14 THE KING'S MIRROR 



the earth is a globe partly submerged in a larger sphere 

 composed of water.* The visible parts of the earth would 

 rise above the surrounding ocean like a huge island, and 

 the Biblical passages which had caused so much diffi- 

 culty could thus be interpreted in accord with apparent 

 facts. It is quite clear that the author of the King's 

 Mirror held no such theory. In a poetic description of 

 how the eight winds form their covenants of friendship 

 at the approach of spring, he tells us that " at midnight 

 the north wind goes forth to meet the coursing sun and 

 leads him through rocky deserts toward the sparse-built 

 shores." f The author, therefore, seems to believe 

 that the earth is a sphere, that there are lands on the 

 opposite side of the earth, and that these lands are in- 

 habited. He also understands that the regions that lie 

 beneath the midnight course of the sun in spring and 

 summer must be thinly populated, as the sun's path on 

 the opposite side of the earth during the season of 

 lengthening days is constantly approaching nearer the 

 pole. 



But while the author seems to accept the Ptolemaic 

 theory of the universe, he is not able to divest his mind 

 entirely of current geographical notions. There can be 

 no doubt that he believed in the encircling outer ocean, 

 and it is barely possible that he also looked with favor 

 on the belief that the whole was encompassed by a girdle 

 of fire. On this point, however, we cannot be sure: he 

 mentions the belief merely as one that is current, not as 

 one accepted by himself. { 



* Ruge, Geschichle des Zeitalters der Enldeckungen, 97. 

 t C. v. J C. xix. 



