In the present paper I am discussing aspects of the ancient view of the north with focus on the sources from the centuries around the turn of the eras. To showcase the lines of literary tradition I will of course also cite older sources when needed. My focuses in this paper are the topical aspects of the northlands themselves, which is why I am putting less emphasis on the inhabitants of the described regions. I do this to make clear that the ancient views on the north could “work” even without connections to the peoples living there – and to show that regions like this almost inevitably had to breed savages. The last point I want to examplify even further in future papeer.