Celtic Christianity
The Legend of Saint Brendan
14th century, Middle English: British Library, London; Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
Saint Brendan and his brother monks rowed strongly through the waves, until they came to a great isle.
And in þe se well longe hi were ar hi mighte lond iseo
– they were on the sea for a long while before they sighted land again. And then, far to the south, they saw an island, a pleasant, green island, and their ship drove through the waves towards it. On nearing this land, they found a place to run ashore, looked about, and saw the fairest sheep they had ever seen, all around them. Each sheep was larger than a bull and pure white in colour. They all felt great joy at the sight. Then there appeared a handsome man, a very noble young man, who addressed them with every courtesy, each by his own name, and greeted them all in a friendly way, telling them that they had arrived at a place he was sure they had never been to before.
‘This is called the Land of Sheep,’ he explained, ‘for the sheep here are magnificent, as you can see; large and white and healthier than any sheep you will ever have seen before, and much bigger also, for the weather is perfect and the pasture is excellent; there is no winter and no need for hay, for they can eat new growth all the year around, and I never take their milk. For all these reasons, their lives are the better. And now you shall go, through Our Lord’s grace, to a place that is a birds’ paradise; a very joyful place. And there you shall spend Easter, and Whitsun also. Go swiftly in God’s name, that your voyage may be completed all the more quickly.’
Sein Brandan and is breþeren to ssipe wende anon
– Saint Brendan and his brother monks went back to their ship and rowed strongly through the waves, enduring many storms, until they came to another great isle...
Story recounted from: D'Evelyn, Charlotte, and Mill, Anna J., (Eds.), 1956. Reprinted 1967. The South English Legendary. Published for the Early English Text Society by Oxford University Press. The Middle English story of Saint Brendan from the SOUTH ENGLISH LEGENDARY in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge MS 145.
broomstick
∩The Medieval legend of Saint Brendan, translated into Modern English.
∩ Weird Tales—discussion.
∩Piccadilly Line, Covent Garden
∩Circle Line, Temple
references
Saint Brendan – Wikipedia
The Voyage of Bran – Wikipedia
Complete text of The South English Legendary in two volumes, edited by Charlotte d'Evelyn and Anna J Mill, 1956, reprinted 1967, available through the Early English Text Society (EETS)
