Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997)
Hyperborea
Tagged: Theme.
An Imaginary Land beyond or behind the North wind, mentioned by the ancient writers Pindar, Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, and inspiring George MacDonald's title At the Back of the North Wind (1871). Avram Davidson amusingly examines this myth in Adventures in Unhistory (coll 1993). Clark Ashton Smith borrowed the name for the prehistoric continent where he set several stories; Hyperborea should not be confused with the "Hyborian Age" of Robert E Howard's Conan. [DRL]