I just did a general post from the quick reply which just replies to the last poster...

"...signing on as navigator might be a good move..."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in 1000AD didn't they still think that the world was flat? That being the case, I suspect that you would have a hard time getting anyone to follow your directions. Thar be dragons ye know...

well, if you could get there and not be killed outright, the Vikings might listen. Weren't they in the whole "move west, young man" mode about that time? Between Iceland, Greenland, and Canada, they at least pushed boundaries.

On a different topic, Jeanette, you might have your preferences set to show the post formated as replies and sub-replies, not in a chronologic order. This could explain the confusion on who is replying to whom. I was pretty lost for a while on here until I figured that one out.

I agree, seafaring types would be rather pragmatic about navigation. You either get them there or you don't. Just the knowledge that the world is round puts you at an advantage. But don't forget that for some of these guys navigation was a secret they did not share openly. Continue that tradition and keep your knowledge to yourself, it increases your power. Knowledge is power, keep it to yourself.

The trick will be to not come off so knowledgeable that you get accused of practicing black magic. The Flat Earth society is alive and well in 1000 AD. Copernicus and Galileo didn't show up until well after 1000 AD and the theory of the Earth not being the center of the Universe hadn't yet received the Vatican's wrath. The church's held to literal scripture even after Columbus discovered the new World.

Whatever you do don't screw up the timeline by writing a book

"...the Vikings might listen..."

That could work. Unless of course you have dark brown eyes, and when you had hair it was very dark brown (or so the pictures show, it has been so long I have forgotten). In that case, I suspect you (I) would be toast...

"...Whatever you do don't screw up the timeline by writing a book..."

Or worse yet, make a movie...

If I did end up 1000 years in the past, and all attempts at rescue through conventional means have failed, getting killed would not the worst thing that could happen. Getting erased from history is.

Jeanette Isabelle

It is just me, or did this topic move to the “Photo Gallery” for everyone? Damn those temporal rifts…

I understand why it moved; why to the photo gallery?

Jeanette Isabelle

While popular view, supported by some tacit agreement from church and scientific dogma, maintained that the earth was approximately flat many seamen, all the way back to the time of Aristotle the more knowledgeable sailors tacitly understood that the earth was round. This was understood in part because any competent observer, a requirement for survival at sea, would note that the tops of other ships mast appeared long before the ship itself became visible. Many ships carried bright flags or banners at the top of the mast so they could more easily stay together. Traveling in groups was an advantage on a oblate spheroid.

The appellation of "there be dragons" was often understood as a general term indicating that the area had not been explored, mapped or contained shifting hazards. To this day ships are in danger in areas like the western tip of Africa because the shifting sand bars reach well out to sea.

Even taken more literally it is not too much of a stretch. As the wreck of the Essex, which was sunk by a whale in the 1820s, shows there were indeed large potentially dangerous animals. The many unmapped reefs, isolated rocks and dangerous tides were every bit as scary a any dragon. Particularly for the many western ships that were square rigged and couldn't sail against the wind.

Caught on a lee shore they were largely incapable of 'clawing off' in a storm at best they would drop anchor and pray. In calm weather they would either anchor and wait for the wind to shift or row off using the long boats. The universal bane of sailors through time has not been the ocean so much as the land.

Of course, into the 1700s, crews commonly faced malnutrition or even starvation after a couple of weeks. This was one of the reasons ships often tried to stay near the coasts. The other being much easier navigation.