medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Brendan the Navigator (d. 578) Brendan has a spotless Irish
> pedigree, educated by St. Ite, then a disciple of Finian of Clonard.
> B. became a great monastic founder; the most important of his
> foundations was Clonfert (Co. Galway). But of course what won him
> most fame was his great voyage with a hive of disciples, heading west
> to find the Isles of the Blessed. One modern theory claims that he
> actually found North America. The tale is known from a version
> written in the eleventh century.
In 1978 the scholar-adventurer Tim Severin published "The Brendan Voyage" an
account of how he researched, built and then sailed to Canada (taking two
years to do it & over-wintering in Greenland) in a replica of the boat - an
ox-hide covered, two masted Irish curragh - in which Saint Brendan made his
famous voyage. It is an enthralling combination of scholarship, hands-on
archaeological reconstruction, seamanship and sheer undiluted guts. It also
demonstrated that Brendan could have done it. For me the most telling
incident was when they were holed below the waterline by an iceberg not far
from where the "Titanic" went down, only in their case they were able to sew
a leather patch on the skin of the hull and keep going.
Since then Tim Severin has undertaken a number of other well-researched
voyages in replica boats of his own devising, and published the results.
I have a soft spot for this Irish Abbot - he is after all my name-saint.
Brenda M C
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