Voyage of St Brendan

W R J Barron

ISBN 10: 0859897559 / ISBN 13: 9780859897556

Published by Liverpool University Press Jul 2004, 2004

About this Item

Neuware - The story of the voyage of the sixth-century Irish saint, Brendan the Navigator, is one of the greatest legends of the Middle Ages. To the nations of medieval Europe the ocean voyage became a metaphor for the perilous journey of the Christian soul in search of the Promised Land, and no spiritual odyssey attracted wider interest. In recent years Brendan's voyage has become increasingly popular as a topic of interest, not only in medieval studies, but also within the history of travel literature in general. One of the legend's charms is that it can be read in a number of ways: as a thinly disguised account of Irish travels and discoveries in the Atlantic, as a seafaring story in the fashion of the Irish immrama (literally 'rowings out'), or as an allegorical tale of Man's journey through life. It also has links with the monastic culture of its day, and contains echoes of the Odyssey and the Aeneid, Sinbad the Sailor and the quest for the Holy Grail. Barron and Burgess's volume collects the most important versions of the voyage from a wide variety of cultures, and presents them in modern English translations together with a general introduction to Brendan, explanatory commentaries and an extensive bibliography.

Seller Inventory # 9780859897556

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Voyage of St Brendan
• Publisher: Liverpool University Press Jul 2004
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0859897559
• ISBN 13: 9780859897556
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 241W x 152H x 42D millimeters 241 millimeters width by 152 millimeters height by 42 millimeters depth
• Weight: 743 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In recent years Brendan's voyage has become increasingly popular as a topic of interest, not only in medieval studies, but also within the history of travel literature in general. One of the legend's charms is that it can be read in a number of ways: as a thinly disguised account of Irish travels and discoveries in the Atlantic, as a seafaring story in the fashion of the Irish immrama (literally 'rowings out'), or as an allegorical tale of Man's journey through life. It also has links with the monastic culture of its day, and contains echoes of the Odyssey and the Aeneid, Sinbad the Sailor and the quest for the Holy Grail.Barron and Burgess's volume collects the most important versions of the voyage from a wide variety of cultures, and presents them in modern English translations together with a general introduction to Brendan, explanatory commentaries and an extensive bibliography.This new paperback edition also includes a comprehensive index of story-elements specially devised with the Brendan student in mind to allow easy comparison of the different versions.

About the Authors

The late W. R. J. Barron was Senior Research Fellow in the School of English, University of Exeter. He was President of the International Arthurian Society (British Branch) and Director of its Vinaver Trust. His books include Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Manchester, 1998) and Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, Vol. II (series editor) (Wales, 1999).

Glyn S. Burgess is Emeritus Professor of French at the University of Liverpool. His Penguin Classics edition of The Lais of Marie de France has sold more than 150,000 copies. He is co-author of The Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure (with Douglas Kelly, D. S. Brewer, 2017). In 1999 he was made a Chevalier des Palmes Académiques and he is an Honorary President of the International Courtly Literature Society.