Greenland

"A palace in the ice of Greenland, built atop the Holy Valley where Yggdrasil grows -- fortress of the most powerful corporation in human civilization, and tomb of the man who built it."
-- Describing Ultima Thule, the capital of Greenland

"He remembers his childhood on Greenland."
-- David terGorden, recalling his earliest years in Odrodir

Greenland (German: Grönland) is an island territory on Terra (Earth) and arguably the single most important geographical region in the entire Die Terranauten saga. Beneath its ice-covered landscape lies the Holy Valley of Odrodir, where Yggdrasil, the sentient primeval World Tree, grows -- the organism whose Mistletoe Blossoms make Driver navigation through Space II possible and without which interstellar civilisation would collapse. Atop this sacred valley, the terGorden Dynasty built the city of Ultima Thule, headquarters of the Biotroniks Corporation and the political, scientific, and military nerve centre of the saga.

Greenland appears or is significantly referenced in at least 17 booklets across the saga's 99 episodes, making it one of the most frequently featured terrestrial locations after Berlin. From the crash-landing of the Driver fleet in January 2500 through the ecological transformation of 2504, Greenland serves as the stage for the saga's most pivotal events: the birth of David terGorden, the death of Merlin, the activation of the Omega Program, the thawing of Ultima Thule, and the final ecological rebirth that ends corporate rule.

Geography and Physical Description

Greenland in the 26th century remains a vast, ice-covered island in the North Atlantic. Its terrain is dominated by the Ice Armor (German: Eispanzer) -- thick glacial ice covering the mountainous interior. However, beneath this frozen exterior, the influence of Yggdrasil's root network creates pockets of warmth and life, most notably in the Holy Valley of Odrodir.

The Greenland Sun (German: Grönlandsonne) -- sunlight filtering through transparent roof segments of Ultima Thule's structures -- is a distinctive atmospheric detail, reflecting the peculiar coexistence of arctic wilderness and advanced civilisation that characterises the region.

Key Sub-locations

History

Pre-Human Settlement

Long before humanity arrived, unknown alien builders constructed the Machines of Ultima Thule (MUT) in the underground spaces beneath what would become Greenland's Holy Valley. These machines were tasked with tending and protecting Yggdrasil, Earth's World Tree -- part of the Long Row, the galaxy-spanning Intercosmic Anti-Entropy System that prevents entropy from destroying the universe. The MUT predate human civilisation by an unknown span of time, making Greenland one of the oldest sites of intelligent activity on Earth (Booklet 073).

An Eskimo-Shaman from Greenland was aware of the Achsensprung -- the axis shift or dimensional phenomena associated with Yggdrasil and Space II -- suggesting that indigenous knowledge of the region's cosmic significance predates the terGorden dynasty by centuries.

Discovery by Major Gorden (pre-2475)

Major Gorden, an ancestor of David terGorden, experienced a PSI-induced vision of Yggdrasil while lost in space aboard a damaged ship. The cosmic tree guided him back to Earth and demanded he find her physical location on the planet. Major Gorden rationalised the experience but dedicated his life to the search, founding the Biotroniks Corporation to fund expeditions across Greenland. He ultimately discovered Yggdrasil growing in the Holy Valley of Odrodir, though he crashed his glider near the site during the approach (Booklet 073).

Following his discovery, Major Gorden founded Ultima Thule as a city built atop and around the Holy Valley, housing the Biotroniks headquarters, defence installations, and an extensive underground bunker complex. His son, Tankred terGorden, further developed PSI technology and shielded the ancient Machines of Ultima Thule. Thus Greenland was transformed from an uninhabited arctic wilderness into the seat of humanity's most powerful corporation and the nexus of interstellar commerce.

The Biotroniks Era (c. 2475)

Under Growan terGorden, General-Manager of Biotroniks, Greenland became the centre of the Yggdrasil Project -- the research initiative studying Yggdrasil and its Mistletoe Blossoms. Myriam was hired as Chief Biologist; Merlin III, the ancient Druid awakened by Yggdrasil, materialised in Odrodir and became Guardian of the Holy Valley. The Terranauts -- Mar-Estos, Algol Kuhn, Santiago Lema, Carlos Lema, Shadow, and Jonsson -- gathered in the valley to plan their infiltration of Biotroniks (Booklets 030, 031).

David's Return and the Insurrection (2499-2500)

When David terGorden returned to Terra in 2499, Greenland became the epicentre of galactic conflict:

• David's escape to the Holy Valley: After clashing with his father at Ultima Thule, David fled seeking Odrodir and Yggdrasil. He was recaptured by Queen Mandorla but later returned to the Holy Valley through Space II after disrupting Valdec's Kaiser Force demonstration at the Great Festival (Booklet 003).

• The Great Festival and Growan's death: At Ultima Thule, Growan terGorden announced his abdication, Valdec revealed the Kaiser Force, and a pogrom against the Drivers erupted. Growan died passing his legacy to David. David, Llewellyn 709, Lithe, and Flint escaped Greenland aboard a Razzo (Booklet 004).

• The Driver Fleet lands in Greenland: Following Ari marTheos's dying instructions, the entire Driver fleet navigated through Space II and crash-landed in Greenland, establishing a desperate foothold on Earth (Booklet 005).

The PSI Inferno and the Freezing (January 2500)

The crash-landing of the Drivers near the Holy Valley triggered one of the saga's defining sequences:

• The Gray Guards advanced on Greenland in force. Merlin III performed his final act -- summoning the life energy of twelve ancient warriors, the knights of King Arthur's Round Table, to create a terrifying PSI illusion that drove the Gray Guards away. The effort killed him. This event is known as the PSI-Inferno von Ödrödir (Booklet 006).

• David discovered Brak Shakram and the Nomans living in the palace bunkers. With their help, he found the hidden computer controlling the Omega defence systems.

• David activated the Omega Program, Growan's ultimate defence system. The program triggered volcanic eruptions across Greenland, destroyed the attacking Gray Guards, and flooded Ultima Thule. The programme tapped into Space II itself, encasing both the city and the Holy Valley in ice (Booklets 006, 007).

• Valdec observed the frozen aftermath from orbit and retreated after a warning shot from hidden defences. He described the frozen city as evidence that "Growan had a defense program tapping into Space II" (Booklet 007).

The Poisoning and Gas Attack (2500)

While Greenland lay frozen, Valdec launched a covert operation:

• Shawn, a former Biotroniks biologist, was sent to destroy Yggdrasil's consciousness without harming the commercially valuable mistletoes. Shawn and Kaiser Corporation scientists entered the Holy Valley under false pretences and poisoned the tree (Booklet 007).

• David and Llewellyn 709 entered Space II from within the frozen valley and encountered a spectral Myriam, who warned that Yggdrasil was exhausted from protecting Earth and urged David to flee to Rorqual (Booklet 007).

• The Gray Guards launched a gas attack on Odrodir. Asen-Ger created illusory Driver ships to draw the Grays away. David, Narda, Rollo, Greeny, and Whity escaped through Merlin's Cave using a magnetic glider. Lithe appeared and instructed David to flee to Rorqual with the seeds of Yggdrasil (Booklets 007, 008).

The Frozen Years (2500-2501)

For approximately two years, Greenland remained locked under ice, Ultima Thule an inaccessible frozen ruin and the Holy Valley sealed beneath its glacial shell. During this period:

• The Nomans launched an uprising that included an attempt to capture and hold Odrodir. The strategic location was briefly seized but retaken by the Gray Guards. Carsen, a Noman arrested during this action, would later become a key guide to the underground complexes (Booklets 023, 073).

• Anomalous phenomena -- transforming gliders, encounters with faceless beings, shifts into semi-realities -- began occurring near the frozen Holy Valley. Helena Koraischowa (secretly Chan de Nouille) and David (disguised as "Hinnersen Bolter") investigated and were pulled into a time-displaced semi-reality: an alternate 2597 Earth devastated by Space II energy. There they encountered an aged Asen-Ger, who revealed the catastrophic potential of the Kaiser Force (Booklet 025).

Thawing and the Machines (2501-2503)

When David returned to Earth to claim his corporate inheritance:

• He travelled to Ultima Thule with Narda, Nayala, Mandorla, and Asen-Ger. Captain Gerna, sent by Chan de Nouille, brought Carsen from the Luna Dungeons. Carsen, who had been captured in Greenland during the Noman uprising, knew the layout of the underground complex (Booklet 073).

• The group entered the ice-covered city and descended into the bunker complex, encountering the powerful PSI Field generated by the Machines of Ultima Thule. These ancient alien machines communicated telepathically, revealing their history and showing David visions of Major Gorden's original discovery. They agreed to thaw Ultima Thule, beginning the restoration of Greenland's capital (Booklet 073).

• David explored the de-iced Biotroniks Corporation Headquarters, seeking the Book Myriam. The Central Computer revealed recordings of Growan terGorden speaking of the Book encoded in the palace's structure. David and Asen-Ger ventured into the Primeval Palace but were captured by robots. Chan de Nouille's Gray Guards "rescued" them -- and destroyed the Primeval Palace's Central Computer, erasing the Book Myriam's secrets forever. Ignatius Tyll provided a glider for the expedition to Greenland (Booklets 074).

The War of the Castes (2503)

During the global upheavals of September 2503:

• Chan de Nouille attempted to revive Yggdrasil in Greenland's Holy Valley Ödrödir to create a Space-Time Stroboscope -- a device that would allow travel to Shondyke, the lost central world of the Clone Queens. The attempt failed, trapping Narda and Nayala's consciousnesses within the tree (Booklet 076).

• The cosmic emissary Alirujana, observing Earth from the Sol System, witnessed the discharge of Yggdrasil's residual reservoir in Greenland -- her organic partner sacrificed itself to save her from the energy release (Booklet 076).

• David himself later travelled to the Holy Valley to tap into Yggdrasil and create his own space-time stroboscope to reach Shondyke, negotiating with the Clone Queens to avert a Gray Guard attack on Earth (Booklet 078).

The Ecological Transformation (2504)

In the saga's final booklet, Greenland undergoes its most dramatic transformation:

• Manuel Lucci and other political prisoners are freed from the Dead Spaces beneath Berlin via a Space-Time Stroboscope and transported to Ultima Thule (Booklet 099).

• Cosmic Spores released by Bolter's Hausfreund -- part of David's plan to transform Earth into a green planet -- cause Ultima Thule to transform into a jungle. The spores contain Jin organisms that neutralise the Kaiser Guards by restoring their humanity (Booklet 099).

• Kaiser Guard armoured gliders attack the transformed city but are destroyed by a protective shield. David arrives and makes his historic announcement: the death of Valdec, the end of corporate rule, and the beginning of a new era of bio-technology. He calls all Drivers to come to Earth. The Drivers form a Lodge and send a PSI-call across the galaxy (Booklet 099).

• David departs from Greenland on an Organ-Sailer to eliminate the threat of Kaiser Force forever, leaving the island to its ecological rebirth (Booklet 099).

Significance

Spiritual Heart of Driver Civilisation

Greenland is the wellspring of everything that makes Driver space travel possible. Yggdrasil grows here, producing the Mistletoe Blossoms that enable navigation through Space II. Without Greenland and the tree hidden within its ice, humanity would have no access to faster-than-light travel. The island is the sacred ground of Driver culture -- the place where Merlin guarded the tree, where Myriam communed with cosmic intelligence, and where David was born into his cosmic destiny.

Seat of Corporate Power

Greenland is also the foundation of the corporate oligarchy that dominates the saga. Major Gorden's discovery of Yggdrasil beneath the ice led directly to the founding of the Biotroniks Corporation and the construction of Ultima Thule. The terGorden family's monopoly on Mistletoe Blossoms -- and with it their political dominance over the Council of Corporations -- flows from their control of Greenland's hidden valley. The island is thus simultaneously the most sacred and the most commercially valuable piece of ground in the known galaxy.

Mythological Convergence

The saga's use of Greenland as its central setting is deeply rooted in mythological resonance. In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the World Tree that connects the nine realms, and Ultima Thule is the farthest northern land at the edge of the known world. The saga deliberately fuses this Norse framework with Arthurian legend: Merlin, the Druid of King Arthur, awakens in a valley named Odrodir (evoking the Norse mead of poetry, Odrorir), beside a tree drawn from the Eddas, in a landscape of ice and corporate intrigue. Greenland is where these mythological traditions converge -- the literal and figurative "edge of the world" where the cosmic and the human intersect.

Strategic Military Importance

Control of Greenland is contested repeatedly throughout the saga. The Drivers crash-land their fleet here to establish a foothold on Earth (Booklet 005). Valdec attacks with ground forces, gas weapons, and infiltrated scientists (Booklets 006, 007). The Nomans attempt to seize the Holy Valley during their uprising (Booklet 023). The Omega Program was designed specifically to deny Greenland to the enemy by freezing it solid. Whoever holds Greenland holds the key to interstellar travel -- and therefore to the fate of the galaxy.

Cosmic Node

Beyond its terrestrial importance, Greenland is a node in the galaxy-spanning network of World Trees. Yggdrasil is connected to other trees across the cosmos, part of the Long Row -- the Intercosmic Anti-Entropy System that prevents entropy from destroying the universe. Greenland is Earth's connection point to this cosmic infrastructure. When David enters Space II from within the Holy Valley, he accesses a dimension that transcends time and space, where the consciousness of Yggdrasil itself dwells.

Key Events (Chronological)

Notable Inhabitants and Visitors

Permanent Inhabitants

Research Personnel

Key Visitors

Sub-locations

• Ultima Thule -- Capital city of Greenland, headquarters of Biotroniks Corporation, built atop the Holy Valley
• Holy Valley / Odrodir -- The sacred valley where Yggdrasil grows
• Irminsul / Yggdrasil's Island -- The island in the centre of the valley's lake, where Yggdrasil's trunk rises
• Merlin's Cave -- Merlin's dwelling within the valley walls; contains a glider hangar
• Primeval Palace -- The original Biotroniks headquarters beneath Ultima Thule
• Machines of Ultima Thule -- Ancient alien technology in the bunker complex beneath the valley
• Ice Armor -- The glacial ice covering Greenland's mountains
• Land Irminsul -- A holy valley designation referenced in the saga's conclusion (Booklet 099)

Appearances in the Saga (17+ booklets)

Themes

Ice and Revelation

Greenland's defining characteristic in the saga is the tension between concealment and discovery. The island's ice hides the most important location in the galaxy -- Yggdrasil and the Holy Valley. Major Gorden had to search for years to find the tree beneath the glaciers. The Omega Program froze it again. The Machines of Ultima Thule thawed it once more. The cycle of freezing and thawing mirrors the saga's larger pattern: truths are suppressed and rediscovered, legacies are buried and unearthed, power is seized and relinquished. Greenland is a place that refuses to stay frozen.

The Edge of the World

The name "Ultima Thule" -- from ancient geography, denoting the farthest northern land beyond the borders of the known world -- captures Greenland's narrative function. It is the edge of civilisation, where the mundane gives way to the mythic. Arctic ice meets cosmic intelligence. Corporate headquarters sits atop a sentient alien tree. A 6th-century Druid guards a 26th-century research facility. Greenland exists at the boundary between the rational and the numinous, and nearly every character who arrives there is transformed by the crossing.

The Origin and the Destination

Greenland is both where the saga begins and where it ends. David is born here (Booklet 031). He returns here at the saga's climax (Booklet 099). The Biotroniks Corporation was founded here. The Biotroniks Corporation is dissolved here. The Drivers crash-land here in defeat (Booklet 005) and gather here in triumph (Booklet 099). The Cosmic Spores transform Greenland's capital into a living jungle -- the corporate fortress becomes an ecological paradise, completing the arc that began when Major Gorden first discovered a tree growing beneath the ice.

See Also

• Ultima Thule -- The capital city built atop the Holy Valley
• Holy Valley / Odrodir -- The sacred valley where Yggdrasil grows
• Yggdrasil -- The primeval World Tree at the heart of Greenland's significance
• YGGDRASIL -- Comprehensive article on the World Tree concept
• Merlin -- Guardian of the Holy Valley
• Myriam -- Chief Biologist of the Yggdrasil Project; died in the valley
• David terGorden -- Born in Greenland; the Heir of Power
• Growan terGorden -- Built Ultima Thule; the Solitary
• Major Gorden -- Discoverer of Yggdrasil in Greenland
• Biotroniks Corporation -- Corporation headquartered in Greenland
• Terranauts -- Resistance movement that organised in the valley
• Machines of Ultima Thule -- Ancient alien technology beneath Greenland
• Omega Program -- Defence system that froze Greenland
• Yggdrasil Project -- Research initiative centred in Greenland
• Book Myriam -- Myriam's encoded legacy, woven into the palace at Ultima Thule
• Mistletoe Blossoms -- The organic material harvested from Yggdrasil
• Space II -- The dimension accessible from within the Holy Valley
• Ice Armor -- The glacial ice covering Greenland's mountains
• Greenland Sun -- The sun as seen through Ultima Thule's transparent roof segments
• Eskimo-Shaman -- A shaman from Greenland aware of the Achsensprung
• Cosmic Spores -- The organisms that transformed Ultima Thule into a jungle
• Terra -- The planet on which Greenland is located
• Lithe -- Daughter of Merlin, inheritor of the valley's guardianship

Greenland appears as a setting or is significantly referenced in at least 17 of the 99 booklets of Die Terranauten. It is the spiritual and strategic centre of the entire saga -- the island beneath whose ice the World Tree grows, where the Heir of Power was born, and where corporate tyranny was both founded and finally destroyed.