Kingdom of Saguenay

The name "Kingdom of Saguenay" (French: Royaume du Saguenay) supposedly has its origin in an Iroquoian legend, as recorded by the French during French colonisation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. According to the Iroquoian Indians, there was a kingdom to the north, of blond men rich with gold and furs, in a place they called Saguenay.

Jacques Cartier first described finding the Saguenay River on his second voyage in 1536; he had with him Chief Donnacona's sons who told him it was the way to the Kingdom of Saguenay. While imprisoned in France in the 1530s, Donnacona himself also told stories about it, claiming it had great mines of silver and gold. French explorers in Canada looked for this kingdom in vain. Today, it is typically understood to be entirely mythical, a European misunderstanding (or made up), or an Iroquoian attempt to trick or confuse the French. However, some people have speculated it was an ancient, pre-Columbian European settlement to which the Iroquoian oral tradition referred, such as the Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows.^[1]

The name Saguenay survived in many modern placenames. The modern-day Saguenay region, including the city of Saguenay (Chicoutimi-Jonquière), is on both shores of the Saguenay River in Quebec. As the name of the river, the Kingdom has also become the namesake of Saguenay Herald at the Canadian Heraldic Authority. It is part of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean administrative region. Today, the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region is sometimes referred to metaphorically as the Kingdom of the Saguenay (Royaume du Saguenay), for example in tourist marketing.

Unrelated to the legend, a micronational project in the Saguenay region, Le Royaume de L'Anse-Saint-Jean, achieved a certain amount of prominence in 1997.

The name Saguenay is not related to Saginaw, the name of a river, bay and city in Michigan that is of Ojibway origin.

See also

• Norumbega

References

1. ^ King, Joseph Edward (1950). "The Glorious Kingdom of Saguenay" (PDF). Canadian Historical Review (University of Toronto Press) 31 (4). ISSN 0008-3755. http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/lx5572245436122q/. 

This article relating to a myth or legend from North America is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Culture of Quebec Mythological kingdoms, empires, and countries Canadian mythology 16th century in Canada First Nations history in Quebec Viking exploration of North America North American mythology stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР Gordon Pape David B. Steinman Look at other dictionaries: Saguenay, Quebec — Saguenay   City   Ville de Saguenay From top left: Downtown Chicoutimi borough, the UQAC …   Wikipedia Saguenay Herald — of Arms ( Héraut Saguenay in French) is the title of one of the officers of arms at the Canadian Heraldic Authority in Ottawa. Like the other heralds at the Authority, the name is derived from the Canadian river of the same name. Saguenay Herald… …   Wikipedia Saguenay River — The Saguenay River (French: rivière Saguenay ) is a major river of Quebec, Canada. It drains Lac Saint Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east, and passes at the city of Saguenay. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River …   Wikipedia Saguenay — refers to:*Saguenay, Quebec, a city in Canada *Saguenay River * Saguenay Lac Saint Jean, the region of the Saguenay *Le Fjord du Saguenay Regional County Municipality, Quebec (The Saguenay Fjord), Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada… …   Wikipedia Jacques Cartier — Infobox Person name = Jacques Cartier caption = Portrait of Jacques Cartier by Théophile Hamel, ca. 1844. No contemporary portraits of Cartier are known. birth date = December 31, 1491 birth place = St. Malo, France death date = September 1, 1557 …   Wikipedia cañada — /keuhn yah deuh, yad euh/, n. Chiefly Western U.S. 1. a dry riverbed. 2. a small, deep canyon. [1840 50; < Sp, equiv. to cañ(a) CANE + ada n. suffix] * * * Canada Introduction Canada Background: A land of vast distances and rich natural resources …   Universalium Canada — /kan euh deuh/, n. a nation in N North America: a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. 29,123,194; 3,690,410 sq. mi. (9,558,160 sq. km). Cap.: Ottawa. * * * Canada Introduction Canada Background: A land of vast distances and rich natural… …   Universalium Donnacona — Meeting of Jacques Cartier and Donnacona. Postcard of butter sculpture tableau, Franco British Exhibition, London, 1908 …   Wikipedia French colonization of the Americas — began in the 14th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South… …   Wikipedia List of mythological places — Places which appear in mythology, folklore or religious texts or tradition, but which are not probably genuine places, include: Name Description Agartha A legendary city at the Earth s core. Annwn The otherworld of Welsh mythology. Asgard The… …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”