norumbega

Virtual Norumbega, the Northern New England Frontier:

The meaning of the word Norumbega are unknown and probably lost to time. Some scholars believe it is a Native place name, and several meanings have been suggested. Regardless of the meaning, Norumbega was a place name used by European explorers in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. In some cases, it referred to a fabled Native city of wealth sought by explorers, somewhat akin to the mythical Eldorado. At other times, the word was used more generally, to refer to present day New England – particularly northern New England.

from wikipedia:

Much literature was written concerning Norumbega but without conclusive results. The whole question has been more or less abandoned in recent years. Norumbega is generally considered purely mythical.

Norumbega Reconsidered: Mawooshen and the Wawenoc Diaspora, page 33:

Norumbega was and is this bioregion of tidewater bays, estuaries, and reversing falls, the archipelago that is the essence of the central Maine coast. Grasping the significance of Norumbega’s meaning requires a leap of imagination in order to understand the ubiquitous historical longevity of a Native American metaphor (Norumbega) for a region, a Cape Cod of the People of the Dawn, that flourished for a thousand years before Europeans arrived. As with the other myths, the myth that the Native American region of Norumbega never existed is incorrect.