dominant paradigm of modern geology is uniformitarianism , in which slow incremental changes, such as erosion, create the Earth's appearance...
theories of geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
.
Lost continents
As the study "Lost ContinentsLost Continents
Lost Continents: The Atlantis Theme in History, Science, and Literature is a study by L. Sprague de Camp. It is considered one of his most popular works...
" by L. Sprague de Camp
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
seeks to show, many modern writers speculate about ancient civilizations that dwelled on continents now deluged under sea level. According to de Camp, there is no real scientific evidence for any lost continents whatsoever.
- The most famous lost continent is AtlantisAtlantisAtlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
. Atlantis, like Hyperborea and ThuleThuleThule Greek: Θούλη, Thoulē), also spelled Thula, Thila, or Thyïlea, is, in classical European literature and maps, a region in the far north. Though often considered to be an island in antiquity, modern interpretations of what was meant by Thule often identify it as Norway. Other interpretations...
, is ultimately derived from ancient GreekAncient GreeceAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
geographic speculation.
- The name of hypothetical vanished continent MuMu (lost continent)Mu is the name of a hypothetical continent that allegedly existed in one of Earth's oceans, but disappeared at the dawn of human history.The concept and the name were proposed by 19th century traveler and writer Augustus Le Plongeon, who claimed that several ancient civilizations, such as those of...
originated from the first attempted translation of the Madrid Codex, one of only four remaining Maya codicesMaya codicesMaya codices are folding books stemming from the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, written in Maya hieroglyphic script on Mesoamerican bark cloth, made from the inner bark of certain trees, the main being the wild fig tree or Amate . Paper, generally known by the Nahuatl word amatl, was named by...
.
- Something similar seems to have happened upon the discovery of the SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
literature by Europeans. Louis JacolliotLouis JacolliotLouis Jacolliot was a French barrister, colonial judge, author and lecturer.Born in Charolles, Saône-et-Loire, he lived several years in Tahiti and India during the period 1865-1869....
claimed to have learned from this literature about a sunken continent called Rutas. This in turn seems to have influenced Madame BlavatskyMadame BlavatskyHelena Petrovna Blavatsky , was a theosophist, writer and traveler. Between 1848 and 1875 Blavatsky had gone around the world three times. In 1875, Blavatsky together with Colonel H. S. Olcott established the Theosophical Society...
and her speculations about LemuriaLemuria (continent)Lemuria is the name of a hypothetical "lost land" variously located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The concept's 19th century origins lie in attempts to account for discontinuities in biogeography; however, the concept of Lemuria has been rendered obsolete by modern theories of plate tectonics...
. Speculations about Kumari KandamKumari KandamKumari Kandam is the name of a supposed sunken landmass referred to in existing ancient Tamil literature...
also seem to be linked to this field. The name Lemuria originated from the hypothesis about a land bridgeLand bridgeA land bridge, in biogeography, is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonise new lands...
between India and South Africa.
Other lost lands
In addition to these myths about lost continents there also are various regional legends about lost lands; see e.g. LyonesseLyonesse
Lyonesse is a country in Arthurian legend, particularly in the story of Tristan and Iseult. Said to border Cornwall, it is most notable as the home of the hero Tristan, whose father was king...
, Cantref Gwaelod
Cantref Gwaelod
Cantre'r Gwaelod is the legendary ancient sunken kingdom said to have occupied a tract of fertile land lying between Ramsey Island and Bardsey Island in what is now Cardigan Bay to the west of Wales....
(also known as Lowland Hundred), or the legend about Lomea, located at the Goodwin Sands
Goodwin Sands
The Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east off Deal in Kent, England. The Brake Bank lying shorewards is part of the same geological unit. As the shoals lie close to major shipping channels, more than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked...
. Unlike the lost continents mentioned above, whose location has been a matter of speculation, these lost lands are associated with specified places.
Submerged lands
Although the existence of lost continents in the above sense is mythical, there are some places on earth that were once dry land but are now submerged under the sea. Approximately listed by size, these are:- SundalandSundalandSundaland is a biogeographical region of Southeastern Asia which encompasses the areas of the Asian continental shelf that was exposed during the last ice age. It included the Malay Peninsula on the Asian mainland, as well as the large islands of Borneo, Java, and Sumatra and their surrounding...
, the now submerged Sunda ShelfSunda ShelfGeologically, the Sunda Shelf is a south east extension of the continental shelf of Southeast Asia. Major landmasses on the shelf include the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Madura, Bali and their surrounding smaller islands. It covers an area of approximately 1.85 million km2...
. - ZealandiaZealandia (continent)Zealandia , also known as Tasmantis or the New Zealand continent, is a nearly submerged continental fragment that sank after breaking away from Australia 60–85 million years ago, having separated from Antarctica between 85 and 130 million years ago...
, a continent that is now 93% submerged under the Pacific OceanPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. - Kerguelen PlateauKerguelen PlateauThe Kerguelen Plateau is an underwater volcanic large igneous province , also the microcontinent and submerged continent in the southern Indian Ocean. It lies about 3,000 km to the southwest of Australia and is nearly three times the size of Japan...
, a submerged micro-continent which is now 1–2 km below sea level. - Beringia, connecting Asia and North America.
- DoggerlandDoggerlandDoggerland is a name given by archaeologists and geologists to a former landmass in the southern North Sea that connected the island of Great Britain to mainland Europe during and after the last Ice Age, surviving until about 6,500 or 6,200 BCE, though gradually being swallowed by rising sea levels...
, the bed of the North SeaNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, inundated by rising sea level during the HoloceneHoloceneThe Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
. - The bed of the Persian GulfPersian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
. - Maui NuiMaui NuiMaui Nui or Greater Maui, is a modern geologists' name given to a prehistoric Hawaiian Island built from seven shield volcanoes. Nui means "great/large" in the Hawaiian language....
, once part of the HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
archipelago. - Verdronken Land van ReimerswaalVerdronken Land van ReimerswaalThe Verdronken Land van Reimerswaal is an area of flood-covered land in Zeeland in the Netherlands between Noord Beveland and Bergen op Zoom. Some of it was lost in the St. Felix's Flood in 1530, and some of it in 1532. The Oosterschelde formerly flowed along its east and north edges...
, most of this region in The Netherlands vanished in a storm in 1532; the town of Reimerswaal survived as an island into the 17th century; the last bits of land vanished in the early 19th century. - StrandStrand (island)Strand was an island on the west coast of Nordfriesland in modern Germany. It was formed by a stormflood in 1362 where many villages and towns, Rungholt among them, were lost and Südfall island was as well separated from the mainland. Strand island was later split by the Burchardi flood of 1634...
, an island off the German coast with the town RungholtRungholtRungholt was a wealthy city in Nordfriesland, northern Germany. It sank beneath the waves when a storm tide in the North Sea tore through the area on January 16, 1362....
, eroded away by storm surges before being washed away by a final flood in 1634. - JordsandJordsandJordsand was a small Danish hallig located in the Wadden Sea southeast of the Danish island Rømø and east of the German island Sylt. The island was first known by the name Hiortsand and was possibly connected to both the mainland and the island of Sylt...
, once an island off the Danish coast, eroded away by storm surges before being washed away by a final flood between 1998 and 1999. - FerdinandeaFerdinandeaFerdinandea is a submerged volcanic island which forms part of the underwater volcano Empedocles, south of Sicily, and which is one of a number of submarine volcanoes known as the Campi Flegrei del Mar di Sicilia. Currently a seamount, eruptions have raised it above sea level several times...
, submerged volcanic island which has appeared at least four times in the past. - Sarah Ann IslandSarah Ann IslandSarah Ann Island is a now submerged island, previously located just north of the equator, at about 175° W. It was discovered in 1858 and claimed by an American guano firm, under the Guano Islands Act...
, now submerged guano island, located just north of the equator. Vanished between 1917 and 1932.
Mythological lands
- AvalonAvalonAvalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
- ShambhalaShambhalaIn Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala or Shangri-la is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia...
- Shangri-LaShangri-LaShangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains...
, a fictitious valley in Tibet the idea of which may have been inspired by the myth of ShambhalaShambhalaIn Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala or Shangri-la is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia... - Quivira and CíbolaQuivira and CíbolaQuivira is a place first mentioned by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado in 1541, who visited it during his searches for the mythical "Seven Cities of Gold". The location and identity of the "Quivirans" has been much debated over a wide area, including Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri...
, also known as the Seven Cities of Gold. These were suspected somewhere in AmericaAmericasThe Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
by the conquistadors. - El DoradoEl DoradoEl Dorado is the name of a Muisca tribal chief who covered himself with gold dust and, as an initiation rite, dived into a highland lake.Later it became the name of a legendary "Lost City of Gold" that has fascinated – and so far eluded – explorers since the days of the Spanish Conquistadors...
, mythic city of gold. - AtlantisAtlantisAtlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
- Lemuria (continent)Lemuria (continent)Lemuria is the name of a hypothetical "lost land" variously located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The concept's 19th century origins lie in attempts to account for discontinuities in biogeography; however, the concept of Lemuria has been rendered obsolete by modern theories of plate tectonics...
- Mu (lost continent)Mu (lost continent)Mu is the name of a hypothetical continent that allegedly existed in one of Earth's oceans, but disappeared at the dawn of human history.The concept and the name were proposed by 19th century traveler and writer Augustus Le Plongeon, who claimed that several ancient civilizations, such as those of...
- YsYsYs , also spelled Is or Kêr-Is in Breton, and Ker-Ys in French , is a mythical city that was built on the coast of Brittany and later swallowed by the ocean...
; a mythical city built on the coast of Brittany, and later swallowed by the ocean. Most versions of the legend place the city in the Douarnenez Bay. - Cantre'r Gwaelod is the legendary ancient sunken realm said to have occupied a tract of fertile land lying between Ramsey IslandRamsey IslandRamsey Island is an island about 1 km off the coast of the St David's peninsula in Pembrokeshire on the northern side of St Brides Bay, in southwest Wales....
and Bardsey IslandBardsey IslandBardsey Island , the legendary "Island of 20,000 saints", lies off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", although its English name refers to the "Island of the Bards", or possibly the island of the Viking chieftan, "Barda". It is ...
in what is now Cardigan BayCardigan BayCardigan Bay is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales....
to the west of WalesWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Phantom islands
Phantom islands, as opposed to lost lands, are land masses formerly believed by cartographers to exist in the historical age, but to have been discredited as a result of expanding geographic knowledge. Terra AustralisTerra Australis
Terra Australis, Terra Australis Ignota or Terra Australis Incognita was a hypothesized continent appearing on European maps from the 15th to the 18th century...
is a phantom continent. While a few phantom islands originated from literary works (an example is Ogygia
Ogygia
Ogygia , is an island mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, Book V, as the home of the nymph Calypso, the daughter of the Titan Atlas, also known as Atlantis in ancient Greek. In Homer's Odyssey Calypso detained Odysseus on Ogygia for 7 years and kept him from returning to his home of Ithaca, wanting to...
from Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
), most phantom islands are the result of navigational errors.
Hollow Earth theory
Also related to the theme of Lost lands is that of Hollow Earth, as some proponents of Hollow Earth theory have claimed that the inner earth would be inhabited. Furthermore, using the concept of vast underground caves or even a completely Hollow Earth, some authors try to explain how an ancient civilisation could continue to exist, even if its former continent became deluged.The most prominent lost land mentioned in Hollow Earth theory would be Agartha
Agartha
Agartha is a legendary city that is said to reside in the earth's core. It is related to the belief in a hollow earth and is a popular subject in esotericism....
.
Accounts of a Hollow Earth
Some of these authors, such as H.P. Blavatsky and theosophist followers, believed in the existence of a number of lost lands within the Hollow EarthHollow Earth
The Hollow Earth hypothesis proposes that the planet Earth is either entirely hollow or otherwise contains a substantial interior space. The hypothesis has been shown to be wrong by observational evidence, as well as by the modern understanding of planet formation; the scientific community has...
and held many "fictional" accounts of these places and their peoples to be true. Such accounts include:
- The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, published in 1871.
- Mission de l'Inde en Europeä by Alexandre Saint-Yves d'AlveydreAlexandre Saint-Yves d'AlveydreAlexandre Saint-Yves, Marquess of Alveydre was a French occultist who adapted the works of Fabre d'Olivet and, in turn, had his ideas adapted by Papus...
, published in 1886. - The Phantom of the Poles by William ReedWilliam ReedWilliam Reed was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.Born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Reed received a limited education. He engaged in mercantile pursuits....
, published in 1906. - The Smoky GodThe Smoky GodThe Smoky God, or A Voyage Journey to the Inner Earth is a novel of 1908 by Willis George Emerson, which is presented as a true account of a Norwegian sailor named Olaf Jansen, and explains how Jansen's sloop sailed through an entrance to the Earth's interior at the North Pole...
by Willis Emerson, published in 1908. - Agartha - Secrets of the Subterranean Cities
- Journey to the Earth's Interior by Marshall B. Gardner, published in 1913.
- Le Roi du Monde by René GuénonRené GuénonRené Guénon , also known as Shaykh `Abd al-Wahid Yahya was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, sacred science and traditional studies to symbolism and initiation.In his writings, he...
, published in 1924. - Beast, Men and Gods by Ferdinand Ossendowski Published in 1931.
- Amazing StoriesAmazing StoriesAmazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
magazine, which, beginning in 1943, published a plethora of material by Richard Shaver and Raymond A. PalmerRaymond A. PalmerRaymond Arthur Palmer was the influential editor of Amazing Stories from 1938 through 1949, when he left publisher Ziff-Davis to publish and edit Fate Magazine, and eventually many other magazines and books through his own publishing houses, including Amherst Press and Palmer Publications...
, detailing Shaver's experiences with the inhabitants of the Hollow Earth. - The Hollow Earth - The Greatest Geographical Discovery in History Made by Admiral Richard E. Byrd in the Mysterious Land Beyond the Poles - The True Origin of the Flying Saucers, by Raymond W. Bernard, published in 1964.
- Flying Saucers from the Earth's Interior, by Raymond W. Bernard
- Agharta - The Subterranean World by Dr. Raymond Bernard.
- Nazisme et sociétés Secrètes by Jean-Claude Frère, published in 1974.
- World Beyond the Poles by GianniniGianniniGiannini is a traditional fine musical instruments maker in Brazil.Founded in 1900 by Tranquillo Giannini, an Italian immigrant with enormous luthier talents. Their first industrial plant was locatet at Av...
- Paradise Found by William F. Warren.
Diverse expeditions at diverse epochs and lands, have tried to find proof of the existence of a subterranean world, from the Col. Fawcett notorious expeditions to Third Reich sponsored attempts and many private expeditions in modern times, some sponsored by cultural foundations and even magazines as the 1978 Roncador Expedition to the Roncador mountains in Matto Grosso, Brazil, sponsored by the magazine Noticias from Uruguay and led by pilot and writer A. de Souza. None have returned positive results.
Lost planets
Similar to the theme of lost continents is the theme of lost planets, planets thought to have existed during prehistory only to be later destroyed by a global cataclysmCataclysm
The term cataclysm The term cataclysm The term cataclysm (from the Greek kataklysmos, to 'wash down' (kluzein "wash" + kata "down") may refer to:*Deluge (mythology)*a hypothetical Doomsday event*any catastrophic geological phenomenon**volcanic eruption**earthquake...
. The disruption theory of the formation of the asteroid belt from a hypothetical fifth planet
Fifth planet (hypothetical)
In the history of astronomy, a handful of solar system bodies have been counted as the fifth planet from the Sun. Under the present definition of a planet, this celestial body is Jupiter.-Previous fifth planets:...
has given birth to a number of these, including the doomed Phaeton
Phaeton (hypothetical planet)
Phaeton is the name of a hypothetical planet posited to once have existed between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter whose destruction supposedly led to the formation of the asteroid belt...
, Tiamat, and the apocalypse bringer Nibiru. Others such as Planet V
Planet V
Planet V is a hypothetical fifth planet posited by NASA scientists John Chambers and Jack Lissauer to have once existed between Mars and the asteroid belt, based on computer simulations...
, Theia
Giant impact hypothesis
The giant impact hypothesis states that the Moon was created out of the debris left over from a collision between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body. The colliding body is sometimes called Theia for the mythical Greek Titan who was the mother of Selene, the goddess of the moon.The giant impact...
, Planet X
Planet X
Following the discovery of the planet Neptune in 1846, there was considerable speculation that another planet might exist beyond its orbit. The search began in the mid-19th century but culminated at the start of the 20th with Percival Lowell's quest for Planet X...
and Vulcan
Vulcan (hypothetical planet)
Vulcan was a small planet proposed to exist in an orbit between Mercury and the Sun. In an attempt to explain peculiarities of Mercury's orbit, in the 19th-century French mathematician Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier hypothesized that they were the result of another planet, which he named Vulcan...
arose to explain irregularities in planetary phenomena.
In literature and philosophy
The following individuals are known for having written on the subject of lost lands:- H.P. Blavatsky
- Edgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
- William L. Chester, (Nato'wa, Kioga book series)
- James ChurchwardJames ChurchwardJames Churchward is best known as a British born occult writer. However, he was also a patented inventor, engineer, and expert fisherman....
- Ignatius L. Donnelly
- Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
, (The Lost World) - Burak EldemBurak EldemBurak Eldem is a Turkish writer/researcher, a former radio and TV programmer, web developer and journalist. He is the author of "2012: Rendez-vous With Marduk" , Fraternis: Lost Books, Secret Brotherhood and Talismans Protect Thee...
- Warren EllisWarren EllisWarren Girard Ellis is an English author of comics, novels, and television, who is well-known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist themes...
- Philip José FarmerPhilip José FarmerPhilip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories....
- James GurneyJames GurneyJames Gurney is an artist and author best known for his illustrated book series Dinotopia, which is presented in the form of a 19th century explorer’s journal from an island utopia cohabited by humans and dinosaurs...
(DinotopiaDinotopiaDinotopia is a fictional utopia created by author and illustrator James Gurney. It is the setting for the book series with which it shares its name. Dinotopia is an isolated island inhabited by shipwrecked humans and sentient dinosaurs who have learned to coexist peacefully as a single symbiotic...
) - H Rider Haggard
- Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
in his noveletteNoveletteA novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms is usually based upon word count, with a novelette being longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella...
Lost LegacyLost LegacyLost Legacy is a novella by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein. It was collected in the book Assignment in Eternity .... - James HiltonJames HiltonJames Hilton was an English novelist who wrote several best-sellers, including Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.-Biography:...
, (Lost Horizon) - H. P. LovecraftH. P. LovecraftHoward Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
often invoked the names of lost lands of his own invention, a practice that subsequently gave birth to the Cthulhu mythosCthulhu MythosThe Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
. - PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
- Augustus Le PlongeonAugustus Le PlongeonAugustus Le Plongeon was a photographer and antiquarian who studied the pre-Columbian ruins of America, particularly those of the Maya civilization on the northern Yucatán Peninsula. While his writings contain many eccentric notions that were discredited by later researchers, Le Plongeon left a...
- Zecharia SitchinZecharia SitchinZecharia Sitchin was an Azerbaijani-born American author of books promoting an explanation for human origins involving ancient astronauts. Sitchin attributes the creation of the ancient Sumerian culture to the Anunnaki, which he states was a race of extra-terrestrials from a planet beyond Neptune...
- Samael Aun WeorSamael Aun WeorSamael Aun Weor , born Víctor Manuel Gómez Rodríguez, Colombian citizen and later Mexican, was an author, lecturer and founder of the 'Universal Christian Gnostic Movement' with his teaching of 'The Doctrine of Synthesis' of all religions in both their esoteric and exoteric aspects...
- J. R. R. TolkienJ. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, (Middle-earthMiddle-earthMiddle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
) - Jack VanceJack VanceJohn Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
describing the Elder Isles in his Lyonesse TrilogyLyonesse TrilogyThe Lyonesse Trilogy is a group of three fantasy novels by Jack Vance, set in the European Dark Ages, in the mythical Elder Isles west of France and southwest of Britain, a generation or two before the birth of King Arthur... - Jules VerneJules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
used the idea of a partially hollow Earth in his 18641864 in literatureThe year 1864 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Ambrose Bierce is wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.*Charles Baudelaire leaves Paris for Belgium in the hope of resolving his financial difficulties....
novel, A Journey to the Center of the EarthJourney to the Center of the EarthA Journey to the Center of the Earth is a classic 1864 science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The story involves a German professor who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth...
. - Lost lands figured prominently in the philosophy of the Nazi Thule societyThule SocietyThe Thule Society , originally the Studiengruppe für germanisches Altertum , was a German occultist and völkisch group in Munich, named after a mythical northern country from Greek legend...
in regards to researchers of the occult and Nazi mysticismNazi mysticismSpeculation about Nazism and occultism has become part of popular culture since 1959. Aside from several popular documentaries, there are numerous books on the topic, most notably The Morning of the Magicians and The Spear of Destiny ....
such as Karl Maria WiligutKarl Maria WiligutKarl Maria Wiligut was an Austrian Ariosophist- Biography :...
, Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich HimmlerHeinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
and Otto RahnOtto RahnOtto Wilhelm Rahn was a German medievalist and a Obersturmführer of the SS, born in Michelstadt, Germany....
. - A lost land (possibly the Garden of EdenGarden of EdenThe Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
) found at the center of the Earth is the site of the climatic battle between GodzillaGodzillais a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
and BiollanteBiollanteis a daikaiju from the Godzilla film series. She made her first appearance in the 1989 feature Godzilla vs. Biollante. She was never put into any other Godzilla movies, although she is featured as a secret character in Godzilla: Unleashed on the Nintendo Wii.-Origin:After Godzilla's return in...
in the novel Godzilla at World's End by Marc Cerasini.
In popular culture
- The Lost Land in the TurokTurokTurok is a fictional American comic book character initially in comics from Western Publishing published through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in Four Color Comics #596 , then graduated to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone...
comic book and video game series is a place cut off from the rest of the 19th century world, where prehistoric creatures have not became extinct. In Turok, Son of Stone, the Lost Land was discovered through the Carlsbad Caverns area in New Mexico; it is accessible through an anomaly and is, therefore, in its own universe as portrayed the Valiant Comics adaptation, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, as well as in Turok: EvolutionTurok: EvolutionTurok: EvoIution is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by Acclaim Entertainment, released for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance in 2002. A port for Microsoft Windows was released in 2003 for the European market...
. - The lost lands were referred to in the TorchwoodTorchwoodTorchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
episode "Small WorldsSmall Worlds (Torchwood)"Small Worlds" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It is the fifth episode of the first series, which was broadcast on 12 November 2006...
" when discussing the origin of the chosen ones who become fairies. It was commented that many of the chosen ones go back millennia and come from the lost lands. - The TV series LostLost (TV series)Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
features an island hidden from the outside world with possible traces of a lost civilization, including a four-toed statue of an Egyptian figure, the ruins, the temple, and multiple appearances of Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Further reading
- L. Sprague de Camp and Willy LeyWilly LeyWilly Ley was a German-American science writer and space advocate who helped popularize rocketry and spaceflight in both Germany and the United States. The crater Ley on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.-Life:...
, Lands Beyond, Rinehart & Co., New York, 1952. - L. Sprague de Camp, Lost Continents: The Atlantis Theme in History, Science, and Literature, Dover Publications, 1970.
- Raymond H. Ramsay, No Longer on the Map: Discovering Places that Never Were, Ballantine, 1972.