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Audiobook edition · 1 h 48 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 60 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 60 pagesAbout 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.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy sea adventures, medieval legends, Irish tales and saints' lives will love this book, especially those drawn to wonders with spiritual meaning.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A weeping visitor sends Brendan to sea
- A leather boat, a silent calm and a stolen bridle
- Easter on a whale and a tree of singing birds
- A silent monastery, a sea battle and three choirs
- Crystal, fire and Judas on a rock
- Fear is real and trust is the answer
- Mercy and judgment stand side by side
- A plain voice, a spiral calendar and strange maps
Who’s who
- BrendanThe abbot of Ardfert, who leads fourteen monks west across the ocean to find the Land of Promise of the Saints.
- BarinthusA visiting father whose tale of a western island of endless day sets the whole voyage in motion.
- MernocBarinthus's spiritual son, who leads monks on an island of delights and knows the road to the promised land.
- The StewardA kind provider who meets the monks each year with food, a bath and fresh clothes for the Lord's Supper.
- JasconiusThe vast whale that the monks mistake for an island, on whose back they keep Easter each year.
- The Three LatecomersThree monks who beg to join at the shore, each of whom meets a different fate on the voyage.
- JudasThe betrayer of Christ, found on a bare rock in the ocean, where he gains brief relief from torment.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Voyage of St. Brendan
by Anonymous
Brendan and fourteen monks sail a cowhide boat west for seven years, and a whale's back becomes their church.
Challenging2–5 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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“our God will be our helper, our mariner, and our pilot.”
In short
What would make you leave a safe monastery and your own country to look for a land you have only heard about? A visiting monk named Barinthus comes to Brendan one evening and begins to weep.
The Voyage of St. Brendan at a glance
- Reading time
- About 1 h 5 min50 min fast, 1 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 15,700 words14 chapters
- Pages
- 60 pages92 in large print
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A weeping visitor sends Brendan to sea
Brendan is the abbot of a vast community, nearly three thousand monks, at a place called Ardfert. One evening a father named Barinthus arrives and cannot speak. He weeps, lies face down, and prays. Brendan lifts him up and asks him to share the wonders he has seen on the great ocean.
Barinthus tells of his spiritual son Mernoc, who leads a crowd of monks on an island of delights. Mernoc leads Barinthus to the western shore and a small boat. Thick cloud closes around them. Then a great light breaks, and they step onto a wide country where every tree is heavy with fruit and the stones are gems.
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Brendan and fourteen monks sail a cowhide boat west for seven years, and a whale's back becomes their church.
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Details
- Language
- English
- Listening time
- 1 h 48 min
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 60 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 60 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 92 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Large print hardcover
- 92 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Delivery and returns
- Printed when you order. Usually here in 12 to 14 days.Arrives Fri 13 Nov to Thu 19 Novto United States, printed for you at cost
For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
The Voyage of St. Brendan. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-navigatio-sancti-brendani.
The voyage of St. Brendan. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-navigatio-sancti-brendani
The Voyage of St. Brendan. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-navigatio-sancti-brendani.
@book{anonymous2026voyage,
title = {The Voyage of St. Brendan},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-navigatio-sancti-brendani}
}
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What is The Voyage of St. Brendan about?
It tells how the Irish abbot Brendan and his monks sail west in a cowhide boat for seven years, searching for the Land of Promise of the Saints. On the way they meet a whale, singing birds, a crystal column and Judas on a rock.
Is The Voyage of St. Brendan a true story?
Brendan was a real Irish abbot of the sixth century, but the tale was written down in Latin in the ninth or tenth century. Scholars read it as a devotional adventure shaped by Irish voyage stories, not as a record of events.
What is Jasconius in the Brendan story?
Jasconius is the enormous fish or whale that the monks mistake for an island. They light a fire on its back, and it moves. Later they keep Easter on it each year, and it carries them gently.
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