 The Rhaetia of which Thorolf is a citizen roughly corresponds to our world's Switzerland, and neighboring Tyrrhenia to northern Italy.In keeping with the character of de Camp's fantasy world as a cognate of our own, its place names tend to echo those of the real world.There was an actual Rhaetia in the region de Camp places his that was a province of the Roman Empire and an actual Carinthia in Austria, while Tyrrhenia is an ancient name of Tuscany, and gave its name to the neighboring Tyrrhenian Sea.