#7: Frisland’s Century on North Atlantic Charts
There was once a fairly detailed island between Iceland and Greenland, at least if you trusted certain old maps. Frisland appeared with coastlines, names, and settlements, which gave it an impressive air of reality. That detail helped the error spread. The more complete a false place looks, the easier it is for later mapmakers to believe someone else must have known something. Eventually, repeated voyages showed that no such island existed. Its origins likely involve the famous Zeno map and confusion with real North Atlantic lands such as Iceland, Greenland, or the Faroe Islands.
