Apple Isle

English

Etymology

From apple + isle.

• (Avalon): Translation of Latin Insula Pomorum (“Island of Apples”), Geoffrey of Monmouth's alternative name for Insula Avallonis.
• (Tasmania): A reference to Tasmania's former status as an important apple grower and exporter. Possibly influenced by a supposed resemblance of the map of Tasmania to the shape of an apple.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Proper noun

the Apple Isle

1. (mythology) Avalon.
   • 2002, Sheena Morgan, The Real Halloween: Ritual and Magic for the New Millennium‎^[1], page 67:

     The journey involved a quest for the mysterious Avalon, the Apple Isle — home of immortality and hidden wisdom.

   • 2004, Eithne Massey, Legendary Ireland: A Journey through Celtic Places and Myths‎^[2], page 139:

     He is equally at home over and under the waves, bringing some chosen ones, like Connla and Bran and the great King Cormac, to visit him in the Apple Isle, the Land of Promise.

   • 2010, Jhenah Telyndru, Avalon Within: A Sacred Journey of Myth, Mystery, and Inner Wisdom‎^[3], page 5:

     How can we, who have heard the Voice of the Lady of the Apple Isle, fulfill this calling?

2. (Australia, informal) Tasmania.
   • 2004, “Jane Franklin: Not People of the First Respectability”, in Tim Flannery, editor, The Birth of Melbourne, page 96:

     Less esteemed was her attempt to drive all snakes from the Apple Isle by paying convicts a shilling for each reptilian head brought to her.

   • 2009, Nigel Marsh, Fat, Forty, and Fired‎^[4], page 78:

     The irony of me talking about wanting a more balanced life as I gently strolled around the Apple Isle with no job or family to bother me, having left my wife alone to fend for herself with four young kids, was something I didn't dwell on.

   • 2009, John P. Devaney, Full Points Footy: Encyclopedia of Australian Football Clubs‎^[5], page 337:

     Named Tasmania's first ever All Australian at the 1953 Adelaide carnival (when he was playing at North Launceston) Leedham is regarded by many as being the best footballer ever produced in the Apple Isle.

Synonyms

• (Tasmania): Tassie