9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the island beneath your Easter feast is a vast creature of the sea?
In The Voyage of St. Brendan, a visitor named Barinthus brings an Irish abbot news of a blessed land beyond the waves. Brendan and his monks leave shore in a boat of wood and oxhide. In this medieval Irish prose tale, their search for the Promised Land of the Saints leads through hunger, fear and an ocean full of wonders.
The journey unfolds over seven years, with prayer and the Church’s feasts giving shape to the unknown. The monks meet great white sheep, speaking birds and Jasconius, the sea creature they mistake for an island. Between familiar holy stopping places, crystal and fire mark a world where older Irish voyage traditions meet Christian monastic ideals of trust and perseverance.
What you’ll discover
- A boat beyond safety Follow Brendan and his companions as they row, fast and face the open sea.
- Easter on a living island Encounter Jasconius, whose vast back becomes the monks’ unlikely place of celebration.
- An ocean of wonders Travel past the Paradise of Birds, a crystal column and the fearsome Island of Smiths.
- Prayer as a compass Discover how repeated feasts and quiet routines turn wandering into a way of living.
- Irish legend meets devotion Explore a tale that brings seafaring lore together with the spiritual life of monks.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who love legends, sea voyages, early Irish Christianity or the roots of fantasy and travel writing. If you want a tight plot with deep characters, you may find it episodic, since the monks repeat their prayers and routines.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A guest brings word of paradise
- A leather boat leaves the shore
- Sheep, a whale and a feast
- Seven years in a yearly circle
- Fire, smiths and a rock of torment
- What the voyage is really about
Who’s who
- BrendanThe abbot of Clonfert, a stern and prayerful leader who sets out with his monks to find the Land of Promise of the Saints.
- BarinthusA monk who visits Brendan and tells of the blessed island he has seen, sparking the whole voyage.
- The fourteen monksBrendan's chosen companions, who fast, row and pray with him, and who face hunger, fear and the sea.
- The three late monksThree brothers who rush to join the boat at the last moment, under a warning about the fate that awaits them.
- JasconiusA vast fish that the monks mistake for an island, and who carries them each Easter on his back.
- The speaking birdA white bird in the tree of birds who explains to Brendan who the singing spirits are.
- JudasThe betrayer of Christ, found on a rock in the sea, who is given brief rest from his torment.
- Paul the hermitAn old hermit living on a sea rock, who shows the monks a life of long prayer.
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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The Voyage of St. Brendan
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An Irish abbot and his monks sail in search of paradise.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A guest brings word of paradise
The story opens at Clonfert, in Ireland, where Brendan is the abbot of a large community of monks. He is known as a holy and stern leader, a father to thousands of brothers. One day a monk named Barinthus comes to visit. Brendan asks him to speak of the wonders he has seen, and Barinthus weeps and lies on the ground in prayer.
Barinthus then describes an island far to the west that he calls the Land of Promise of the Saints. He tells how he visited it with his foster son, who had set out to sail alone, and how a mist fell and the place shone with a strange light. The land was full of fruit and jewels. A young man there told them the land was kept hidden until a later time.
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What is the Voyage of St. Brendan about?
It tells how the Irish abbot Brendan and his monks sail west for seven years in search of the Promised Land of the Saints, meeting a living island, singing birds and other marvels on the way.
Is the Voyage of St. Brendan a true story?
Brendan was a real abbot of Clonfert, but the tale is a religious legend written long after his lifetime. Scholars date it to roughly the late eighth to tenth century and treat its wonders as imagination.
Who was Jasconius in the Brendan story?
Jasconius is a huge fish that the monks take for an island. They land and light a fire on his back, and he moves. They keep Easter on him each year of the voyage.
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