I fear Thomas Eaton (Weekend Quiz, 12 October) is giving further credence to “fake news” from 1507, when a German cartographer was seeking the derivation of “America” and hit upon the name of Amerigo Vespucci, an obscure Florentine navigator. Derived from this single source, this made-up derivation has been copied ever after.
The fact is that Christopher Columbus visited Iceland in 1477-78, and learned of a western landmass named “Markland”. Seeking funds from King Ferdinand of Spain, he told the king that the western continent really did exist, it even had a name – and Columbus adapted “Markland” into the Spanish way of speaking, which requires an initial vowel “A-”, and dropped “-land” substituting “-ia”.
Thus “A-mark-ia”, ie “America”. In Icelandic, “Markland” may be translated as “the Outback” – perhaps a fair description.
See Graeme Davis, Vikings in America (Birlinn, 2009).
Colin Moffat
Kingston upon Thames, London
• Jonathan Freedland hits the nail on the head when he writes that Donald Trump’s conduct in these two very different situations – a deliberate political strategy in Ukraine, an apparent whim in Syria – has one common result: the further destruction of America’s reputation in the eyes of its allies (Trump’s deal with Turkey will have lethal consequences, 12 October). Bringing an organisation into disrepute is usually considered grounds for instant suspension, if not dismissal. Could not bringing the US into disrepute be grounds for impeachment?
Patrick Billingham
Brighton
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