ISLAND OF SATAN'S HANDThe early part of this narrative is founded on Professor O'Curry'sLectures on the manuscript materials of Irish history; it being another ofthose "Imrama" or narratives of ocean expeditions to which the tale of St.Brandan belongs. The original narrative lands the three brothersultimately in Spain, and it is a curious fact that most of what we know ofthe island of Satanaxio or Satanajio--which remained so long on the maps--is taken from an Italian narrative of three other brothers, cited byFormaleoni, "Il Pellegrinaccio di tre giovanni," by Christoforo Armeno(Gaffarel, "Les Iles Fantastiques," p. 91). The coincidence is so peculiarthat it offered an irresistible temptation to link the two trios ofbrothers into one narrative and let the original voyagers do the work ofexploration. The explanation given by Gaffarel to the tale is the samethat I have suggested as possible. He says in "Iles Fantastiques del'Atlantaque" (p. 12), "S'il nous etait permis d'aventurer une hypothese,nous croirions voluntiers que les navigateurs de l'epoque rencontrerent,en s'aventurant dans l'Atlantique, quelques-uns de ces gigantesquesicebergs, ou montagnes de glace, arraches aux banquises du pole nord, etentraines au sud par les courants, dont la rencontre, assez frequente,est, meme aujourd'hui, tellement redoutee par les capitaines.
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