152 The Atlantis Encyclopedia
The episode was not a hoax, because the mysterious island was sighted at the
same location by James Newdick, captain of another steamer, the Westbourne,
sailing for Marseilles out of New York. Moreover, as mentioned previously, an
undersea seismic event was simultaneously recorded in the Azore and Canary
Islands. The location of the arisen island, although within the immediate sphere
of Atlantean influence, implies it was not actually Atlantis itself, but probably the
scene of a colony or closely allied kingdom.
Some internal evidence in the Jesmond story supports an Atlantean interpre-
tation: Hill believed the metal sword Captain Robson found was tumbaga, which
is as much as saying it was orichalcum; this is a term Plato uses to define an alloy
technique metalsmiths used in Atlantis, when they combined rich copper with
gold.
A modern undersea research expedition to the position recorded by Captain
Robson seems justified.Job
Regarded as the oldest book in the Hebrew bible, 26:5–6 recounts, “The
primeval giants tremble imprisoned beneath the waters with their inhabitants.
The unseen world [the bottom of the sea] lies open before them, and the place of
destruction is uncovered.” These enigmatic references appear to describe the
Atlanteans, described by Plato as Titans, and sunken Atlantis in “the unseen world.”Jormungandr
The name of the Midgaard Serpent in Norse myth and a metaphor for geologic
violence particularly associated with the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Jormungandr dwelt
under the sea. Whenever he tightened his coils about the world, earthquakes and
tempests lashed out. In the Twilight of the Gods (Goetterdaemmerung or
Ragnarok), the monster’s death agonies caused a worldwide flood, part of the
universal destruction that ended a former age of greatness.Jubmel
Laplanders of the remote Arctic Circle remember a terrible god of vengeance
who, like Zeus in Plato’s story of Atlantis, wanted to punish all human beings for
their wickedness. Their myth contains some of the most colorful descriptions of a
falling comet and the awful flood that Jubmel generated:
The lord of heaven himself descended. His terrifying anger flashed
with the red, blue and green of serpents, all on fire. Everyone went
into hiding, while the children wept with fear. The god spoke in
his anger, “I shall gather the sea together upon itself, form it into