Vision in the Anglo-Norman Voyage of Brendan

J S Mackley

Research output: Contribution to ConferencePaper

Abstract

This paper considers the concept of vision as it is used in the Anglo-Norman Voyage of Brendan. It is concerned with sight, blindness and understanding particularly in relation to the supernumerary monks – those late-coming monks that join Brendan’s Voyage of Paradise, but do not succeed in their quest. The principal encounters are the appearance of the devil in the Deserted City, the damnation of the monk at the Smithy of Hell, and the third supernumerary who mysteriously vanishes after Brendan’s encounter with Judas Iscariot. The paper also discusses the blinding cloud on an Island of Three Choirs in the source material for the Anglo-Norman Voyage, which is the Latin Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis, which is the occasion where the second supernumerary leaves the crew

Keywords

  • St Brendan
  • Medieval
  • otherworld
  • voyage

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