Thulite: Interesting Facts and Photos

What is Thulite?

Thulite is a striking pink variety of the mineral zoisite, coloured by impurities of manganese.

Although known for its distinctive reddish-pink colour, the shade can vary in intensity depending on the amount of manganese present and its distribution throughout the stone.

Although typically pink, thulite can also exhibit white or greyish patches, usually due to inclusions of other minerals, mostly calcite, but occasionally quartz. Natural weathering over time can also affect the stone's colour.

Some thulite shows brown, beige, or greenish veining and mottling, while other material can be grey with a greenish tint. The subtle hint of green is often from epidote, which commonly occurs alongside thulite in metamorphic rocks.

Thulite usually forms in a massive crystal habit, meaning its crystals grow in a tightly interlocked, shapeless mass. However, it can also form small prismatic crystals, which are elongated and feature faces of similar width and length.

Thulite is a distinctive mineral found primarily in Norway, although it can also be found in a few other countries. On the Mohs scale, it grades 6.5, so it's relatively hard, making it suitable for gemstones and ornamental carvings.

Thulite - A Stone Named After a Lost Land

Thulite was first described in 1823 by the English crystallographer Henry James Brooke. Later, in 1845, German-Norwegian mineralogist Theodor Scheerer wrote about the thulite deposit in Sauland, southern Norway, a locality still known today for producing fine specimens.

The name 'thulite' is believed to have been named after the ancient island of Thule, first mentioned by Greek explorer and geographer Pytheas, who sailed beyond the British Isles around 330–320 BC.

According to Roman sources such as Strabo and Pliny the Elder, Pytheas described Thule as a strange land “neither earth nor sea, but a mixture resembling a marine lung,” where nothing could be crossed by foot or ship. It was a place at the edge of the known world, shrouded in cold, fog, and mystery.

Upon returning home, Pytheas wrote an account of his journey titled On the Ocean. His manuscript was stored in the Great Library of Alexandria, one of the most important repositories of knowledge in the ancient world.

Unfortunately, the library was partially destroyed by fire attributed to Julius Caesar's forces in 48 BC, and Pytheas’ work was lost.

As a result, knowledge of Thule came only from second-hand references, and by the 1st century AD, the island had taken on an almost mythological status.

The exact location of the island has been endlessly debated. Some believed it to be Iceland, others pointed to the Faroe Islands, Shetland, or Greenland. A more recent theory suggests it may have been Smøla, a small island off the coast of Norway.

Although often described as "mythical,” that's not really correct because, although it's likely that Pytheas visited a real place, the lack of original records, scepticism of later historians, and symbolic descriptions turned it into more of a legendary idea than a geographic certainty.

By the 19th century, when the mineral thulite was officially named, many scholars believed Thule referred to Scandinavia, particularly Norway, where the stone was found. The name ‘thulite’ reflects its geographic origin and the legacy of Thule as a distant, mysterious land at the edge of the world.

Article Photos

The thulite at the top of this article is courtesy of John Betts Fine Minerals. The photo is clickable and redirects to the original image. 

The thulite tumbled stones are from our collection.