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Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis ‘The voyage of St Brendan, abbot’

  • Latin
  • prose

Latin narrative text about St Brendan (Lat. Brendanus > O.Ir. Bréndan), abbot of Clonfert, and his marvellous voyages across the ocean in search of the Land of Promise. The text enjoyed immense popularity on the Continent, where it was frequently copied and inspired the creation of new texts. BHL 1436-1438.

Manuscripts

There are over 140 extant copies of the text, from the 10th century onwards. These include:

Manuscripts
Language
  • Latin
Date
Between the early eighth and late ninth centuries.
Form
prose (primary)
Textual relationships
Related: Le voyage de saint BrendanLe voyage de saint BrendanOratio sancti BrendaniOratio sancti Brendani

Medieval Latin litany or lorica, with a preface which attributes its composition to Brendan, abbot of Clonfert. It is preserved in manuscripts from the 11th century onward. Its date of composition is unknown.

Classification

Subjects

Brénainn of Clonfert
Brénainn of Clonfert
(d. 577)
Brénainn (Brenden; Brendan) mac Findloga, early Connacht saint, patron of Clonfert, and legendary voyager
See more

Keywords

VoyagesVoyages
...
OtherworldOtherworld
...
IslandsIslands
...
LiturgyLiturgy
...

Sources

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[ed.] [tr.] Orlandi, Giovanni, and Rossana E. Guglielmetti, Navigatio sancti Brendani: alla scoperta dei segreti meravigliosi del mondo, Per Verba. Testi mediolatini con traduzione, 30, Florence: Edizioni del Galluzzo per la Fondazione Ezio Franceschini, 2014.
Edition and facing translation into Italian (1-111), commentary (113-184), with introduction (xi-ccl) and bibliography (cclii-ccc).
[ed.] Selmer, Carl, Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis from early Latin manuscripts, Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959.
Based on a selection of 18 manuscripts.
[ed.] Monte Cassino Abbey (ed.), Bibliotheca Casinensis seu codicum manuscriptorum qui in tabulario Casinensi asservantur, 5 vols, vol. 3, Monte Cassino, 1877.
– Google Books: <link>
411–427 Transcript from Monte Cassino, Archivio e Biblioteca dell’Abbazia, MS 152.
[ed.] Schröder, Carl, Sanct Brandan: ein lateiniseher und drei deutsche Texte, Erlangen: Eduard Besold, 1871.
1–36 Text based on Leipzig, Pauliner Bibliothek, MS 844.
[ed.] Moran, Patrick F., Acta sancti Brendani: original Latin documents connected with the life of Saint Brendan, Dublin: William Bernard Kelly, 1872.
Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link>
85–131 Text based on that of Jubinal but collated with other copies.
[ed.] Jubinal, Achille, La légende latine de S. Brandaines: avec une traduction inédite en prose et en poésie romanes, Paris: Techener, 1836.
Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link>
1–53
[tr.] OʼMeara, John J., and Jonathan M. Wooding, “The Latin version”, in: W. R. J. Barron, and Glyn S. Burgess (eds), The voyage of Saint Brendan: representative versions of the legend in English translation, Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2002. 13–64.
[tr.] OʼMeara, John J., The voyage of Saint Brendan, journey to the promised land: Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis, Dublin, Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Dolmen Press, Humanities Press, 1976.
[tr.] Webb, J. F., and David Hugh Farmer, The age of Bede, 4th ed., Penguin Classics, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, New York: Penguin Books, 1998.  
First published in 1965; reprinted with revisions and new introduction and notes by D. H. Farmer in 1983; reprinted with further revisions in 1988 and again in 1998. This edition contains the three translations by J. F. Webb (Bede: Life of Cuthbert; Eddius Stephanus: Life of Wilfrid; The voyage of St Brendan) as well as two by D. H. Farmer (Bede: Lives of the abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow; The anonymous history of Ceolfrith).
231–268

Secondary sources (select)

MIRABILE, Online: Studio del Medioevo Latino, 2009–present. URL: <http://www.mirabileweb.it>. 
abstract:
MIRABILE è un knowledge management system per lo studio e la ricerca sulla cultura medievale promosso dalla Società Internazionale per lo Studio del Medioevo Latino e dalla Fondazione Ezio Franceschini ONLUS di Firenze.
direct link
web page identifiers
Contributors
C. A., Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
February 2018, last updated: June 2023
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