{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_50021/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_50021","id":"gutenberg_50021","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50021","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Medieval/Middle Ages","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian literature, Irish -- History and criticism","Christian saints -- Ireland","Civilization, Celtic, in literature","Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321 -- Criticism and interpretation","F\u00eds Adamn\u00e1in","Heaven -- Christianity -- History of doctrines -- Middle Ages, 600-1500","Heaven in literature","Hell -- Christianity -- History of doctrines -- Middle Ages, 600-1500","Hell in literature"],"text":"Grimm Library\n\nNo. 18\n\nAN IRISH PRECURSOR OF DANTE\n\n[Uncial: (Fis Adamn\u00e1in)]\n\n\n\n\n    The Grimm Library.\n\n    _Half buckram. Net prices._\n\n    I. GEORGIAN FOLK-TALES. By M. WARDROP. _Out of print._\n\n    II., III., V. THE LEGEND OF PERSEUS. A Study of Tradition and\n    Story, Custom and Myth. By E. S. HARTLAND. 3 vols. _Out of\n    print._\n\n    IV., VI. THE VOYAGE OF BRAN, SON OF FEBAL, TO THE LAND OF THE\n    LIVING. An old Irish Saga, now first edited, with Translation,\n    Notes, and Glossary by KUNO MEYER. With an Essay upon the Irish\n    Vision of the Happy Otherworld, and the Celtic doctrine of\n    Rebirth, by ALFRED NUTT. 2 vols. \u00a31, 1_s._\n\n    VOL. I. THE HAPPY OTHERWORLD. 1895. xviii, 331 pp.\n\n    VOL. II. THE CELTIC DOCTRINE OF REBIRTH. 1897. xii, 352 pp.\n    10_s._ 6_d._\n\n    VII. THE LEGEND OF SIR GAWAIN. Studies upon its Original Scope\n    and Significance, By JESSIE L. WESTON. 1897. xvi, 117 pp. 4_s._\n\n    VIII. THE CUCHULLIN SAGA IN IRISH LITERATURE. By ELEANOR HULL.\n    _Out of print._\n\n    IX., X. THE PRE- AND PROTO-HISTORIC FINNS. By the Hon. J.\n    ABERCROMBY. 2 vols. _Out of print._\n\n    XI. THE HOME OF THE EDDIC POEMS. By SOPHUS BUGGE. _Out of\n    print._\n\n    XII. THE LEGEND OF SIR LANCELOT DU LAC. Studies upon its\n    Origin, Development, and Position in the Arthurian Romantic\n    Cycle. By JESSIE L. WESTON. 1901. xii, 252 pp. 7_s._ 6_d._\n\n    XIII. THE WIFE OF BATH\u2019S TALE. By G. F. MAYNADIER. _Out of\n    print._\n\n    XIV. SOHRAB AND RUSTEM. The Epic Theme of a Combat between\n    Father and Son. A Study of its Genesis, Use in Literature and\n    Popular Tradition. By MURRAY A. POTTER, A.M. 1902. xii, 224 pp.\n    6_s._\n\n    XV. THE THREE DAYS\u2019 TOURNAMENT. A Study in Romance and\n    Folklore. Being an Appendix to the Legend of Sir Lancelot. By\n    JESSIE L. WESTON. 1903. xvi, 59 pp. 2_s._\n\n    XVI. THE CATTLE RAID OF CUALNGE (T\u00e1in b\u00f3 Cuailnge). By L.\n    WINIFRED FARADAY, M.A. _Out of print._\n\n    XVII. THE LEGEND OF SIR PERCEVAL. Studies upon its Origin,\n    Development, and Position in the Arthurian Cycle. By JESSIE L.\n    WESTON. Vol. I. 1906.\n\n    XVIII. AN IRISH PRECURSOR OF DANTE. By C. S. BOSWELL. 1908.\n    8_s._ 6_d._\n\n\n\n\n                      An Irish Precursor of Dante\n\n       A Study on the Vision of Heaven and Hell ascribed to the\n      Eighth-century Irish Saint Adamn\u00e1n, with Translation of the\n                              Irish Text\n\n                                  By\n                             C. S. Boswell\n\n                                London\n                        Published by David Nutt\n                       at the Sign of the Ph\u0153nix\n                               Long Acre\n                                 1908\n\n                                  TO\n                              H. M. H. B.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n                                                                       PAGE\n\n                                PART I\n\n    1. INTRODUCTORY\n\n    Dante\u2019s _Commedia_ preceded by a long series of Visions of the\n    Otherworld--The Vision a favourite subject with Irish writers of\n    the Middle Ages--Dante\u2019s originality                                1-4\n\n    2. THE SEER\n\n    The Irish Church at the close of the seventh century--Its\n    missionary activity--Irish scholars and clerics on the\n    Continent--The authorities for Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s life--His birth\n    and parentage--Meaning of his name--Enters the monastery of\n    Iona--Becomes abbot--Missions to Northumbria--Intercourse with\n    the Venerable Bede--The Paschal controversy--Adamn\u00e1n adopts the\n    Roman usage--His labours in the cause--Wins over Ireland except\n    Iona--His death--His _Life of St. Colm Cille_--His treatise\n    _De Locis Satutis_--Miscellaneous and apocryphal writings--His\n    scholarship--Adamn\u00e1n in the later annals--Anecdote of his\n    student days--The Boruma Tribute--Remitted by \u00c1rd R\u00ed Finnachta\n    Fledach--Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s opposition thereto--Doubtful authenticity\n    of the record--Further dissensions with the \u00c1rd R\u00ed--Death\n    of Finnachta--Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s legislation on behalf of the women\n    of Ireland--Their previous status and liability to military\n    service--The _C\u00e1in Adamn\u00e1in_--Character of Adamn\u00e1n--The _Fis\n    Adamn\u00e1in_, why associated with his name--MSS. and editions of the\n    _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_                                                     4-28\n\n    3. TRANSLATION OF THE FIS ADAMN\u00c1IN\n\n    1. Exordium--2. Enumeration of previous revelations of the\n    Otherworld--3. Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s translation from the body--4-6. The Land\n    of Saints--7-8. The Throne of the Deity--9. The Divine Presence\n    enthroned, and 10. Pictured as a mystic omnipresent face--11. The\n    Celestial City, its seven walls and its floor; 12. Its inhabitants;\n    13. Its design, as of a Christian Church--14. Limbo of the\n    excluded--15-18. The Soul\u2019s progress through the seven Heavens;\n    15. Their doors and porters; the first Heaven; 16. The second\n    Heaven, Purgatorial pains; 17. The third and fourth Heavens; 18.\n    The fifth and sixth Heavens--19. The Judgment of the Soul--20. The\n    fate of the damned--21. Hell, a fiery glen--22-23. The Bridge of\n    Doom--24. The half good, half wicked--25-29. Punishments of the\n    wicked described; classification of crimes and punishments--27.\n    The charitable but carnal--29. Fiery wall reserved until after the\n    Last Judgment--30. Description of Hell; impatience of the damned\n    for Judgment; respite on Sundays--31. Adamn\u00e1n returns to Heaven;\n    is restored to the body, and bidden report what he has seen--32.\n    This the subject of his subsequent preaching; consonant with the\n    doctrine of the Apostles and Saints--33. Enoch, Elias, and the\n    Bird-flocks of Paradise--34. Peroration; L\u2019Envoy--35. Rhapsodical\n    description of Heaven                                             28-47\n\n                                PART II\n\n    1. THE CLASSICAL TRADITION\n\n    Sources of the medi\u00e6val legend of the Vision of the\n    Otherworld--The Classical Tradition--The Otherworld in\n    the Greek poets--Influence of the Mysteries--The effect\n    of initiation on the future life--Ethical teaching of the\n    Mysteries--Plato\u2019s _Vision of Er_--Plato\u2019s opinion of the\n    Mysteries--Description of Elysium in the _Axiochus_--The\n    _Frogs_ of Aristophanes; visit to Hades by Dionysos;\n    light thrown on the Greek views of the Mysteries of the\n    next world--Plutarch\u2019s _Vision of Thespesios_--Plutarch\u2019s\n    eschatology--Rebirth theory in Plato and Plutarch--The Vision\n    in Latin literature--The _Somnium Scipionis_--Virgil\u2019s\n    description of the Otherworld--Literary character of his\n    treatment--Composite nature of his eschatology--His authority\n    in the Middle Ages                                                48-67\n\n    2. THE ORIENTAL TRADITION\n\n    Dante\u2019s attitude towards Virgil--His scheme in the\n    Commedia--Non-classical elements thereby necessitated--Process\n    of accretion in the later Jewish Church--The Chald\u00e6an\n    eschatology--Visits to Hades of Isht\u00e2r and Gisdubar--The\n    Chald\u00e6an Elysium--Arali, the Chald\u00e6an Hades--Aristocratic\n    conception of Elysium--The effect of the Median conquest--The\n    Avestan eschatology--The soul after death--The Chinv\u00e2t\n    Bridge--Judgment--The Avestan Elysium--The Tree of Life and\n    the World-Sea--The bird Karshipta--the Vara of Yima--Yima\n    and the Indian Yama--Allegoric tendencies of the Avesta--Its\n    adoption of earlier animism--The question of its influence\n    on Judaism--Darmesteter on Neo-Platonic elements in the\n    Avesta--Older elements in the Avestan theory of the Otherworld;\n    Ach\u00e6menian, Indian and Chald\u00e6an--The Amesha Spentas and the\n    Philonic emanations--Their probable connection with the\n    Chald\u00e6an Spirits of Earth--Chald\u00e6an and Persian influences\n    upon Jewish speculation--Oriental conceptions present in the\n    Vision of Adamn\u00e1n: the seven Heavens, the mystical Bird, the\n    Tree of Life, the World-Sea, the Bridge--Rebirth theory absent\n    from the Avestan religion--Egypt and Neo-Judaism--The Jewish\n    colony in Alexandria; its culture mainly Hellenic; interchange\n    of ideas with the Egyptians--Egyptian cults in the Hellenic\n    world--Egyptian eschatology; Judgment, the \u2018Eater of the Dead,\u2019\n    Elysium--Purgatorial and kindred theories of the Rabbis and\n    early Christians--Special treatment of half good, half wicked\n    souls--Greek and Oriental influences on the Otherworld conceptions\n    of the Christian Church--Rebirth rejected by the Jews, and by the\n    ancient Egyptians                                                 67-94\n\n    3. THE ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITION\n\n    The Vision of the Otherworld a favourite subject in the Jewish\n    apocryphal scriptures--The _Book of Enoch_--Parallels to Christian\n    Visions--Care for topographical details--Dissertations as in\n    Dante--Purgatorial theory--Descriptions of Hell and Heaven--The\n    Celestial Mountain--Sheol--The Tree of Life--Judgment--The _Gospel\n    of Nicodemus_--The _Vision of Esdras_ in the Old Testament\n    Apocrypha--Another _Vision of Esdras_ in the Christian apocryphal\n    books--The _Vision of Isaiah_--Little information respecting the\n    Otherworld in the canonical books of the New Testament--Details\n    in the Epistles of St. Jude and St. Peter and the\n    Revelation--Gr\u00e6co-Roman speculations during the early ages of the\n    Church--The Sibylline books--The \u2018Harrowing of Hell\u2019 legend--Spread\n    of eschatological writings--The _Shepherd of Hermas_--An\n    anticipation of Dante and Beatrice--Its scope rather anagogical\n    than eschatological--The Apocalypse of St. Peter--The Revelation\n    of St. Paul--Their influence apparent in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_--The\n    _Transitus Mari\u00e6_--Blending of Hebraic and Hellenic conceptions of\n    the Otherworld--Persistence of the moral teaching in the Mysteries;\n    and of the popular belief in Tartarus--The Vision legend little\n    affected by Pagan cults or Neo-Platonic speculation--The Vision\n    legend in the Western Church--Instances recorded by St. Augustine\n    and St. Gregory--Minor importance of the legend in the West until\n    developed by the Irish Church                                    94-113\n\n    4. THE LEGEND IN IRELAND\n\n    Relations of the Irish Church with Southern Gaul and the\n    East--Irish Pilgrimages to Egypt--The Egyptian _Book of Adam and\n    Eve_ preserved in Ireland only--Resemblances between the Irish\n    and Oriental monastic systems--Irish knowledge of Greek writers\n    and intercourse with the Greeks--The ecclesiastical conception of\n    the Otherworld influenced by cognate ideas in Irish literature\n    and mythology--Dignity of the Irish literary profession;\n    its classifications--Categories of the Irish historical and\n    romantic tales--Tolerance of the Irish clergy--Survival of\n    the Imram and Fis, and their influence upon the literature of\n    medi\u00e6val Europe--The Otherworld a favourite subject in Irish\n    legend--Elysian realms of the Irish Gods; of the Dagda and\n    Oengus \u00d3g, of Mider, of Manann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr--Poetic description\n    in the _Voyage of Bran_--Tethra, king of the dead--His\n    messengers to summon mortals to him--The story of Connla--The\n    Orpheus myth in Ireland--The _Serglige Conchulaind_--No\n    Tartarus in the Irish mythology--Malignant powers--Sinister\n    aspects of the Otherworld--The realm of Scathach--The Bridge\n    of the Cliff--Whether of Norse origin, or ecclesiastical, or\n    native--Parallels in the Avesta and among primitive peoples--The\n    _Adventures of Nera_--The legend in the Finn Cycle--Late\n    survivals--The legend in the Conn Cormac Cycle--Conn\u2019s visits to\n    the T\u00edr Tairngire--Christian redactions of Pagan stories--The\n    adventures of \u00c1rt in the T\u00edr Tairngire, and the courtship\n    of Delbchaem--The visit of Cormac to the T\u00edr Tairngire--The\n    introduction of allegory--First rudimentary ethical conceptions\n    in connection with the Otherworld--Whether original or due to\n    clerical redactors--Interpolations by the redactors--Increasing\n    prominence of eschatological ideas in the Christian Imrama--The\n    chastity ideal existing side by side with its opposite in the\n    T\u00edr Tairngire--Cuchulainn and the children of Doel Dermait--The\n    enchanted castle and its Otherworld origin--The _Voyage of\n    Maelduin\u2019s Curach_--Greek influences--Elysian islands--Infernal\n    elements--The \u2018Miller of Hell\u2019--Picture of Elysium--Adaptation\n    of the Ph\u0153nix legend to old Irish myths--Bird souls--Island\n    hermits--The cook of Torach--The _Voyage of the Curach of\n    the Ui Corra_--Eschatology in the ascendant--Influences of\n    Nature--Purgatorial theory introduced into the Imram--The _Voyage\n    of Snedgus and Mac R\u00edagla_--Transition from Pagan to Christian\n    conceptions of the Otherworld--Visions of the Otherworld in\n    Ireland--Visions of St. Colm Cille--St. Fursa; his Vision--Vision\n    of Laisr\u00e9n--The _Sc\u00e9l L\u00e1i Br\u00e1tha_--The fourfold division of human\n    souls--The _D\u00e1 Br\u00f3n Flatha Nime_                                113-174\n\n    5. THE FIS ADAMN\u00c1IN\n\n    Its structural and literary superiority to other Visions\n    before Dante--The general plan--Indications of composite\n    authorship--Authorities followed by the writer of the Vision--The\n    guide to the Otherworld--The author\u2019s use of old Irish\n    imagery--His ecclesiastical treatment of the subject--Pictorial\n    grouping and imagery--Parallels to the Imrama--The Cockayne\n    idea and the ascetic idea--The state described to continue\n    to the Last Judgment only--Deferred Judgment of certain\n    spirits and their Limbo--The soul\u2019s progress through the seven\n    Heavens--The Purgatorial theory--Dante parallels--Judgment--The\n    fate of the reprobate--Insistence on the spiritual side of\n    their sufferings--The further description of Hell apparently\n    interpolated--The Bridge incident--Fourfold division of the\n    souls--The punishments of the reprobate--Increasing minuteness\n    of these descriptions by successive Vision writers--Attempts\n    at classification--Dante parallels--Temporary punishment of\n    certain sinners--The region of the damned after the Last\n    Judgment--Characteristics of northern and southern writers\n    respectively--The four rivers of Hell--Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s message--Enoch\n    and Elias with the Bird-flocks about the Tree of Life--Rhapsodical\n    description of Heaven                                           174-206\n\n    6. LATER DEVELOPMENTS\n\n    Irish influences upon Continental writers--Enduring effect of\n    St. Brendan\u2019s legend--The _Voyage of St. Brendan_--Old Irish\n    incidents preserved therein--The Paradise of Birds and the\n    rebel angels--Cessation of the Imram and continuance of the\n    Fis--The _Vision of Tundale_--Great development of Purgatorial\n    incidents--The Bridge episode--Hell described as the mouth of a\n    dragon--Description of Hell--The half righteous--Converse with\n    persons whom Tundale had known in life--King Cormac--Paradise--The\n    Tree of Life and Bird-flocks--Blending in this vision of Irish\n    and ecclesiastical elements--Influence of the result upon\n    European literature--Relations to the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ and to\n    the St. Patrick\u2019s Purgatory legend--Dante probably acquainted\n    with the Vision of Tundale--Comparison between the _Vision_\n    and the _Commedia_--Prevalence of the Vision legend on the\n    Continent--Foreign Visions derived from Irish sources--The\n    _Vision of Drihthelm_--St. Patrick\u2019s Purgatory--The Vision of\n    Owen--Doubtful origin of the legend of St. Patrick\u2019s Purgatory--Its\n    popularity on the Continent--Treatment by Continental\n    writers--The _Vision of Alberic_--Waning influence of the Irish\n    school--Increased number but diminished importance of the\n    Otherworld stories--Lack of originality                         206-241\n\n    7. CONCLUSION\n\n    Recapitulation--No theory propounded as to Dante\u2019s indebtedness\n    to the Irish school--His probable acquaintance with the later\n    Visions of that school--Probable nature and limitations of their\n    influence--Tendency of each school to drop the more characteristic\n    traits of its predecessors--Dante\u2019s rejection of many conventional\n    incidents--The literary qualities of the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_--Irish\n    susceptibility to the beauties of Nature and to music--Absence of\n    dissertations from the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_--Interruption of the Irish\n    national literature--Modern renaissance                         242-249\n\n    INDEX                                                               251\n\n\n\n\nAN IRISH PRECURSOR OF DANTE\n\n\n\n\nPART I\n\n\n\n\n1. INTRODUCTORY\n\n\nFew, if any, of the great masterpieces of literature, even of those\nwhich bear the most unmistakable imprint of an original mind, are\n\u2018original\u2019 in the vulgar sense of being invented \u2018all out of the\nhead\u2019 of the author. Most frequently they are the development and\nthe sublimation of forms and subjects already current; for, as Dumas\n_p\u00e8re_ truly said, it is mankind, and not the individual man, that\n_invents_. The wagon of Thespis preceded the stage of \u00c6schylus, while\nThespis himself had predecessors who did not even adopt the wagon. The\ngreat dramatic schools of all periods took the greater and better part\nof their themes from the myth, history, or fiction current in their\nday. So it has been with most other kinds of literature, and to this\nrule the _Commedia_ of Dante, though one of the most truly original\ncreations of the human mind, forms no exception. The main subject of\nthe poem, the visit of a living man, in person or in vision, to the\nworld of the dead, and his report of what he had seen and heard there,\nbelongs to a class of world-myths than which few are more widely\ndistributed in place or time, and none have been more fortunate in\nthe place won for them by the masters of literature. After occupying\nan important place in several of the antique religions it afforded\nsubjects to the genius of Homer, Plato, and Virgil; it was then adopted\ninto the early Christian Church, and afterwards constituted one of the\nfavourite subjects in the popular literature of the Middle Ages, until,\nfinally, Dante exhausted the great potentialities of the theme, and\nprecluded all further developments.\n\nThe _Commedia_ is like a mighty river formed by the confluence of\nseveral great tributaries, each of which is fed by innumerable springs\nand streamlets, which have their rise in regions remote and most\ndiverse from each other, and are all tinged by the soil of the lands\nthrough which they flow. It is with one of these tributary streams\nthat the following pages deal, and that not the least important among\nthem, for to it the Vision of the Otherworld, as current in the later\nMiddle Ages, owed much both of its popularity and its contents, not,\nindeed, by way of direct derivation or suggestion--a view which several\ncircumstances forbid us to entertain--but as the result of an influence\nwhich, in an earlier stage of culture, had determined the direction\nwhich the Vision legend actually followed in its later developments.\n\nThe subject would appear to have possessed a special fascination for\nthe Irish writers at the time when Ireland was the chief intellectual\ncentre of Western Europe, and the constant flux and reflux of Irish\nteachers and foreign students necessarily tended to spread abroad so\nmuch, at any rate, of the compositions of the Irish schools as was in\nharmony with the tastes and beliefs of Christendom at large.\n\nBy far the most important of the Apocalyptic writings which proceeded\nfrom the Irish schools is the Vision which bears the name of St.\nAdamn\u00e1n, of which a translation is given in the present volume. It is\ninteresting to compare it with the later and greater work, and to mark\nthe numerous points of resemblance which may be discerned in works so\nwidely different. This and the like productions of a ruder, but not\nignorant nor uncultured, age, deserve no less attention than that which\nwe bestow upon the works of the primitive schools of art and letters,\nbefore Giotto and his compeers had effected the release of painting\nfrom the bonds of formalism, and had opened out the ways of Nature\nand imagination, and before the immediate predecessors of Dante had\nrendered possible his _dolce stil nuovo_.\n\nAt the same time it may be seen how the legend which received its\napotheosis in Dante\u2019s immortal verse came into being upon the misty\nheights of primitive myth, and after forming the theme of poets and\nphilosophers in classical antiquity, entered into the literature and\nteaching of the early Christian Church; how the ecclesiastical legend,\nas it had now become, was adopted into the Irish Church at the time of\nits greatest activity, and there received the impress of the national\ngenius, and became blended with the national traditions; thence it\nreturned again to become a part of the general literature of Europe,\nand received yet further elements from the newly popular romances of\nchivalry, and still more from the revived classical tradition, until\nthe elixir of the great magician\u2019s genius finally transmuted the\namalgam into gold to be a \u03ba\u03c4\u1fc6\u03bc\u03b1 \u1f10\u03c2 \u1f00\u03b5\u03af.\n\nTo recognise these facts is not to disparage or limit the originality\nof Dante\u2019s genius; rather his true originality is thrown into higher\nrelief by a comparison with all other labourers in the same field\nwho had gone before him. Nothing but the study of these labours\nwill enable us to give him his due place in European literature and\nthought, while such a study will explain and justify certain features\nin his treatment of the theme which may be repugnant to modern\nways of thinking, but were not only justified, but necessitated,\nby the beliefs and traditions universally accepted in his own day.\nDante himself always loved to acknowledge his indebtedness to his\nliterary progenitors, alike among the writers of antiquity and his\nown contemporaries or immediate predecessors; and it seems fitting to\npreserve the memory of a school of writers to whom, although he knew it\nnot himself, are largely due the actual character and scope of the work\nby which he achieved immortality.\n\n\n\n\n2. THE SEER[1]\n\n\nBy the close of the seventh century the Irish Church had almost reached\nthe period of its greatest prosperity and of its greatest influence\nupon the culture of Western Europe. The Three Orders of Saints had\ndone their work, and although in Ireland, as throughout the rest of\nEurope, Christianity had not entirely prevailed over the heathenism\nof the more sequestered populations--the _pagani_--yet, through the\nlength and breadth of the country, the National Church was established\nin close conjunction with the State, of which, indeed, it had come to\nform an integral part; and wherever the Irish clergy prevailed, studies\nflourished.\n\nThe missionary zeal of the Irish clergy had made known the Gospel to\nthe courts of barbarian princes, and to the still pagan inhabitants of\nNorth Britain and Germany, Gaul and Burgundy, Switzerland, Styria, and\nLombardy, and even carried it to the Faroe Isles and Iceland. At home,\nwhat sparks of antique learning yet lurked beneath the ashes to which\nthe fires of civilisation had smouldered down were gathered into a\nfocus in schools where crowds of students from the surrounding nations\nfound hospitality and instruction; while abroad, the foundations of\nIona, Lindisfarne, and Malmesbury, Luxeuil, St. Gall, and Bobbio,\nwith many more of lesser fame, stood out like citadels erected to\nmaintain a peaceful conquest. And from the schools of Ireland were to\nissue the men who were destined, during the next two centuries, not\nmerely to leave their mark upon the Church as theologians and founders\nof monasteries, but, further, to play an important part in moulding\nthe new civilisation of the Frankish Empire, to lay the foundations\nof modern philosophy, and to promote the study of natural science\nand literature by lucubrations, crude, indeed, as compared with the\nproductions of more favoured ages, but standing out conspicuous above\nthe level of their own time.[2]\n\nMeanwhile, though the Three Orders of the Irish Saints had come to an\nend about the middle of the seventh century, they were succeeded by\nmany great Churchmen, who combined with their ecclesiastical duties\na lively interest in secular politics, in which they were wont to\nintervene, most commonly, no doubt, with beneficial effect, though\noccasionally with results nothing less than disastrous.\n\nOne of the foremost, if not the very foremost, among the Irish clerics\nof this period was St. Adamn\u00e1n, the reputed seer of the Vision which\nbears his name. This great prelate is a striking figure both in the\necclesiastical and secular history of his times; but the information\nwe possess concerning him, though not altogether scanty, is not all of\nequal value. It consists partly of the evidences furnished by his own\nwritings and contemporary records, partly of the further particulars\nwhich have been preserved in the annals compiled from the tenth to the\ntwelfth centuries, though these, no doubt, are derived in great measure\nfrom earlier records.\n\nAdamn\u00e1n was of high birth, as were many of the leading Irish Churchmen,\nthe constitution of the National Church being thoroughly aristocratic,\nin accordance with the civil society upon which it was moulded. His\nfather was Ron\u00e1n, son of Tinne, a man of chiefly rank in the territory\nof Sereth, or T\u00edr Aedha, now the barony of Tirhugh, in south-west\nDonegal, and the descendant of Conall Gulb\u00e1n, the founder of a famous\nhouse, various branches of which ruled T\u00edr Conaill from the fifth\ncentury until the fall of the O\u2019Donnells at the beginning of the\nseventeenth century. Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s mother, Ronat by name, was of the Cinel\nEnda, a sept of West Meath.[3] The date of his birth is variously\nstated, but he appears to have been born between the years 624 and 627\nat Drumhome, in T\u00edr Aedha.[4] The name Adamn\u00e1n is a diminutive of Adam,\nbut through the tendency of Irish phonetics to elide the _d_ and _m_\nin certain positions, it came to be written sometimes in the confusing\nforms Eunan and Onan, and has even been travestied into Theunan and\nDennan.\n\nAdamn\u00e1n entered the great monastery of Iona as a novice, probably\nabout the year 650, as Segine (_ob._ 652) was then abbot. There he\nwas distinguished for his devotion and learning, and in the year 679,\nsoon after the death of Abbot Failbhe, was elected to succeed him,\nbeing ninth in descent from St. Colm Cille, the founder, to whom he\nwas akin. Indeed, all Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s predecessors, and his successors for\nseveral generations, were members of the same great family. In the\ngovernment of his house and of the ecclesiastical establishments\nin the neighbouring islands, he displayed the qualities of an able\nadministrator, as well as those of saint and scholar; nor did he\nconfine his activities to matters ecclesiastical, but, like most of the\nIrish saints, took an active part in public events.\n\nAbout the year 684, King Ecgfrid of Northumbria made a descent upon\nthe Irish coast, between Magh Breg, the plain north of the Liffey,\nand Belach D\u00fainn, now Castlekieran, north-west of Kells, and carried\naway many captives. In the following year he invaded the Picts of\nScotland, and was slain at Dun Nechtan. His successor, Aldfrid (the\nson, according to some accounts, of an Irish mother), had been driven\ninto exile in early youth, and taking refuge in Ireland was educated\nin the schools of that country, to which he paid a grateful tribute\nin after-life. He had sojourned for a while at Iona, and there became\nacquainted with Adamn\u00e1n, who now took advantage of this intimacy, and\ncame to Aldfrid\u2019s court to plead the cause of the captives. He was\nsuccessful in this, and had the happiness to redeem from slavery sixty\nof his countrymen, whom he brought back with him on his return. This\nvisit produced results of great importance to the Irish Church. During\nhis stay in Northumbria, Adamn\u00e1n contracted a close intimacy with the\nVenerable Bede--who strongly censured Ecgfrid\u2019s unprovoked, aggression\n(_Hist. Eccl._ iv. 26)--upon whom he made a strong and favourable\nimpression, as being _vir bonus, et sapiens, et scientia scripturarum\nnobilissime instructus_. Their frequent colloquies during this, and,\napparently, a second mission of Adamn\u00e1n to Northumbria, about two years\nlater, turned upon the two main points wherein the Irish usage differed\nfrom that of Rome: _i.e._ the form of the tonsure, which, in Ireland,\nwas made crescent-wise across the head, and the time of keeping Easter.\nIn the latter respect, Ireland retained the older computation, founded\nupon the Jewish method of calculating the Passover, which had been\nadopted by Rome during the disputes on the subject with the East and\nwith Alexandria, and was in force at the conversion of Ireland. In\n463 Pope Hilarius introduced an improved system of calculation, which\nultimately was generally adopted throughout the West, though not\nwithout a struggle in those many parts of the Continent where Irish\ninfluence was powerful. As a matter of course, the reformed system was\nbrought into England by Augustine, and contributed to widen the gulf\nbetween the English and British Churches. The south of Ireland, or part\nof it, appears to have accepted the change in the year 633, but it took\nnearly another century to win over the rest of the country. Bede urged\nupon Adamn\u00e1n the propriety of conforming to the general rule of the\nChurch, and his arguments wrought such conviction in his hearer that\nAdamn\u00e1n devoted much of the latter portion of his life to the task of\ninducing his countrymen to accept the Roman usage.\n\nIndeed, the remainder of Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s life appears to have been divided\nbetween his abbatial duties and long and frequent visits to Ireland,\nin the course of which he is said to have taken that part in secular\npolitics to which we shall have to recur. The greater part of this\ntime, however, he appears to have spent in travelling about Ireland,\noccupied with his favourite scheme for bringing the time of the\nEaster celebration into conformity with the general practice of the\nWestern Church. His efforts were generally successful; Bede, in fact\n(_Hist. Eccl._ v. 15), asserts that he succeeded in winning over to\nthe Catholic observance \u2018almost all those who were not subject to the\nrule of Iona.\u2019 In the year 700, or shortly after, he returned to Iona,\nand attempted to introduce his reform into his own monastery, but in\nspite of his abbatial authority and of his great personal influence, he\nfound the conservatism of that great stronghold of the Irish Church too\nmuch for him, and his monks refused to admit any innovation upon the\nnational practice. He died on the 23rd September 704, and was buried at\nIona. His relics were brought to Ireland in 727, but are said to have\nbeen restored to his monastery in 730.\n\nAdamn\u00e1n earned well the epithet \u2018High Scholar of the Western World,\u2019\nwhich is conferred upon him at the opening of his Vision. His most\ncelebrated work was the _Life of St. Colm Cille_, written in a Latin\nwhich is generally admitted to be far superior to that commonly in use\nat his day. The work suffers from the form in which it is cast; it does\nnot relate the events of the Saint\u2019s life in chronological sequence,\nbut is divided into three books, the first being devoted to Colm\u2019s\nprophetical revelations, the second to his miracles, and the third to\nhis angelical visions. Nevertheless, it gives much information of great\ninterest, relating as well to the life and acts of St. Colm as to the\ninternal life of the Irish Church, while the prefaces contain important\nbiographical matter. The prominence given to the miracles, visions,\nand the like, associated with Colm\u2019s name, is merely what we find in\na large proportion of the hagiology of all periods of the Church\u2019s\nhistory, while the narrative possesses a character of its own, and a\nhuman interest, which preserve it from the monotony and conventionality\noften prevailing in writings of this class, and establish a certain\nkinship with the _Fioretti_ of St. Francis. Altogether, the _Life_\nis commonly accepted as the most important extant monument of the\nCeltic Church, and also one of the most notable pieces of biography,\necclesiastical or lay, produced by the early Middle Ages.\n\nAnother work proceeding from his pen was a treatise upon the Holy\nPlaces of Palestine. This, too, was written in Latin, and is considered\nby Dr. Reeves to be superior, in point of style, to the _Life of\nColm Cille_. He was instigated to undertake this task by Arculf, a\nbishop of Gaul, who had travelled in Palestine, Syria, Constantinople,\nAlexandria, and other parts of the East, and on his return had been\nblown out of his course, and wrecked on some coast near to Iona. Here\nhe was hospitably entertained by Adamn\u00e1n, and in the course of a\nprolonged sojourn through the stormy winter months held much learned\nconverse with his host, to their mutual edification. Arculf had studied\nthe topography and history of the places he visited with a thoroughness\nalmost unique at that day, and had even preserved accurate\nmeasurements and descriptions of buildings, etc. He freely imparted the\nresults of his investigations to Adamn\u00e1n, who was himself possessed of\nthe learning which could be acquired from such books as were accessible\nto him.\n\nSeveral ecclesiastical works--a Rule, eight Canons, etc.--are\nattributed to Adamn\u00e1n; there have also been preserved a poem and\nseveral devout _opuscula_ in Irish which have been ascribed to him,\nwithout foundation.\n\nIt would appear that he had some knowledge of Greek, and even possessed\na certain acquaintance with, at any rate, the Hebrew vocabulary,\nwhether at first or second hand.\n\nIt now remains to be seen what further light is cast upon Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s\ncharacter by the later annals; and here we find a mixture of _Dichtung\nund Wahrheit_, and no criterion whereby we may distinguish with any\ncertainty between the two. The additional particulars derived from\nthis source, if we except a few legends of miracles and visions of the\nusual type, relate for the most part to Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s political activity\nduring the last decade of the seventh century. One episode, however,\nof Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s schooldays gives the earliest recorded fact, if a fact,\nof his career. It is a mere anecdote, unsupported by evidence, yet it\ncontains no inherent improbability, and is worth repeating, if only\nas an authentic picture of one aspect of scholastic life in ancient\nIreland, and also as affording the first glimpse, probably, of the\n\u2018beggar-student\u2019 who figured so conspicuously in the later Middle\nAges, and in Ireland survived as the \u2018poor scholar\u2019 almost to our own\nday. The students at the Irish centres of learning--Universities, as\nthey have been called, not without reason--used to dwell about their\nteachers in huts of wattle, provision for their maintenance, education,\nand books being made by the chiefs and ecclesiastical foundations.\nSo great, however, were the throngs of students, native and foreign,\nwho flocked to these schools, that many were compelled to eke out the\npublic allowance by having recourse to the charity of neighbours. Among\nthese was Adamn\u00e1n, who was one of a company, or mess, of five students\nand their tutor, the younger students taking it in turn to provide for\nall. One day this task procured Adamn\u00e1n an adventure, which introduced\nhim to the future monarch, Finnachta Fledach, his future relations\nwith whom, if truly related by the annals, were destined to be fraught\nwith momentous consequences to them both and to the whole of Ireland.\nFinnachta, though of royal race, had once been so poor that his whole\nworldly possessions consisted of a house, a wife, an ox, and a cow. At\nthe time of which we speak, he possessed a following, and one day, as\nhe and his retinue were travelling at full gallop, they came across a\nyoung student laden with a pitcher of milk, who, in his haste to avoid\nthe horses, upset the pitcher and spilt the milk. This boy was Adamn\u00e1n,\nbringing home the day\u2019s provision for himself and his messmates. He set\nout to run by the side of the horsemen, and kept up with them until\nthey reached their destination. Finnachta took notice of the boy, and,\nentering into conversation with him, was so well pleased, that he not\nonly made good the loss, but provided the five youths and their tutor\nwith a house and maintenance, receiving in return from the tutor a\nprophecy that he, Finnachta, should one day become monarch of Ireland,\nwith Adamn\u00e1n for his _anamchara_, or confessor. It does not appear that\nthis interview was immediately productive of any further consequences\nto Adamn\u00e1n, who, in due course, entered the monastic life, as before\nmentioned.\n\nThe next incident of importance, not already mentioned, which the\nannalists relate concerning Adamn\u00e1n, is at once one of the most\nmomentous and most obscure portions of his career--namely, his action\nin connection with the Boruma tribute. This was a heavy fine, in\ncattle and various precious articles, which Tuathal Techtmar, \u00c1rd-R\u00ed\nof Ireland about the end of the first century A.D., had laid upon\nLeinster in perpetuity (or, according to some authorities, for forty\nyears) to punish a grave crime committed by the king of that province.\nThe intermittent exaction of this tribute was not the least among the\nmany causes of discord which prevented the ideal polity of Ireland,\nviz. a confederation of kingdoms and principalities--an Empire we might\ncall it--under the overlordship of the \u00c1rd-R\u00ed, from ever becoming\nrealised in a permanently efficient form. This grievance St. Moling,\nwith the support of several other leading prelates, determined to\nremove, and, it is said, induced Finnachta (who had become \u00c1rd-R\u00ed in\n673-4, having defeated and slain in battle his predecessor Cennfaelad)\nto issue a decree for its abolition. This event is commonly dated in\nthe year 693, but Canon O\u2019Hanlon, on the authority of O\u2019Flaherty\u2019s\n_Ogygia_, thinks it must be earlier, and is inclined to place it in\n692, the year of Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s visit to Ireland.[5] It is recorded in a\ntreatise on the Boruma, printed and translated by Mr. Standish Hayes\nO\u2019Grady in his _Silva Gadelica_; it is there told in narrative form,\nwith dialogues in the _oratio recta_, and intermingled with many\nfictitious circumstances so as to make up a story; however, the main\nincidents accord with a fragment of Irish annals given by Mr. O\u2019Grady\nin the same work, and with the Irish poem formerly ascribed to Adamn\u00e1n.\nThe means by which St. Moling induced the king to grant his request\nshow all the symptoms of a folk-tale. By the promise of eternal life\nimmediately after death, he procured Finnachta\u2019s promise to remit the\ntribute until _Luan_, which in Irish properly means Monday, but was\nalso and still is a frequent term for the Day of Judgment--\u2018Black\nMonday.\u2019 The monarch, understanding the word in its literal sense,\nthought the terms easy, and gave his promise; the saint, however,\ninsisted upon putting his own interpretation on it, and Finnachta had\nto consent to the perpetual remission of the tribute. The measure\nitself was most wise and statesmanlike; nevertheless, pernicious as\nthe tribute was, the abolition of it touched the pride of the Ui\nN\u00e9ill, the ruling race of Ireland. The organisation of the Church was\nbased upon the clan system which prevailed in the State; religious\ncommunities were often composed of fellow-tribesmen, ecclesiastical\ndignities passed from one generation to another of the same chiefly\nfamily, and the head of an order was practically a clerical chieftain,\nsharing with the lay princes that fatal tendency to prefer local\nto national interests which has been fraught with consequences to\nIreland more dire than the Boruma itself. Adamn\u00e1n is represented as\npossessing his full share of this family or racial pride, and joined\nwith the clergy of his race in offering a bitter opposition to the new\nmeasure. The narrative of his dealings with Finnachta is more graphic\nthan authentic. With an authority, to say the least of it, worthy\nof a Hildebrand or Innocent III., he sent a clerk to Finnachta to\nsummon him to instant conference. The king was then playing at chess,\nand declined to budge until his game was ended. Adamn\u00e1n, informed of\nthis, sent back word that he would chant fifty psalms while waiting,\nthe effect of which would be to deprive the king\u2019s whole race of the\nkingdom for ever. This was announced to the king, but he had begun\na second game, and declined to stir until it was over. Adamn\u00e1n then\nsent word that he would chant another fifty psalms, which should bring\non the king shortness of life; but Finnachta, now engaged in a third\ngame, sent the same answer as before. Then Adamn\u00e1n sent word that he\nwould chant yet another fifty psalms, which should deprive Finnachta\nof the Lord\u2019s peace. Then Finnachta hastily arose, quitted his chess,\nand repaired to Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s presence. On being asked why he came, after\nignoring all previous messages, he explained that the exclusion of his\nposterity from his kingdom troubled him but little, neither did he care\nfor a speedy death, seeing that Moling had promised him eternal life,\nbut he could not bear to be excluded from the Lord\u2019s peace. However,\nthough Finnachta then made personal submission to Adamn\u00e1n, the decree\nremained, and God would not suffer Adamn\u00e1n to deprive the king of the\nreward which Moling had promised him.\n\nIt is obvious that this narrative, in point of form, is fiction pure\nand simple; as fictitious as the speeches in Thucydides, or the\ndialogues in Herodotus or Plutarch. For this reason, and because of\nthe discrepancy of dates, and the uncertainty attending the whole\nquestion of the remission of the Boruma, some authorities are inclined\nto call in question the entire story of Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s relations with\nFinnachta, and to relegate it to the domain of fiction. This summary\nmethod of cutting the knot appears to be somewhat arbitrary: if a\nliberal admixture of fiction be sufficient absolutely to discredit the\nchronicles into which it enters, we may be called upon to disbelieve\nthat there is any historic basis for Livy\u2019s _History_, or the records\nof Charlemagne, for instance. In the present case it seems most\ndoubtful whether any means exist for determining what, if any, basis\nof fact underlies the narrative, but having regard to the attention\npaid by the Irish writers to the record of past and contemporary\nevents--which by no means implies the strict accuracy of the record--it\nseems improbable that the recorded acts, in matters of great public\ninterest, of such notable characters as \u00c1rd-R\u00ed Finnachta and St.\nAdamn\u00e1n should not represent, in substance, the parts which they\nactually played in the public life of their time.\n\nAbout this time another cause of discord is said to have put a further\nstrain upon the relations subsisting between the Saint and the \u00c1rd-R\u00ed.\nFinnachta having excluded the lands belonging to the Order of St. Colm\nCille from the privileges accorded to the foundations of SS. Patrick,\nFinian, and Ciaran, Adamn\u00e1n again provoked, and this time apparently\nwith better reason, by this fresh infringement of the dignity of Ulad,\nput a curse upon the king, and foretold that his life should be short,\nthat he should fall by a fratricidal stroke, and that the kingdom\nshould pass from his race for ever; which triple prophecy was fulfilled\nwhen Finnachta and his son Bresal were slain by a cousin in the year\n693-4.\n\nA few years after these events, according to the annals, Adamn\u00e1n\nacquired a more honourable distinction by means of the ecclesiastical\nlegislation embodied in his \u2018Canons,\u2019 and by the more famous\nlaw, or code of laws, known as the _C\u00e1in Adamn\u00e1in_. Each of these\nwas promulgated at a _M\u00f3rd\u00e1il_--\u2018Great Assembly\u2019--the Diet or\nStates-General of Ireland. According to the more general account,\nboth were passed at a M\u00f3rd\u00e1il held in 697 at Tara, or, according to\nothers, at Ballyshannon, Derry, or Raphoe. Probably Tara was assumed\ninadvertently to have been the place of meeting by some chronicler\nwho, bearing in mind the ancient custom, had forgotten that Tara had\nbeen abandoned since the cursing of it by St. Ruad\u00e1n. According to\nthe Four Masters and Tigernach, the last Feis of Tara was held in the\nyear 554 A.D. Or, possibly, there is a confusion between the general\nM\u00f3rd\u00e1il of \u00c9ire and an ecclesiastical Synod which appears to have\nbeen held at Tara about the time in question. In this uncertainty as\nto which of the several Synods and M\u00f3rd\u00e1la, held towards the close of\nthe seventh century, was the scene of Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s legislation, Canon\nO\u2019Hanlon suggests that the Synod of 694-5 would be the most likely\noccasion of the enactment of the Canons, if it were certain that\nAdamn\u00e1n was present (_op. cit._ ix. 508 and 512), and that the _C\u00e1in_\nwas passed at the M\u00f3rd\u00e1il of 696-7, in the reign of \u00c1rd-R\u00ed Loingseach\nmac Oengusa, according to the general account; this likewise agrees\nwith the treatise about to be mentioned, which, however, gives Birr as\nthe place of assembly. The most important article of the _C\u00e1in_ was the\nrenewal of a law passed by St. Colm Cille at the M\u00f3rd\u00e1il of Druimceatt\nin 590, but since fallen into desuetude, whereby women were exempted\nfrom military service. The _C\u00e1in Adamn\u00e1in_ is an Old Irish treatise,\nprobably of the tenth century, according to Professor Kuno Meyer, who\nhas published an edition of it, with notes, in _Anecdota Oxoniensia_\n(_Medi\u00e6val and Modern Series_, pt. viii.). It is not the work of\nAdamn\u00e1n himself, but merely purports to give an account of the laws\nwhich he passed, and the circumstances of his doing so. It is clearly\ncompounded of various elements, and it is worked up into a complete\nstory by dint of the employment of a number of fictitious details. It\nopens with a melancholy picture of the status of women in Ireland in\nAdamn\u00e1n\u2019s day, their home life being depicted as a state of abject\nslavery, while they were further liable to military service. These\ndescriptions can only be accepted with very great limitations, for\nthe laws, the Church literature, and the romances of Ireland contain\nabundant evidence to prove that the state of things here depicted, if\nit existed at all, was not generally prevalent, the picture drawn in\nthe _C\u00e1in_ being greatly exaggerated for the greater honour and glory\nof Adamn\u00e1n. At the same time there is no need to go to the opposite\nextreme, and assume that the position accorded to women in ancient\nIreland realised in practice the theories of chivalry. It does not\nfollow that the author of the _C\u00e1in_ invented the circumstances he\ndescribes; indeed, there is evidence that a similar state of things\nexisted in Ireland so late as Tudor times at least, while parallels\nmight be found in the great cities of a much more recent date. But it\nis the wont of those who treat of social and moral evils, whether as\nreformers or satirists, or in a less worthy capacity--from Juvenal to\nZola, and from Salvian to Father Bernard Vaughan--to represent the\nsporadic and occasional evils of society as its habitual condition.\nAs regards the military service of women, it appears certain that\nwomen did, and probably were required to, serve in the wars to some\nextent. Nevertheless, neither the annals nor the romances warrant the\nconclusion that great troops of women swelled the Irish armies. It\nseems probable that in the varied and complicated system of the Irish\nland tenure, female tenants may have been obliged to render military\nservice _ratione tenurae_, instances of which practice occur in other\nparts of Europe.\n\nWhatever the nature or extent of the evil, it was greatly taken to\nheart by Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s mother Ronat, and dutiful as her son was to her, she\ncounted his service as nought until he should effect the emancipation\nof women. One day, as they were on a journey--Adamn\u00e1n, after his usual\ncustom, carrying his mother on his back--they came to a battlefield,\nwhere so great had been the slaughter that the women lay, the soles of\none touching the neck of another; but the most piteous sight of all was\na woman with her head in one place and her body in another, and her\nbaby lying on the breast of the corpse, with a stream of milk on one\ncheek, and a stream of blood on the other. At his mother\u2019s bidding,\nAdamn\u00e1n set the woman\u2019s head upon the trunk, made the sign of the\ncross with his staff, and she arose and related her experiences in the\nnext world between her death and resuscitation. Ronat, still further\nconfirmed in her purpose, imposed incredible austerities upon Adamn\u00e1n\nin order to coerce him into compliance. At the end of four years an\nangel came to him and bade him rise, but he refused to do so until\nhe received a promise that women should be emancipated. He then came\nforward with his proposals of reform, which offended several of the lay\nprinces, so that they combined to put Adamn\u00e1n to death. At length terms\nwere agreed upon, and all parties pledged themselves that in future\nwomen should be exempted from military service, and that no women\nshould be slain by men without full legal penalties being exacted. This\ncompact was solemnly sworn to by the contracting parties; the formula\nof the oath was founded upon that whereby the kings in pagan times had\nbeen wont to bind themselves in matters of great moment, and which\nsurvived, with necessary modifications, for some centuries after the\nintroduction of Christianity. They took to witness the sun and moon,\nand all the other elements of God; the Apostles, Gregory, the two\nPatricks, and other Irish saints. The terms of the oath explain the\nform of St. Patrick\u2019s famous hymn.\n\nThe construction of the treatise is extremely loose; the form, in many\nplaces, is that of the ecclesiastical legend, and the present redaction\nwas evidently made in the clerical interest. As a further instance\nof its composite character, in c. 33 it makes a fresh start with the\nwords _Incipit sententia angeli Adamnano_, and relates how the angel,\nafter two previous punishments inflicted, came to Adamn\u00e1n and smote him\non the side, bidding him go to Ireland and enact a law that no woman\nshould be slain with impunity. It also states that Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s law was\nextended to clerical students and children, and further gives sundry\namendments of the laws relating to cases of assault, rape, slander of\nchastity, etc. Women, in turn, were made liable for the crimes they\nmight commit; in particular, they were rendered punishable for poison,\narson, or undermining a church by the old Irish penalty of being set\nadrift in a boat with a single paddle, and one vessel of meal and one\nof water.\n\nThe accuracy of this treatise in point of detail hardly calls for\ndiscussion. It is a specimen of the form in which we have received\nmuch of our information concerning ancient Ireland; a form combining\nfact and fiction in a manner which often renders it impossible to\ndistinguish between the two without extraneous evidence, which is\nseldom to be had. Here we have as the substratum an account of\nAdamn\u00e1n\u2019s actual legislation, set off with an abundance of fictitious\ndetail, in which a redactor has attempted to combine two different\naccounts of the circumstances which brought about Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s action,\nwhile he has added a quantity of other legislative reforms, more or\nless connected with the subject, but only a part of which, if any,\ncan be due to Adamn\u00e1n himself. Here, as in the case of the Boruma, it\nis left for the most part to our subjective views of probability to\ndetermine what amount of reliance is to be placed upon the historical\nfacts which form the main subject of the treatise. Despite the crudity\nof the work, perhaps the evidence in favour is rather stronger in\nthis case, for not only is it natural to assume that the statements\nof a legal nature would be tolerably in accordance with the facts,\nwhich must have been known to many of the readers, but the ascription\nof the reform to Adamn\u00e1n--under the alternative name of the _lex\ninnocentium_--appears to have been accepted without hesitation by\nseveral independent authorities, including the _Annals of Ulster_ and\nthe _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_.\n\nThe last action of Adamn\u00e1n recorded by the annals, and one that seems\nfairly well authenticated, is a sentence of excommunication pronounced\nby him at Tara upon one Irgalach for murder. One of the annalistic\nfragments preserves a report that Adamn\u00e1n, at the close of his life,\nwas expelled from Iona by his own monks on account of his action in the\nEaster controversy; this, however, appears to be without foundation,\nfor the fact of his death and burial at Iona seems certain. Another\nrumour was that grief at the recalcitrance of his monks, for the same\nreason, had brought about his death, for which no other explanation\nseems needed than his seventy-seven years, mostly spent in strenuous\ntoil, though, of course, any vexation or distress of mind might well be\nthe immediate cause of death.\n\nOur available information concerning Adamn\u00e1n does not set a very vivid\npicture of him before us. His own writings are of a somewhat impersonal\ncharacter, while the Irish annalists seldom bring to their portrayal\nof historical persons that power of characterisation and description\nconstantly apparent in the romances. We have already seen Bede\u2019s\ntestimony to Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s learning and high character; the Four Masters,\nin their notice of Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s death (which they place in 703) refer to\nthat passage, and add that he was \u2018tearful, penitent, given to prayer,\ndiligent, ascetic, temperate; for he never used to eat excepting on\nSunday and Thursday only; he made a slave of himself to these virtues;\nand, moreover, he was wise and learned in the clear understanding of\nthe Holy Scriptures of God.\u2019 And a few scattered notices of the kind\nappear to comprise all that we have in the way of direct description.\nNevertheless, the authentic record of his actions, combined with\nthe more doubtful evidence of later annalists--which, at the very\nleast, serve to show what notion of him survived, and was transmitted\nto posterity--may enable us to trace with tolerable accuracy the\nmore salient outlines of his character. That his was a striking and\ncommanding personality there is no doubt: he appears to have been\nfashioned after the same type as so many of the leading Churchmen of\nthe Middle Ages, from Ambrose down; a type which combined a great\nproficiency in learning, and a devotion to the virtues of the cloister,\nwith a strenuous activity which asserted itself alike in the diligent\nadministration of their ecclesiastical office, and in the exercise of\ntheir influence upon secular affairs. In these last, their intervention\ncommonly made for righteousness, and aimed at putting a conscience into\npolitics, never a superfluous task. They often stood forward as the\nchampions of the wronged and oppressed, and in this cause, and, even\nmore, in defence of the claims and immunities of the Church, never\nfeared to encounter the temporal power; rather otherwise, in fact.\nThis side of Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s character appears in his mission to Northumbria\non behalf of the kidnapped Irishmen, and his alleged defence against\nFinnachta of the privileges of his own order; above all, in his\namelioration of the lot of women--possibly, too, of students and\nchildren--the records whereof, whatever the amount of historical fact\nwhich they contain, reveal the estimation in which Adamn\u00e1n was held.\nAt the same time, if the incident of the Boruma be either true in\nfact, or true to his character, it is evident that he was as liable as\nany of his great compeers, foreign or Irish--Colm Cille and Ruad\u00e1n,\nfor instance--to allow his zeal to be enlisted in the cause of party\ninterest or personal sympathies, to the great public detriment. He\nenjoyed a traditional reputation for filial piety, and, at least,\ntribal patriotism. His recorded asceticism, however severe, does not\nappear, save in some of the least credible passages of the _C\u00e1in_, to\nhave been carried by him to the same lengths of self-torture, worthy of\na solitary of the Thebaid, or an Indian _yogi_, as it was by many of\nthe Irish saints. Indeed, his was mainly a life of action, and even\nthe learning for which he was famous is more apparent in the quality of\nhis work than in the quantity of it. The part of his career which left\nthe most enduring mark upon his Church and his country was the mainly\nsuccessful struggle which he carried on as the leading Irish champion\nof Catholicism in the long contest, begun before his time, and only\nfinished by Malachi and Gelasius in the middle of the twelfth century,\nbetween the respective partisans of national and of general usages in\nthe ritual of the Irish Church. That portion of his work which he left\nunfinished, the submission of his own order, was completed within a\nquarter of a century after his death, and the ties between the Churches\nof Ireland and other countries of the West were drawn tighter by the\nremoval of the chief cause of separation.\n\nThe Vision which has come down to us under the name of Adamn\u00e1n is not\nto be included among his own works. The language and style, which\nbelong to a much later period, are conclusive as to this; while several\nallusions in it, as that to the donation of Constantine, also point\nto a later date. Dr. Whitley Stokes, indeed, considers that \u2018it is\nnot older than the eleventh century,\u2019 but Professor Windisch, in the\npreface to his edition, demurs to this conclusion, and holds that it\nwas written in the tenth century, possibly even in the ninth (_Irische\nTexte_, i. 167 _sqq._). Nevertheless, it is not to be classed among the\nliterary forgeries with which the Middle Ages teem, composed sometimes\n_animo fraudandi_, sometimes, in the loose views then prevailing\nas to literary property and literary fame, in order to secure the\nprestige of a great name. The present work, however, never professes\nto be Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s own composition. It invariably speaks of him in the\nthird person, terming him the \u2018High Scholar of the Western World,\u2019\nand refers to his legislation at the M\u00f3rd\u00e1il, where he is said to\nhave first received his Vision, and to his subsequent preaching as\nmatters of past history. It remains, then, to be considered how this\nVision came to be associated with his name. We have seen that he\nhad become the hero of a saga-cycle, into which fiction had made an\nentrance: whether we must class the doubtful episodes as historical\nromance merely, or as facts set off by the aid of fiction. This,\nhowever, brings us little further, for it is certain that this popular\nreputation was earned by his actual achievements: again, therefore, we\nare faced with the question how to distinguish fact from fiction. It\nmay be that the true author sought for his own teaching the authority\nof so famous a saint; or he may have had before him an anonymous work,\nand inserted the name of Adamn\u00e1n from a like motive, or from a belief\nin the fact; or, again, the work may be what it professes to be, and\nmay have for its basis a more or less accurate tradition of Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s\nown teaching. A tradition, I venture to think, should be allowed a\ncertain weight where it is in conflict neither with ascertained fact\nnor with probability; and here the probabilities appear to be rather\nfavourable than otherwise, which, perhaps, in the absence of further\nevidence, is the nearest approach to a conclusion we can hope to make.\nIt is not a forgery; it is not a polemical work, where the author might\nwish to shoot forth his darts from under the shield of some Ajax of\ncontroversy. Neither is it a mere floating legend, ready to be tacked\non to any name indifferently; on the contrary, it is written with great\ncare, and with a literary and constructive skill rare at that day. It\nmakes no profession, and betrays no purpose, save to give the substance\nof the Vision which Adamn\u00e1n related to the M\u00f3rd\u00e1il, and of his\nsubsequent preaching. The fashion of the day renders it highly probable\nthat Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s teaching or preaching may have assumed this form. Then\nhis fame and authority, at the most active period of Irish letters,\nmight avail to preserve a work, thus widely published, for a longer\ntime than the 150 or 250 years which intervened between his death and\nthe composition of the Vision, even in its present form, while if\nthe reasons adduced in a later place (Part 11. Sec. 5, _post_) for\nsupposing it to be of a composite character be correct, it follows that\nthe latest author must have had before him--as in any case he probably\nhad--materials of an earlier date.\n\nThus the _Fis_ and the _C\u00e1in_ appear to institute an exact parallel. We\nhave as the basis of the extant work, in the one case, a law enacted,\nin the other, a Vision recited, by the saint, which a later writer has\nworked up into literary form, while other details relating to the same\nsubject-matter, but entirely irrelevant, have been added later.\n\nTwo versions of the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ exist, in two medi\u00e6val MSS., now\nin the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. Of these, the _Lebor na\nh-Udri_, or \u2018Book of the Dun\u2019 (_sc._ \u2018Cow\u2019), is the oldest extant\nIrish MS. which contains a collection of secular literature, being\ncopied about 1103 from another MS., probably about fifty years older,\nwhich was itself compiled from various earlier writings. The other\nMS., the _Lebor Brec_, \u2018Speckled Book,\u2019 was written towards the end\nof the fourteenth century. Both versions have been edited and printed\nby Professor Windisch in _Irische Texte_, vol. i. I believe that no\ncomplete translation of either version has been published in a form\ngenerally accessible, though O\u2019Donovan made and translated extracts\nfrom it, and Dr. Whitley Stokes has edited and translated it, with\nnotes, but printed fifty copies only for private distribution (Simla,\n1870). I have had the advantage of referring to this edition, thanks\nto the courtesy of Mr. Alfred Nutt, to whom I am indebted for several\nvaluable suggestions and corrections.\n\nThe following translation has been made from the L.U. version. There\nis little difference in substance between the two versions, but the\nL.U. is more attractive from a literary point of view, the L.B. being\nsomewhat overloaded in places with Latin quotations, while it wants the\nconcluding chapter, which the L.U. possesses.\n\n\n\n\n3. TRANSLATION OF THE FIS ADAMN\u00c1IN\n\n\n1. Noble and wonderful is the Lord of the Elements, and great and\nmarvellous are His might and His power. For He calleth to Himself in\nHeaven the charitable and merciful, the meek and considerate; but He\nconsigns and casts down to Hell the impious and unprofitable host\nof the children of the curse. For upon the blessed He bestows the\nhidden treasures and the manifold wages of Heaven, while He inflicts a\ndiversity of torments, in many kinds, upon the sons of death.\n\n2. Now there are multitudes of the saints and righteous ones of the\nLord of Creation, and of the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ,\nunto whom have been revealed the secrets and the mysteries of the\nHeavenly Kingdom, and the golden wages of the righteous; likewise the\ndivers pains of Hell, with them that are set in the midst thereof. For\nunto the Apostle Peter was shown the four-cornered vessel, let down\nfrom Heaven,[6] with four cords to it, and they with sound as sweet\nas any music. Also, the Apostle Paul was caught up to Heaven,[7] and\nheard the ineffable words of the angels, and the speech of them that\ndwell in Heaven. Moreover, on the day of Mary\u2019s death, all the apostles\nwere brought to look upon the pains and miserable punishments of the\nunblest; for the Lord commanded the angels of the West[8] to open up\nthe earth before the face of the apostles, that they might see and\nconsider Hell with all its torments, even as Himself had told them,\nlong time before His Passion.\n\n3. Finally, to Adamn\u00e1n ua Thinne, the High Scholar of the Western\nWorld, were revealed the things which are here recorded; for his\nsoul departed from out his body on the feast of John Baptist, and\nwas conveyed to the celestial realm, where the heavenly angels are,\nand to Hell, with its rabble rout. For no sooner had the soul issued\nfrom out the body, than there appeared to it the angel that had been\nits guardian while in the flesh, and bore it away with him to view,\nfirstly, the Kingdom of Heaven.\n\n4. Now the first land to which they come is the Land of Saints. A\nbright land of fair weather is that country. In it are diverse and\nwondrous companies, clad in cassocks of white linen, with hoods of\nradiant white upon their heads. The saints of the Eastern world form\na company apart in the East of the Land of Saints; the saints of the\nWestern world are to the West of the same land; the saints of the\nNorthern world and of the South, in their great concourse, are to the\nSouth and North. For every one that is in the Land of Saints may freely\nlisten to the music, and may contemplate the vault,[9] wherein are the\nnine classes of Heaven, after their rank and order.\n\n5. For one spell, then, the saints keep singing marvellous music in\npraise of God; for another, they are listening to the music of the\nheavenly host; for the saints have no other need than to listen to the\nmusic that they hear, and to contemplate the radiance that they see,\nand to sate themselves with the fragrance that there is in that land.\nThe wonderful Lord is face to face with them, in the South-east,[10]\nand a crystal veil between; to the South is a golden portico, and\nthrough it they discern the form and adumbration of the people of\nHeaven. No veil, however, nor cloud is between the Host of Heaven and\nthe Host of the Saints, but those are ever manifest and present unto\nthese, in a place that is over against them. A circle of fire surrounds\nthis place, yet do they all pass in and out, and it does scathe to\nnone.\n\n6. Now, the Twelve Apostles and Mary the pure Virgin form a band\napart, about the mighty Lord. Next to the Apostles are the Patriarchs\nand Prophets, and the disciples of Jesus. On the other side are holy\nVirgins, at Mary\u2019s right hand, and with no great space between. Babes\nand striplings are about them on every side, and the bird-choirs of the\nheavenly folk, making their minstrelsy. And amid these companies, bands\nof angels, guardians of the souls, do perpetual suit and service in the\nRoyal presence. No man is there in this present life who may describe\nthose assemblies, or who may tell of the very manner of them. And the\nbands and companies which are in the land of saints abide continually\nin even such great glory as aforesaid, until the great Parliament[11]\nof Doom, when the righteous Judge, on the Day of Judgment, shall\ndispose them in their stations and abiding places, where they shall\ncontemplate God\u2019s countenance, with no veil nor shadow between, through\nages everlasting.\n\n7. But great and vast as are the splendour and the radiance in the\nLand of Saints, even as hath been said, more vast, a thousand times,\nthe splendour which is in the region of the Heavenly Host, about the\nLord\u2019s own throne. This throne is fashioned like unto a canopied\nchair,[12] and beneath it are four columns of precious stone. Though\none should have no minstrelsy at all, save the harmonious music of\nthose four columns, yet would he have his fill of melody and delight.\nThree stately birds are perched upon that chair, in front of the King,\ntheir minds intent upon the Creator throughout all ages, for that is\ntheir vocation. They celebrate the eight [canonical] hours, praising\nand adoring the Lord, and the Archangels accompany them. For the birds\nand the Archangels lead the music, and then the Heavenly Host, with the\nSaints and Virgins, make response.\n\n8. Over the head of the Glorious One that sitteth upon the royal throne\nis a great arch, like unto a wrought helmet, or a regal diadem:[13] and\nthe eye which should behold it would forthwith melt away. Three circles\nare round about it, separating it from the host, and by no explanation\nmay the nature of them be known. Six thousand thousands, in guise of\nhorses and of birds, surround the fiery chair, which still burns on,\nwithout end or term.\n\n9. Now to describe the mighty Lord that is upon that throne is not for\nany, unless Himself should do so, or should so direct the heavenly\ndignitaries. For none could tell of his vehemence and might, His\nglow[14] and splendour, His brightness and loveliness, His liberality\nand steadfastness, nor of the multitude of His Angels and Archangels,\nwhich chant their songs to Him. His messengers keep going to and from\nHim, ever and anon, with brief messages to each assemblage, telling\nto the one host of His mildness and mercy, and to the other of His\nsternness and harshness.\n\n10. Whoso should stand facing about him, East and West, South and\nNorth, would behold on each side of him a majestic countenance, seven\ntimes as radiant as the sun. No human form thereto, with head or foot,\nmay be discerned, but a fiery mass, burning on for ever, while one and\nall are filled with awe and trembling before Him. Heaven and earth are\nfilled full with the light of Him, and a radiance as of a royal star\nencircles Him.[15] Three thousand different songs are chanted by each\nseveral choir about Him, and sweeter than all the varied music of the\nworld is each individual song of them.\n\n11. Furthermore, in this wise is the fashion of that city, wherein that\nthrone is set. Seven crystal walls of various hue surround it, each\nwall higher than the wall that is before it.[16] The floor, moreover,\nand the lowest base of that city, is of fair crystal, with the sun\u2019s\ncountenance upon it(?), shot with blue, and purple, and green, and\nevery hue beside.\n\n12. A gentle folk, most mild, most kindly, lacking in no goodly\nquality, are they that dwell within that city; for none come there,\nand none abide there ever, save holy youths, and pilgrims zealous for\nGod. But as for their array and ordinance, hard is it to understand\nhow it is contrived, for none turns back nor side to other, but the\nunspeakable power of God has set, and keeps, them face to face,\nin ranks and lofty coronels, all round the throne, circling it in\nbrightness and bliss, their faces all towards God.\n\n13. There is a chancel rail[17] of silver between each two choirs,\ncunningly wrought upon with red gold and silver, and choice rows\nof precious stones, variegated with diverse gems, and against that\nlattice are seats and canopies[18] of carbuncle. Between every two\nchief companies are three precious stones, softly vocal with sweet\nmelody, and the upper halves of them are lighted lamps. Seven thousand\nangels, as it were great candles, shine and illumine that city round\nabout; seven thousand others in the midst thereof are aflame for ever,\nthroughout the royal city. The men of all the world, if gathered into\none place, many as they are, would derive sustenance enough from the\nsweet savour of any one of those candles.\n\n14. Now, such of the world\u2019s inhabitants as attain not to that city\nafter their life is spent, and to whom a dwelling-place therein is\nallotted after the Words of Doom shall have been spoken, find a\nrestless and unstable habitation, until the coming of Judgment, on\nheights and hill-tops, and in marshy places. Even so fare those hordes\nand companies, with the guardian angel of every soul in their midst,\nserving and tending them. In the main doorway of the city they are\nconfronted by a veil of fire and a veil of ice, smiting perpetually\none against the other. The noise and din of these veils, as they\nclash together, are heard throughout the world, and the seed of Adam,\nshould they hear that din, would be seized thereat with trembling\nand intolerable dismay. Faint and dazed are the wicked at that din;\nhowbeit, on the side of the Heavenly Host, nought is heard of that rude\ndiscord, save a very little only, and that sweeter than any music.\n\n15. Awful is that city, and wonderful to describe; for a little out\nof much is that which we have told concerning its various orders, and\nthe wonders of it. Seldom indeed may a spirit, after its converse and\nco-habitation with the body, in slumber and repose, in freedom and\nluxury, win its way to the throne of the Creator, unguided of the\nangels; for hard of essay are the seven Heavens, nor is any one of them\neasier than the rest. Six guarded doors confront all those of mortal\nrace who reach the Kingdom. There sits a porter and warder of the\nHeavenly Host, keeping guard over each door. At the door of that Heaven\nwhich is nearest on the hither side sits the Archangel Michael, and\nwith him two youths,[19] with iron rods in their laps to scourge and\nsmite the sinners as they pass through this the first grief and torment\nof the path they have to tread.\n\n16. At the door of the next Heaven, the Archangel Ariel is warder, and\nwith him two youths,[20] with fiery scourges in their hands, wherewith\nthey scourge the wicked across the face and eyes. A river of fire, its\nsurface an ever-burning flame, lies before that door. Abersetus is the\nangel\u2019s name who keeps watch over that river, and purges the souls of\nthe righteous, and washes them in the stream, according to the amount\nof guilt that cleaves to them, until they become pure and shining as\nis the radiance of the stars. Hard by is a pleasant spring, flowery\nand fragrant, to cleanse and solace the souls of the righteous, though\nit annoys and scalds the souls of the guilty, and does away nought\nfrom them, but it is increase of pain and torment that comes upon them\nthere. Sinners arise from out of it in grief and immeasurable sadness,\nbut the righteous proceed with joy and great delight to the door of the\nthird Heaven.\n\n17. Above this, a fiery furnace keeps ever burning, its flames reaching\na height of twelve thousand cubits; through it the righteous pass\nin the twinkling of an eye, but the souls of sinners are baked and\nscorched therein for twelve years, and then their guardian angel\nconveys them to the fourth door. About the entrance door of the fourth\nHeaven is a fiery stream, like the foregoing. It is surrounded by a\nwall of fire, in breadth twelve thousand measured cubits, through which\nthe souls of the righteous pass as though it were not there, while\nthe souls of the sinful tarry therein, amid pain and tribulation, for\nanother twelve years, until their guardian angel bears them to the door\nof the fifth Heaven.\n\n18. In that place is a fiery river, which is unlike all other rivers,\nfor in the midst of it is a strange kind of whirlpool, wherein the\nsouls of the wicked keep turning round and round, and there they abide\nfor the space of sixteen years; the righteous, however, win through it\nstraightway, without any hindrance. So soon as the due time cometh for\nthe sinners to be released thereout, the angel strikes the water with a\nrod, hard as though it were of stone, and uplifts the spirits with the\nend of that rod. Then Michael bears them up to the door of the sixth\nHeaven; but no pain nor torment is meted out to the spirits at that\ndoor, but there they are illumined with the lustre and the brilliancy\nof precious stones. Then Michael cometh to the Angel of the Trinity,\nand one on either side they usher the soul into the presence of God.\n\n19. Infinite and beyond all telling is the welcome wherewith the Lord\nand the Heavenly Host then receive the soul, if he be a pure and\nrighteous soul; if, however, he be an unrighteous and unprofitable\nsoul, harsh and ungentle is the reception of him by the Mighty Lord.\nFor He saith to the Heavenly Angels, \u2018Take, O Heavenly Angels, this\nunprofitable soul, and deliver him into the hand of Lucifer, that he\nmay plunge him and utterly extinguish him in Hell\u2019s profound, through\nages everlasting.\u2019\n\n20. Thereupon that wretched soul is parted, fearfully, sternly,\nawfully, from sight of the Heavenly Kingdom, and of God\u2019s countenance.\nThen utters he a groan, heavier than any groan, as he comes into the\nDevil\u2019s presence, after beholding the bliss of the Kingdom of Heaven.\nHe is then deprived of the guidance of the Archangels, in whose company\nhe had come unto Heaven. Twelve fiery dragons swallow up every spirit,\none after the other, until the lowest dragon lands him in the Devil\u2019s\nmaw. There doth he experience the consummation of all evil, in the\nDevil\u2019s own presence, throughout all ages.\n\n21. After that his guardian angel had revealed to Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s spirit\nthese visions of the Heavenly Kingdom, and of the first progress of\nevery soul after parting from its body, he brought him to visit the\nnethermost Hell, with all its pains, and its crosses, and its torments.\nNow, the first region whereunto he came was a land burnt black, waste\nand scorched, but with no punishment at all therein. A glen, filled\nwith fire, was on the further side of it; huge the flame of it,\nextending beyond the margin on either hand. Black its base, red the\nmiddle, and the upper part thereof. Eight serpents were in it, with\neyes like coals of fire.\n\n22. An enormous bridge spans the glen, reaching from one bank to the\nother; high the middle of it, but lower its two extremities. Three\ncompanies seek to pass over it, but not all succeed. One company find\nthe bridge to be of ample width, from beginning to end, until they win\nacross the fiery glen, safe and sound, fearless and undismayed. The\nsecond company, when entering upon it, find it narrow at first, but\nbroad afterwards, until they, in like manner, fare across that same\nglen, after great peril. But for the last company the bridge is broad\nat first, but strait and narrow thereafter, until they fall from the\nmidst of it into that same perilous glen, into the throats of those\neight red-hot serpents, that have their dwelling-place in the glen.\n\n23. Now the folk to whom that path was easy were the chaste, the\npenitent, the diligent, they who had zealously borne a bloody testimony\nto God. The band who found the path narrow at first, but afterwards\nbroad, were they who had hardly been constrained to do God\u2019s will, but\nhad afterwards converted their constraint into the willing service of\nGod. They, however, to whom this way was broad at first, but strait\nthereafter, were sinners who had listened to the precepts in God\u2019s\nword, and after having heard, fulfilled them not.\n\n24. Furthermore, vast multitudes abide beyond, feeble and powerless,\nupon the shore of perpetual pain, in the land of utter darkness. Every\nother hour the pain ebbs away from them, and the next hour it returns\nupon them again. Now these are they in whom good and evil were equally\nbalanced, and on the Day of Doom, judgment shall be passed between\nthem, and their good shall quench their evil on that day; and then\nshall they be brought to the Haven of Life, in God\u2019s own presence,\nthrough ages everlasting.\n\n25. Another great company is there, near to the last-named group, and\nmonstrous their torment. And this is their plight: they are fettered\nto fiery columns, a sea of fire about them up to their chins, and\nabout their middle fiery chains, in the shape of vipers. Their faces\nare aflame with agony. They who are tormented thus are sinners,\nfratricides,[21] ravagers of God\u2019s Church, and merciless Erenachs,[22]\nwho, in presence of the relics of the Saints, had been set over the\nChurch\u2019s tithes and oblations,[23] and had alienated these riches to\ntheir private store, away from the Lord\u2019s guests and needy ones.\n\n26. Great multitudes there are, standing in blackest mire up to their\ngirdles. Short cowls of ice are on them. Without rest or intermission,\nthrough all time, their girdles are perpetually scorching them with\nalternate cold and heat. Demon hosts surround them, with fiery\nclubs[24] in their hands, striking them over the head, though they\nstruggle against them continually. These wretches all have their\nforeheads to the North, and a rough, sharp wind blowing full upon their\nforeheads, in addition to every other woe. Red showers of fire are\nraining on them, every night and every day, and they cannot ward them\noff, but must needs endure them throughout all ages, wailing and making\nmoan.\n\n27. Some of them have streams of fire in the hollows of their visages;\nsome, fiery nails through their tongues; others, through their heads,\nfrom side to side. They who are so punished are thieves and liars,\nand they who have practised treachery, reviling robbery and rapine;\njudges of false judgment and contentious persons; women who have dealt\nin poison and spells, reivers,[25] and learned men who have practised\nheresy. Another great throng is set upon islands, in the midst of the\nfiery sea. About them is a silver wall [built] of the raiment and the\nalms [which they had bestowed]. These are they who have practised\nmercy without zeal,[26] and have remained in loose living, and in the\nbonds of their sin, until the hour of their death; but their alms are\na bulwark unto them, amid the fiery sea, until the Judgment, and after\nJudgment they shall be brought into the Haven of Life.\n\n28. Another great multitude is there, clad in red and fiery mantles\ndown to their middle.[27] Their trembling and their outcries make\nthemselves heard, even unto the firmament. An unspeakable throng of\ndemons is throttling them, holding in leash the while raw-hided,\nstinking hounds, which they incite to devour and consume them. Red\nglowing chains[28] are constantly ablaze about their necks. Every\nalternate hour they are borne up to the firmament, and the next hour\nthey are dashed down into Hell\u2019s profound. Now they that are punished\nin this wise are the regulars who have transgressed their rule,[29] and\nbecome loathers of piety; also, impostors who have deceived and seduced\nthe multitude, and have undertaken miracles and wonders which they are\nnot able to perform. Moreover, the children that are tearing the men\nin orders, are they who were committed to them for amendment, but they\namended them not, neither reproved them for their sins.\n\n29. Thereafter, is another vast company; East and West they go,\nunresting, across the fiery flagstones, at war with demon hosts.\nInnumerable showers of red-hot arrows are rained upon them by the\ndemons. Running, they go on without stop or stay, making for a black\nlake and a black river, that they may quench those arrows therein. A\nweeping and wailing, truly miserable and piteous, do the sinners make\nin those waters, for in them they only meet with augmentation of their\npain. Now they that are punished thus are cheating artificers, weavers,\nand merchants; judges that judged falsely, both Jews, and others\nlikewise; impious kings, Erenachs of lewd and crooked ways, adulterous\nwomen, and the panders that destroyed them by their evil practices.\n\nBeyond the land of torment is a fiery wall; seven times more horrible\nand cruel is it than the land of pain itself. Howbeit, no soul dwells\ntherein till Judgment, but it is the province of the demons only, until\nthe Day of Judgment.\n\n30. At that time, woe unto him that shall dwell amid those pains, in\ncompany with the Devil\u2019s own tribe! Woe unto him that is not ware of\nthat tribe! Woe unto him over whom a vile and savage demon is set in\ndominion! Woe unto him that shall be hearkening unto the spirits,\nmaking moan and complaining unto the Lord, for the speedy coming of\nthe Day of Judgment, that they may know whether they shall find any\nremission of their doom; for they get no respite ever, save only for\nthree hours on every Sunday. Woe unto him unto whom that land shall\nbe for a lasting inheritance, even for ever and ever! For this is the\nnature of it: Mountains, caverns, and thorny brakes; plains, bare and\nparched, with stagnant, serpent-haunted lochs. The soil is rough and\nsandy, very rugged, icebound. Broad fiery flagstones bestrew the plain.\nGreat seas are there, with horrible abysses, wherein is the Devil\u2019s\nconstant habitation and abiding-place. Four mighty rivers cross the\nmiddle of it: a river of fire, a river of snow, a river of poison, a\nriver of black, murky water. In these wallow eager hosts of demons,\nafter making their holiday and their delight in tormenting the souls.\n\n31. What time the holy companies of the Heavenly Host are singing the\neight hours with harmonious melody, praising the Lord with cheerfulness\nand great gladness, then do the souls of the wicked utter piteous and\nweary wailings, as they are buffeted unceasingly by the demon hordes.\n\nSuch then are the pains and torments which his guardian angel revealed\nto the spirit of Adamn\u00e1n, after his journey towards the Heavenly\nKingdom. After which he was borne in the twinkling of an eye through\nthe golden forecourt,[30] and through the crystal veil, to the Land of\nSaints, whereunto he had been brought at first, after his departure\nfrom the body. But when he bethought him to rest and tarry in that\nland, he heard, through the veil, the angel\u2019s voice enjoining him to\nreturn again into that body whence he had departed, and to rehearse in\ncourts and assemblies, and in the great congregations of laymen and\nof clerics, the rewards of Heaven and the pains of Hell, even as his\nguardian angel had revealed them unto him.\n\n32. This, then, was the doctrine that Adamn\u00e1n continually taught to\nthe congregations, from that time forth, so long as he remained in\nlife. This, too, is what he preached in the great assemblies of the\nmen of \u00c9ire,[31] wherein the Constitution of Adamn\u00e1n was imposed upon\nthe Gaels, and the women were emancipated by Adamn\u00e1n and by Finnachta\nFledach,[32] King of \u00c9ire, and the princes of \u00c9ire, of one accord.\nSuch, too, were the tidings which Patrick, son of Calpurnius, at the\nGospel-dawn, was ever wont to proclaim--to wit, the rewards of Heaven\nand the pains of Hell--to all them that would believe in the Lord,\nthrough his teaching, and would accept his guidance of their souls.[33]\nThat, too, is the doctrine most constantly taught by Peter and Paul,\nand the [other] apostles likewise, to wit, the enumeration of the\nrewards and pains which had been revealed to them in like manner. And\nso did Silvester, Abbot of Rome, teach Constantine, son of Helen, High\nKing of the World, in the General Synod when he offered Rome to Paul\nand to Peter.[34] Even so did Fabian, successor to Peter, teach Philip,\nson of Gordian, the King of Rome, whereby he believed in the Lord, and\nmany thousands beside believed in that hour.[35] For he was the first\nKing of Rome that believed in the Saviour, Jesus Christ.\n\n33. And these are the tidings which Elias declares continually unto the\nsouls of the righteous, under the Tree of Life, which is in Paradise.\nSo soon as Elias opens his book in order to instruct the spirits,\nthe souls of the righteous, in form of bright white birds, repair to\nhim from every side. Then he tells them, first, of the wages of the\nrighteous, the joys and delights of the Heavenly Realm, and right glad\nthereat are all the throng. After that he tells them of the pains and\ntorments of Hell, and the woes of Doomsday; and easy it is to mark the\nlook of sorrow that is upon his face, and upon the face of Enoch; and\nthese are the two sorrows of the Heavenly Kingdom. Then Elias shuts\nhis book, and thereupon the birds make exceeding great lamentation,\nstraining their wings against their bodies till streams of blood issue\nfrom them, in dismay of the woes of Hell and of the Day of Doom.\n\n34. Now, seeing that they who make this moan are the Saints to whom\nhave been allotted everlasting mansions in the Heavenly Realm, how much\nmore fitting were it for the men that are yet on earth to ponder, even\nwith tears of blood, upon the Judgment Day, and upon the pains of Hell.\nFor at that time will the Lord render due recompense to every one on\nearth; that is to say, rewards to the righteous, and punishments to the\nguilty. And at that very time shall the guilty be set in the abyss of\neverlasting pain, and the book of the Word of God shall then be closed,\nunder the curse of the Judge of Doom, for ever. But the saints and the\nrighteous, the charitable and the merciful, shall be borne to the right\nhand of God, to a lasting habitation in the Kingdom of Heaven, there to\nabide without age or death, end or term, for ever and ever.\n\n35. This, then, is the manner of that City: A Kingdom without pride,\nor vanity, or falsehood, or outrage, or deceit, or pretence,[36] or\nblushing, or shame, or reproach, or insult, or envy, or arrogance,\nor pestilence, or disease, or poverty, or nakedness, or death, or\nextinction, or hail, or snow, or wind, or rain, or din, or thunder,\nor darkness, or cold,--a noble, admirable, ethereal realm, endowed\nwith the wisdom,[37] and radiance, and fragrance of a plenteous land,\nwherein is the enjoyment of every excellence.\n\nFINIT--AMEN--FINIT.\n\n\n\n\nPART II\n\n\n\n\n1. THE CLASSICAL TRADITION\n\n\nThe legend which forms the ground-plan of the Vision of Adamn\u00e1n and of\nthe _Commedia_ of Dante, can claim a pedigree of great antiquity that\nmay be traced back along several widely divergent lines. The principal\nof these may be grouped roughly under the heads of the Classical\nTradition, the Eastern Tradition, the Ecclesiastical Tradition,\nresulting from the fusion in the early Christian Church of Hellenic and\nOriental schools of thought; and the Irish Tradition, which last does\nnot so much represent an entirely independent growth of the legend, as\na new departure, whereby the Ecclesiastical Tradition, transplanted\nto Ireland, and there coming into contact with certain cognate ideas\nwhich were prominent in the native mythology and romantic literature,\nacquired a fresh development, and reappeared in several forms which\nbecame the most popular exponents of the medi\u00e6val theories of the\nOtherworld, until the revival of classical learning, in the twelfth and\nfollowing centuries, enabled Dante to carry the leading idea, common to\nall forms alike, to its culmination.\n\nThe Classical Tradition was preserved in the Middle Ages chiefly\nthrough the sixth book of Virgil\u2019s _\u00c6neid_, which relates the visit of\n\u00c6neas to Hades; but this episode was itself suggested by the similar\nadventure of Odysseus, told in the eleventh book of the _Odyssey_. The\nfundamental conception, a visit paid to the Otherworld by a living man,\nappears in many of the Greek myths: _e.g._ in the journey to Hades of\nDemeter, in the course of her search after her daughter Persephone,\nstolen away by Pluto; of Orpheus in quest of Eurydice; of Theseus and\nPeirithoos in their attempt to abduct Persephone; of Herakles, Castor\nand Pollux, and others. Like most of the myths that have contrived to\n\u2018make their fortune\u2019 by virtue of their strong appeal to the human\nimagination, these legends, when the myth-making age had long departed\nfrom the Hellenic peoples, and the age of creative imagination had\ngiven place to one of literary culture, passed into the domain of\nliterature pure and simple. As such they entered upon a new life in the\nwritings of the Latin authors; for even in Virgil the literary aspect\nof the legend predominates, though not to the exclusion of its more\nserious elements. This merely literary character is yet more apparent\nin the treatment of the legend by the tragic poets, and by Lucan and\nClaudian, while Apuleius, the Perrault of antiquity, found in it a\ntheme for the play of his graceful fancy.\n\nThe early descriptions of the Otherworld, being originally myths\nof spontaneous growth, and not composed to be the vehicles of\ninstruction or edification, contain little of eschatological or\nethical significance,[38] the few stock examples which they give\nof the penalties attached to guilt being rather instances of the\nprivate vengeance of Zeus upon those who had rebelled against him,\nor had outraged the dignity of some member of the divine family of\nwhich he was the head. In these accounts the abode of the departed\nappears as a dreary region, wherein they lead a shadowy and undesirable\nexistence;[39] and although, side by side with this conception, another\ntheory subsisted, assigning to the happy dead a serene existence in\nthe Elysian plain, or in the enchanted isle of Leuke, this belief did\nnot go beyond the notion, vaguely, however beautifully, expressed,\nof a bright and happy region of perpetual calm, where death or decay\nor care was unknown, and the departed spirits dwelt in flowery and\nfragrant meadows, beneath blossoming trees, beside calm seas or\nsmoothly flowing streams, while soft breezes were perpetually blowing.\nThe Greek poets, from Homer downwards, contain innumerable references\nto this Elysium,[40] but although we sometimes find a hint, as in\nPindar and some of the tragic poets, that these joys are reserved for\nthose who have deserved them by a righteous life on earth, the later\ninstances show scarcely any advance upon the earlier in the direction\nof a systematic eschatology, and consequently brought the Vision legend\nlittle, if any, further on its way.[41]\n\nOur legend, however, received fuller development in another school of\nHellenic thought. Simultaneously with the mythology of the Greeks,\nand on one side distinct from it, though on the other side closely\nconnected with it, existed a tradition of a more essentially religious\ncharacter; religion being distinguished from philosophical speculation\non the one hand, and myth and legend on the other. Hence, apparently,\nproceeded the Neo-platonising tendency in Greek philosophy--to adopt\nthe familiar and convenient name, though the thing is older than the\nNeo-Platonists, or than Plato himself--the tendency to regard the old\nmyths as a repository of the \u2018Wisdom of the Ancients,\u2019 and to disengage\nfrom the husk of fable the moral and scientific truths which it was\nsupposed to contain. In so doing, the philosophic schools were not\nmerely attempting to read their own notions into the traditions of\nantiquity, but were also, to some extent, endeavouring to develop germs\nwhich already existed in the best and most serious thought of their\nown and earlier times. This side of the Hellenic religion would appear\nto have existed in its purest and most highly developed form in the\nMysteries, especially those practised at Eleusis, and at other places\nin which the Eleusinian rites prevailed.\n\nMost questions relating to the Greek mysteries, their place of origin,\nthe date of their introduction, the relation of one school to another,\nthe rites practised therein, and the nature of the instruction imparted\nto the neophytes, have given rise to many debates, and some of them\ncan hardly yet be regarded as entirely settled. Happily, our subject\ndoes not call for discussion of these contested points, all that we are\nconcerned with being the significance of the mysteries to the spiritual\nlife of Greece at the time of their highest development. The general\nresult of investigation would seem to make it probable that the Greeks,\nfrom a very early period, practised certain rites in honour of Demeter,\nand that these rites were connected with agriculture, and with the\nmeans whereby the unseen powers presiding over it might be rendered\npropitious. These rites, as in many barbarous nations, were held to\nconfer certain privileges upon the participants, who could only obtain\naccess thereto by a secret initiation; and when the ideas of death and\nrenovation, which arose naturally out of the subject, proceeded by an\neasy transition--partly by an inherent principle of growth, and partly\nthrough the introduction of foreign elements[42]--to questionings\nconcerning man\u2019s fate after death, the same rites were regarded as\nefficacious in ameliorating his condition in the unseen world. At the\nsame time, as the doctrine of the effect of conduct upon the future\nlife gained ground, this side of the question likewise came within the\npurview of the mystical schools, and an ethical as well as a theurgic\nefficacy was ascribed to the initiation rite. This important step in\nadvance would appear to have been taken in the sixth century B.C. at\nlatest, when the theories of the Orphic-Pythagorean school became\nwidely diffused. M. Foucart, as we have seen in the last note, holds\nthat this movement was due to the Egyptian researches carried on by\nthe early Greek philosophers in the course of their travels; Rohde, on\nthe other hand, regards it as a strictly national movement, and denies\nthe late adoption of any alien faith of a highly developed character.\nIn any case, it is certain that the theories of which Pythagoras was\nthe most famous exponent assumed great prominence at this time. The\nleading principle of these was the doctrine of the soul\u2019s rebirth on\nearth, in another body, after undergoing a process of purification in\nthe Otherworld. It was one of the primary objects of the mysteries to\nensure that the soul\u2019s progress through the intermediate state should\nbe as easy, and the conditions of its rebirth as favourable, as could\nbe effected by the due performance of the mystical rites; and while the\ngreat progress of ethics, which with the early philosophers went hand\nand hand with philosophical speculation, effected a fuller recognition\nof moral conduct in this life as one of the means most conducive to the\ndesired end, preference was still given, even among the righteous, to\nthose who had undergone the initiation ceremony.[43]\n\nProfessor Gardner even traces the Hades theory from the mystic rites\n(_loc. cit._); probably this derivation would only apply to that\ntheory in its more fully developed form. He holds that the Orphic cult\n\u2018occupies the background of religious life\u2019 in Greece; that it was an\nenthusiastic type of religion, and capable of ready association with\nthe ideals of such moral and political revivalists as Pythagoras and\nEmpedocles. According to this authority, there were two foci of the\nOrphic cult: at Eleusis, and in the rites of Dionysos. M. Foucart,\nit will be remembered, denies any connection between Eleusis and the\nOrphic mysteries; in which contention he would appear to be supported\nby Plato, who speaks slightingly of the latter, while several passages\nin his writings testify to his respect for the mysteries of Eleusis.\nCertainly the two were respectively connected, originally, with the\nworship of two separate and widely different divinities, although,\nboth having to do with the earth as the source and the renewer of\nlife, they soon tended towards certain common developments. Perhaps we\nmay not greatly err if we assume that the Orphic mysteries, in their\nmost perfected form, were more especially concerned with the orgiastic\nritual and with the doctrine of reincarnation, now reduced to a\nphilosophical system, while in the Eleusinian school ritual became more\nclosely connected with personal morality, thus assuming an aspect more\nstrictly \u2018religious,\u2019 in the modern sense of the word.\n\nM. Foucart, indeed, holds that the instruction imparted in the\nEleusinian mysteries was _essentiellement pratique; elle avait pour\nobjet de mettre l\u2019homme en \u00e9tat de se tirer d\u2019affaire lorsqu\u2019il\narrivait dans la demeure d\u2019Hades_ (_op. cit._, p. 63). By \u2018practical\u2019\nM. Foucart would appear to refer exclusively to those automatic or\nquasi-mechanical effects which are supposed, all the world over,\nto result from the due performance of certain rites. However, the\ntestimony of the Greeks themselves, as appears from the examples\nabout to be cited in connection with our own subject, and from other\nevidences that have come down to us, appears to be conclusive as to the\nvalue attributed to the Eleusinian mysteries, at any rate, as an agent\nof moral reformation. Sir W. M. Ramsay[44] distinguishes between the\nmysteries which had in view the proficiency and advancement of morals,\nand the mysteries which were of an exclusively ritual and orgiastic\nnature, associating the former kind with Eleusis, and places where\nkindred rites were celebrated. In support of this contention, he cites\na number of passages occurring in Greek writers from the fourth century\nB.C. onwards, whence it plainly appears that the Greeks regarded a\nmoral regeneration as a natural concomitant of initiation into the\nmysteries, and even as a condition of happiness in the future life.[45]\n\nIt is in connection with the mysteries, as representing the moral\nand spiritual side of the Greek religion, whencesoever derived, that\nthe Vision legend becomes impressed with an epideictic character and\ndevelops those elements which had barely existed in germ in the popular\nmythology.\n\nIn the Dialogues of Plato, the legend already appears as a vehicle of\nreligious instruction. Plato, indeed, merely gives literary form to\ntheories which had existed for at least two centuries before his time,\nbut as he is the first to employ the Vision legend in this connection,\nand as it is in his hands that it first assumes its final type,\nessentially identical with that of its successors in the Christian\nChurch, it is convenient to make him a point of departure.\n\nIn the tenth book of his _Republic_ (pp. 614 _sqq._) Plato records\nthe narrative of one Er, an Armenian, concerning his experiences in\nthe world of spirits. This Er had been killed in battle, and brought\naway with the rest of the slain, but was restored to life. His soul,\nupon issuing from the body, had been conveyed to a certain spiritual\n(\u03b4\u03b1\u03b9\u03bc\u03cc\u03bd\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd) place, where there were two openings leading down below\nthe earth, and two others leading up into heaven, over against one\nanother. Between these openings judges were stationed, who dismissed\nthe souls of the righteous to heaven by the upper and right-hand way,\nhaving first impressed upon their foreheads the decree of absolution,\nand despatched the wicked downward by the left-hand path, branded\nbehind with the record of their misdeeds. The judges commanded Er to\nsee and hear all that passed, that he might become the messenger of it\nall to mankind. The souls of the departed, after a progress lasting\na thousand years, returned by the second openings from the celestial\nand subterranean regions respectively. The return of the one company\nwas marked by joy and gladness, by reason of the delights which they\nhad enjoyed, and the spectacles of inconceivable beauty through which\nthey had passed, in the course of their heavenly journey; they then\nentered for a while into a smiling meadow, there to hold converse with\nothers of the just, both those whom they had known while in the body,\nand others whom they then met for the first time. The other company\nappeared all parched and dusty from their journey, weeping and dismayed\nat the remembrance of all they had seen and suffered during their\npassage beneath the earth, for there each sinner was requited tenfold\nfor all the crimes that he had committed. Among these guilty ones,\nspecial mention is made of homicides: of those who had betrayed cities\nor armies, and brought them into captivity; of those who had committed\nimpiety towards the gods, or inflicted violence upon their parents;\nall of whom were singled out for eximious penalties. Some indeed, such\nas bloody tyrants, and certain private persons who were stained with\nenormous crimes, lost their return entirely; these were dragged back\nby wild-looking, fire-scathed men, fettered hand and foot, beaten down\nand flayed, carded with carding-combs, and finally cast down into\nTartarus. With the exception, however, of this last and worst class\nof criminals, the punishments allotted to all were but of temporary\nduration, and the \u2018souls of a day\u2019 entered upon \u2018another period of\nmortal, death-fraught existence\u2019 under conditions imposed by \u2018the\nDestinies, daughters of Necessity.\u2019\n\nThis account agrees in principle, though not in detail, with _Ph\u00e6do_,\np. 14. In the _Ph\u00e6drus_, Plato speaks of the Eleusinian mysteries as a\nmeans of salvation, and that, apparently, by means of the reformation\neffected through a conscientious adherence to the instructions there\nimparted to the initiate, rather than by any thaumaturgic virtues\ninherent in the rites themselves; the true mystics, in his eyes, being\nthose whom he terms, in the passage of the _Ph\u00e6do_ cited above, \u03bf\u1f31\n\u03c6\u03b9\u03bb\u03bf\u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03af\u1fb3 \u1f31\u03ba\u03b1\u03bd\u1ff6\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b8\u03b7\u03c1\u03ac\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03b9.\n\nIn the _Axiochos_, a dialogue once ascribed to Plato, but written since\nhis time, Socrates is made to describe the abode of the righteous\nas a country of flowery meadows beside clear streams, and full of\nfruit-bearing trees. The light is full and radiant, the air soft and\npleasant, free from extremes of heat and cold. Fit places are provided\nfor philosophical discourse, and there are theatres where poets may\nrecite their verses. The most honourable place is allotted to the\ninitiated, who celebrate the sacred mysteries. This description,\nwhich exhibits a na\u00efve adaptation of the most primitive Elysium to\nthe intellectual requirements of a highly civilised society, is\ninteresting merely as affording additional evidence as to the Athenian\nbelief concerning the rewards of the righteous in a future life,\nand the intimate connection between initiation into the mysteries,\nrighteousness of life, and bliss in the life to come.\n\nIn this connection, perhaps, we ought not to pass over the Hades\njourney of Dionysos, as portrayed in the _Frogs_ of Aristophanes,\nfor, burlesque as it is, it repeatedly expresses views concerning the\nOtherworld coinciding closely, in substance, with the description\ncontained in Plato\u2019s Vision of Er. The _Frogs_ being prior in date\nto the _Republic_, this coincidence affords an independent testimony\nto the representative character of Plato\u2019s eschatological theories,\nthe more so as Aristophanes, in his comedy, would naturally treat his\nsubject in a form that he knew to be familiar to the audience. In this\nplay, reference is made to a true Inferno for punishment of the graver\nsins. In ll. 145-151, Herakles affirms that they who had violated the\nlaws of hospitality, beaten their mother, smitten their father on the\ncheek, perjured themselves, etc. etc., are condemned to wallow in a\nmorass of mud and ordure, like the wrathful, the gloomy-minded, and the\nflatterers, whom Dante consigns to a similar doom in Cantos 7 and 18 of\nthe _Inferno_.[46] On the other hand, \u2018happy bands of men and women\u2019\ninhabit myrtle groves, \u2018in the midst of fairest light\u2019 (ll. 155-7),\nin the dingles of well-flowering meadows (347-8), and fields blooming\nwith roses (448-9), in the enjoyment of dance and song and feast (369\n_sqq._). These are they who have been initiated into the mysteries (l.\n158); nor does this imply a merely ritual initiation, as may not only\nbe inferred from a comparison with the passages from Plato, quoted\nabove, and with the testimonies to the like effect cited by Sir W. M.\nRamsay, but, further, appears from the words of the beatified mystics\nthemselves: \u2018For us alone the sun shines, and the light is cheerful;\nfor us, who are initiate, and have followed the way of righteousness\nin all our dealings, alike with strangers and with our own folk\u2019 (ll.\n454-9).\n\nFour centuries later, Plutarch takes up the tale. His treatise \u2018On the\ntardy vengeance of God\u2019 describes the vision of one Soleus, similar in\ncharacter to that of Plato\u2019s Er, but, in many of its circumstances,\napproximating far more closely to the Christian visions. This Soleus\nhad led a life of extreme wickedness, stained with all manner of\nvice and debauchery; he had been violent, unjust, and fraudulent in\nhis dealings, and had squandered his patrimony by his extravagance.\nBeginning, it would seem, to realise his condition, he sent to the\noracle of Amphilochus to inquire whether the remainder of his life\nshould be better than the earlier part: the oracle replied that it\nshould be better with him after his death. Sometime after this he fell\ndown a precipice, and was taken up for dead; but three days later,\nhaving been carried out for burial, he came to himself just as he\nwas being lowered into the grave, and sat up. Thenceforth he became\na reformed character, and the remainder of his life was as exemplary\nfor virtue as the earlier part had been for wickedness. He explained\nthe reason of this conversion to his friends, by the story of his\nexperiences during his temporary demise. His first sensation was as of\na steersman swept into the sea by a sudden squall. Upon emerging, he\ncould discern, at first, nothing but stars of great magnitude, and very\nfar apart, emitting radiant beams, upon which the soul rode as though\nin a chariot. Looking downward, he descried little fiery bubbles rising\nthrough the yielding air, which, bursting, released aerial forms of men\nand women, some of which mounted straight upward, with great velocity,\nwhile others whirled and span rapidly about in all directions. Among\nthese latter he recognised several of his acquaintance, and tried\nto accost them, but they all avoided him. He was more successful\nwith those spirits who mounted upright, among whom he recognised a\nkinsman who had died young. This spirit saluted him by the name of\nThespesios, or Divine, saying that he must have come thither by order\nof the gods, seeing that he was manifestly alive, for the spirits of\nthe dead neither cast shadows nor open and shut their eyelids.[47]\nUnder his kinsman\u2019s guidance, Thespesios noted the various kinds of\nsouls, and observed that while all were of transparent substance, some\nemitted a pure untroubled light, \u2018like the full moon in her greatest\nresplendence,\u2019 others being marked with long streaks, and others,\nagain, repulsive with black splotches, like those on the skins of\nvipers. His guide accounted for this diversity by expounding the laws\nwhich regulate the condition of departed spirits. Adrasteia, daughter\nof Zeus and Necessity, was charged with a general superintendence\nover the punishments awarded to the guilty, and none of any rank or\nkind might escape her vengeance; but guilt is of various degrees, so\nAdrasteia deputed the chastisement of offences, after their several\nkinds, to three Furies, or avenging spirits. The first of these, Poine,\nis the minister of temporal penalties, whereby minor sinners are purged\nof their guilt by their sufferings in this life. Those whose guilt\nis not to be purged so easily are delivered over, after death, to\nDike, or avenging Justice, to be chastened in manner after described;\nwhile the absolutely incurable are abandoned to Erinnys, who, after\npursuing them in their unavailing flight through countless torments,\nplunges them, at last, into an abyss of unspeakable horror. The souls\nwhich Dike takes in hand she first exposes naked to the gaze of their\nkin, in order, if these were virtuous, that the guilty soul may be\nstricken with the greater shame, or, if they too had been wicked, that\ntheir mutual remorse may be augmented by the sight of one another\u2019s\ndisgrace and sufferings. She then afflicts them with sufferings \u2018as\nfar surpassing in sharpness and severity all torments of the body, as\nreality surpasses an empty dream.\u2019 These punishments leave upon the\nsoul stripes and scars which correspond to the gravity of the offences,\nand gradually disappear as the soul recovers its proper temperament;\nthough certain souls, incapable of thorough reformation, are compelled\nto complete their expiation by inhabiting the bodies of brutes for a\nterm. After this, the spirit conveyed Thespesios across a vast expanse\nover which he was borne upon a ray of light, as easily and swiftly as\nthough upborne by an eagle, until he came to a yawning, unfathomable\nchasm. Here the force which had hitherto sustained him failed; his\nfurther course was stayed, and he, and several others in like case,\nwere left hovering about the mouth of the cavern, like birds that\ndesired to enter in, but dared not. The interior of the chasm was all\ngreen with trees and grass, and adorned with flowers of every hue,\nwhich emitted a fragrance sweeter than is the fragrance of wine to\nthem that love it, and amid all these dwelt the souls of the blest in\nthe utmost mirth and good fellowship. Ere long, Thespesios was carried\nhence and brought to the place of punishment, and among the guilty he\nrecognised certain of his own kin. Here his kindly spirit guide quitted\nhim, and he was taken in charge by several grisly sprites, who thrust\nhim forward and made him observe the torments that were inflicted on\nthe wicked. In the enumeration of these, a quite Dantesque intention\n\u2018to make the punishment fit the crime\u2019 is apparent. For instance,\ncertain who had cloaked a vicious life with fine professions were\nturned inside out, and compelled to wriggle onward in this guise;\nhypocrites were flayed and gashed, so as to reveal their inner nature;\ndeadly enemies were twined together, and gnawed one another, as Ugolino\ngnawed the Archbishop of Pisa in the _Inferno_. Furthermore, there were\nthree lakes--one of molten gold, one of lead, exceeding cold, and one\nof iron; demons armed with tongs, like smiths, plunged the souls of the\navaricious into the lake of molten gold until they were heated through\nand through; then into the leaden lake until they were congealed like\nhail; and, finally, into the iron lake, where they were broken to\npieces; after which they were reintegrated, for a repetition of their\npunishment. But most wretched was the case of them whose crimes had\ncommunicated a taint to their posterity; for when they deemed that the\nDivine justice had wrought its utmost upon them, they were met by the\nscarred and distorted souls of their descendants, who, when their\nparents in grief and shame tried to shirk away from them, would seize\nand cling to them, sometimes, even in clusters like bees or bats, and\nwould hale them back to renewed torments. Finally, the souls who were\ndestined to return to earth in other bodies were wrought and forged\nlike iron to fit them for their new state.\n\nPlutarch\u2019s eschatology displays more system than is to be found in\nhis predecessors, or even in many of the Christian visions; however,\nneither by Plutarch nor by Plato is the doctrine of the metempsychosis\nmade to fit in quite perfectly with that of a state of eternal rewards\nand punishments which co-exists with it. Moreover, the purgatorial\nscheme, though highly elaborated, is conceived entirely with reference\nto the preparation of the soul for a renewed existence upon earth.\n\nIn following up the Greek development of the Vision legend to its\ncompletest exposition in Plutarch, we have passed by the Latin\ncontributions to the subject, earlier than the Vision of Thespesios in\npoint of date, though not in manner of treatment. A generation before\nthe birth of Virgil, Cicero, in his _Somnium Scipionis_, had utilised\nthe Vision as a vehicle of instruction; he, however, took natural\nphilosophy for his theme, not eschatology.\n\nVirgil, indeed, alone of Roman writers, made any contribution of real\nimportance to the development of the Vision legend in literature,\nthough that contribution is the flower and consummation of the legend\nas it appears in the purely classical tradition. For Virgil, saturated\nwith the Hellenic culture, while remaining intensely Roman in his\npolitical views and national sentiment, remains free from any tincture\nof Oriental ideas. Earlier than Plutarch by more than a century, his\ntreatment of the subject is more modern in style and spirit, although,\nin his pictures of the other world, he repeats and combines the ideas\nwhich the ancients had held concerning it. His topography of the other\nworld and of the approaches thereto agrees so closely with the humorous\naccount in the _Frogs_ of Aristophanes, which, evidently, he has no\nintention of copying, as to make it clear that both poets followed, in\nthe main, a generally accepted tradition. So, too, in his descriptions\nof the Elysian Fields and of Tartarus, Virgil simply reproduces in\nsubstance the many similar descriptions which occur in the Greek poets\nand philosophers; and although he perfects these with many exquisite\ntouches of his own, such original contributions of his belong rather\nto the domain of art than of eschatology. To take one instance, his\nenumeration of those righteous ones who are admitted to the seats of\nthe blest, including, as it does,\n\n    Inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes,\n    Quique sui memores alios fecere merendo (_\u00c6n._ vi. 663-4),\n\ncould only have been written in an age of self-conscious culture.\n\nIn his eschatology he is no less conservative than in his descriptions;\nwitness the judgment of the dead by Minos (431 _sqq._) and Rhadamanthus\n(567-9); the Fate of the Giants (580 _sqq._), and other great\noffenders against the persons of the gods (601 _sqq._), etc. etc.\nLike Plutarch, he inflicts heavier penalties upon those who have\nnot expiated their guilt in this life (569). Moreover, he adopts,\nwithout being able to reconcile, the two conflicting theories held\nby his Grecian predecessors, and succeeds no better than Plato and\nhis followers in fusing into a consistent scheme the theory of\nperpetual rewards and punishments, and the collateral theory of the\nmetempsychosis. In his treatment of the whole subject he betrays\nthe influence of several of the later schools of Greek philosophy,\nand appears as a disciple of the Pythagoreans and Stoics as well as\nof Plato. At the same time, he displays his modernity alike in this\neclectic and combining method, and in his general design, which is\nmainly artistic and literary; the Vision legend is not introduced\nwith any hortatory or epideictic purpose, but, as in the earlier\nepic, forms merely a part of the general machinery of the poem, the\nseveral pictures and descriptive incidents of the Otherworld serving\nas frescoes and statues and gargoyles to adorn the main body of the\nedifice. An instance of this occurs in the picturesque grouping of the\nmonsters and personified abstractions about the gates of Hades (_\u00c6n._\nvi. 273-294), which is conceived in a purely artistic spirit, no less\nthan similar descriptions in Ariosto, Spenser, and Milton--we might\nalmost add the Rape of the Lock. The same may be said of the City of\nDis (548 _sqq._). In such passages as these, Virgil indulges the Roman\nlove of classification which appears in that tendency of the national\nreligion to apportion all phases of nature and humanity among countless\n\u2018departmental deities,\u2019 ridiculed by several of the early Christian\nfathers, and notably by St. Augustine.[48]\n\nIn short, Virgil pressed into his service ideas, beliefs, and\nspeculations drawn alike from the popular creeds and traditions, and\nfrom the philosophers of his own and earlier times. These he blended\nwith consummate art into one harmonious whole, uniting antiquity of\nmatter with modernity of treatment; and this completeness, aided by\nthe combination of circumstances which led him to be regarded, in after\ntimes, as at once the epitome and the consummation of the Wisdom of\nthe Ancients, and as, moreover, the divinely inspired herald of the\ncoming transition from Paganism to Christianity, fitted him, at a time\nwhen the higher achievements of the human intellect had to be sought\nin classical antiquity, to become the _duce_, _maestro_, _guida_, that\nDante found in him.\n\n\n\n\n2. THE ORIENTAL TRADITION\n\n\nTo Dante, Virgil appeared as the _sacer vates_ in every sense of the\nterm. As a poet, he towered above all other masters of the craft with\nwhom Dante was acquainted; the testimony of ages had concurred in\npronouncing him to be the repository and the exponent of the wisdom and\nlearning of the ancient world, the only secular wisdom and learning\nto which the Middle Ages could turn for instruction and guidance. His\nfourth Eclogue had led the Church to acclaim him as one of those pagan\nseers to whom, jointly with the Sibyls, a share in the preparation for\nthe Gospel had been committed by Divine appointment, while the sixth\n\u00c6neid directly associated him with the Sibyls themselves; finally,\nhis great poem expressed the very spirit of that Roman Empire, of\nwhich the theory at least constituted the basis and framework of the\necclesiastical and civil polity of Christendom.\n\nHowever, the task which Dante had set himself was nothing less,\naccording to his own affirmation,[49] than to expound the scheme of\nDivine Providence with respect to \u2018man, in so far as by his merit\nor demerit, by virtue of freewill, he is liable to remunerative or\npunitive Justice\u2019;[50] and by the moving picture of \u2018the condition\nof souls after death,\u2019[51] \u2018to withdraw those living in the present\nlife from the state of misery, and to conduct them unto the state of\nbliss.\u2019[52] Having no desire to innovate upon the accepted beliefs, but\nrather to expound them in their utmost completeness, and in accordance\nwith the fulness of knowledge, he naturally, and necessarily, availed\nhimself of the materials preserved in Christian legend and popular\ntradition. These materials, in great measure, were the product of a\nfusion in the primitive Church of the speculations of the Hellenistic\nschools with an abundant heritage of analogous conceptions, which had\nbeen bequeathed to it by the earlier dispensation.\n\nLong before the Christian era, a gradual process of accretion had been\ngoing on within the Jewish Church. In the days of their freedom, the\npeople of Israel had addicted themselves but little to speculations\nconcerning the Otherworld; during the captivity, however, they had\ncome into contact with the richer mythology of the conquering nations,\nand after the return they fell under the influence of the various\nschools of philosophy, whose teaching, coloured with a theosophic tinge\nof continually increasing depth, permeated Syria in common with all\nother lands in which the Hellenistic culture prevailed. These various\ninfluences combined to produce a more spiritual type of religion, and\na more elaborate eschatology, than had originally entered into the\nnational faith of Israel.\n\nThe legend of a Vision of the Otherworld, in the East as in Hellas,\nhad gradually developed from the most primitive beginnings, the first\nappearance of it occurring at a very early stage of popular tradition.\nThe sacred books of Assyria, which themselves embodied much of the\nmythology of the earlier Accadian race, record the descent into\nHades of the goddess Isht\u00e2r, in quest of the waters of life, and of\nthe national hero Gisdubar, who, like Odysseus and \u00c6neas, had gone\nthither seeking counsel from the shades of his ancestors. The abodes\nof the dead are approached through seven successive gates, guarded by\nmonsters, and at each sits a porter who strips the souls that enter of\nsome part of their raiment, until, after passing the last gate, they\nenter the world of shades as naked as when they came into the world\nthey have just left. Gisdubar, who had been conveyed to the regions of\nthe dead by a ferry, wherein we see the prototype of Charon\u2019s boat,\nwas met on his arrival by monsters, between man and scorpion in shape,\nwho directed him to the abode of the blest, situate \u2018at the mouth of\nthe rivers.\u2019 He accordingly reached a grove by the sea-shore, at the\nestuary of a river, which was the Waters of Death. The trees in this\ngrove were laden with precious stones, and guarded by two maidens, who\nshut the door against Gisdubar, because he bore the marks of the Divine\nwrath upon him. The Chaldean Elysium is described as a mountain lying\nbeneath a sky of silver, and bearing crops without need of tillage.\nHere the souls of heroes and great men dwell for ever, reclining\non couches, and drinking the waters of life.[53] These waters are\nrepresented in the story of the descent of Isht\u00e2r as proceeding from\nunder a golden throne, set in the midst of Hades, whereon sat the\nSpirits of Earth. In the grove of Eridu stood a Tree of Life, which\nappears to have been a World Tree, like Yggdrasil, and at the same time\nto have possessed the property of restoring life and strength to the\nindividual. This tree was guarded by cherubim, whose heads were like\nthe heads of hawks or eagles. From this Elysium a way led to Arali, the\nabode of the dead in general.\n\nThat abode is described as \u2018a gloomy realm beneath the earth, wherein\nthe spirits of the dead flit about in darkness, with dust and mud for\ntheir food and drink.\u2019[54] No hint is there of reward or punishment;\nthe same dreary lot awaits the evil and the good alike so soon as they\nhave quitted the light of day. The only attempt at a differential\ntreatment is found in that aristocratic conception of Elysium which\nprovides a place there for heroes and great men alone; a conception\nwhich the ancient inhabitants of Chald\u00e6a shared with many races of very\ndifferent type and origin, including several of the peoples of Central\nAmerica and Polynesia, and, apparently, the early Aryans of Europe. In\nfact, the whole Chald\u00e6an theory of the future life is very rudimentary,\nnotwithstanding the great proficiency in several departments of culture\nto which the Accadian and Assyrian races had attained.\n\nThe Median conquest of Assyria and Babylon introduced the Hebrew exiles\nto the Zoroastrian religion, with its mythology richer than any which\nthe Semitic or Pre-Semitic races had evolved, and taught them an\neschatology more elaborate than their own. The Avesta inculcated an\nethic of high morality, and taught a very systematic theory of rewards\nand punishments in the future life. The experiences of the soul after\ndeath are described with great minuteness and copiousness of detail.\n\nFor three nights after death the soul sits by the head of the body,\nand all this time, if a righteous soul, experiences the consciousness\nof a delight as great as any that the whole living world together are\ncapable of enjoying. At the end of this time it becomes aware of a\nsweet-scented wind blowing from the south, and feels a pleasant sense\nof being borne into a place of fragrant trees and verdure. The evil\nsoul, on the contrary, experiences a corresponding amount of misery\nduring its vigil, at the close of which it is assailed by a foul wind\nfrom the north. Its vigil ended, every soul, good or bad, had to cross\nthe narrow Chinv\u00e2t Bridge (_cinvata peretush_, the \u2018Accountant\u2019s\nBridge\u2019), where good and evil spirits struggled for possession of\nit, as did the angels and devils for the soul of Goethe\u2019s Faust, and\nas Michael and Satan contended for Moses, according to the tradition\nreferred to in the Book of Jude (ver. 9). On reaching the bridge head,\nthe soul of \u2018good thoughts, good deeds, good words, and good religion\u2019\nwas met by a lovely maiden, who was his own conscience. By her he was\nconducted to the place of Judgment,[55] and there a book was opened\nwherein had been kept a record of all the good and evil he had wrought\nin life. Upon his righteousness being admitted, he was received with\nacclamation by the celestial powers, and a place was allotted to him\namong their golden seats.[56] The Avestan Elysium is described as a\nholy mountain, its summit clothed with everlasting light, whither\n\u2018come neither night nor darkness, no cold wind and no hot wind, no\ndeathful sickness, no uncleanness made by the Da\u00eavas [demons], and the\nclouds cannot reach up to it.\u2019 At the foot of the mountain was a vast\nsea, a _mar del essere_, in the midst of which grew the White Ha\u00f4ma\n(Indian _Soma_), the Tree of Life. \u2018The waters stand there boiling,\nboiling up in the heart of the sea P\u00fbitika, and when cleansed therein\nthey run back from the sea P\u00fbitika to the tree _boura-kasha_, towards\nthe well-watered tree, whereon grow the seeds of my plants of every\nkind.\u2019[57] A godlike bird sits on that tree; when he flies off a\nthousand branches grow out of it, and when he alights upon it he breaks\noff a thousand branches.[58] Of this mystical bird, the Bundehesh, one\nof the later of the sacred books, says, \u2018The bird Karshipta dwells\nin the heavens; were he living on the earth, he would be the king of\nbirds. He brought the Religion into the Var of Yima, and recites the\nAvesta in the language of birds.\u2019[59] With this we may compare the\nangel described in Rev. xiv. 6 as an _angel di Dio_, flying \u2018in the\nmidst of Heaven, bearing the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them\nthat dwell on the earth.\u2019\n\nDistinct from the Elysium of the Gods, and from the abode of the dead,\nis Yima\u2019s Heaven of Light, a _Vara_, or _hortus conclusus_, which is\na reduplication of the realm over which he presided in the Golden\nAge, before this world was created.[60] The Vara was constructed by\n\u2018the fair Yima, the good shepherd,\u2019 at the command of \u2018the Maker,\nAhura Mazda,\u2019 in view of the destruction that was to come upon the\nmaterial world, which had become corrupt, so that he might preserve\ntherein the seeds of men and all other living beings, of plants, \u2018and\nof red blazing fires,\u2019 in order that the earth might be replenished.\nWithin this Vara Yima made a reservoir, the banks of which furnished\nan unfailing supply of food, and were the haunt of birds. To this\nhappy region, as we have seen, the mystical bird Karshipta brought\nthe Avesta, and preached it to the denizens, whose life was one of\nperpetual mirth and gladness, exempt from heat and cold, sickness, old\nage, and death; \u2018and there [was] no hump-backed, none bulged forward,\nthere; no impotent, no lunatic; no one malicious, no liar; no one\nspiteful, none jealous; no one with decayed tooth, no leprous to be\npent up, nor any of the brands wherewith Angra Mainya stamps the bodies\nof mortals.\u2019[61]\n\nIt is impossible not to be struck with the resemblance which this\npassage bears to chapter 35 of the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_. This resemblance\nmust be purely accidental, but it is none the less worthy to be noted;\nfor there is reason to suspect that a careful record of the similitudes\nand coincidences which so frequently occur where imitation or direct\nderivation is impossible, might tend to discourage the arbitrary\nassumption that derivation must needs exist, in cases where it may be\npossible, but is not proved.\n\nIt will be noted that Yima\u2019s Vara is not represented in the _Vend\u00eed\u00e2d_\nas the abode of the dead, or connected in any way with the Otherworld;\nit there appears rather as a Platonic ideal world, containing the\nforms, types, or ideas after which the material world is to be\ncreated, or, rather, restored. Yima, too, far from being one of the\nprincipal gods, appears only as a subordinate Demiourgos, subject to\n\u2018the Maker,\u2019 Ahura Mazda. Hence it might seem to be foreign to our\nsubject; in reality, however, it is not so. However the legend may\nhave been explained by later philosophic speculations--probably under\nGreek influences, as to which later--there is no doubt that in its\noriginal form it was meant for a picture of the world of the happy\ndead. Internal evidence of itself might convince us of this. The whole\nconception of a supernatural country, inhabited by human beings who\nlead a happy life amid conditions which reproduce the present world,\nbut under a brighter and serener aspect--a country, moreover, which\nreproduces a traditionary golden age--is entirely in accord with the\nfamiliar Elysium of the Aryan peoples. But more than this, in the\nancient Persian mythology Yima is identical with the Indian Yama, the\nruler of the departed, who crossed the rivers, leading the fathers\nafter him, and now presides over the spirits of the dead in a land\nbeyond the sunset. Here, in a land of soft winds and cool rains,\ntraversed by perennial streams of milk and honey, and illumined by\nunfailing light, he sits under the Tree of Life, drinking the Soma (the\nPersian Ha\u00f4ma) from its branches, and surrounded by the souls of the\nrighteous, all whose desires are there accomplished.\n\nThe Persian religion, in the stage at which it is preserved in\nthe Avesta, spiritualised much of the primitive Aryan mythology,\nallegorising many of its deities into personifications of good and\nevil principles and qualities. This notwithstanding, many of the more\nprimitive elements of the older religion were retained, and were\nreinforced with a number of animistic beliefs derived from the Turanian\npeoples; and when the Zoroastrian religion experienced that process\nof corruption which commonly affects all \u2018Religions of the Book,\u2019 in\ngreater or less degree, these lower and more ancient elements asserted\nthemselves, so that the practical side of the religion consisted in\ngreat measure of Shamanistic practices designed to propitiate an\ninnumerable host of good and evil spirits.[62]\n\nThe question how far the eschatological conceptions of the later\nJudaism may have been affected by contact with Zoroastrianism\nobviously depends, in great measure, upon the date to be assigned to\nthe first appearance in the Persian religion of the foregoing theories\nconcerning the future life. The Avesta consists of several books of\ndifferent character and of different dates. Darmesteter[63] holds that\nit was compiled, in its present form, during the first and second\ncenturies of our era, although a great part of the material embodied\nwas of much earlier date. He further considers that the Zoroastrian\nbelief received its ultimate form under the influence of the schools of\nGreek philosophy, with which the Persians were in close contact in the\ncenturies following the conquests of Alexander, and more particularly,\nthat the final redaction of the Avesta was indebted for its more\nspiritual and philosophic elements to \u2018Neo-Platonism, that is to say,\nthat philosophic compound inspired by the spirit of Plato, which\npermeated all the speculations of the centuries before Christ, and long\nafter, and which finds its first and most influential exponent in Philo\nJud\u00e6us. In Philo is found, as far as I know, the first exact parallel\nto the Avestan doctrine,\u2019 etc. (p. lv.).\n\nThe pronouncements of such a scholar as Darmesteter upon any _matter of\nfact_ belonging to a department of learning of which he was so weighty\nan authority can only be accepted by us without reserve. At the same\ntime, it may be permissible to consider how far the above inferences\nare supported by the author\u2019s own arguments, or rather, the extent\nto which those inferences may be held to apply. It is certain that\nthe Hellenic, or Hellenistic, philosophies exercised great influence\nthroughout the more civilised parts of Asia during the existence\nof the Alexandrian Empire, and for long after its dissolution. It\nwill be observed, however, that Darmesteter, while assuming that the\nAvesta was moulded by those Platonic doctrines \u2018which pervaded all\nthe speculations of the centuries before Christ,\u2019 goes on to say that\nthis speculation \u2018finds its first \u2026 exponent in Philo Jud\u00e6us.\u2019 Now,\nPhilo Jud\u00e6us flourished in the middle of the first century of our era,\nand the other most celebrated founders, or rather precursors, of the\nNeo-Platonic school were of later date; Plutarch of Ch\u00e6ronea belonging\nto the latter part of the same century, Numenius to the second century\nA.D. If, then, \u2018in Philo is found \u2026 the first exact parallel to the\nAvestan doctrine,\u2019 it might conceivably be argued with regard to\nthose parts, at any rate, of the Avestan doctrine to which the author\nascribes a Neo-Platonic origin on the strength of their resemblance\nto the system of Philo, that such resemblance should be explained by\na quite opposite derivation theory.[64] The further question also\npresents itself, whether the views of Philo and his school obtained so\nrapid an acceptance in the East, beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire,\nas greatly to affect the substance of so ancient and important a creed\nas Zoroastrianism, as expounded in a recension of the sacred books of\nthat religion made almost immediately after Philo\u2019s death, if not then\nactually in progress.\n\nIt is enough to suggest these questions, without attempting their\nsolution; we are only concerned to see whether Darmesteter\u2019s theory, if\ncorrect, is incompatible with the existence in the earlier form of the\nAvestan religion of elements which may reasonably be presumed to have\naffected the development of our legend through Hebrew channels.\n\nDarmesteter himself does not attempt to set up any hard and fast theory\non the subject. In his own words: \u2018Without pressing conclusions too\nhard as to facts and dates, this much can be safely inferred \u2026 that\nPlatonic doctrines had found their way to Persia in the first centuries\nof the Christian era\u2019 (_loc. cit._). In particular, he traces Platonic\ninfluences in the spiritual and allegorical manner in which the\ncreations of the old Aryan mythology are dealt with in the Avesta, and\nin the prevalence of a similar tone in the Avestan cosmology. The most\nnotable instances of this mode of thought occur in the Var of Yima,\nwhich is practically a Platonic world of Ideas,[65] and in the Amesha\nSpentas, or Bountiful Immortals, who, we are told, first assume the\ncharacter in which they now appear in the Avesta under the influence of\nNeo-Platonic theories.[66]\n\nAt the same time, Darmesteter points out that the ancient Ach\u00e6menian\nreligion already possessed the fundamental doctrine of the conflict\nbetween the powers of good and evil, and the final triumph of the good,\nand of those that had adhered to it. The duration of the universe is\nalready divided into four periods of 3000 years each,[67] in the last\nof which Ahriman was to be subdued, and men were to \u2018live happily,\nneeding no food, and casting no shadow.\u2019[68] He further states, as we\nhave seen, that the Avesta was compiled from various works of different\ndates; these would necessarily embody much matter of older date than\nthemselves--very much older, we are warranted in believing, alike\nby the analogy of other religions, and by the nature of many of the\nbeliefs preserved in the Avesta. In speaking of the books of which\nthe Avesta is composed, Darmesteter gives it as his opinion that \u2018the\nVend\u00eed\u00e2d may be taken as the best specimen of the text imbued with the\npre-Alexandrian spirit\u2019;[69] and it is precisely the Vend\u00eed\u00e2d that\ncontains the greater part, though not all, of the doctrines concerning\nthe Otherworld, of which an abstract has been given above.\n\nWe are thus warranted in assuming that the Persians had developed a\ntolerably complete theory of the Otherworld, and of the rewards and\npunishments there meted out in recompense for man\u2019s conduct in this\nlife, at a date early enough to influence Hebrew thought, before either\nnation had come under Hellenic influences.\n\nIn some respects, Darmesteter\u2019s conclusions even favour this\npresumption, for if we can attribute to Neo-Platonic influences the\nideal character which Yima\u2019s Vara bears in the Vend\u00eed\u00e2d, we can\nunderstand at how recent a date the Vara came to be divested of the\ncharacter of an Elysium, or abode of the happy dead, such as is the\nrealm of Yama, of which, in other respects, it is so complete a\ncounterpart.\n\nIn this connection, it should also be noted that the Avestan doctrine\nof the Otherworld gives no place to the theory of Rebirth, which is a\nprincipal article of the Platonic and Pythagorean schools, and might\nhave been expected to occupy a prominent place in the Zoroastrian\neschatology, had this been moulded to any great extent by Greek\nphilosophy. In holding the finality of man\u2019s lot after death, the\nPersian doctrine agrees with that of the Jews, and, apparently, of the\nChald\u00e6ans.\n\nHowever much, moreover, the elaborate d\u00e6monic system contained in\nthe Avesta may be indebted to Neo-Platonism for its more spiritual\nelements, it is neither certain nor probable that the substance of it\ncan be derived from the same source. The eschatology of the Avesta\ncontains much that cannot be referred to Neo-Platonic ideas, even\nif it must be admitted that these were widely enough accepted, in\na sufficiently systematised form, at the date when the Avesta was\ncompleted, while many parts of it exhibit both Indian and Chald\u00e6an\nanalogies. It is enough, in this place, merely to refer to the Tree of\nLife and the Waters of Life, to both of which Indian, and yet closer\nChald\u00e6an, parallels exist; the mystical bird Karshipta, which is an\nIndian myth; the Elysium of the Gods, which is little more than an\nimprovement on the Chald\u00e6an Elysium; Mount Elborz, as the Persian\nHoly Mountain, corresponding to the Indian Mount Meru; the World Sea,\nwhich renews and purifies all created things, and is akin to the\nocean out of which a new world was churned by the Hindu gods. The\nVar of Yima, as we have already seen, is the same as Yama\u2019s blissful\nrealm. The divine beings which appear in the Avesta in the guise of\npersonified abstractions, are the deities of Aryan mythology travestied\npresumably, according to the hypothesis, under Neo-Platonic influences.\nSo, apparently, the Amesha Spentas, whatever tincture of philosophic\nculture they may have acquired through contact with Hellenistic\nthought, were originally identical with the \u2018Seven Magnificent\nDeities,\u2019 who were the Chald\u00e6an Gods of the Elements. We have already\nseen that the Seven Spirits of Earth were said to have their seats\non golden thrones in the midst of the Chald\u00e6an Elysium, even as the\nAmesha Spentas in the Avestan Heaven. Indeed, it is not necessary to\nhave recourse to Neo-Platonism to account for the vast hierarchies of\ngood and evil spirits which are found in the Avesta, and still more in\nthe books of the Rabbis. The Chald\u00e6an mythology, of which both Jews\nand Persians had undergone the influence long before their contact\nwith Hellenistic culture, was abundantly supplied in this respect.\nBesides the seven principal deities (to whom, according to Lenormant,\nseven malignant deities were opposed), Professor Sayce[70] alludes\nto 50 great gods, 300 spirits of heaven, and 300 spirits of earth,\nbeside countless minor spirits of many kinds; while the later Assyrian\nauthorities, he says, raised the number of _great_ gods of heaven and\nearth to 65,000.\n\nNow the district occupied by the Jews during the captivity had been\na focus of the religion of Chald\u00e6a, both in the Accado-Sumerian and\nin the Semitic periods, and afterwards became an important part of\nthe Persian empire. The canonical books and the Apocrypha of the Old\nTestament alike prove that close relations subsisted between the Jews\nand both their Persian and Assyrian rulers, and exhibit traces of the\ninfluence exercised by the latter upon the Jewish writers. Thus it\nappears no rash assumption, that it is to these sources we must ascribe\nthe substance, at least, of those doctrines enunciated by the later\nJewish writers, for which there is no authority in the earlier writings\nof their nation, but which correspond to ideas already existing among\nnations with which they lived in close and intimate contact.\n\nWe have been discoursing at somewhat tedious length upon points which\nmay not appear to be directly relevant to our subject, seeing that the\nVision legend receives no development later than the very primitive\nlegends of Isht\u00e2r and Gisdubar. Nevertheless, it is in the Chald\u00e6an and\nPersian religions that we find many of the notions and images which\nfurnished material to Jewish and Christian authors alike, when, under\nHellenistic influences, they took up the Vision legend as a vehicle\nof instruction. Many of these conceptions continued to subsist in all\nsubsequent versions of the legend, even in its latest forms. It is now\ntime to take stock of what we have gained, and to note what features\nof the Vision of Adamn\u00e1n, though immediately derived by the author, as\nwe shall see later on, from the tradition current in the Church from\nthe earliest days of Christianity, or before it, correspond to similar\nconceptions which exist in the Oriental tradition, while they are not\nrepresented in the classical tradition, or, if in some cases they\nmay be found there, it is in a form which presents fewer and fainter\nanalogies to the later developments.\n\nIn the first place, the earliest Chald\u00e6an legends already exhibit the\nrudiments of that sevenfold division of the Heavens which was generally\nadopted by Jewish and Christian writers alike, and ultimately received\nthe sanction of the scholastic divines. The science, if it can be\nso called, of numbers is one of the most fertile of the many fields\nwhich a perverted ingenuity has devoted to the assiduous cultivation\nof tares, and hardly any number has been accredited with a greater\nvariety of significance than the number seven, by reason, doubtless,\nof the primitive astronomical theory of the seven planets. Dante,\nindeed, raised the number of heavens to ten, in accordance with the\nastronomical system that had come to be adopted in his day, on the\nauthority of the ancient cosmologists, introduced to the medi\u00e6val\nstudents through Arab channels; to the original seven planetary heavens\nhe added three others--the Heaven of fixed stars, the crystalline\nHeaven, and the Empyrean. We may remark, in passing, that the Samoan\ncosmology agrees with Dante in this tenfold division of the Heavens.\nIn the Chald\u00e6an mythology this conception of a sevenfold division\noccurs in germ only, but the Seven Magnificent Deities--the precursors\nof the seven Amesha Spentas, and the seven Archangels of the Hebrew and\nChristian divines--who preside over the several powers of nature, lend\nthemselves easily to the attribution of separate territories in the\ncelestial domain. The beginning of this phase is apparent in the seven\nportals, each guarded by a porter, through which Isht\u00e2r had to pass on\nher way to the abode of the gods and of the dead, even as the spirit\nof Adamn\u00e1n had to pass through seven \u2018Heavens,\u2019 so-called, the door of\neach being kept by an angelic warder; while the symbolism embodied in\nthe gradual spoliation of Isht\u00e2r of her earthly raiment is analogous\nto the gradual purgation of the soul from its earthly stains in the\nChristian legend.\n\nThe idea of a Tree of Life growing in the spirit world is of wide\ndiffusion, and appears at an early date in the mythologies of the\nAryans, Semites, and Turanians alike, and the Hebrews in particular\nneeded not to have recourse for it to the mythology of either the\nChald\u00e6ans or Persians. Nevertheless several of the Rabbinical legends,\nas, for instance, that of the journey of Seth to Paradise in the\nLegend of the Death of Adam, deal with the subject, associating\nwith it the Waters of Life, in a manner less in agreement with the\nScriptural account than with the Chald\u00e6an myth, which must have been\nmade familiar to the Jews during the captivity, not merely by oral\nand written tradition but through the medium of the pictorial art\nwhich would meet their eyes on every side, and in which this was a\nfavourite subject. In Christian legend, moreover, the Tree of Life in\nParadise is constantly introduced in connection with a mystical bird,\nor birds, as in Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s Vision. The frequency of this association\nmay be explained in part by the great popularity in early Christian\nsymbolism of the Ph\u0153nix legend, in connection with the palm-tree and\nthe Tree of Life; nevertheless the birds of Christian legend differ in\nseveral conspicuous respects from the traditional notion of the Ph\u0153nix,\nand approach far more closely to the Karshipta, the sacred bird of the\nPersians, adopted by them from the old Indo-Aryan mythology. This bird,\nas we have seen, perched upon the sacred tree in Heaven, and he brought\nthe Avesta to the Var of Yima and preached it there, even as the birds\nof Adamn\u00e1n and other Christian writers sang the Hours in Paradise;\nwhere, moreover, they are constantly associated with the preaching\nof the Gospel by Enoch and Elias, who themselves exhibit some faint\nanalogies to Yima.\n\nThe World Sea at the foot of the Holy Mountain in the Avestan Paradise,\nwherein all things defiled are cleansed and made new, reminds us of\nthat Crystal Sea which appears in the literature of the Christian\nChurch, and, in particular, is introduced with such magnificent effect\nin the Book of the Revelation.[71]\n\nThe Avestan eschatology already contains the idea, unassociated with\nthat doctrine of rebirth by which it is accompanied in the philosophies\nof India and Hellas alike, of a special temporary provision for the\nsouls of those mingled characters who are not yet fitted for an\neternity of either bliss or bale--an idea in accordance with the\nteaching of the later Hebrew and the Christian divines, including the\nauthor of the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_; and as in their writings, so in the\nAvesta, is that provisional state made to last until the destruction\nof the corrupt world and the final reign of the good principle.\n\nThe guardian angel which the Jewish and Christian divines agree in\nassigning to each individual soul, resembles, if it does not wholly\ncoincide with, the Fravashi of the Persians, which would seem to have\nbeen a kind of spiritual double of the man, distinct, apparently, from\nhis own soul, yet not so entirely separate from him as if it had been a\nhigher spirit intrusted with the charge of him.\n\nThus the Jewish writers of the centuries immediately preceding our era\nfound ready to their hands a rich store of traditions relating to the\nlot of man in the Otherworld, formed by the combination of Oriental\ndogmas with the classical tradition in the forms in which this was\npreserved in the Hellenistic schools of Asia. Before, however, we\nproceed to trace the manner in which these blended traditions entered\ninto subsequent versions of the legend, it may not be superfluous to\nask what, if any, contributions were made by the remaining great centre\nof ancient religion and culture, Egypt.\n\nTo this question it is difficult to reply with certainty. While one of\nthe great centres of the Neo-Judaic learning was the School of Babylon,\nset in the very focus of the ancient Oriental creeds, minor centres\nexisted in every city of Syria and Asia Minor, in each one of which\na thriving Jewish colony applied itself eagerly to the absorption of\nHellenistic ideas and culture; but the centre, _par excellence_, of\nJewish learning in the West was the flourishing and cultured Jewish\ncommunity at Alexandria. However, the intellectual life of this school\ndrew its nutriment from Greece, and the whole tone and character of\nits speculative philosophy, as of its literary culture, so far as\nit was not Hebraic, was Hellenistic, not Egyptian, and possibly more\nHellenistic than Hebraic. At one time it was customary to refer the\nmystical speculations of the philosophic schools, Pagan, Jewish, and\nChristian alike, of the centuries in question, to the \u2018wisdom of the\nEgyptians,\u2019 and to regard Alexandria as the mart, so to speak, where\nideas of Egyptian growth were exchanged for others of kindred nature\nimported from Greece and Asia. It has now long been recognised that\nthis theory is true to a very limited extent only, and that Alexandria\nwas, in the main, a Grecian city, and indebted to Greece for the\norigins of its learning and culture, whatever new developments these\nassumed in the fertile soil to which they had been transplanted.\nDuring the rule of the Ptolemies, and, afterwards, of the Romans,\nthe prevailing attitude of the Greek colonists was not altogether\nunlike that of the English in India; they held themselves as a class\napart, and intermixed but little with the native population, for whose\nreligion and institutions they would seem to have often manifested\na contempt, in which, doubtless, ignorance had its share. At the\nsame time, we might err in the opposite direction by concluding that\nEgyptian ideas wholly failed to influence those who lived and wrote\nin such close proximity to the chief centres of Egyptian life. Even\nin our own day, the philosophy of the Upanishads, and the teaching of\nthe Buddha, in however distorted a form, have crossed the pale which\ndivides East from West, and the pale between Egypt and Hellas was far\nmore pervious. Both nations professed a complex polytheism, with so\ngreat a resemblance between the two pantheons, that even before the\ntime of Herodotus certain deities in the one had come to be regarded\nas identical with their counterparts in the other;[72] the traditions\nof the Greeks claimed an Egyptian origin for several of the national\ngods and heroes; a belief that the Hellenic religion was indebted for\nsome of its more esoteric elements to the same source was expressed\nby Plato, and had been held by his successors, and we have seen that\nsome of the most authoritative modern scholars accept this opinion\nas well founded, however much they may differ as to the amount of\nthe debt. These circumstances would necessarily predispose the more\ninquiring minds among the Alexandrian Greeks and Hellenised Hebrews, in\nan age when speculation concerning the hidden things of life, and of\nthe life after death, was a subject of paramount interest, to examine\nthe theories which had been held on that subject by the nations, the\norgiastic and magical side of whose religions was offering just then\nso powerful an attraction to the vulgar of the Hellenic world. Nor\nare we without direct evidence of contact between the two systems of\nthought. Ptolemy I. (abdicated 285 B.C.), acting partly under the\ninspiration of Timotheus, an authority on the Eleusinian mysteries,\nattempted to fuse the Greek and Egyptian cults into one eclectic\nsystem.[73] The poet Callimachus, who held the post of librarian\n(_c._ 260-240 B.C.) to Ptolemy Philadelphus and his son Euergetes,\nacquired for the Alexandrian library Egyptian as well as Greek and\nHebrew books; and his successor in office, Eratosthenes, the astronomer\nand geometrician, was also addicted to Egyptian studies. Indeed, the\nPlutarchian treatise \u2018On Isis and Osiris\u2019 is one instance out of many\nof the interest felt by cultivated Greeks in Egyptian beliefs, which\nhad long taken their place as parts of the popular cult in many places\nin Greece and Asia.[74] On the other hand, the initiation of even a few\ncultured Egyptians into Hellenic learning would suffice to further an\ninterchange of ideas between the two races.\n\nIn any case, the Egyptian eschatology offers many points of resemblance\nto certain of the later Jewish beliefs, and to Christian doctrine.\nAmong these is a belief in the judgment to be passed on every soul\nafter death, whereby the wicked were condemned to be devoured by the\n\u2018Eater of the Dead,\u2019 while the righteous were led through a series of\nperilous adventures to a region of perpetual happiness, where, in a\nplace surrounded by a wall of steel, they led an existence which is the\nreproduction of a happy life on earth, conceived in the usual terms of\na pagan Elysium, with a due allowance of even the grosser pleasures.[75]\n\nThis resemblance extends to several points of detail. Among the trials\nthrough which the soul must pass are enumerated rivers and atmospheres\nof fire, and the assaults of demons and monsters; it is even affirmed,\nin agreement with the teaching of certain Jewish Rabbis, and of the\nearly Christian divines, that all departed souls, good and bad alike,\nmust undergo these trials, but the good passed through them speedily,\nand without pain. This, we have seen, is the teaching of the _Fis\nAdamn\u00e1in_, and occurs, as we shall see, in other of the Christian\nVisions.\n\nIndeed, the Rabbinical schools developed the Purgatorial theory to a\nconsiderable extent. Thus, we find mention of seven lodges of Hell, one\nbelow another, through which the soul had to pass successively, being\ntormented on its way by fire, scourging, showers of hail, exposure to\nalternate heat and cold, etc., until all its guilt was purged away.\nThis process finds its exact counterpart in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, save\nthat the Rabbis called the seven stages or lodges Hells, instead of\nHeavens, with at least equal propriety. The fundamental conception, and\nalso the nature of the sufferings endured by the dead in the course of\ntheir purgation, are capable of being referred either to an Egyptian\nor a Hellenic origin, though probably the latter assumption would be\ncorrect; the seven successive lodges are evidently the amplification of\na Rabbinical tradition borrowed from the Chald\u00e6an mythology.\n\nAs to the ultimate fate of the wicked, opinions were divided; some\nof the Rabbis taught the final redemption of all, after undergoing\nthe necessary Purgatorial discipline; the school of Shammai held that\nat the Judgment mankind would be divided into three categories--the\ngood, the bad, and those of mixed character, and that the last would\nbe cleansed by Purgatorial sufferings.[76] The germs of this threefold\ndivision are contained both in the Avestan and the Platonic doctrines.\nThe Kabbalists even had an inkling of the Treasury of Merits of the\nSaints, to whom they accorded the privilege of covering with their\ngarments, and bringing up to Heaven with themselves, those sinners who\nhad repented before death, but too late to make expiation. Here, too,\nwe have a conception which recurs in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ and elsewhere,\nnamely, the special provision for tardy penitents, though in the\nChristian Visions the mode of their redemption is different.\n\nIt is thus difficult to assign with certainty to the Egyptian religion\nany specific article of the eschatology of the later Jewish and\nearly Christian writers; nevertheless, it does not follow that their\ncontact with that religion was without effect in determining the shape\nwhich their eschatology actually assumed. It must be remembered that\nspeculations of the kind which characterised the Orphic, Platonic,\nPythagorean, and Neo-Platonic schools were not the only forms in which\nGreek thought entered into the intellectual evolution of that age. In\nthe prevailing welter of Eastern creeds and Western philosophies, all\nthe principal philosophic schools of Greece were represented, and, in\nparticular, the Stoics and Epicureans exercised an influence both wide\nand deep.[77] If, then, the class of ideas to which it is convenient to\ngive the general name, Neo-Platonic, obtained so complete an ascendency\nin the evolution of Judaic and Christian eschatology, the presumption\nis that this result was largely owing to the affinity of Neo-Platonism\nwith the Oriental creeds with whose doctrines and mythology Neo-Judaic\nspeculation was so deeply imbued; and if, moreover, this speculation\ndiffered from Neo-Platonism in certain fundamental points wherein it\nagreed with the Oriental doctrines, the presumption is no less strong\nthat it owed its original trend in this direction to the forces by\nwhich it was moulded in pre-Hellenistic times, and that such trend\nwould be confirmed by subsequent contact with any school of thought\nin which similar views were prevalent.[78] The most important point\nwherein the eschatology of the orthodox Rabbinical schools differed\nfrom that of the Greek mythical philosophies was the rejection by the\nformer of the doctrine of rebirth, which predominated, though not to\nthe absolute exclusion of the doctrine of finality, in the teaching of\nthe mystical schools from the seventh century B.C. at latest.\n\nIn this respect, as we have seen, the philosophy no less than the\nreligion of the Jews was mainly in accord with the views held by\nthe Chald\u00e6ans, both Accadian and Semitic, and taught by the Avesta.\nIn this view they would be further confirmed if, in the Alexandrian\nperiod, they fell under the influence of the native Egyptian religion,\nas distinguished from the later syncretism wherein that religion had\nbecome blended with allegories and orgiastic rites pertaining to\nAsiatic myths and Greek theosophy. Egypt, indeed, was formerly regarded\nas the very home of the doctrine of rebirth; it would appear, however,\nthat the doctrine of the ancient Egyptian religion was of a directly\ncontrary import. The idea of transformation, indeed, was familiar to\nit, but this is a different thing from transmigration, and Mr. Le Page\nRenouf states most emphatically that although the beatified spirit\nreceived powers which enabled him to visit any part of the universe in\nany form, the sentence pronounced at the judgment was final, and the\nsoul was neither purged nor punished by a renewed life on earth.[79]\nThis contradiction between the doctrine of rebirth which prevailed in\nthe Greek mysteries, and the Egyptian dogma of the eternity of man\u2019s\nlot after judgment, lends support to the contention, referred to in the\nprevious section, that the ethical and eschatological sides of Greek\nreligion were in great part of native development, however much the\nmystical schools may have been indebted to foreign influences in their\norigin.\n\nHaving thus got rid of a discussion which, however tedious, appeared\nnecessary in order to make us understand whence and of what kind\nwere the non-Hellenic and non-Scriptural elements which entered into\nsubsequent developments of the Vision Legend, we now come to the\nconcrete forms which that legend assumed in the Jewish and the early\nChristian Churches. In tracing the progress of the legend in these two\nChurches, it seems convenient to deal with the whole subject together\nin the following section, for not only do the principal Jewish examples\nwhich have reached us contain additions made to them in Christian\ntimes, but the versions belonging respectively to the two eras are\npractically homogeneous, alike in their fundamental doctrines, and, for\nthe most part, in their method of treatment.\n\n\n\n\n3. THE ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITION\n\n\nA Vision of the Otherworld was a favourite subject with the writers of\nthe apocryphal books of the Jews. In the oldest of these, the so-called\nBook of Enoch, which is also the oldest non-pagan book of this class\nthat has come down to us, the subject is treated at greater length and\nwith more elaborate detail than in any other contribution to the Vision\nlegend prior to the _Commedia_. The last quarter of the second century\nB.C. has been assigned as the most probable date of the greater part\nof it, though in its present form it evidently contains post-Christian\nadditions. Quoted in the Epistle of St. Jude (vv. 14-15), and known\nto the early Christians, it was long believed to have disappeared\nat a subsequent date, and was only recovered in recent times in an\nEthiopian version, from which it has been repeatedly translated with\ncommentaries.[80]\n\nIt relates, with copious detail, how the seer was caught up by a\nvehement wind and upraised to Heaven, where he was taken in charge\nby the Archangel Michael, who revealed to him Hell and Paradise, the\nmysteries of nature and of revelation, and the life to come. In the\ngeneral scope of his work the author anticipates Dante in several\nparticulars which are not common to the Vision writers in general. He\npays much attention to topographical detail in his descriptions of\nHell, for which he takes the Valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, as his\nmodel; but although the accuracy of his description has been attested\nby several travellers who have surveyed the valley, he is far from\nmanifesting the precision and visualising power of the Florentine. Like\nDante, moreover, he discusses various points of theology, and delivers\nlong dissertations upon natural philosophy and the physical scheme of\nthe universe. Here, too, he is vague and indistinct, as also in his\ndescription of the future state of the lost, wherein he displays none\nof Dante\u2019s symmetry and orderly arrangement. We may note several points\nof detail wherein the _Vision of Enoch_ resembles the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ or\nother of the Christian Visions. The Archangel Michael already appears\nas the guide to the other world (c. 71); the infernal regions are swept\nby whirlwinds and traversed by rivers of fire, in one of which the\nfallen spirits are immersed until the carnal lusts of all such as are\ncapable of redemption are burnt away (c. 67), though there is also a\nplace wherein the wicked are bound and punished eternally (c. 22).\nHeaven is described as a city of crystal surrounded by a crystal wall,\na river of vibrating fire flowing round about it (c. 13).\n\nUpon entering in, Enoch came to a spacious mansion, built of crystal\nand with a crystal floor, surrounded by a flame as hot as fire and as\ncold as ice.[81] After this, he came to another mansion, resembling\nthe first, but surpassing it in all respects. Rivers of fire issued\nfrom out of it; in the midst of it a throne was set, whereon One sat\nin glory, clad in a robe brighter than the sun, and whiter than the\nsnow (c. 14). Further, Enoch was instructed at length by his guide as\nto the significance of many parts of the Old Testament record, and\nwas taken to view the several heavens, the heavenly bodies, and the\nuniverse in general, the nature and motions of which were explained to\nhim by the Archangel. He was conducted to Sheol, the temporary abode of\ndeparted souls until Judgment, which is situated in the West (c. 17),\nand was shown a mountain which was reserved for the life that shall be\nafter God\u2019s coming. Hereon stood the Tree of Life, which was to afford\nsustenance to the righteous of its fruit and fragrance (cc. 24-5). In a\nsecond vision, the last things and other divine mysteries were revealed\nto him by means of parables. In his Vision of Judgment he beheld,\nfirst, the spirits of the guilty stars condemned; after them, the\nunfaithful shepherds that misled the sheep, and then the wicked sheep\nthemselves; after which he beheld a mansion greater than the former,\nsupported on ivory pillars, wherein were assembled the sheep that were\nsaved (c. 89).\n\nHere we find the Vision legend brought to a high stage of development,\nand containing many features which recur throughout the whole course of\nthe Vision literature. In several of these traces of an Oriental origin\nare apparent. Similar creations of the Rabbinical imagination occur\nin various writings belonging to the earlier centuries of our era,\nwhich, though composed in Christian times, and in some cases claiming\na place among the sacred books of the Christian Church, embody Jewish\ntraditions. Of such was the tradition current in those centuries, and\nquoted in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus (Part II. c. 19), relating\nhow Adam, when at the point of death, despatched Seth to the gate of\nParadise in quest of the oil of the Tree of Life, or \u2018Tree of Mercy,\u2019\nwherein, as before noted, we have a variant of Isht\u00e2r\u2019s visit to Hades\nin quest of the Waters of Life.\n\nThe Fourth Book of Esdras, as it is numbered in the Vulgate, the\nSecond in the Authorised Version, though included in the Biblical Old\nTestament Apocrypha, was nevertheless composed in Christian times and\nto some extent under Christian influences, being written probably in\nthe third quarter of the first century A.D., though by some it is dated\nso late as the first quarter of the third century. The Vision of Esdras\ntherein contained is apocalyptic in character, being a prophecy of\nthe end of the world, the speedy coming of which was generally looked\nfor. It is therefore not properly an instance of our legend, but it\ncalls for mention in this place, as it contains certain conceptions\nderived through Hebrew tradition from Chald\u00e6an or Persian sources, and\ntransmitted to the eschatological literature of the Christian Church.\nThe angel Uriel[82] showed to Esdras a great multitude assembled\non Mount Sion, and told him that these were \u2018they that have put off\nthe mortal clothing and have put on the immortal, and have confessed\nthe name of God; now are they crowned, and receive palms.\u2019 Several\nearlier passages furnish good examples of Persian or Babylonian myths\nconverted, so to speak, and since adopted into the conventional imagery\nof Christian eschatology. \u2018They shall have the Tree of Life for an\nointment of sweet savour\u2019; \u2018I have sanctified and prepared for them\ntwelve trees laden with divers fruits, and as many fountains flowing\nwith milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains whereon there grow\nroses and lilies.\u2019[83]\n\nThe name of Esdras is also attached to one of the apocryphal books\nof the early Christian Church, the _Vision of Esdras_, which relates\nhow Esdras was led by Michael, Gabriel, and thirty-four other angels\nthrough the realms of darkness, wherein the punishments meted out to\nthe wicked are revealed to him, and then to Paradise, where he sees\nEnoch and Elias, Peter, Paul, Moses, the Evangelists and Patriarchs,\nand all the righteous, assembled beneath the Tree of Life.\n\nAnother vision of Christian composition, but likewise fathered upon\nan Old Testament prophet, is the _Vision of Isaiah_, the second part\nof which, written in the third century A.D., relates a visit of that\nprophet to the seven Heavens.\n\nHowever, at an earlier date than that of the works just named, the\nsubject had already formed the theme of writings professedly Christian\nin aim and origin. The spread of Christianity, which, of its very\nnature, kept men\u2019s thoughts bent upon the contemplation of the future\nlife, was naturally attended by an increased production of works\ndescriptive of the other world and of man\u2019s lot therein. No very great\ncontributions to the subject are made by the Canonical Scriptures,\nwhich vouchsafe us but little direct information concerning the future\nlife. St. Paul, indeed, relates how he was caught up to the third\nHeaven, and there \u2018heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful\nfor a man to utter\u2019;[84] but no intimation concerning his experiences\nthere are given us, and although the passage quoted doubtless accounted\nfor his subsequent inclusion among those to whom the next world had\nbeen revealed, all details of his vision are due to the legendary\nnarratives referred to hereafter. St. Jude (Ep. v. 6) refers to the\nrebellious angels who are kept \u2018in everlasting chains under darkness\nunto the judgment of the great day\u2019; and St. Peter (II. iii. 7-12),\nspeaks of a general purification by fire, but neither reveals anything\nconcerning the state of man in the life to come. Even the Revelation of\nSt. John, while standing far above the level of all other apocalyptic\nwritings, as in other respects, so in the grandeur of conception and\nbeauty of execution wherewith the author describes the celestial\nkingdom, would appear to have made but slight impression, save by an\nadded richness of imagery, upon the subsequent course of the Vision\nlegend. This, possibly, may be because the author treats his subject\nfrom the millennary point of view, taking for his theme rather the\ntribulations which were coming upon the world, and the establishment of\na new heaven and a new earth in place of the old, than the condition\nof individual souls after death, or the places of their eternal abode.\nAt the same time, he makes use of some of that Oriental imagery which\nhad already obtained a place in the Hebrew writings, canonical and\napocryphal alike, and thereby contributed to its naturalisation in the\neschatological writings of the Church.[85]\n\nThe earlier centuries of our era were for the Gr\u00e6co-Roman world a\nperiod not merely of a general feeling of unrest, consequent upon the\ncollapse of the older religions, and the social changes resulting\nfrom a long series of revolutions, but also of vigorous attempts at\nreconstruction, in which both the ends aimed at, and the methods\nadopted for their attainment--preaching, teaching, asceticism,\nmystic symbolism, etc.--were closely akin to those of the Christian\npropaganda; indeed, it was no uncommon thing for a seeker in religion,\ndrifting about from one sect or cult to another, to take Christianity\nin his way, thus keeping open an additional channel by which Pagan and\nChristian ideas were brought to bear upon one another. Throughout all\nthese ages speculations were rife, for which was claimed the authority\nof Orpheus, Pythagoras, Empedocles, Heraclitus, or some other of the\nancient mystics or philosophers, and all of these, conjoined with\nthe similar beliefs held by the later Stoics in many varying forms,\ntended to foster the Church\u2019s expectation of the approaching end of the\nworld. This theory derived further support from the great authority\nascribed to the so-called Sibylline books, a long series of forgeries\nextending, probably, from the end of the second century B.C. to the\nfourth century of our era, if not later, containing a chaotic mass of\nprophecies and oracles, to which Judaism, Christianity, and Hellenic\nmysticism had all added their quota, and in which the proximate\ndestruction of the world by fire, and the renewal of things, is a\nconstantly recurring idea.\n\nAnother of the many causes which kept men\u2019s minds directed towards the\nOtherworld was the legend, current in the Church from the earliest\ntimes, and surviving far into the Middle Ages,[86] of the \u2018Harrowing\nof Hell\u2019 by Our Lord in the interval between the Burial and the\nResurrection. One of the earliest versions of this legend occurs in\nPart II. of the so-called _Gospel of Nicodemus_, Greek text, which\nrelates how He \u2018raised many of the dead, who appeared unto many in\nJerusalem,\u2019 and then described Christ\u2019s descent into Hades, which\nhad been preceded by a visit of St. John Baptist, who came to the\nOld Testament prophets, among whom Enoch and Elijah are especially\nmentioned, and expounded to them the Christian Revelation.\n\nFrom the contemplation of the end of the world to speculation\nconcerning the world to come, and the state of the departed spirits\nthere, was but a step. Accordingly, as is but natural, many of the\nteeming crop of apocryphal Gospels, Acts, and Revelations which sprang\nup during the earlier ages of the Church are composed with a distinctly\neschatological purpose.\n\nMidway between these apocryphal writings and the canonical books of\nthe New Testament stands the _Shepherd of Hermas_, which is commonly\nplaced among the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, and was formerly\nascribed to that Hermas to whom St. Paul sends greeting in his Epistle\nto the Romans (xvi. 14), but is now regarded as a production of the\nlatter part of the second century, being the work, possibly, of Hermas,\nbrother of Pius, who occupied the see of Rome from 140 to 155 A.D.[87]\nFrom an early date this work enjoyed a high repute in the Eastern\nChurch, being admitted by some writers, including the author of the\nCanon of Muratori, to a place among the canonical books. Whether we\nregard its general plan, or the machinery by which it is carried out,\nit occupies a place by itself among the Christian Visions of the\nOtherworld, and is peculiarly interesting to the Dante student as\naffording a remarkably early instance, possibly an unique instance in\necclesiastical literature, of that idea, perceived by Plato, and lying\nat the root of the _Commedia_--to wit, the elevation of the human\nspirit, through the highest form of human love, to the perception of\nDivine truth.\n\nIn the opening of his narrative, Hermas tells how he had been\nacquainted, in his earliest life, with a young slave girl, the property\nof one by whom he himself had been brought up. Subsequently, this girl\nwas sold by her master in Rome, but Hermas met her again in after-life,\nand conceived for her a fraternal affection, which ultimately, as one\nday he saw her bathing in the Tiber, ripened into love, and he desired\nher for his wife, \u2018both for her beauty and for her disposition.\u2019 Some\ntime after, as he was walking in a lonely place, \u2018musing on these\nthoughts, he began to honour this creature of God, thinking with\nhimself how noble and beautiful she was.\u2019[88] While musing thus, he\nwas caught up by the spirit, and borne beyond a rocky place impassable\nto man. Falling upon his knees he began to confess his sins, when he\nsaw the heavens open, and the object of his desire appear therein and\ngreet him. In reply to his questioning, she explained that she had been\nbrought thither that she might accuse him before the Lord on account\nof the thoughts he had entertained concerning her, though these would\nscarcely appear to have been such as to merit the reproaches she\nbestowed on Hermas by reason of them. So Hermas thought, and maybe\nthe damsel thought so too, for after hearing his reply she smiled\nupon him as she vanished. Thereupon the heavens closed, but, after a\nwhile, Hermas saw before him a chair of whitest wool, in which an old\nwoman took her seat, having a book in her hand. She accosted Hermas,\nand imparted to him certain moral admonitions, but these were mostly\nconfined in their application to himself and to the government of his\nfamily.\n\nOther visions were subsequently vouchsafed to Hermas, making four in\nall; the third of these contained a revelation of the building up\nof the Church Triumphant, and the fourth announced the tribulations\nwhich were to come upon the Church, and the final salvation of those\nwho should endure unto the end. The second part of the work consists\nof \u2018Commands,\u2019[89] and the third of \u2018Similitudes,\u2019 all imparted to\nHermas by Divine revelation. Certain of the similitudes contain visions\nwherein Hermas was shown the _corrective_ punishment of sinners, the\nedification of the Church Triumphant, and the various classes into\nwhich the guilty and the righteous are divided, together with the\ndiverse manner in which these fare respectively. All this, however, is\nintended rather for an allegory of the soul\u2019s progress through this\nworld, than for a picture of its state in the world to come; in fine,\nthe vision is more closely akin to the _Pilgrim\u2019s Progress_ than to\nthe _Commedia_, though it deserves a place in our series, alike as\ncontaining a curious anticipation of the most highly developed form\nto which the legend afterwards attained, and as connecting the legend\nwith the familiar notion of the later Jewish and the early Christian\nChurches, that when the other oracles of paganism were silenced, the\nSibyls were left to proclaim the advent of the Messiah, and the trials\nand triumph of His Church. For it is impossible not to recognise in\nthe old woman with a book in her hand, in the first vision of Hermas,\nthe traits of an ancient Sibyl; and for such, indeed, Hermas took\nher, until she told him that she was a personification of the Church.\nThe simple affection, not wanting in elevation, which the hero of the\nopening story felt for the heroine--one at least being of the servile\nclass--is interesting as affording a glimpse of that kindly social\nlife of which there are many evidences during the first centuries of\nthe Empire, in all grades of society, from the aristocratic circles of\nPliny and Thrasea down to the slave community itself, however much\nit is apt to be thrown into the background by the tyranny and crime,\nvulgar ostentation and base lusts, that occupied the front of the scene\nduring that period.\n\nSeveral of the apocryphal books show a great advance in the theory\nof retributive justice in the future life. The so-called _Apocalypse\nof St. Peter_ is known to have existed in Syria and Egypt before the\nmiddle of the second century, and to have been admitted by several of\nthe Fathers into the Canon, side by side with the Book of Revelation.\nParadise is here described in much the same manner as the Greek\nElysium--as a radiant place, full of flowers, fruit, and sweet odours,\netc. The pains of Hell are set out with a more than common minuteness,\nand with a greater attention to a kind of _lex talionis_, so to speak,\nwhereby the nature of the punishment is analogous to that of the crime,\nthan is found in most of the Christian descriptions prior to Dante.\nHell is represented as a place full of lakes of fire and burning mud,\nover which those who had blasphemed \u2018the way of righteousness\u2019 are\nsuspended by their tongues, and adulterers by the hair, while in them\nwallow the perverters of righteousness. Blasphemers gnawed their lips,\nand had red-hot iron over their eyes; false witnesses had tongues of\nfire in their mouths, which they kept on chewing; rich misers, in\nfilthy rags, rolled upon red-hot pebbles, sharper than sword or spit;\nusurers stood up to their knees in pitch, blood, and boiling mire;\nthose guilty of unnatural crimes were hurled from a cliff and driven up\nagain, to be again cast down.\n\nA similar vision of the Otherworld, though differing in plan and in\nmany details, is contained in the _Revelation of St. Paul_, written\nabout the year 380 A.D. Apparently the author of the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ had\nthis work in his mind when referring in ch. 2 to the Revelation that\nhad been vouchsafed to St. Paul, for the Apostle\u2019s own mention of his\nVision of the Third Heaven contains no description of the Otherworld.\nMoreover, it is impossible not to be struck by the resemblance between\nthe Irish author\u2019s description of the manner in which the souls were\nreceived upon their arrival at the seventh Heaven (ch. 19), and the\ncorresponding account in the _Apocalypse of St. Paul_: \u2018And the good\nangels who had received the soul of the righteous man saluted it, as\nbeing well known to them,\u2019 etc.[90] And so of the judgments passed upon\nthe sinners in like manner. There are also several details given by the\napocryphal writer concerning the pains of Hell, which are repeated in\na closely similar form in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_: _e.g._ the immersion of\nsome of the wicked in a murky river, the imprisonment of others in a\nbrazen wall wrapt in flames, etc.\n\nThe theme was treated, with more or less fulness, by several writers\nof the Eastern Church, but our task does not involve the enumeration\nof all the forms in which it appeared, and the versions already\nquoted would seem to be those which treated it most elaborately, and\nexercised the greatest influence upon later developments. Indeed the\ntwo Visions last mentioned, being specially referred to by the author\nof the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ among the instances of revelations formerly\nvouchsafed to holy men, may be regarded as landmarks showing the course\nof the tradition. For the same reason, some mention should be made\nhere of another of those instances, alluded to by the author in the\nsame place, though it really belongs rather to the apocalyptic than\nto the Otherworld class of writings, namely, the group of apocryphal\nbooks dealing with what is known as the _Transitus Mari\u00e6_. The oldest\nof these, the _Falling Asleep of Mary_, by John, Archbishop of\nThessalonica at the end of the seventh century, was formerly ascribed\nto St. John the Evangelist, and Tischendorf thinks that it was really\nderived from a treatise bearing the name of St. John, and written\nin the fourth century at latest, which enjoyed a wide popularity in\nboth East and West, and was translated into several languages. The\nseveral versions differ much in matters of detail, but the substance is\npractically the same.[91]\n\nIt relates how it was the Virgin\u2019s practice to frequent the Holy\nSepulchre, there to pray alone, until at length it was announced to\nher in a vision that the time of her earthly life was accomplished.\nThereupon the apostles were all caught up from the most remote parts of\nthe earth, where they then were, even those who were dead being raised\nfrom their graves and brought to Bethlehem, whence they proceeded to\nthe Virgin\u2019s house in Jerusalem in time to be present at her death, and\nto receive her benediction. They laid her in a new tomb in Gethsemane,\nand witnessed her assumption, at which time the Heavenly Host appeared\nto them, and the Holy Spirit prophesied to them concerning the last\nthings.\n\nIn the descriptions of the Otherworld contained in the foregoing\nvisions, the imagery employed evinces a blending of Hebraic traditions\nwith materials obtained from Hellenic sources. The elements\nattributable to the latter source pertain rather to the popular faith\nand to the doctrines taught in the ancient mysteries--which, most\nlikely, were fundamentally identical--than to the speculations of the\nNeo-Platonic schools, or to the cults which had been adopted from the\nEast. This, indeed, is what might have been looked for, from the fact\nthat Christianity received its earliest and most numerous recruits\nfrom the people at large,[92] among whom the old beliefs continued to\nexist. The moral teaching which, as mentioned in an earlier section,\nwas an important feature of the Eleusinian mysteries, retained its\nimportance long after Greece had ceased to be the centre of Hellenic\nthought throughout the countries which had come under the sway of\nHellenic civilisation. In the last century of the Roman Republic Cicero\nlauds the mysteries, which, by their refining influences, had civilised\nminds previously rustical and savage, had imparted the true principles\nof life, and had taught the way, not only to live with joy, but to die\nwith better hope.[93] In the first century of the Empire, Plutarch\nreminds his wife of the instruction they had shared at their initiation\ninto the mysteries.[94] Indeed, at that period, it would seem to have\nbeen looked upon as an impiety to withhold oneself from initiation,\nthat might even be visited with a criminal prosecution. The experiences\nof Demonax, as related by Lucian, furnish a case in point.\n\nEqually great, at least, was the vitality retained by the popular\nbelief in the Stygian river, and the pains of Tartarus that awaited\nthe wicked. There is evidence to show that in the classical and\npost-classical ages of Greece it was accepted as an article of the\nnational creed. Its persistence at a later date is attested by the\nvehemence of the onslaught which Lucretius made upon it, for, with due\nallowance for exaggeration, he could scarcely regard it as an incubus,\nan ever-present terror, weighing down and darkening men\u2019s lives, an\nUpas-tree which it was philosophy\u2019s noblest work to uproot, unless it\nhad met with very general and very convinced acceptance in his day.\nSeneca, indeed, states that in his time the belief was rejected even\nby children, and herein he is corroborated by other writers; we must\nconclude, however, that the children in question were exceptionally\nenlightened--the Roman prototypes of Macaulay\u2019s schoolboy--for in the\nsame century Plutarch, and in the following century Lucian, attests the\nvigorous survival of the old doctrine.[95]\n\nOn the whole we may say that in the descriptions of Paradise, with the\nTree of Life, the companies of Old Testament worthies, etc., Hebrew\nideas generally predominated, while the Greek Tartarus furnished most\nof the ideas of the Christian Hell. These ideas, however, did not\ninclude the doctrine of rebirth, which was so prominent a feature in\nthe Greek mystic cults. Indeed, the literature of the Vision of the\nOtherworld appears to have belonged, in the main, to the orthodox\nportion of the Church, avoiding, on the one hand, everything pertaining\nto the popular cults of Isis, Serapis, Mithra, the Magna Mater, and\nother fashionable Oriental deities, and, on the other hand, taking\nfrom Hellenic beliefs only such as were in harmony with the general\ncharacter of the Christian faith, little attracted by the Neo-Platonic\ntheories of emanations, \u00e6ons, and the like, which did so much to mould\nthe Gnostic and other heresies.\n\nIt would seem that the Vision of the Otherworld never acquired the\nsame importance in the Western Church as in the East; nevertheless,\nseveral of the Western fathers report similar cases, many of which,\nit is probable, already existed in popular tradition. One of these,\nrelated by St. Augustine, tells how a certain Curina, a native of\nHippo, died, but, as the condition of his body suggested that he was\nmerely in a trance, his friends delayed the burial for some days. At\nlength, however, the funeral was about to take place, when the corpse\nreturned to life, and told his friends that he had really died, but, as\nhe was being brought up for judgment, it was discovered that the Angel\nof Death had mistaken him for another Curina, a blacksmith, who dwelt\nin the same neighbourhood. Accordingly, after being favoured with a\nvision of Paradise, our Curina was dismissed with a caution to mend his\nways, and present himself to St. Augustine for baptism, both of which\ncommands he obeyed.\n\nThe correspondence of St. Gregory the Great contains several instances\nof a similar kind. One of these preserves the experiences of a man of\nConstantinople, Stephen by name, which were much the same as those\nof Curina, he having received the fatal summons in place of another\nStephen, who too was a blacksmith. Stephen, like Curina, was restored\nto the body, after receiving a vision, in his case, of Hell.\n\nA fundamental difference is apparent between the Visions just\nrecorded, and those composed in the Eastern Church, these constituting\na specific form of composition of which the primary object was to\npresent a picture of the next world, while the Western fathers\nwould appear merely to have introduced, by way of apologue, a\ncurrent religious folk-tale. If a folk-tale, it was probably widely\ndiffused, for both the above stories are evidently versions of one\noriginal--the scene of the first being placed at Hippo, of the second\nat Constantinople. Both have much in common with Plutarch\u2019s story of\nThespesios, and nothing is more probable than that all were variants\nof a folk-tale current in antiquity--long before Plato, as likely as\nnot, for he too introduces the story of Er as a floating tradition--and\nreceiving at the hands of Plutarch and the Christian fathers\nembellishments proper to their respective creeds. Moreover, in both\nstories the persons who ought to have died were blacksmiths, members of\na trade which, by an obvious association of ideas, has always appeared\nin popular mythology in a somewhat sinister light. The blunder of the\nAngel of Death in bringing the wrong person up for judgment, is one\nof the motives which frequently recur in the innumerable comic tales\nof Hell and Judgment which enjoyed much favour in the Middle Ages,\nand some of which are enshrined in the _Ingoldsby Legends_ for the\ndelectation of late-born men.\n\nElsewhere, however, in another of his epistles, St. Gregory records\na vision which conforms more closely to the literary type. A certain\nsoldier fell into a trance, and saw a bridge spanning a foul, smoky,\nstinking river, beyond which fair meadows lay, fresh and flowery,\nand goodly companies of folk walking therein clad in white apparel.\nOver the bridge a procession of the dead were passing, of whom the\nrighteous crossed successfully, and joined the companies that were\nalready in the _prata beata_ that lay beyond; the wicked fell into\nthe river. Then the soldier recognised the aforesaid Stephen, who had\nsince died finally, and was now endeavouring to cross the bridge; his\nfoot slipped, and as he was hanging over the edge, certain grisly\nforms seized upon him, and endeavoured to drag him down, while white\nand radiant beings strove to bear him up. The issue is left undecided.\nThe explanation of this incident was that Stephen had been liberal\nin almsgiving, but was addicted to sins of the flesh. Here we have a\nconnecting link, passing on to the Irish school the bridge incident,\nbelonging to Oriental myth, having first appeared in Chinv\u00e2t bridge\nof the Avesta. St. Gregory likewise perpetuates the \u2018tug of war\u2019 for\npossession of the doubtful soul, which also first appears in the\nPersian books. Like St. Gregory, Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s chronicler shows the parlous\nstate of the kindly but carnal souls, though his robuster charity\npronounces decidedly for their ultimate redemption (_F. A._, c. 27).\n\nIn the land beyond the river were many fair mansions; one of these was\nthen in course of construction, being built of golden bricks, which\nwere the good works of the destined occupant; and they who brought the\nbricks were the persons whom he had befriended.\n\nSt. Gregory also relates the case of one Peter, a Spanish monk, who\nhad died and gone to Hell, where he saw the torments of the wicked,\nand among them many who had lived in this world in greatness and high\nrepute, and were then hanging in the flames. Peter was about to be\nthrown in himself, when an angel rescued him and sent him back to the\nbody, with a caution.\n\nIt is certain that the earlier Middle Ages, as well as the later,\npossessed many stories dealing with the Otherworld, alike in form\nof the folk-tale and of the religious apologue. Probably, too, an\nexamination of the ecclesiastical writers of the period would disclose\nexamples of the treatment of the legend as a distinct class of literary\ncomposition, like the foregoing instances. Nevertheless, no important\ncontribution to the subject appears to have been made, nor any new\ndeparture taken, until the legend entered upon a fresh course on Irish\nsoil.\n\n\n\n\n4. THE LEGEND IN IRELAND\n\n\nWhile the Christian Church of Teutonic England owed its existence,\nin the main, to the missionary enterprise of Rome, the much older\nCeltic Churches, and notably the Church of Ireland, were more closely\nconnected with Gaul and the East. It was to Gaul that Ireland was\nmainly indebted for its original conversion, and the intercourse\nbetween the two countries remained close and unbroken. But the Church\nin the south of Gaul--and it was the south alone that preserved any\nconsiderable culture, or displayed missionary activity, in the earlier\nMiddle Ages--had from the very first been closely in touch with the\nChurches in the East. The great monastery of Lerins, in which St.\nPatrick is said to have studied, was founded from Egypt, and for many\ncenturies the Egyptian Church continued to manifest a lively interest\nin Gallic matters. Indeed, not only Lerins, but Marseilles, Lyons, and\nother parts of Southern Gaul maintained a constant intercourse with\nboth Egypt and Syria, with the natural result that many institutions of\nthe Gallic Church, despite its increasing subjection to Rome, dating\nfrom the year 244, bore the impress of Oriental influences.[96] Hence\nthe close relations with Gaul maintained by the Irish churchmen and\nscholars necessarily brought them into contact with their Egyptian and\nSyrian brethren, and with the ideas and practices which prevailed in\ntheir respective Churches.\n\nNor was Ireland\u2019s connection with the East confined to the intermediary\nof Gaul. Irish pilgrimages to Egypt continued until the end of the\neighth century, and Dicuil records a topographical exploration of\nthat country made by two Irishmen, Fidelis and his companion.[97]\nDocumentary evidence is yet extant, proving that even homekeeping\nIrishmen were not debarred from all acquaintance with the East. The\nSaltair na Rann[98] contains an Irish version of the _Book of Adam and\nEve_, a work written in Egypt in the fifth or sixth century, of which\nno mention outside of Ireland is known. Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s work, _De Locis\nSanctis_, already referred to, contains an account of the monastery\non Mount Thabor, which might stand for the description of an Irish\nmonastic community of his day. Indeed, the whole system both of the\nanchoretic and the c\u0153nobitic life in Ireland corresponds closely to\nthat which prevailed in Egypt and Syria; the monastic communities,\nconsisting of groups of detached huts or bee-hive cells, enclosed\nwithin a general wall, the structure of the cells, and of the other\nearliest examples of Irish ecclesiastical architecture, all suggest\na Syrian origin; and Dr. G. T. Stokes holds that \u2018the Irish schools\nwere most probably modelled after the forms and rules of the Egyptian\nLauras.\u2019[99]\n\nBut it was not only Egyptian and Syrian influences to which Ireland was\nsubjected by its intercourse with Southern Gaul. The civilisation of\nthat country was essentially Greek, and so remained for many centuries\nafter the Christian era; and this circumstance no doubt contributed to\nthe well-known survival of Greek learning in the Irish schools, long\nafter it had almost perished in the rest of Western Europe. It is not\nto be supposed that this learning was characterised by accuracy of\nscholarship, or by a wide acquaintance with classical literature; but\nneither was it always restricted to a mere smattering of the language,\nor to passages and quotations picked up at second-hand. Johannes Scotus\nErigena translated the works of the pseudo-Areopagite; Dicuil and\nFirghil (Virgilius, Bishop of Salzburg), studied the Greek books of\nscience; Homer, Aristotle, and other classical authors were known to\nsome of the Irish writers; several of the Irish divines were acquainted\nwith the Greek fathers and other theological works. Nor were the Greeks\nin person unknown to Ireland. Many Greek clerics had taken refuge\nthere during the Iconoclast persecution, and left traces which were\nrecognisable in Ussher\u2019s day; and the old poem on the Fair of Carman\nmakes mention of the Greek merchants who resorted thither.\n\nIt is thus apparent that the Irish writers possessed ample means of\nbecoming acquainted with the traditions, both oral and written, of the\nGreek and Eastern Churches. The knowledge thus acquired extended to the\nApocalyptic Visions referred to in the preceding section, as is proved\nby internal evidence furnished by the Irish Visions, both by way of\ndirect reference, and by the nature of their contents. It remains to\nsee how far the predilection which the Irish writers manifested for\nthis class of literature, and the special characteristics which it\nassumed in their hands, may have been determined by their familiarity\nwith analogous ideas already existing in their national literature.\n\nAt the period in question, the traditional literature of Ireland\nwould appear to have entered into the national life to no less a\ndegree than in Greece itself. Indeed, in certain respects, it was\nstill more closely interwoven with the habits of the people and the\nframework of society than in Greece, for the literary profession\nwas provided for by a public endowment, something like that of an\nestablished National Church, and its professors constituted a body\norganised by law, and occupying a recognised position in the State.\nOne of the most marked characteristics of early Irish civilisation,\nin its every branch, was an exaggerated tendency towards symmetrical\nclassification and multiplicity of detail. This tendency extended\nto the social system, and the earliest records of ancient Ireland\nthat have come down to us show that society was arranged according\nto a very elaborate scheme of ranks and classes,[100] among which\nthe literary profession was remarkable alike for the number of its\nmembers, and for the consideration in which they were held. It was\ndivided into several distinct orders, each of which was specially\naddicted to its own department of study, and of these the place of\ngreatest honour and dignity belonged to the Filid, who combined with\nother functions the special duty of preserving and transmitting the\nnational traditions.[101] The order of the Filid was further subdivided\ninto seven ranks or degrees, graduated according to the attainments\nwhich their respective members were required to possess. For all,\nhowever, a knowledge of the romantic literature of their country was\nan indispensable qualification--the \u00c1rd-Ollamh, the chief of the\norder, being required to know two hundred and fifty _pr\u00edm-sc\u00e9la_,\nor principal stories, and one hundred of secondary importance; and\nso on in a descending scale through the inferior degrees of the\nliterary hierarchy. These tales, in turn, were likewise grouped,\nwith all the precision of a scientific classification, according to\ntheir subject-matter.[102] Two lists are extant giving the titles of\nthe several kinds; the elder, preserved in the Book of Leinster, is\nascribed by M. d\u2019Arbois de Jubainville to the seventh century, or, at\nlatest, the beginning of the eighth century. They are classed under the\nheadings of _Catha_, battles; _Longasa_, travels (in exile); _Imrama_,\nvoyages (voluntary); _T\u00f3gb\u00e1la_, conquests; _T\u00f3glasi_, destructions;\n_Airgne_, slaughters; _Forbasa_, sieges; _Oitti_, tragic fates;\n_T\u00e1na_, forays; _Tochmarca_, wooings; _Uatha_, [adventures in] caves;\n_Eachtra_, deeds, adventures; _Sluaigheadha_, hostings or expeditions;\nto which are to be added _Fessa_, banquets; _Aithidi_, elopements;\n_Serca_, love-stories; _Tomadma_, irruptions or invasions (of recent\ndate); _Tocomlada_, colonies; _F\u00edsi_, visions. The subjects of these\ntales were taken from the national history or mythology, or, oftener\nstill may be, from that traditionary lore which forms a debatable\nground between the two. Many of them were more esteemed as authorities\nfor tribal history or genealogy than upon their purely literary merit,\nthough in others the imaginative element is as frankly recognised as in\na historical novel by Scott or Dumas.\n\nThe romantic literature of Ireland reached its height about the time of\nthe greatest activity of the Irish Church, and the sacred and secular\nschools did not fail to exercise a mutual influence, for the Irish\nclergy by no means despised these relics of Paganism: they possessed\na large share of that wise tolerance which we find in many of the\ngreat clerics of the Middle Ages, who did not desire the destruction\nof all the associations that had twined themselves about the lives\nof the people, but rather to enlist them into the service of the new\nfaith.[103] Two classes of the Irish tales were specially adapted for\necclesiastical treatment, and being thus brought into contact with\nthe general literature of medi\u00e6val Europe, have left upon it a deep\nand traceable impression. These were the _Imram_, or Voyage, and the\n_Fis_, or Vision, species distinct in kind, but containing in practice\nmuch that was common to both; for the course of the _Imram_ lay, for\nthe most part, among the enchanted lands of Celtic mythology, thinly\ndisguised, in later times, by a coating of Christian eschatology; and\nthe _Fis_, though more commonly of Christian origin, and often indited\nexpressly for edification, was indebted to the same source for most of\nits _mise-en-sc\u00e8ne_. Both types of narrative are represented among the\nlegends which recount the adventures met with by Cuchulainn, Cormac Mac\n\u00c1irt, and other ancient heroes in a purely pagan Otherworld. Starting\nthence and proceeding through the travel tales, similar in many\nrespects to the foregoing, but more or less imbued with a Christian\ntinge, which relate the Voyages of Maelduin, of Tadg Mac C\u00e9in, of the\nSons of Ua Corra, and the like, we reach, on the one hand, the Voyage\nof St. Brendan, one of the most picturesque and popular legends of\nthe Middle Ages, and, on the other hand, the visions of the Irish\nSaints, the stories of St. Patrick\u2019s Purgatory, and similar legends\nwhich pervaded Western Europe, and passing into Italy would appear\nto have led up to the story of the wicked Marquis of Brandenburg, and\nthe opening of the _Tesoretto_ of Brunetto Latini, which last, again,\nsuggested to Dante the opening passages of the _Commedia_.\n\nA visit to the Otherworld was one of the most frequent subjects of\nIrish legend. Not that the region visited is always so described;\nsometimes it is termed the realm of the Dagda, one of the most\nprimitive culture-deities in the Irish mythology, and, at the same\ntime, the counterpart of Yama and Yima;[104] sometimes, the island\nparadise of Manann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr, the Sea-God; at others, the palace of\nMider or of Oengus, both of whom shared with Lug many of the attributes\nof the Greek Apollo. Very often it is merely the rath, or island, or\nsubaqueous abode, of some enchantress or fairy lady, but even then some\ndetail of the story will almost always make it clear that the spot is\nto be identified with the land of departed spirits, although, in some\ninstances, the authors may have been no more aware than Ariosto in\ndescribing the garden of Alcina, or, indeed, than Homer in his islands\nof the Ph\u00e6acians, of Circe and of Calypso, that all their imaginary\nscenes alike had one common origin, the region where the \u03ba\u03bb\u03c5\u03c4\u1f70 \u1f14\u03b8\u03bd\u03b5\u03b1\n\u03bd\u03b5\u03ba\u03c1\u1ff6\u03bd have their dwelling.[105]\n\nThe conception which the Irish formed of their Happy Otherworld\nresembled in substance the ideas which most other nations held upon\nthe subject; but their descriptions of it are frequently remarkable\nfor a poetry, a vivid sense of beauty--in short, for a _gusto_,\nwhich are far less common. For all that, however, they do not always\nreject the grosser--it would, perhaps, be more just to call them\nthe simpler--pleasures which would naturally appeal to the healthy\nimaginations of a people addicted to a vigorous and somewhat rude way\nof life. Thus in the subterranean palace of the Dagda (afterwards\nusurped by his son, Oengus \u00d3g), which was situate within the Brug na\nBoinne, and is described as a place of unceasing delight, whither\ndeath or sickness never came, the god sat beneath three fragrant\napple-trees, always laden with ripe fruit, beside an inexhaustible vat\nof beer; two pigs were there, one alive and the other ready roasted,\nturn and turn about, and a caldron brought by the D\u00e9 Danann from Murias\n(\u2018Sealand\u2019), which was never empty of food, and from which none ever\nrose unsatisfied, for it gave to each one a portion corresponding to\nhis rightful claims. These gross enjoyments recur even in the truly\npoetic lines which Mider sings to B\u00e9find (or Etain), wife of King\nEochaid Airem, in the story of the Brudin Da Derga,[106] tempting her\nto follow him to his realm of Magh M\u00f3r. This he describes as a wondrous\nland, traversed by warm sweet streams; the people thereof are handsome,\nwithout a blemish, conceived without sin or lust; their bodies are\nlike the snow, white of skin and black of brow, their hair like tufts\nof primrose, their cheeks like the foxglove, and their eyes like the\nblackbird\u2019s eggs. But by way of additional attraction Mider promises\nthe lady a cap of gold for her head, fresh pork, soft new milk, wine\nand mead of the choicest, and ale \u2018headier than the ale of Ireland.\u2019\nWe learn elsewhere that Mider also possessed a magic caldron[107]\nlike that of the Dagda, and three cows which never ran dry. So, too,\nManann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr possessed among other highly desirable chattels seven\npigs that would suffice to feed all the world, and seven cows whose\nmilk would fill seven tubs, whence all the people of the world might\ndrink their fill. It is interesting to observe how this side of the\nIrish Paradise received a twofold development; on the one hand, being\nsubjected to a refining process, as we shall see when considering the\n_Fis Adamn\u00e1in_; on the other, developing into a veritable Cockayne, in\nsuch humorous writings as the _Vision of Mac Conglinne_.[108]\n\nPerhaps the fullest and most poetic account of the T\u00edr Tairngire is\nthat contained in two poems of great beauty, which occur in the _Voyage\nof Bran, Son of Febal_, before cited.[109] It must suffice, in this\nplace, to translate such portions as bear more immediately upon our\nsubject.\n\nA lovely maiden appears to Bran, bearing in her hand an apple branch\nwith twigs of silver and golden fruit upon it; this she places in his\nhand, and sings:--\n\n     \u2018An isle there is afar; round it sea-horses are flashing;\n    a free stretch, against which white-sided surges swell; four\n    pedestals sustain it. A delight of the eye, a glorious array,\n    are the hosts that disport them in the heroes\u2019 chariot strife,\n    in the Southern plain of Findarggat (silver-white). Of white\n    bronze are the pedestals beneath it; throughout the glorious\n    ages, throughout the ages of the world, shines the lovely land,\n    over-snowed with many blossoms. There is a stately tree in\n    bloom; the birds chant responsive to the [canonical] hours;\n    at every hour they sing in harmony. Jewels of every hue are\n    gleaming throughout the soft-voiced plain; perpetuity of joy,\n    with linked melody, is in the Southern plain of Silvercloud. No\n    wailing is known, nor guile, in the land of perpetual tilth;\n    nothing rough nor harsh, but only sweet music, strikes the\n    ear. No sorrow, no gloom, no death, no sickness at all, nor\n    feebleness,--that is the token of Emain, no rival to it exists.\n    The beauty of the wondrous land, lovely of aspect, a land fair\n    to look upon--never its like was found. Shouldst thou next look\n    on Airctec, bestrewn with dragon-stones and crystals; Ocean\n    strews upon the land crystal tresses from his mane. Moorlands,\n    thickets of every hue, in [the land of] Calm; the beauty of\n    freshness, the hearing of music in its sweetness, the drinking\n    of wine the brightest. In Magh R\u00e9in [Plain of the Sea] the\n    golden chariots come at flood-tide to meet the sun; in Magh Mon\n    [Plain of Games] are chariots of silver and of bronze, without\n    a blemish. A herd of horses like yellow gold is there on the\n    strand; another herd, of purple hue; after them, yet another\n    herd, of the hue of a pure grey pearl. At the sun\u2019s uprising\n    a fair man will come, who illumines the level lands; he rides\n    over the fair plain whereon the sea beats, he tempers the ocean\n    till it is [as] blood. The host will come across the pure sea;\n    they show themselves, rowing towards the land; then they row\n    to a flat rock, well in view, whence a hundred songs arise.\n    It chants melody to the hosts, so that sorrow is not therein;\n    the music swells from the choirs of hundreds, who look not\n    for return or death. Emain of many forms by the sea, it may\n    be near, it may be far; therein are women, many thousands, in\n    chequered array, and the pure sea round about it. When he has\n    heard the music\u2019s sound, the note of the birds in Imchi\u00fain, a\n    little band of ladies will come down from the height to the\n    field of games, whereon he stands. Freedom with health shall\n    come to the land on which laughter is poured forth; \u2019tis on\n    Imchi\u00fain, at every season, that length of life with joy shall\n    come. A day of serenity unending scatters silver on the land;\n    a pure white cliff is on the seaboard range, drawing the sun\u2019s\n    heat from him. The multitude race their horses along Magh Mon,\n    a glorious sport, not languid; in the chequered lea-land, all\n    beauty excelling (?), they look not for return nor death.\u2019\n\nWe may see at a glance how thoroughly pagan is the conception of the\nhappy region here depicted, though assuredly lacking neither in beauty\nnor refinement, in which respects the T\u00edr Tairngire need fear no\ncomparison with the Elysium of the Greek poets, which it so strongly\nresembles. It is equally evident that the lord of this Island Paradise,\nManann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr, is the Tuatha D\u00e9 Danann counterpart of the Fomorian\nTethra, king of the dead, who sends his messengers in the guise of\nbeautiful women--\u1f04\u03b3\u03b3\u03b5\u03bb\u03bf\u03b9 in all literalness--to call his subjects unto\nhim in his realm beyond the ocean. Indeed, Tethra himself appears\nin a legend, exactly parallel to the foregoing in design, though of\nmore primitive structure, which relates the passing of Connla, son of\nthe famous \u00c1rd-R\u00ed, Conn of the Hundred Battles. Connla, like Bran,\nwas visited by a beautiful damsel, who promised to confer upon him a\ncontinuance of youth and beauty which should never fail or fade until\nthe Judgment. She then gave him an apple and left him. The virtue of\nthis apple was such that it afforded Connla nutriment enough for a\nmonth, at the end of which time the damsel returned, and told him that\nthe ever-living ones had sent for him, having chosen him to become one\nof the folk of Tethra, there to dwell for ever, in the companies of his\nforefathers, in the midst of his acquaintance and friends.[110] And\nConnla followed her to the sea-shore, where a ship of glass awaited\nthem, in which they embarked, while Conn followed them to the shore,\nweeping, and watched them until they were out of sight.\n\nBy far the greater number of the visits which the heroes and heroines\nof Irish tradition pay to the Otherworld are variations upon the same\ntheme: a supernatural visitant, smitten with love for chief or maiden,\ninduces him or her, by persuasion, guile, or force, to follow to fairy\nrath or oversea Elysium; a theme which has survived to our own day in\nthe common legend of the _Leanamh\u00e1n Sidhe_, or Fairy Lover. The story\nof Mider and Etain, or Eithne, above referred to, is an instance of\nthis kind, Mider having won Etain of her husband, King Eochaid Airem,\nat a game of chess. In many cases where a hero\u2019s wife is thus abducted\nthe loss is but temporary, the husband, a more martial and more\nsuccessful Orpheus, winning back his Eurydice by force or stratagem.\nTo this also the modern Irish fairy tales contain many parallels. So\nnumerous are the examples of this type, that it is both impossible\nand unnecessary to discuss them _seriatim_; it is enough to select\nfrom each of the great tale cycles such instances as may best show the\npersistence of the theme, and of the original Irish notions concerning\nthe Otherworld, some of which coloured the versions in which the legend\nappeared in Christian times. The Elysian abodes of the Dagda, of Oengus\n\u00d3g, of Mider, and of Manann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr, which have been described\nalready, pertain to the mythological cycle of Irish legend; similar\nvisits to the abodes of the Tuatha D\u00e9 Danann are recorded in many\nstories belonging to the greatest of the heroic cycles, namely, the\nUltonian cycle.\n\nOne of the best and longest of these stories is the _Serglige\nConchulaind_[111] or Sick-bed of Cuchulainn, the principal hero of\nthe cycle in question. We have room only for a brief abstract of this\nstory, giving the details which relate more particularly to our subject.\n\nOnce, in dream, Cuchulainn was visited by two ladies of great beauty,\nwho, without vouchsafing any explanation of their conduct, kept smiting\nhim with whips as he lay until they left him speechless, in which\nstate he remained for nearly a year. At the end of that time Emer,\nCuchulainn\u2019s wife, and those with her, saw one day a young man sitting\nby his bedside, singing how he was Oengus, and the dream-ladies were\nFand and Liban, his sisters, of whom Fand, wife of Manann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr,\nhaving been deserted by her husband, had conceived a great love for\nCuchulainn, and promised that if he would visit her in the T\u00edr Sorcha\n(Land of Light), she would make him whole, and give him gold and silver\nand wine _go le\u00f3r_. Before complying with this message, Cuchulainn\nsent Loeg, his charioteer, to inspect and report. Loeg returned with a\nglowing account of the T\u00edr Sorcha. He had been conducted to the house\nof Labraid Luathlam-ar-Claideb--Quick Hand on Sword--husband of Liban,\nwhere Fand was then residing. The rath was situate in the midst of \u2018a\npure lake, whither companies of women resort\u2019; before the door stood\nthree stately trees, pure purple, and the bird-flock singing upon the\nbranches of them without ceasing, \u2018and in the eastern doorway of the\n_lios_ a tree--not paltry the music thereon--of silver, on which the\nsun shines with exceeding radiance, like gold.\u2019 Within was the usual\ngood cheer, including an inexhaustible vat of mead. Tempted by this\naccount Cuchulainn repaired thither himself, and found that all Loeg\nhad said was true, and more. The beautiful Fand consented to be his, on\ncondition that he would aid her people in war against a rival god-clan;\nthis done, he brought her back to Ireland. The upshot of it all was\nthat Emer, whom Cuchulainn had always loved most fondly until Fand\u2019s\nspell was on him, became jealous of her rival, and sought to kill her.\nCuchulainn objected to this, but Emer\u2019s devotion revived the unquenched\nembers of his flame for her. At the same time, Manann\u00e1n had found that\n\u2018what our contempts do often hurl from us we wish it ours again,\u2019 and\nthe piece concludes with the return of all to their _premiers amours_.\n\nThe Otherworld of the ancient Irish possessed no Tartarus. Malignant\npowers, indeed, there were in plenty; not to speak of a multitude of\nhags and witches, giants and ogres, goblins and spectres, the divine\npersonages themselves often display a very sinister side of their\ncharacter, while not uncommonly a brilliant chief or radiant lady\nof the Tuatha D\u00e9 Danann would be brother or sister to a hideous and\nsavage hag or giant.[112] In like manner, the Irish Wonderland (T\u00edr\nna n-Iongnadh) could show, alongside of its enchanted raths and\nElysian pleasances, scenes of a widely different kind; seas and lakes\nhaunted by terrible monsters, weird forests, and gloomy, perilous\nglens, although, it is true, this side of the picture is treated much\nless fully than the other. Nevertheless, there is no strict line of\ndemarcation between the two, which exist side by side, as might the\ndesert and fertile regions of the same country.\n\nOne of the nearest approximations to the gloomy Hades of the early\nGreeks is found in the realm of Scathach (The Shadowy) whither\nCuchulainn was sent by the wizard Forgall Monach, his prospective\nfather-in-law, in the hope of getting rid of him, but on pretext\nof completing his military education--an instance of the universal\narticle of primitive belief that the ultimate arcana of knowledge\nare only to be won from the powers of death and darkness.[113] The\napproach to Scathach\u2019s country lay across a plain, to the one half\nof which the feet of whoso attempted to cross it would adhere, while\nin the other half the ground would rise and impale the passenger on\nthe grass blades, like spear points, which grew thereon. Cuchulainn\nwas guided across the plain by the familiar agency of a wheel and an\napple, given him by a young man whom he found dwelling in a fairy rath,\nat the outset of his journey, and who thus discharged the office of\n_psychopompos_, which in one form or other--Sibyl, Michael, Virgil,\nhag or damsel--almost always appears to be indispensable. The way\nthen led through a narrow glen, peopled by monsters, and over high\nand perilous mountain passes. Finally, to reach his goal, he had to\ncross the \u2018Bridge of the Cliff,\u2019 an enchanted bridge, low at the two\nends and high at the middle, of such kind that, so soon as one stepped\nupon either end, the other would rise and throw him back. This, Miss\nHull says (_op. cit._, p. 291), is the earliest occurrence in Irish\nlegend of the bridge episode, which, as we have seen, had previously\nbeen a prominent feature in pictures of the Otherworld, and afterwards\nappears with almost equal frequency in the chivalrous literature of\nthe Middle Ages. Miss Hull suggests that the idea, in the present\ncase, is borrowed from the Norse; this, of course, is quite possible,\nhaving regard to the prominence in Northern myth of the Bridge of\nGi\u00f6ll, crossed by Herm\u00f6dr on his journey to the Shades in quest of the\ndead Balder; while the Wonderland depicted in the Erik Saga and in the\nStory of Gorm is likewise approached by a bridge.[114] However, without\nentering into the difficult question of the epoch at which the Balder\nmyth assumed its present shape, or of the respective dates of the\nNorse and Irish legends in their original forms, the hypothesis hardly\nseems necessary to account for the introduction of so obvious and so\nwidespread an incident into the Cuchulainn legend, where, moreover, the\nBridge of the Cliff differs widely from the Rainbow bridge of Gi\u00f6ll\nand from the more commonplace bridges of the Norse Sagas. As Miss Hull\nherself observes, the idea recurs in another branch of Celtic story,\nthe Arthurian legend,[115] and \u2018belongs to the Hell doctrine of nearly\nall Oriental religions\u2019 (_loc. cit._) Several of these we have already\nexamined, and have seen how the same idea passed into the eschatology\nof the Western Church. Neither is it confined to the cultured races,\nfrom Vedic India to Iceland; it occurs also among such primitive\nnations as the Inoits of Aleutia and the Bagadas of the Nilghiris. From\nthem to Addison\u2019s _Vision of Mirza_ is a long step in every sense.[116]\n\nAnother story connected with the same cycle, the _Echtra Nerai_,\nAdventures of Nera, otherwise called the _T\u00e1in Bo Aingen_, Cattle\nraid of Aingen,[117] may receive mention here as presenting a feature\nwhich frequently recurs in the ecclesiastical visions, while the main\noutlines of the story are preserved in modern folk-tales. As Ailill,\nking of Connacht, was keeping the Samhain festival in his rath of\nCruachan, he offered to give his gold-hilted sword to any one who\nshould dare to put a withe on the foot of a newly hanged man, who was\nswinging outside. Nera accepted the challenge, and after several vain\nattempts (the withe springing off of its own accord) succeeded. The\ncorpse then spoke, and asked Nera for a drink, and Nera obligingly took\nthe corpse on his shoulders, and offered to take him to a house which\nappeared hard by, standing amid a lake of fire. The corpse declined\nthis offer, which is hardly to be wondered at, and the rest of the\nstory follows the conventional lines of the ordinary folk-tale, but we\nhave here the moat of fire, as in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ and elsewhere.\n\nVisits to the enchanted abodes of the Tuatha D\u00e9 Danann--to the\nOtherworld, that is--are common in the tales belonging to the third\ngreat group of heroic tales, second in importance to the Cuchulainn\ncycle above, namely, the Finn cycle, in which occurs the most\ncelebrated of them all--the visit of O\u00edsin to Niamh Cinn \u00d3ir, which so\nlate as the eighteenth century inspired Michael Comyn with his fine\npoem, the _Laoi Ois\u00edn ar dT\u00edr na n-\u00f3g_. Still, the tales of this cycle,\nhowever ancient their materials, would appear to have undergone a\nsogmewhat modernising influence, comparatively speaking, in receiving\nartistic shape, in which last respect they betray more signs of a\ndeliberately literary treatment than their predecessors, while in their\ntreatment of the Otherworld they do not appear to have contributed\nmaterially to the evolution of the legend.\n\nDistinct from the Finn cycle, though dealing in part with the persons\nand events of the period to which Finn has been assigned by tradition,\nis a group of highly picturesque tales relating to the dynasty of Conn\nCed-cathach (of the Hundred Battles) \u00c1rd R\u00ed of Ireland, according to\ntradition, in the second century A.D. In the Conn cycle the Otherworld\nlegend figures prominently, the monarch himself, his sons \u00c1rt and\nConnla, and his grandson Cormac, all having journeyed thither. These\ntales, moreover, furnish certain links which connect the _Echtra_ with\nthe _Imram_ and _Fis_.\n\nIt is said to have been Conn\u2019s daily wont to make the circuit of Temair\n(Tara), in company of his Druids and poets, to see that none of the\nTuatha D\u00e9 Danann, or Daoine Sidhe, alighted thereon. One day, while\nso engaged, he trod upon a flagstone, which shrieked so loud as to be\nheard all over Temair and Magh Breg. Conn asked his chief Druid for an\nexplanation of this wonder, but the Druid required a respite of fifty\ndays before he could give it. At the end of that time the king and his\nsuite again repaired to the spot, and the Druid declared that the name\nof the flag was F\u00e1l, and that it had been brought from Inis F\u00e1il by the\nTuatha D\u00e9 Danann to remain at Temair for ever, and any year the \u00c1rd\nR\u00ed of \u00c9ire failed to look upon it, dearth would be on the land.[118]\nAnd suddenly a mist fell upon them, and from out of the mist was heard\nthe sound of a horseman, who cast three darts at them. \u2018Whosoever aims\nat Conn in Temair will be violating the king\u2019s majesty,\u2019 exclaimed\nthe Druid; whereupon the horseman came forward and, greeting Conn,\ninvited him to his home. Conn followed, and soon reached a fair plain\nin which stood a royal rath, and a great tree, as it were of gold, in\nthe doorway.[119] On entering, he saw a lovely damsel, a golden diadem\non her head, standing by a silver vat hooped with gold, full of red\nale, and a golden can and cup upon it. Beside it was a royal throne,\nwhereon sat a Sc\u00e1l (champion) of majestic stature, and of a beauty\nnever seen at Temair. Conn asked him who he was: he replied, \u2018No living\nchampion am I, but one of Adam\u2019s sons returned from death; I am Lugh\nMac Ceithlenn,[120] and I am come to reveal to thee the life of thine\nown sovereignty, and the sovereignty of every king who shall be after\nthee in \u00c9ire.\u2019--\u2018And the maiden who was present to them in the house\nwas the sovereignty of \u00c9ire for ever.\u2019 Then were revealed to Conn the\nnames of all the kings of his race who should succeed to him in \u00c9ire, a\ncup of ale being borne to the name of each. The scene, which suggests\nthe similar revelation made to Macbeth in the witches\u2019 cavern, closes\nwith a prophecy of St. Patrick--whom God should honour, and who should\nkindle a torch that would illumine \u00c9ire from sea to sea--and of the\nlater races of kings that should rule over Ireland.\n\nHere we have another instance of Christian embroidery upon a thoroughly\nPagan stuff; however, the identification of the D\u00e9 Danann Lugh as a son\nof Adam returned from the dead was true in a fuller sense than the\nauthor, probably, was aware.\n\nAnother visit of Conn to the T\u00edr na n-\u00d3g is related in a tale known as\nthe _Echtra \u00c1irt_, or Adventures of \u00c1rt.[121] The Leanamh\u00e1n Sidhe, who\nfigures in this story, bears a more sinister aspect than do most of her\norder in Irish legend, and possesses affinities to the witch-lady or\nLamia. She was B\u00e9cuma Cneisgel (B. White-skin), wife of the D\u00e9 Danann\nchief Labrad Luathlam-ar-Claideb (Swift Hand on Sword), and having been\nfound guilty of infidelity, had been banished from the T\u00edr Tairngire.\nFinding a curach on the shore, she stepped in; this \u2018trim skiff\u2019 of the\nWonderland \u2018asked no aid of sail or oar,\u2019 and B\u00e9cuma, \u2018leaving it to\nthe heaving of wind over sea,\u2019 reached Benn Edair, the Hill of Howth.\nHere she found Conn, who had retired thither to mourn the recent death\nof his wife, and introduced herself to him as Delbchaem (Fair-form),\ndaughter of Morgan (Sea-born), come to Ireland from the T\u00edr Tairngire\nfor love of Conn\u2019s son \u00c1rt. However, it was ultimately settled that she\nshould marry Conn himself, and she returned with him to Temair, having\nfirst obtained a pledge from the king, according to the rules of Irish\nchivalry, that he would grant her the boon she might ask of him, which\nproved to be the banishment of \u00c1rt for a year. Henceforth, all went\nwrong with the country; the land yielded neither corn nor milk, and\nthe Druids, on being consulted, affirmed that by reason of B\u00e9cuma\u2019s\nwickedness the land was under a curse, which could only be removed by\nsacrificing the son of a sinless couple, and mingling his blood with\nthe soil of Temair. Conn set forth in quest of such a youth; at Benn\nEdair he found a curach which bore him across the sea, through herds\nof strange sea-monsters of fearsome aspect, while the waves rose and\nthe firmament trembled, until he came to a strange isle, \u2018having fair\nfragrant apple-trees, and many wells of wine, most beautiful, and a\nfair bright wood, adorned with clustering hazel-nuts, surrounding those\nwells, with lovely golden yellow nuts, and little bees, ever beautiful,\nhovering over the fruits, which were dropping their blossoms and their\nleaves into the wells\u2019 (tr. Best, _loc. cit._). Hard by was a goodly\nhouse, the dwelling of Daire Degamra; the thatch was of birds\u2019 wings,\nwhite, and yellow, and blue; the doors were of crystal, and the posts\nof bronze. Inside was a crystal throne, whereon sat Segda Saerlabrad,\nson of Daire. Conn was made welcome; his feet were washed by an\ninvisible hand, which likewise guided him to the hearth, wherefrom a\nflame started up of its own accord. Tables laden with various kinds of\nmeat were set before him by invisible attendants, and a drinking horn\nwas set thereon. There was a vat, finely wrought, of blue crystal, and\nthree golden hoops about it, wherein Daire bade him bathe. Then he was\nbidden fall to; but it was _geis_ to him to eat alone, whereas the\ninmates told him that it was equally _geis_ to them to eat save alone;\nhowever, Segda, to oblige the guest, consented to eat with him. Next\nmorning Conn asked permission to take Segda back with him, having heard\nthat he was that son of a sinless couple of whom he was in quest. His\nparents admitted that this was so, for they had never come together\nsave at his conception, and so it had been with their own parents.\nConn did not divulge why he needed the youth; nevertheless, his parents\nrefused to let him go, but Segda proving resolute not to deny the king,\nthey consented, putting him under the protection of Conn, and \u00c1rt and\nFinn, and the \u2018men of art,\u2019 for his safe return. The _d\u00e9nouement_,\nshowing how Segda was preserved from sacrifice, is too long to relate\nhere, having nothing to do with our subject.\n\nThe story then goes on to \u00c1rt, whose adventures are the ostensible\nsubject of it. B\u00e9cuma behaved like the typical stepmother of the\nfolk-tale. In order to procure his absence from Ireland, she challenged\nhim to chess, and on winning--by foul play, being aided by spiritual\nagencies at her command--put a _geis_ on him not to return to Ireland\nwithout the before-mentioned Delbchaem, daughter of Morgan, who dwelt\nin an isle in the sea. \u00c1rt, like his father, set out in a curach,\nand reached an island wherein was a d\u00fan similar to that of Daire.\nIn it was a company of fair women, and among them Crede Firalaind\n(Truly-beautiful). \u00c1rt was welcomed and feasted; he told his tale, and\nCrede told him that his coming had long been decreed; she gave him a\n\u2018variegated mantle, with adornments of gold from Arabia,\u2019 and three\nkisses, and showed him a crystal bower, wherein was an inexhaustible\nvat, which straightway became full again, however often emptied. Here\n\u00c1rt stayed a fortnight, and upon his leaving, Crede instructed him as\nto the way he had to follow. This way was wild and difficult, full of\nthe dangers and obstacles which commonly waylay the hero of romance,\nthough they only call for mention here as constituting, with the realm\nof Scathach before described, as near an approach to a Tartarus\nmyth as Irish legend contains. The terrors which \u00c1rt had to traverse\nincluded stretches of ocean filled with sea-monsters that had to be\nfought and overcome; a wood, where it was as though spear-points of\nbattle were under the feet, like leaves of the forest; a venomous icy\nmountain, with a glen full of toads which lay in wait for passers-by;\nan icy river, with a narrow bridge over, defended by a giant whom no\nweapons would harm, fire burn, nor water drown. Of course, all ended\nas it should, but the remainder of the story casts no light upon the\nOtherworld.\n\nOne of the best-known stories belonging to this cycle is that\nwhich relates the adventures of Cormac, son of \u00c1rt, in the T\u00edr\nTairngire.[122] At the dawn of a May morning Cormac was walking on the\nramparts of Temair, when he espied a dignified, grey-haired warrior\napproaching him, bearing on his shoulder a branch of silver and three\ngolden apples on it; and the music which those apples made when shaken\nwould lull to rest sick folk, and wounded men, and women in the pains\nof childbirth. After the two had exchanged greetings, Cormac asked the\nstranger whence he had come. \u2018From a land,\u2019 he replied, \u2018where there\nis nought save truth, and there is neither envy, nor jealousy, nor\nhate, nor haughtiness\u2019 (tr. W. S.). They plighted their friendship,\nand Cormac begged for the musical branch, which the other gave him,\nexacting in return the promise of three boons which he should crave.\nA year later the warrior returned, and claimed his first boon, which\nwas none other than Cormac\u2019s own daughter Ailbe. Though loath, Cormac\nsubmitted, bound by his promise,[123] and stilled the lamentations of\nhis household by shaking the branch, and casting them into a profound\nsleep. After a month the warrior returned, and demanded Conn\u2019s son,\nand, finally, his wife. Cormac still felt himself bound to comply,\nbut he started off in pursuit, followed by all his people. Upon their\npassing beyond the walls a dense mist fell upon them, and Cormac\nfound himself in the plain alone. Before him stood a great d\u00fan, with\na stockade of bronze about it, and within it a house of silver. The\nthatch of this house was the wings of white birds. It was half thatched\nonly, and troops of fairy horsemen kept bringing other wings to\ncomplete it, but the wind was always carrying them away. After this,\nhe saw a man feeding a fire with a great oak-tree, entire, and as soon\nas one was consumed he would replace it with another. Then he came to\nan enclosure also ramparted with bronze, and four houses therein; one\nof these was a great palace, \u2018with its beams of bronze, its wattling\nof silver, and its thatch the wings of white birds. Then he sees in\nthe garth a shining fountain, with five streams flowing out of it, and\nthe hosts in turn a-drinking its waters. Nine hazels of Buan grow over\nthe well, the purple hazels drop their nuts into the fountain, and the\nfive salmon which are in the fountain sever them and send their husks\nfloating down the stream. Now the sound of the falling of those streams\nis more melodious than any music that men sing\u2019 (W. S. _loc. cit._).\nIn the house Cormac found a warrior of exceeding beauty, both in face\nand figure, and a maiden, \u2018the loveliest of the world\u2019s women,\u2019 with\na helmet of gold on her yellow hair. Her feet, Cormac noticed, were\nwashed by invisible hands, and within a partition was a bath, heated\nwithout visible agency, and Cormac bathed there. In the afternoon a man\ncame in, bearing in one hand an axe and in the other a log of wood, and\nfollowed by a pig. At the warrior\u2019s bidding, the man kindled a fire\nwith the log, killed the pig, and put him in a caldron on the fire to\nboil. After a while the damsel bade him turn the pig, but he replied\nthat it was useless, for that pig would never be done until a truth had\nbeen told for every quarter. Thereupon each one told some truth; the\nman how he had obtained the log and the pig, the properties of which\nwere such that after the log had been burnt out at night, and the pig\neaten, the pig would be found alive in the morning, and the log whole;\nand one quarter of the pig was cooked. The warrior told how there was\na field outside the lios, which was found, at ploughing time, to be\nready ploughed, harrowed, and sown with wheat; at harvest time, ready\nstacked, and so on, and they had been eating of that wheat ever since,\nand it none the less; and another quarter was done. The girl said that\nshe had a herd of seven cows, whose milk sufficed for all the people of\nthe T\u00edr Tairngire, and seven sheep whose wool furnished the garments of\nthem; and the third quarter was cooked. Then Cormac related the reason\nof his coming, and the pig was cooked entirely. When Cormac\u2019s portion\nwas set before him, he said that he never ate unless there were fifty\nmen in his company. Then the warrior sang a strain which sent him to\nsleep, and on waking he beheld fifty men, and with them his wife, son,\nand daughter. So they set to upon the food and ale in all mirth and\ngladness. And a silver cup was placed in the warrior\u2019s hand, who, as\nCormac admired the workmanship of it, told him that there was something\nyet more wonderful about it, for when three lies were told under it\nit would break into three pieces, while the utterance of three truths\nwould make it whole again. He then told three lies, and the cup broke,\neven as he had said; then, to restore it, he declared that neither\nhad Cormac\u2019s wife nor daughter seen a man, nor his son a woman, since\nthey had left him, and in proof that his words were true, the cup came\ntogether, perfect as before. So Cormac received again his wife and son\nand daughter; and with them the cup, that he might discern between\ntruth and falsehood in his judgments, and the bell-branch for music and\ndelight. And the warrior declared that he was Manann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr, who\nhad allured Conn to the T\u00edr Tairngire that he might behold the wonder\nof it. And the men who had brought the wings to complete the thatch of\nthe house were \u2018the men of art in Ireland, collecting cattle and wealth\nwhich passed away into nothing\u2019; the man burning oak-trees was a young\nlord, paying out of his own husbandry for all that he consumed; the\nfountain was the Fountain of Knowledge, and the five streams issuing\nthereout the five senses, \u2018And no man will have knowledge who drinketh\nnot a draught out of the fountain itself, and out of the streams. The\nfolk of many arts are those who drink of them both\u2019 (W. S. _loc. cit._).\n\nThe foregoing group of stories from the Conn cycle probably represent\na very ancient legend, several of them being manifest variants of a\nsingle original, which at some period became connected in turn with the\nsuccessive members of the dynasty. This is apparent even in several\nminute points of detail: _e.g._ Conn\u2019s first wife, for whom he mourned,\nand Cormac\u2019s wife, taken from him by Manann\u00e1n, were both named Ethne\nTaebfada (Long-side). The group represents a stage in the theory of\nthe Otherworld in advance of previous conceptions;[124] and although\nthe ideas which it contains fall far short of an eschatology, properly\nso called, they yet contain materials which later writers were able to\nemploy in that sense. We can discern here the rudiments of an ethical\ntheory of the Otherworld. In the story of Connla, the land of Tethra\nappears as a happy place whither the souls of famous chieftains and\nwarriors are borne across the sea, as Achilles was rapt away to the\nisle of Leuke; and even this aristocratic Elysium--parallels to which\nabound from Polynesia to Greece, and from Greece to America--contains\nin germ a certain ethical idea. The favour of the immortals is reserved\nfor chieftains famous for their birth and qualities, and thus the\nprocess is begun which first designates as a \u2018gentleman\u2019 the scion of\na noble _gens_, and then goes on to require in such an one qualities\nworthy of his origin, and to\n\n    \u2018Loke who that is most vertuous alway,\n    Priv\u00eb and apert, and most entendeth ay\n    To do the gentil dedes that he can,\n    And take him for the gretest gentilman.\u2019\n\nThus, in the Adventures of Cormac, Manann\u00e1n describes the T\u00edr\nTairngire as \u2018a land where there is naught save truth, and there is\nneither envy nor jealousy, hate nor haughtiness\u2019; a description which\nis applied in a greatly amplified form to Heaven, at the close of the\n_Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, and in other Christian writings. It reminds us of\na passage already cited from the Avesta, descriptive of the Var of\nYima. Indeed, in Ireland as in Ir\u00e2n, \u2018everything that maketh a lie\u2019\nis excluded from the ideal country, even as we have seen a want of\nfidelity to plighted faith to be the vice most inconsistent with the\ncharacter of a king.\n\nIn the episode of Segda Saerlabrad, and again in the Adventures of\nCormac, occurs that idea of chastity in connection with the T\u00edr\nTairngire to which, in its more developed form in the _Voyage of\nBran_, we shall have to refer. This group, moreover, is marked by\na tendency to conscious allegory which is foreign to the previous\ncycles. The maiden whom Conn finds in the d\u00fan is a personification of\nthe sovereignty of \u00c9ire; and the d\u00fan visited by Cormac is a veritable\n\u2018House of the Interpreter.\u2019 The ethical significance of the wonders\nseen by Cormac on the way thither, and there expounded to him, is\nentirely symbolical of the life of this world, wherein the story\nresembles not merely the _Shepherd of Hermas_ and the _Pilgrim\u2019s\nProgress_, but the _Tablet of Cebes_ and the _Choice of Herakles_ among\nthe Greeks, and countless moral apologues, Oriental and medi\u00e6val.\n\nThe D\u00e9 Danann chieftains, seated on their crystal thrones beside the\nmarvellous tree and the vat of ale, are an advance upon the Dagda,\nseated beside his vat of ale and apple-trees, and display the legend in\na stage at which it is ready to coalesce with, and give native colour\nto, the Hebraic imagery of the Throne and its Occupant.\n\nThe pleasantly told little apologue of the Fountain of Knowledge\nand its five streams, which are the five senses, interprets a very\nprimitive Irish legend in the light of a simple but not shallow\nphilosophy.\n\nThe Irish heroic tales having passed through the hands of Christian\nredactors, the question occurs whether we must ascribe to them any\nethical element that occurs therein. Although it is hard to pronounce\nwith certainty, where they contain no express reference to the\nChristian faith, it would be rash, and probably a mistake, to reply in\nthe affirmative in all cases. Certain ethical ideas there must have\nbeen in pre-Christian Ireland, and the places and the mode in which we\nfind them are often those in which they might most naturally appear. In\nthe instances referred to, there is nothing inconsistent with a system\nof ethics far more primitive than that to which the ancient Irish\nmight conceivably have attained. Moreover, there is nothing about the\npassages in question suggestive of an interpolation; they arise quite\nnaturally out of the narrative, and in one striking instance, that of\nSegda Saerlabrad, are expressly bound up with the pagan idea of human\nsacrifice in a manner that no Christian writer could or would have\ninvented. Neither does it seem likely that an ecclesiastical writer\nwho should make such interpolations in the interest of the Christian\nreligion would make no mention of that religion in connection with\nthem. The very tales in question show in what a clumsy and perfunctory\nmanner such interpolations were made, when it was found expedient\nto bring an ancient legend into agreement with Christian doctrine.\nInstances of this are furnished by the prophecies of Manann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr\nin the _Voyage of Bran_, and the reference to the Judgment in the\nAdventures of Connla. The last-named story further contains a prophecy\nof the coming of the law which shall destroy Druidism and its charms\n\u2018upon the lips of black lying demons.\u2019\n\nAs previously mentioned, there exists in these same stories a\nconnection between the Echtra and Imram classes of tales. In several of\nthem the hero departs in his curach in quest of a Wonderland that lies\noversea,[125] passing in the course of his voyage through the herds\nof sea-monsters which beset the heroes of the Imrama, and beholding\nmarvels and visiting enchanted islands entirely similar to those which\noccur in the latter.\n\nIn the Imrama proper we may note in an ascending scale the gradual\npreponderance of Christian ideas, and the assimilation of the old\nIrish conception of the Otherworld to a genuine eschatology. Some of\nthem, such as the _Voyage of Bran_, and Cuchulainn\u2019s quest of the sons\nof Doel Dermait, relate a purely pagan legend, though the clerical\nredactors have sought to dissociate them from the paganism which was\nscarcely forgotten in their day by the interpolation of a Christian\nprophecy, or the like, as in Christian Rome the statues of the Olympian\ndeities were converted into the effigies of Christian saints by the\napposition of a nimbus to their heads. Then come a group written\nfrom a Christian point of view, and enforcing a lesson in Christian\nmorals, although the framework of the story and most of the episodes\nare derived from the older literature:[126] such are the Voyages of\nMaelduin, of the sons of Ua Corra, and of Snedgus and Mac R\u00edagla.\nFinally, there are the purely ecclesiastical Imrama, included in the\nacts of one or other of the saints, of which class the Voyage of St.\nBrendan is in every way the most important example.\n\nWe have been induced somewhat to anticipate the earliest of the Imrama,\nand to give the greater part of the description of Manann\u00e1n\u2019s Elysium\ncontained in the Voyage of Bran, in order to present in a single view\nthe different forms in which the Otherworld was conceived by the\nancient Irish. The story goes on to relate how, the maiden\u2019s song\nended, the branch leapt back again into her hand, and she vanished;\nbut the glamour was on Bran, and he set forth in his curach across\nthe sea. Here he meets Manann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr, traversing the sea in his\nchariot like a veritable Poseidon.[127] The god accosts Bran, and\nsings to him a song concerning his Elysian realm beyond the sea. His\ndescription adds but little to that contained in the maiden\u2019s song;\none touch, however, we may note, by reason of its frequent occurrence\nin subsequent writings. He speaks of a \u2018charming delightful game,\u2019 at\nwhich the denizens play over their wine, \u2018men and gentle women beneath\na bush, without sin, without transgression.\u2019 This passage has been\naccredited to Christian transcribers; however, the remarks previously\noffered in relation to such interpolations in general would seem to\napply to the present case. The very poetical description of the T\u00edr\nTairngire contained in this tale, while thoroughly in accord with the\nmore primitive legends, though amplified and drawn by a more masterly\nhand, is marked by a refinement of imagination and execution more than\nsufficient to account for the occurrence of the idea in question,\nwithout any air of incongruity with the rest of the description.[128]\nWe may add that it seems most unlikely that a Christian scribe would,\nif he could, introduce a touch of the kind, when he has not found it\nnecessary, in this and other legends where the old Irish conception\nof the Otherworld has undergone an euhemerising and Christianising\nprocess, to delete the episodes of enchanted d\u00fans and islands where the\nwayfarer is refreshed with delights akin to those of the Mohammedan\nParadise.[129] Manann\u00e1n\u2019s song in the present tale contains a palpable\ninterpolation of the usual kind, in the form of several stanzas\nprophetic of the coming of Christ.\n\nAnother Imram belongs to the Cuchulainn cycle, and in its original form\nwas probably older than any other story of this class that has come\ndown to us, but it is only preserved in a later redaction. Cuchulainn\nhaving overcome in battle the king of the Ui Maine, the king put a\nspell on him that he should know no peace until he had ascertained why\nthe children of Doel Dermait had left their country. Cuchulainn could\nfind no one to tell him this, and became a prey to unrest. At length\nhe had occasion to fight a duel with the king of Alba\u2019s son, whom he\nvanquished and would have slain, but that the prince begged his life,\nwhich Cuchulainn granted him on condition that he would solve the\nriddle. This the prince could not do himself, but he promised to take\nCuchulainn to those who could. Cuchulainn accepted these terms, and\nembarked on board the prince\u2019s ship with his charioteer Loeg and his\ncomrade Lugaid. They first came to a fair island, wherein was a d\u00fan\nsurrounded by a wall of silver and a stockade of bronze upon it. They\nreceived a cordial welcome, but upon propounding their question were\ndirected to another island, where dwelt Achtlann, daughter of Doel\nDermait and wife of Condla Coel Corrbacc, a kind of marine Enceladus,\nwho used to lie all across his island, and at every breath he drew\nwould send a great wave along the sea with the wind of it. Achtlann\nguided them to a third island, where two great giants bore joint rule,\nCorpre Cundail, a kinsman of Doel Dermait, and Eochaid Glas Corpre. The\nformer challenged Cuchulainn to fight, and, being overcome, treated\nhim hospitably, and told him of Doel Dermait\u2019s children, who were held\ncaptive in that island by Eochaid. Next day Cuchulainn attacked Eochaid\nin his \u2018Place of Torture,\u2019 the Glenn; but the giant was so tall that\nCuchulainn could only reach him by jumping on to the rim of his shield,\nfrom which Eochaid kept blowing him off each time. Cuchulainn, however,\nby dint of one of those gymnastic feats for which he was famous, leapt\ninto the air over the giant and slew him from above. He then released\nthe captives, who straightway bathed in the giant\u2019s blood, and being\nthus healed of their tortures and sufferings, were enabled to return to\ntheir own country. In this story, which assuredly bears small imprint\nof Christian influences, we probably have the earliest form of that\nepisode of the release of the captives of some giant or wizard, which\nrecurs in the Graal romances, and is one of the most frequent incidents\nof the romantic tales of chivalry.[130] Its meaning is clear, the\nrelease of the dead from the powers of the lower world, a feat which\nis no less frequently accomplished by different means, in medi\u00e6val\nstories, by a saint or jongleur, according as the scope of the work is\nreligious or comic.\n\nThe earliest of the Christian Imrama that we possess is _The Voyage of\nMaelduin\u2019s Curach_, the composition of which Professor Zimmer refers\nto the eighth century at latest, though it contains interpolations\nwhich Mr. Nutt considers to have been made at the end of the tenth\ncentury.[131] It relates a voyage undertaken by Maelduin, a young noble\nof the Eoghanachta, in order to find the murderer of his father who\nhad been slain by a marauder of Leix. The tale is a remarkably fine\none of its kind, and its simple and picturesque prose is by no means\nimproved upon by Tennyson\u2019s poem, the subject of which it suggested.\nIt is long, and contains a great variety of incidents, some of which,\nit is very possible, may not belong to the original Celtic stock,\nbut may be due to classical sources. Certain it is that a great part\nof them belong to that class of \u2018ferlies\u2019 which old writers used to\nplace in _terr\u00e6 incognit\u00e6_, and have their analogues in the writings\nof Herodotus and Aelian, and, Mr. Stokes says, Megasthenes, to whom\nwe may add Lucian and Sinbad. The majority of them, however, are\nvariants, and often developments, of topics common in Irish legend. We\nmust content ourselves with giving a brief summary of those episodes\nwhich most illustrate the development of the Otherworld legend in Irish\necclesiastical literature.\n\nAs usual, the narrative mainly consists of the visits paid by the\nwanderer to a number of enchanted islands, which are mostly of the\nusual Wonderland pattern, though the present description of them\ncontains, in most cases, certain distinctive features of its own. The\nwanderers are entertained in stately d\u00fans, with walls and palisades of\nthe precious metals or of crystal; they are regaled with magic food;\nthere is the usual Calypso episode, etc. etc. One island is raised\nabove the sea upon a pedestal; in another is a river of fire; one is\nencompassed with a wall of water; over another a stream rises on one\nside and descends on the other, forming an arch like a rainbow; upon\nanother is a tall column with a mystical veil depending from it and\nenshrouding the island,--all of which recall features of the Paradise\ndescribed in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_.\n\nSome of the incidents bear a decidedly infernal significance. On one\nisland the voyagers beheld a horse-race, and heard the shouts of the\ncrowd; both jockeys and spectators were demons. It has been suggested\nthat this incident, for which no parallel exists, so far as I am aware,\nin earlier narratives, may be of Norse origin; possibly it may be\none of those loans from classical literature before referred to, and\necclesiastical influences may have depicted in Stygian colouring the\npagan Elysium in which departed heroes continue to ply their wonted\nsports.[132] At the same time, it is possible that the writer may have\ndealt in a like manner with the sports of Magh Mell, in Manann\u00e1n\u2019s\nElysium, described in the _Imram Br\u00e1in_. Of course, the question of\nforeign importation turns upon the other question, whether horse-races,\nas well as chariot-races, were known in Ireland at the date when the\n_Voyage of Maelduin_ was written.\n\nOn another island they saw a party of demon smiths forging a mass of\nglowing metal, which one of them threw after the curach, as Polyphemus\nthrew the rock after Odysseus.[133] On another they came to a huge,\nhideous mill, and the miller, huge and hideous to match, told them\nthat the grist which he cast into his mill was all things that had\nbeen begrudged on earth. This demon miller is rather a favourite\nsymbol in Irish legend, and is not confined to professedly religious\ncompositions. It occurs in the story of Mong\u00e1n in a slightly different\nform; in the Voyage of the sons of Ua Corra, who saw all manner of\nprecious things cast into the mill, and the miller told them, \u2018I cast\ninto the mouth of the mill all things for which grudging has been made,\nand \u2019tis the Miller of Hell I am\u2019; and it survived in local tradition\nas the _Muilleann Luprach\u00e1n_ (Pixies\u2019 Mill) near Tuam.[134]\n\nThere is something weirdly picturesque in this demon miller who casts\ninto his Mill of Vanities, and grinds down there, all the objects of\nworldly covetise; the conception reminds us rather curiously of the\nmystical Wheat-sieve in the carnival hymn of the Florentine Piagnoni,\n_Il Trionfo del Vaglio_.\n\nIn striking contrast to these rude sketches of the infernal realm is\na short but vivid episode in which the subjects borrowed from the\nprimitive Elysium are rendered by a master\u2019s hand. One island by which\nthe voyagers passed was surrounded by a wall of fire, which revolved\nabout the island continually. \u2018There was an open doorway in the side of\nthat rampart. Now whenever the doorway would come (in its revolution)\nopposite to them, they used to see (through it) the whole island and\nall that was therein, and all its indwellers, even human beings,\nbeautiful, abundant, wearing adorned garments, and feasting, with\ngolden vessels in their hands. And the wanderers heard the ale-music.\nAnd for a long space were they seeing the marvel they beheld, and\nthey deemed it delightful\u2019 (trans. W. S., _loc. cit._).[135] Never\nperhaps in sacred or profane literature has a passage of equal brevity\nportrayed with equal vividness that Celestial Feast which, as fact\nor symbol, enters into every creed; from the gross delights of that\n\u2018humbler heaven\u2019 which \u2018kindly Nature\u2019 has given to the hopes of\nprimitive man, to the imagery wherewith higher creeds seek to picture\nthe indescribable _ben dell\u2019 intelletto_. There is no superfluous\ndetail, and none is needed, but the picture flashes out before the\nreader\u2019s eye as it did before Maelduin and his crew--that ideal region,\ncut off from the wanderers by a fiery wall which forbids their access,\nbut grants them a fleeting vision before they pass on their way.\n\nThis tale contains a group of incidents which are largely represented\nin the Acts of the Irish Saints. On one island an old hermit, fifteenth\nin descent from St. Brenainn of Birr, dwelt beside a lake. Hard by,\na great eagle, very old, alighted, bearing in his beak a branch and\nberries on it. Two other eagles came and picked off the vermin which\ninfested the plumage of the first; they then ate of the berries and\ncast others into the lake, after which the old eagle plunged into the\nwater, and washed until his youthful vigour returned to him, after\nwhich they all flew away. One of Maelduin\u2019s crew bathed in the lake\nwherein the berries had been cast, and lost neither tooth nor hair,\nnor suffered from any infirmity until the day of his death. As we have\nseen, mystical birds abound in Irish descriptions of the Otherworld,\nbut in the present curious episode we can easily recognise the\nclassical legend of the Ph\u0153nix. Mr. Nutt well develops this point in\nthe essay to which we have so often had occasion to refer, and gives an\ninteresting parallel in an Anglo-Saxon poem on the Ph\u0153nix. For this,\nand the discussion thereon, we must refer the reader to Mr. Nutt\u2019s\nwork. We may note the very characteristic way in which the Irish writer\nadapts the foreign incident to the accepted forms of the national\nliterature. The rejuvenescence of the eagle is effected not by fire\nbut by water, which owes its properties to certain berries dropped\ntherein, these evidently belonging to the species which dropped from\nthe quicken-trees--a variant of the hazels of Buan--into the wells\nwhere the Salmon of Knowledge consumed them, and thereby acquired his\nsupernatural virtues.\n\nAnother island was covered with trees, which were the resort of birds;\nand here dwelt a man, clad with his own hair. This was a pilgrim from\nIreland who had been wrecked on the island, and the birds were his\nchildren, with whom he was to abide there till Doomsday.\n\nAnother anchorite, likewise clad with his own hair, dwelt upon an\nisland surrounded with a golden rampart, and the ground of the island\nwas white as down.[136] He was fed by a fountain, which ran on\nWednesdays and Fridays with whey or water, on Sundays and the feasts of\nMartyrs with good milk, and on High Days with ale or wine.\n\nOn yet another island dwelt a hermit covered with white hair, so\nthat he looked like a white bird. He had been cook at the monastery\nof Torach, where he used to embezzle and sell the provisions of the\ncommunity, and hoard the proceeds, until he became exceeding rich,\nand waxed proud. One day he was bidden bury a peasant; on digging the\ngrave, he was accosted by a corpse already buried on the spot, who\nforbade him to lay that sinner\u2019s corpse atop of him, a holy man. The\ncook asked the corpse what boon he would grant him for compliance;\nthe corpse replied, \u2018Eternal life\u2019; and the cook found another\nresting-place for the peasant. Some time later, the cook felt a desire\nto quit the island, so he set forth in a curach, laden with all his\nill-gotten wealth. At sea he was hailed by a man seated upon a wave,\nwho told him that all the air about him was thick with demons, because\nof his pride and thefts, and bade him fling all his riches into the\nsea. He obeyed, reserving to himself only a little wooden cup. The\nman gave him seven cakes and a cupful of whey-water, which the cook\ncarried to a rock, and this was his only food for seven years, after\nwhich time he had lived on salmon which an otter had brought him\nperiodically.[137] In the man sitting upon the wave, it is impossible\nnot to recognise an adaptation of Manann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr, who drove over the\nwaves in his chariot to meet Bran.\n\nThe prevalence of the island-hermit incident in Irish legend is\naccounted for by the early history of the Irish Church. The pastoral\nduties and missionary work of the early saints necessitated frequent\nvoyages to the Western Isles of Scotland, to Britain and to Gaul,\nwhile that passion for solitude and retirement, which alternated in\nthem with an intense activity in their calling, and even a vehement\npartizanship in public life, found full gratification on the small\nislands which fringe the western coasts of Ireland. These islands\nnaturally became the scene of those miracles which in Ireland, as\nelsewhere, clustered about the names of the saints; but here, as in\nother things, a strong nationality asserted itself, and recollections\nof the island Paradise of antiquity entered largely into the legends\nof the saints, rendering easy the transition from the island retreat\nto the Paradise where the saints dwelt with Enoch and Elijah, beside\nthe Tree of Life, amid the songs of the bird-souls of the righteous. No\ndoubt a certain number of these wandering saints would be blown out of\ntheir course to strange lands, and bring back tidings of the wonders\nthey had actually seen, which would lose nothing in their passage from\nmouth to mouth. One such case is reported by Adamn\u00e1n himself, that\nof one Baitan, who set out with several others in quest of an ocean\nsolitude, but returned after long wanderings.[138]\n\nIn the _Voyage of the Curach of the Ua Corra_,[139] the ethical and\neschatological element is entirely in the ascendant. Conall Dearg\nua Conaill Fhinn, a rich and hospitable noble of Connacht, being\ndiscontented at having no children, entered into a compact with the\nDevil, who undertook that Conall should have children, on condition\nthat they should belong to himself. In due time Conall\u2019s wife bore him\ntriplets, who received \u2018heathen baptism\u2019 by the names of Lochan, Einne,\nand Silvester. These grew up to be mighty men of valour; howbeit,\nthey considered that as they belonged to the Devil, it was hard if\nthey might not harry his enemies. Accordingly, they set themselves to\nplunder and burn the churches and monasteries of Tuam, and of half\nConnacht besides. Finally, they proposed to add the last touch to their\nguilt by murdering the Erenach of Clogher, their mother\u2019s father,\nand burning his church on him. The better to effect their purpose,\nthey visited the Erenach and partook of his hospitality, and went to\nsleep, awaiting the coming of night. Then Lochan had a dream, wherein\nhe saw Hell with its four rivers, one of them full of toads, another\nof serpents, the third running fire, and the fourth ice. He also saw\nthe \u2018Piast of Hell,\u2019 \u2018and abundance of heads and feet on it,\u2019 \u2018the\nold Dragon\u2019 often appears in Irish sacred legend. He was then taken\nto Heaven, and saw \u2018the Lord Himself on His throne, and bird-flocks\nof angels making music to Him,\u2019 the sweetest singer of all being\nMichael, in form of a bird. On waking, he related his vision to his\nbrethren, and they all, moved to repentance, vowed thenceforth to serve\nGod instead of the Devil. Accordingly, \u2018they made staves of their\nspear-shafts,\u2019 instead of beating their spears into pruning-hooks,\nand betook themselves to St. Finden of Clonard, to whom they made\nconfession. He instructed them in religion for a year and a day, and\nthen bade them go and restore the churches which they had destroyed.\nThis they did; and then, \u2018one day when they came forth over the edge\nof the haven, they were contemplating the sun, as he went past them\nwestwards, and they marvelled much concerning his course. \u201cAnd in what\ndirection goes the sun,\u201d say they, \u201cwhen he goes under the sea? And\nwhat more wondrous thing,\u201d say they, \u201cthan the sea without ice, and ice\non every other water?\u201d\u2019[140]\n\nThese reflections, so typical of the old Irish attitude towards Nature,\nalthough to us they may seem to be more in keeping with the ideas of\nmuch more recent times, awoke in the Ui Corra that spirit of wandering,\nthan which, perhaps, no other Leanamh\u00e1n Sidhe casts more potent spells\non man. They got a friend, a wright, to build them a ship, wherein they\nembarked, with a bishop, a priest, a deacon, a shipwright, a buffoon,\nand a servant, being nine in all; then, at the bishop\u2019s bidding, they\ncommitted themselves to the guidance of the winds.\n\nThe incidents of the voyage and the lands they visited resemble those\ndescribed in the Voyage of Maelduin, several of the islands at which\nthey touched exhibiting the _mise en sc\u00e8ne_ of pagan legend, adapted\nin the usual manner to the Christian drama. Thus on one of these\nislands they found an orchard of fair, fragrant apple-trees, and a most\nbeautiful river flowing through it; and \u2018when the wind would move the\ntree-tops of the grove, sweeter was their song than any music\u2019 (trans.\nW. Stokes, _loc. cit._). And the apples and the river, which was of\nwine, cured all wounds and sickness. Many of the adventures belong to\nthe common stock of wonder voyages; here, as in the Voyage of Maelduin,\nmention is made of the island uplifted above the sea by a pedestal,\nwhence the voices of the islanders could be heard, but the speakers not\nseen; of the watery arch, the pillar and net, the demon smiths, etc. On\none island flowers were growing as big as tables, dropping honey, and\nabout them beautiful bright bird-flocks were singing. Here dwelt a \u2018son\nof the Church,\u2019 Dega, a disciple of the Apostle Andrew, who had gone\non a pilgrimage across the ocean to expiate his having forgotten his\nnocturn one night; he was awaiting Doomsday on that island, together\nwith the birds, who were the souls of holy human beings.\n\nIn these islands, the abode of pilgrims and hermits until Doomsday,\nwe have, in a pagan setting, the limbo of the _boni sed non valde_. A\nlittle further on, we come to what is the first incident of a purely\nPurgatorial nature occurring in this class of literature. One island\nwas divided into two parts--the one part inhabited by the living, the\nother by the dead. Multitudes were lying there on red-hot flagstones,\nwith red-hot spits through them, howling terribly as a fiery sea sent\nits billows of flame over them. These were they who had failed to make\nexpiation for their sins on earth, and were tormented in this manner\nuntil Doomsday.\n\nThe voyagers also perceived flocks of birds rising from out of a river,\npursued by eels, otters, and black swans. These were the spirits of the\ndamned, let out of Hell for a day\u2019s respite on Sundays, though they\nwere not allowed to enjoy this boon in peace, for the eels, etc., were\ndemons that kept pursuing them. One of these birds had three beautiful\nrays on its breast; this was a woman who had forsaken her husband,\nbut had brought him food when sick and in want. This notion that the\ndamned were periodically allowed a day\u2019s holiday[141] was generally\naccepted by the early Church in Ireland, as elsewhere. Sometimes, as\nhere, this was believed to take place so often as every Sunday; by\nsome, only on the great festivals of the Church, as Christmas Day and\nEaster. Our author, like several other of the Irish Churchmen, was\na strict Sabbatarian, and gives to violations of the Sunday a place\ndisproportionately large, visiting them with a severity that seems\nexcessive. For instance, a solitary rower was rowing with a fiery spade\nupon a fiery river, the waves of which kept breaking over him; this was\na boatman who had plied his trade on Sunday. The lurid picturesqueness\nof this figure, worthy of Dante, is spoiled by the disproportion\nbetween crime and punishment. A horseman bestrode a fiery horse; he had\nstolen his brother\u2019s horse, and ridden him on a Sunday. There was also\na black, smoky giant, carrying an iron staff as big as a mill-shaft,\nand flakes of fire, as big as fleeces, coming out of his throat. This\nwas no Typhoeus, nor heresiarch, nor conqueror, the scourge of nations,\nbut a man who had carried firewood on a Sunday; for this he now bore on\nhis back a bundle of faggots, the load of six oxen, which would blaze\nup, ever and anon, when he would fling himself into the sea, \u2018but it\nwas increase of pain to him.\u2019\n\nReference has already been made to the demon miller, grinding the\nworld\u2019s vain riches. One island was peopled by men wailing aloud as\nthey were mangled by the fiery red beaks and talons of sable birds,\nwhile their tongues were aflame within their heads; these were\ndishonest smiths.\n\nOther islands which the Ui Corra visited were variants of the earthly\nParadise, being inhabited by pilgrims, solitaries, etc., like those\nalready described.\n\nThe _Voyage of Snedgus and Mac R\u00edagla_[142] is equally Christian in\nconception, and in some respects approximates yet more closely to the\neschatology of the _Fis_. The men of Ross, unable to endure the tyranny\nof Fiacha, their chief, killed him, thereby rendering themselves liable\nto death. At the instance of St. Colm Cille, this doom was commuted\nto the old Irish punishment of exposure on the sea; and they were\nset adrift, sixty couples of them, in as many small boats, \u2018for God\nto judge them.\u2019 It was Snedgus and Mac R\u00edagla that were sent to bear\nthis sentence to them, and shortly afterwards they embarked on their\nown account to make a pilgrimage to the East. After visiting several\nislands of the familiar type, they came to one whereon was a great\ntree, and many beautiful birds perched thereon. And \u2018melodious was the\nmusic of those birds, singing psalms and canticles, praising the Lord.\nFor they were the birds of the plain of Heaven, and neither trunk nor\nleaf of that tree decayed\u2019 (trans. W. Stokes, _loc. cit._). On the top\nof the tree sat a great bird, with a head of gold and wings of silver,\nwho told of the Creation of the World, of the Nativity, Baptism,\nPassion, Resurrection, etc.; \u2018and he tells tidings of Doom; and then\nall the birds used to beat their sides with their wings, so that\nshowers of blood dropt out of their sides, for dread of the tidings of\nDoom\u2019 (_Ibid._).\n\nAfter which they came to a land where they found the banished men of\nRoss, who were to abide there until Judgment, for they were guiltless\nin what they had done; Fiacha having apparently deserved his fate.\n\u2018Good is this island,\u2019 they said, \u2018wherein we are, for in it are Elijah\nand Enoch, and noble is the dwelling wherein is Elijah.\u2019 And they\nshowed the voyagers a lake of water and a lake of fire, which should\nlong since have come over \u00c9ire, had not St. Patrick and St. Martin been\npraying for the land. The travellers asked to see Enoch, but were told\nthat he was \u2018in a secret place, until we shall all go to battle on the\nDay of Judgment.\u2019[143]\n\nWe might have expected to find Enoch and Elijah in the Terrestrial\nParadise, in company of the bird-flocks, as in other writings, but\nthe construction of the _Imram_ was commonly loose. The introduction\nof them shows that the fusion of the national traditions with the\nteaching of the Church was now complete. This is equally apparent in\nthe description of another island, on which they landed: \u2018A great lofty\nisland, and all therein was delightful and hallowed. Good was the king\nthat abode in this island, and he was holy and righteous,\u2019 etc. (trans.\nW. Stokes, _loc. cit._). His d\u00fan had one hundred doors; at each door\nwas an altar, and at each altar a priest, celebrating the Eucharist.\nThis king and his d\u00fan again remind us of the castle of the Graal.\n\nWe have now traced, in outline, the development of the Otherworld\ntheory in Irish legend, from its primitive conception as a Land of\nCockayne, presided over by the Dagda, with his inexhaustible ale-vat\nand ready-roasted pigs, to its identification with the Terrestrial\nParadise, though without losing its distinctive features. One step\nonly remained to be taken before the _Imram_, thus modified, should\npass beyond the country of its birth, and assume a prominent place in\nthe literature of medi\u00e6val Europe. This step was taken in the group\nof stories--some legendary, others more or less historic, though\nintermingled with legendary matter--which narrated the voyages of\nthe Irish Saints, or, rather, in that most famous example of its\nclass which purports to give an account of the travels of St. Brendan\nof Clonfert, surnamed \u2018the Voyager.\u2019 So entirely does it surpass\nall others in popularity and influence, and especially in those\ncircumstances which connect it with our subject, that it may be taken\nas the representative of its class; as, however, it is later in date of\ncomposition than the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, and even reproduces some passages\nof the latter, it may be left for a later section.\n\nThe authors of the Voyages of the Ui Corra, and of Snedgus and Mac\nR\u00edagla, had not only given an entirely Christian tone to the _Imram_,\nbut, without abandoning the imagery of the Otherworld handed down by\nthe national traditions, had blent therewith a number of conceptions\nderived through the medium of the Apocalyptic literature of the early\nChurch from both classical and Hebraistic sources. Further, they\nprepared the transition from the _Imram_ to the _Fis_.[144]\n\nThe Visions of the Saints figure prominently in the hagiology of\nIreland as of other countries; not all of them, however, related to the\nOtherworld, or, in particular, treated the Otherworld as a subject in\nitself, and not merely as the medium for conveying some moral lesson,\nor for revealing the fate of an individual. Adamn\u00e1n, in his _Life of\nSt. Colm Cille_, one of his authentic works, states that the saint\nwas often rewarded with angelic intercourse, and received frequent\nrevelations concerning the fates of the good and of the wicked.[145]\nHowever, the most famous of these Visions, with the exception of that\nof Adamn\u00e1n, were those of St. Fursa (_c._ 570-_c._ 650 A.D.), which\nderived additional celebrity from the mention made of them by Bede in\nhis _Ecclesiastical History_.[146]\n\nThe exact place of St. Fursa\u2019s birth and race appear to be unknown,\nthough it seems that he was a Munsterman. The principal scene of his\nearly ministrations was the neighbourhood of Loch Orbsen (Corrib),\nand he afterwards spent some time as a hermit upon an island in the\nocean. At a later date he visited England, probably about 633 A.D.,\nas recorded by Bede, and won the favour and respect of Sigebert, King\nof East Anglia. The monastery of Burghcastle, in Suffolk, was founded\nunder his auspices, and his labours were attended with many conversions\namong the Saxons. He next passed over to Gaul, where he enjoyed a\ngreat reputation, and exercised influence over King Clovis II. In Gaul\nhe founded the monastery of Lagny, and a branch of it at Perronne.\n\nFursa\u2019s visions of the Otherworld must have appeared to him before his\nvisit to England, probably during the solitude of his ocean retreat.\nHowever, he continued to see visions, of one sort or other, during the\nlatter part of his life. Indeed, it is probable that in his case, as in\nso many others, the visions were largely produced by physical causes--a\nconstitutional tendency, stimulated by special circumstances--for we\nread that the first of his visions came to him in a trance, during an\nillness, and the rest after long fasting.\n\nIn the first vision, his soul was conveyed out of the body, and \u2018he was\ngraced with the sight and the hearing of the praises of the Heavenly\nHosts.\u2019 Three days later, he was again taken by three angels, who\nrepresented the Trinity, and borne through clouds of hideous, misshapen\ndemons, who attempted to bar his progress, and cast at him showers of\nfiery arrows, which the leading angel caught on his buckler.[147] On\ntheir way they passed by Satan, who raised up his head, like that of a\nserpent, and argued against Fursa\u2019s acceptance into Eternal Life, by\nreason of the sins to which he was prone, and among these, chiefly,\na vindictive spirit; but although he showed that \u2018the Devil can cite\nScripture for his purpose,\u2019 the angels answered his arguments, and\nthey passed on. Then Fursa, like Scipio in the \u2018Dream,\u2019 was bidden to\nlook back upon the world; and it appeared to him as it were a dark\nvalley, and in the air about it four fires were burning. These were the\nfires that destroy the world; and the first fire was Neglect of the\nBaptismal Vow to renounce the Devil and his works; the second fire was\nCovetousness; the third Dissension, and the fourth Injustice. Fursa\ndescried a fire approaching, and was dismayed; but the angel said to\nhim, \u2018What thou hast not kindled shall not consume thee\u2019; for the fire\ntried every one according to his works; and \u2018as the body is consumed\nby self-willed pleasure, so shall the soul burn with everlasting\npunishment.\u2019 The doctrine is as old as the Rabbis, but the moral lesson\nis here finely conceived and forcibly conveyed. Seven times more did as\nmany demons in succession attempt to bar Fursa\u2019s progress, contesting\nhis right to admittance with various eristic arguments, supported by\ntexts of Scripture. It is to be remarked that the obstacles which\ncommonly obstruct the hero\u2019s access to the enchanted lands of fable,\nand often survive in theological adaptations of the subject, have\nhere assumed an aspect almost purely intellectual and spiritual. All\nobjections having been satisfactorily answered by the angels, Fursa\nfound himself surrounded by a great brightness, and saw vast multitudes\nof angels and saints flying with wings in motion. Among these Fursa\nrecognised several friends, with whom he held converse. He then\napproached a region of serener air, where the angelic host, disposed\nin four choirs, were singing the _Tersanctus_. Here he received long\ninstructions in theology and morals, which he was bidden to announce\nto the princes and prelates of Ireland; he was then conducted back to\nhis body. On the way, a great fire approached in a threatening manner;\nthe angels diverted it, but from out of the midst of it demons shot\nforth a sinner, aiming him at Fursa. The angels cast him back, but not\nuntil he had struck Fursa\u2019s shoulder and burnt it. This was a sinner\nfrom whom Fursa had accepted a cloak, while ministering to him on his\ndeathbed.[148]\n\nAnother of the Visions of the Irish saints, attributed to St.\nLaisr\u00e9n, has been made available for the first time by Professor Kuno\nMeyer.[149] This Laisr\u00e9n, he thinks, was probably the most celebrated\nof the many saints bearing that name, the Abbot of Lethglenn (Leighlin)\nin the Co. Carlow, who died in the year 638. From the mere fragment\nthat survives, it would seem that the complete Vision must have treated\nthe subject with great fulness, though a part of Laisr\u00e9n\u2019s visit to\nHell is all that is left. It is more in the style of Fursa\u2019s vision\nthan that of Adamn\u00e1n, though it differs from both in certain respects,\nnotably in the manner of the revelation to the seer of the vision.\nLaisr\u00e9n had gone to Cluain Ch\u00e1in, in Connacht, to purify a church\nthere, and after nine days\u2019 fasting fell asleep. In his sleep he heard\na voice say \u2018Arise!\u2019 and upon this command being repeated, he raised\nhis head, crossing himself. The church was all lighted up, and between\nthe chancel and the altar stood a shining figure, who said to him,\n\u2018Come towards me!\u2019 At this Laisr\u00e9n was seized with a trembling, and in\nsome mysterious manner he became aware that his own spirit was parted\nfrom the body, and was hovering over his head. The roof of the church\nthen opened, and two angels, taking Laisr\u00e9n\u2019s soul between them, bore\nhim aloft into the air, where a host of angels received him. Further\nprogress was opposed by three hordes of fiery demons, armed with fiery\nspears and darts, one of whom preferred against Laisr\u00e9n a long charge,\nenumerating all the sins which he had committed since birth, and of\nwhich he had failed to make confession; \u2018and the demon said nothing\nthat was not true.\u2019 However, \u2018an angel of the great host\u2019 succeeded in\nanswering all charges, and dismissed the demons; he then bade Laisr\u00e9n\u2019s\nconductors take him to see Hell. The two angels let him down into a\nglen lying towards the north, which seemed to be as long as from the\nrising of the sun to his setting. They entered into a pit like a cave\nbetween two mountains, and at length came to a lofty black mountain,\nin the upper part of which was a glen, broad below and narrow above,\nand this was the porch of Hell. In the midst of the glen Laisr\u00e9n saw\nvery many of the people of Ireland, wailing; so many that he thought\na pestilence must have brought them thither, but the angel explained\nthat \u2018whoever is under the displeasure of God after thee, here do\nthey behold (their) souls, and this is their certain fate, unless\nthey repent\u2019 (tr. K. M., _loc. cit._). Laisr\u00e9n would fain have spoken\nto them, but the angel forbade it, \u2018lest they despair.\u2019 However, he\nenjoined Laisr\u00e9n to preach repentance to them, whereby they should\nescape that evil. \u2018And again, he who shall live in righteousness, he\nsees life while he is in the body, and he shall be in life if he is\nsteadfast in righteousness. Tell them also,\u2019 said the angel, \u2018that he\nwho lives in righteousness be steadfast in it, for there is not much\ntime for them to consider, until death comes to them\u2019 (_Ibid._).\n\nThey entered into Hell, and saw a wild and billowy sea of fire, and\nthe souls aflame therein, wailing, their heads above the surface. Some\nhad fiery nails through their tongues, others through the ears, or the\neyes; others, again, were being driven by demons with fiery forks.\nLaisr\u00e9n, asking what these different torments might mean, was told\nthat those with nails through their tongues had been less frequent in\nworship and praise than in blasphemy, falsehood, prying, and boasting.\nHere the fragment breaks off.\n\nIn his preface to the foregoing work, Professor Meyer appears to\nanticipate further discoveries in this field of research; however,\nof all the Irish Visions yet brought to light, the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_\nexcels the rest in interest and importance even more completely than\nthe Voyage of St. Brendan excels all other members of its own class,\nand may be regarded as the type of its _genre_, in its most highly\ndeveloped form.\n\nBefore proceeding to examine the contents of that _Fis_, we may glance\nat two other works by Irish ecclesiastical writers which show that a\ngreat part of the imagery and incidents contained alike in the sacred\n_Imram_ and in the _Fis_ belonged to a common stock of ideas current in\nthe Irish eschatology of that period.\n\nOne of these is the _Sc\u00e9l L\u00e1i Br\u00e1tha_ (\u2018Tidings of Doomsday\u2019), a homily\nascribed to \u2018Matthew, son of Alph\u00e6us,\u2019 which is preserved in the\n_Lebor na h-Udri_, and was therefore written in the eleventh century\nat latest.[150] In it occurs the familiar distinction between the\n_Mali sed non valde_ and the _Mali valde_, both of whom are condemned\nin their several degrees; the _Boni sed non valde_, who are finally\nsaved by virtue of their almsgiving, and the _Boni valde_, who go\ndirect to Heaven. This classification, though not expressly made in\nthe _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, lies at the root of the scheme of rewards and\npunishments there set forth. Indeed, Professor Zimmer points out the\nfrequency of this division in works written by Irish authors or under\nIrish influences.[151] The _Limbus patrum_, the _Limbus infantium_,\netc., represent similar attempts of the medi\u00e6val theologians to provide\nfor cases which do not seem to them to be adequately dealt with by the\nbroader distinctions. Dante, in effect, adopts an analogous fourfold\narrangement; the infernal regions inside and without the City of Dis\nbeing allotted to sinners of greater or less degree of guilt, while the\nsystem of Purgatory is adapted to the respective cases of the _Boni\nvalde_ and the _Boni sed non valde_ respectively.\n\nIn its descriptions of both regions of the Otherworld, the homily\npresents several points of resemblance to the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_. \u2018In no\nwise pleasant is the path of the sinful; they find not food nor drink,\nbut perpetual hunger, great thirst, and bitter cold. Then they are\nconducted to the Devil\u2019s house amid the sound of despair and heavy,\nlong-drawn moaning. Piteous are the crying and wailing, the weeping and\nsighing, the mourning and smiting of hands of the sinners, as they are\ndragged towards Hell\u2019s torments. But theirs is the weariness of remorse\nwithout avail; for their prayer is not heard there, seeing that they\nhad not hearkened aforetime while they were in this life, body and soul\ndwelling together.\u2019 Here, too, we have the simile of the closing of the\nlocks, which are here threefold: \u2018to wit, the closing of Hell upon them\nthrough ages everlasting; the closing of their eyes to the world upon\nwhich they had set their love; and the closing of the Kingdom of Heaven\nagainst them.\u2019 The description of the torments of Hell is copious and\nvaried. Cold, gloomy tracts, abounding in dark, f\u0153tid lakes, alternate\nwith regions of glowing though murky flames,[152] where the sinners\nstand on red-hot flagstones. Herein swarm monsters of various kinds:\nadders, toads, cats which rend the damned, demons who torment them and\nhew them with swords, and, above all, the Piast, the old serpent--\u2018a\nstrange serpent,\u2019 indeed, for he is depicted with one hundred necks,\nand one hundred heads on each, and five hundred teeth in every mouth;\none hundred arms he has, one hundred hands on every arm, and one\nhundred claws on every hand.[153]\n\nThere is little attempt made to discriminate between the penalties\naccorded to different kinds of guilt.\n\nHeaven is described in the same rhapsodical style as in the _Fis\nAdamn\u00e1in_, the _F\u00e9lire Oengusa_, etc.\n\nAnother moral treatise is the _D\u00e1 Br\u00f3n Flatha Nime_, \u2018The Two Sorrows\nof the Kingdom of Heaven,\u2019 _i.e._ the two sorrows referred to ch. 33\nof the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_. Here, too, Elias is represented as standing in\nParadise, the Gospels in his hand, and he preaching to the birds that\nperch on the Tree of Life, eating its berries.[154]\n\n\n\n\n5. THE FIS ADAMN\u00c1IN\n\n\nThe general plan of the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ is distinguished from that\nof the other similar writings that have come down to us by an\narchitectonic character to which they can make no claim. The structure\nproper to the _Imram_ was, in great measure, that of a framework into\nwhich a greater or less number of incidents could be fitted, according\nto the author\u2019s taste, without impairing the general effect; the same,\nin a somewhat less degree, may be said of the _Echtra_, which are more\nnearly akin to the romance of adventure than to the epic. The early\nChristian writers, again, solely intent upon edification, and being for\nthe most part men of little culture--for this species of composition,\nafter all, was but a by-way of ecclesiastical literature--were usually\ncontent to repeat a few topics belonging to the common stock of ideas\nprevalent in their day, and paid but little heed to literary effect,\nor even to the clear conception, or orderly presentment, of their\nsubject.[155]\n\nThus, in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, we have the first serious attempt made\nbetween the Vision of Enoch and the _Commedia_ of Dante, either to\nthink the subject thoroughly out, or to treat it in a literary spirit:\nan attempt on the part of the author to construct in his own mind some\ndistinct idea of the Otherworld, and to present his conception to his\nreaders in a coherent form. In some respects, indeed, the construction\nof it is superior to that of its early predecessor, for, with due\nallowance made for the topographical minuteness displayed by the\nauthor of the Book of Enoch in his reproduction, in the description of\nHell, of the details of his model, the _Fis_ manifests a more complete\ngrasp of the subject as a whole, while it gains by the omission of the\nvoluminous discussion of things celestial and sublunary, in which the\nolder writer indulges, and which can only encumber a work conceived\nwith less breadth and executed with less power than Dante, and he\nalone, has brought to the task.\n\nAll the same, it cannot be denied that these architectonic qualities\nare still at a rudimentary stage, and the very fact that so moderate an\nexercise of constructive power should suffice to set this work, as a\nliterary achievement, so far above all other precursors of Dante, does\nbut enhance our appreciation of the height at which the stately edifice\nof his creation towers above all previous efforts.\n\nThe structural imperfections of the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ are enhanced by the\nappearance of composite design which the work bears in its present\nform, being apparently made up from two distinct versions, or else\nhaving been \u2018perfected\u2019 by some redactor by the addition of other\nmatter. The latter explanation seems to us most probable. The first\ntwenty chapters contain a complete and consistent account of the\nsoul\u2019s progress from death to judgment, followed by his relegation\nto the place which he has merited. It is this part of the work which\ndisplays that care for construction already noticed; a great part of\nthe details, whether of native or foreign origin, which had come to be\naccepted as conventional features of the _Fis_ or sacred _Imram_, is\nhere rejected, and the borrowings from the old romantic literature,\nthough still abundant, are made duly subservient to the general\ndesign. This part, moreover, together with the peroration in chapter\n32, bears testimony, by way of direct reference and otherwise, to the\nauthor\u2019s possession of a greater erudition, and a wider culture, than\nwere evinced by most of those who had treated of the same subject.\nThus, apparently, we are entitled to conjecture that chapters 1-20,\nchapter 31 (probably), and chapter 32, may represent the work which\noriginally purported, not, indeed, to have been written by Adamn\u00e1n, but\nto contain the account of a vision seen and already related by him. If\nthis hypothesis be correct, then the evidences of superior culture and\nerudition, apparent in this part of the work, and entirely consistent\nwith what we know of Adamn\u00e1n, increase the probability that it is\nfounded upon some more or less accurate tradition of a vision actually\nrelated by him. For, to repeat what has been said on an earlier page,\nthere is nothing but what is natural and probable in the tradition that\nAdamn\u00e1n beheld, or composed for spiritual edification, a vision of the\nkind then so much in vogue, and took the occasion of a great concourse\nof the chief men of Ireland in order to promulgate it; while it is\nequally probable that a man of his culture and acquirements should have\nexpended upon his task an originality and executive skill previously\nunknown, and altogether improbable that a work of one of the foremost\nand most famous men of his day, after being thus publicly made known,\nshould have been left unrecorded save by the passing mention of a\nchronicler.\n\nTo return to the structure of the _Fis_: at the end of the first\ntwenty chapters, all that was necessary, in order to complete the\ndesign, was to bring Adamn\u00e1n back into Paradise, and to dismiss him\nwith the admonition to communicate what he had seen and heard, as\nin chapter 31, after which the peroration in chapter 32 naturally\nfollows, and forms a fitting conclusion to the whole. However, it\nwould seem that the redactor, following the example frequently set by\nmedi\u00e6val compilers, who knew not how often the half is better than the\nwhole, and were apt to look on perfection as consisting rather in the\nabundance of matter than in the due disposition of it, has attempted\nto supplement the design of the original author by the introduction of\nadditional details which had long ere then become matters of common\nform in descriptions of the Otherworld. Even so, however, it must be\nadmitted that he has managed his transitions with more than common\nskill. Although the wording of chapter 20 suggests that it was the\nintention of the original author to represent the fate of the lost\nin concise but impressive terms--a plan quite in keeping with the\ngeneral tone of restraint which pervades the work--it might yet have\nbeen quite consistent with his design to insert the usual description\nof the various torments with which the different kinds of sinners are\nafflicted, and such a description would follow on quite naturally in\nthe place where it actually occurs in the existing text. But the author\nof this part, whether the original author or a later editor, does\nnot rest content with such a description; he introduces what amounts\nto a structural alteration of the work, and that in a style wholly\ninconsistent with the design of the earlier part. For in that part the\nroad has been fully traced by which the departed spirits have already\nreached their final habitations; now, however, their pilgrimage is\nresumed anew, and the familiar bridge incident appears in chapter 21,\nwhere it discharges its usual double function of an approach to the\nDivine Presence, and of a sieve, or winnowing fan, as it were, for\nseparating the wheat from the chaff. Wholly consistent as this is with\nmedi\u00e6val eschatology, it is entirely inconsistent with the general\nplan of the present work, whereby that separation is effected by quite\nother means. Minor inconsistencies occur in the purgatorial nature of\nseveral of the punishments described in this second part, for we might\nexpect that all requirements of the kind had been fulfilled during\nthe soul\u2019s progress through the seven so-called Heavens. These small\ninconsistencies, of themselves, would count for little, and might be\nregarded as faults of construction on the author\u2019s part, or as the\nresult of the imperfect development of the purgatorial theory, which\nleads to similar inconsistencies in other writings of this class, where\na clear distinction is not often made between a normal process of\npurgation in the intermediate state, and the postponement, in special\ncases, of the final decision; occurring as they do, they acquire a\ncertain significance as tending to accentuate the divergence of plan in\nthe two parts of the work.\n\nA similar addition, attributable to the same motives, would appear to\nexist in the last three chapters of the work. As already suggested,\nchapter 32 would bring the work to a satisfactory conclusion; however,\nthe medi\u00e6val compiler was commonly a simple-minded person; for him,\nas for \u2018honest Diggory,\u2019 the \u2018old grouse in the gunroom\u2019 possessed an\ninfinite variety which age could not wither, nor custom stale, and,\nlike a child or peasant, he objected to a familiar tale being omitted\nin its usual place, or being shorn of its proper incidents. The picture\nof Enoch and Elijah beside the Tree of Life in Paradise, surrounded by\nthe bird-flocks of the righteous to whom Elijah preached the Gospel,\nhad become one of the most familiar and picturesque features of the\nIrish Paradise; therefore a place must be found for it. The most\nobvious place would be that part of Heaven where, as it is, the birds\nare described as singing the hours in the Divine Presence, and there,\nwe can hardly doubt, the original author would have inserted it, had he\nchosen to make use of the familiar image. However, it must, I think,\nbe admitted that he exercised a wise discretion in omitting it,\ngraceful and picturesque as it is; for he has constructed his scheme\nof Heaven after what must seem to us the most obvious and appropriate\nplan, though one which, strangely enough, found little favour with his\ncompeers: he has made the enthroned Deity the centre of all, so that\nto have introduced a further group about a subordinate centre would\nhave been to break into the design. We may therefore be grateful to\nthe hypothetical redactor for appending the episode merely by way of\na _coda_, without obtruding it into what would have been its proper\nplace, but in which there was no room for it. In so doing, he may have\ndesired to give the work a devout and edifying termination, and to\nclose it, as it were, with a sacred voluntary.\n\nWe may now proceed to recapitulate some of the principal features of\nthe _Fis_, even at the risk of a certain amount of repetition, in order\nto show at a glance the relation in which it stands to other writings\nof the same class, both native and foreign.\n\nThe work opens with an exordium in praise of the Creator, regarded\nchiefly in His capacity of Righteous Judge, and Dispenser of rewards\nand punishments, the aspect of Him most pertinent to the subject\nin hand. Already, in this formal opening, we seem to recognise\nthe existence of a deliberate plan, whereby the present work is\ndistinguished from others of its class, and this impression is\nstrengthened as the author goes on to cite, by way of precedent or\nauthority, similar revelations that had been vouchsafed to holy men\nof earlier date than Adamn\u00e1n. These authorities have already been\nconsidered in Section 3 of the present part; apparently, however, the\naccount of the vision which the Apostles beheld upon the death of the\nVirgin Mary, to which the author had access, must have been more ample\nthan in the group of apocryphal writings to which we have referred. We\nmay note that the revelation in question was made by the Angel of the\nWest, the conventional region of the departed. The citation of St. Paul\nprobably refers to the apocryphal revelation which bears the Apostle\u2019s\nname, rather than to his own words in his Epistles, for these neither\nmention a visit to Hell, nor describe the state of the dead in either\nplace; though, indeed, neither did such a revelation form part of St.\nPeter\u2019s vision, as described in the Acts, though our author\u2019s words\nappear to imply that such was the case. The mention of St. Peter\u2019s\nvision affords a curious instance of the manner in which the imagery\nbelonging to the national literature was apt to give its own colour to\nan Irish writer\u2019s treatment of foreign matter. The musical properties\nwith which the author, apparently on his own responsibility, has\nendowed the cords which let down the four-cornered vessel from Heaven,\nrecall the musical stones of the _T\u00edr na n-\u00d3g_, of which further\nmention must be made later on.\n\nIt is noteworthy that the author, in his list of authorities, makes no\nmention of earlier Irish visions, or, indeed, of any source which was\nattributed to post-Apostolic times.\n\nA similar vision, we are told, was vouchsafed to Adamn\u00e1n on the Feast\nof St. John the Baptist, when his soul was parted from his body, and\nconducted by his guardian angel to view Heaven and Hell, with their\nrespective inhabitants. Even such a pilgrimage was set before Dante by\nhis guide,[156] and though Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s chronicler does not here make\nmention of a separate region devoted to _color che son contenti, Nel\nfuoco, perch\u00e8 speran di venire, Quando che sia, alle beate genti_, we\nhave seen that the case of these spirits was dealt with by the Irish\nas by the Italian writer, though the extent to which the purgatorial\ntheory was developed between their respective epochs caused them to\ntreat the subject with very different degrees of precision.\n\nThe selection of Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s guardian angel as _psychopompos_, rather\nthan Michael, or some other of the Heavenly Host,[157] may possibly be\nascribed to the preference which our author occasionally evinces of\nan ecclesiastical to a legendary treatment. On the other hand, we may\nnote the analogy between the soul\u2019s guidance through the Otherworld by\nhis guardian angel, and the like function ascribed by the Avesta to\nthe beautiful maiden \u2018who was his own conscience,\u2019 and was probably an\nallegorising development of the Fravashi, or spiritual _alter ego_,\nwhich was held to belong to every man.\n\nWe now begin to perceive the extent, hitherto unexampled, to which\nconscious design and literary form enter into our author\u2019s method.\nThe celestial country, indeed, is described in general terms as \u2018a\nbright land of fair weather,\u2019 like Magh Mell, and all other pagan\nElysiums; but, as the theme develops, we perceive a wide divergence\nalike from the material delights of the pagan Otherworld, and the\nconventional amenities described in ecclesiastical legends. As befits\nthe Heaven of a creed which makes the _summum bonum_ to consist in\nthe enjoyment of the Beatific Vision, the Deity is represented as the\ncentre of the whole, and all persons and accessories are grouped with\ndirect reference to Him. In the Voyage of the Sons of Ua Corra, the\nLord is introduced, seated on the Throne, and bird-flocks of angels\nmaking music to Him, and the idea as there presented might stand for\na development of the Dagda myth, where the god sits beside his magic\napple-trees and vat of ale, and the birds of the T\u00edr Tairngire sing\nto him.[158] In the present case, however, it seems evident that the\ndescription contained in the Apocalypse was the author\u2019s source of\ninspiration.[159]\n\nHere again the author\u2019s ecclesiastical proclivities appear in his\ndescription of the abode of the blest in a manner recalling the\ninterior of a church, with chancel rails, and choir stalls wherein\nthe righteous stand, like monks, in cassocks and hoods of white,[160]\nwhile the place was illumined by seven thousand angels, who stood round\nabout instead of candles. The separation from the Throne, by means\nof a portico, of the saints to whom their final seats had not yet\nbeen awarded, appears to have been suggested by the use in the early\nchurches of the narthex as the station for neophytes.[161]\n\nThe floor of Heaven, like \u2018fair crystal, with the sun\u2019s countenance\nupon it,\u2019 seems to have been suggested by the \u2018sea of glass, mingled\nwith fire,\u2019 in Rev. xv. 2, which, in turn, had been anticipated, in\nsome sort, by the P\u00fbitika sea in the Avesta, beside which the Tree\nof Life grew. The grouping of the saints about the Throne would\nlikewise appear to be an amplification of the description in the\nRevelation.[162] The Apostles and the Blessed Virgin, we are told,\noccupy a special place, next to the Lord Himself; the Apostles on\nHis left hand, and next to them the patriarchs and prophets, and on\nHis right the Virgin, and next to her holy maidens, \u2018and no great\nspace between,\u2019 a graceful and kindly touch. About them are babes and\nstriplings, and \u2018bird-choirs of the heavenly folk\u2019; further on, others\nof the righteous stand \u2018in ranks and lofty coronals about the Throne,\ncircling it in brightness and bliss, their faces all towards God.\u2019 Here\nwe have, in essentials, the Celestial Rose of Dante\u2019s Paradise (canto\n31); the bird-choir, and, a little later, the guardian angels that\nkeep flitting to and fro among the several companies of the righteous,\nremind us of the spirits which flitted in and out of the petals of the\nRose like bees.\n\nSeveral other passages are impressed with the author\u2019s ecclesiastical\nturn of thought. The Throne stands in the south-east, probably\nbecause the direction of Jerusalem; reference is made to the nine\ndegrees of Heaven, _i.e._ the Angels, Archangels, and Principalities;\nPowers, Virtues, and Dominations; Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim;\nthe geographical distribution of the saints in accordance with the\nfour quarters of the world--a distribution distinct from the fourfold\ndivision of mankind according to their merits, to which allusion has\nbeen made--is probably of the same character.\n\nThe sevenfold wall surrounding Heaven appears to contain a reference\nto the seven Heavens; the different colours of these walls may, as\nsuggested, be a reminiscence of the walls of Ecbatana, as described by\nHerodotus, though it is quite possible that the idea may have occurred\nto the author spontaneously.\n\nIn our author\u2019s representation of the Court of Heaven we already find,\ncompletely developed, that idea of the subject which was perpetuated\nlong afterwards by the masters of Italian art. His picture of the\nenthroned Deity, with the Virgin beside Him, the Saints standing round\nabout Him, and the celestial choirs surrounding the whole, might well\nbe taken for the description of some painting by Fra Angelico; nor are\nthe gem-like radiancy of the angelical painter\u2019s works, nor the august\nblitheness which pervades them, entirely absent. Indeed, writings of\nthis class are not without value as a preface to the history of sacred\nart, as indicating the origin of the stereotyped fashion in which the\nmasters treated certain religious subjects--which fashion was not\ncreated by the arbitrary choice of the primitives, and perpetuated\nthrough any want of inventive power on the part of their followers, but\nrepresented their attempt to portray these subjects in accordance with\nthe traditional form with which legend had already invested them.\n\nOne very striking image, and, so far as I know, the offspring of our\nauthor\u2019s imagination, is the symbol whereby he has endeavoured to\nrepresent the Divine Omnipresence--\u2018a majestic countenance, seven times\nas radiant as the sun,\u2019 gazing from out a fiery mass, and facing the\nspectator, from whatever side he might regard Him. The _na\u00efvet\u00e9_ of\nthis attempt to represent the Inconceivable reminds us of the triple\norbs of iridescent fire in canto 33 of the _Paradiso_, whereby Dante\nsymbolised the Trinity. For pictorial effect, however, the preference\nmust, I think, be awarded to the Irish writer, whose image, at once\nquaint and grandiose, might be the subject of some design by Blake.\n\nAt the same time, the author does not neglect the stores of imagery\ncontained in the national traditions, though he does not conform\nblindly to his precedents; for he differs from the great majority of\nhis predecessors and successors alike in selecting his materials from\nwhatever source appears preferable to him, instead of heaping together\na greater or less quantity of matter taken at haphazard from the common\nstock. The circle of fire which surrounds the midmost Heaven is a\nfamiliar object in both the celestial and the infernal regions, and is\nlargely represented in Irish legends dealing with the Otherworld, or\nwith occurrences of a supernatural order. Besides the striking instance\nin the Voyage of Maelduin, and other cases to which reference has\nalready been made, legends of the Finn cycle mention wizard warriors\nwho surrounded their camp every night with a rampart of fire.[163]\n\nThe crystal veil which partly hides the Throne in chapter 5 may be a\nmodification of the veil which often enshrouds a mystical island in the\n_Imrama_; or, again, it may have been suggested by the veil hanging\nbefore a shrine in a Christian church, or by the veil of the Temple,\nwhich curtained off the Holy of Holies.\n\nThe Throne is supported by four pedestals, as was the island Paradise\nof Manann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr in the _Imram Bra\u00edn_, in imitation of which an\nisland supported upon a pedestal, or pedestals, is introduced into\nmost of the Christian _Imrama_. The pedestals beneath the throne are\nof precious stone, and from them sweet music proceeds, as from the\nprecious stones which separate the several companies of the celestial\nchoir in chapter 13. Vocal or musical stones are common in Irish\nlegend; instances occur in the description of Magh Mell, just quoted,\nand elsewhere in similar circumstances, and we may compare the Lia\nF\u00e1il, which would shriek when pressed by the foot of a lawful king.\nParallels occur in the legends of other Celtic nations: _e.g._ in the\nBreton story of the Groach (Irish _Gruagach_), it is said that every\nstep leading to the palace of that fairy lady sang like a bird when\ntrodden on.\n\nThe very words in which the _Fis_ attempts to express the beauty of the\ncelestial music are those of the old romances: \u2018Though one should hear\nno other minstrelsy besides, yet should he have his fill of melody and\ndelight.\u2019\n\nThe fiery arch above the Throne reminds us somewhat of the watery\narch over the enchanted islands of the _Imrama_, in spite of all\ndifferences. Probably both were suggested by the rainbow, but it\nmay be that the author of the present passage had in his mind the\ndescription in Rev. x. 1 of the \u2018mighty angel \u2026 and a rainbow upon his\nhead.\u2019 In a note to the translation of this passage, we suggested that\nthe comparison of the arch to \u2018a wrought helm, or royal diadem,\u2019 may\ncontain a reference to the picturesque and chivalrous custom of the\nIrish \u00c1rdr\u00ed to wear his helmet on state occasions, reserving his crown\nfor the day of battle.\n\nThe triple circle surrounding the Throne may be intended to symbolise\nthe Trinity.[164] It is noteworthy that while the generality of\nmedi\u00e6val legends describing the Otherworld give little prominence to\nthe Triune nature of the Deity, the present Vision contains several\nreferences to the Trinity, as do the Vision of Fursa, and several of\nthe later Visions composed by Irish writers or under Irish influences.\n\nOur author does not fail to include among the delights of Heaven that\nbird-music which is so dear to Irish writers of all ages. The birds of\nHeaven are here presented in a twofold manner. In the first place, the\n\u2018bird-choirs of the heavenly folk,\u2019 who mingle with the multitudes who\nsurround the chosen band standing about the Throne, correspond to the\nbird-souls whom the legends commonly place upon the Tree of Life, in\nattendance on Enoch and Elijah. There are also the three birds perched\nupon the Throne, where they sing the hours, after the usual fashion of\ntheir congeners, beginning with the birds of Magh Mell, in the _Voyage\nof Bran_, who, by the way, can only be made to discharge their pious\nfunction at the cost of an anachronism. The birds now in question would\nseem to occupy a middle place between the bird-choirs, of which we have\njust been speaking, and the great sacred bird which appears in the\nmythology of every race of mankind.[165] Similar birds are present in\nthe earliest and latest stages of Irish myth, from the Dagda\u2019s palace\nin the Brug na Boinne to the adaptation of the Ph\u0153nix legend which\nfigures in the Voyage of Maelduin. Probably our author\u2019s choice of the\nnumber three conveys another reference to the Trinity; nevertheless,\nthree was the number alike of the birds of Oengus in the Brug na\nBoinne, and of the eagles seen by Maelduin.\n\nCertain features of our author\u2019s description of Paradise represent\nthe final stage in the before-mentioned process of refining upon that\nconception of the happy Otherworld as a Land of Cockayne, which is\nthe most conspicuous feature in the primitive Elysium of every race.\nIn the fragrance of the heavenly land, upon which the blessed sate\nthemselves while hearkening to the music, and in the sweet savour of\nthe candles which illumine the city--the candles themselves being\nangels in that guise--the old materialistic idea appears to be refined\nand spiritualised almost beyond recognition; nevertheless every degree\nin the descent--or ascent--from the pigs and apple-trees and ale-vat of\nthe Dagda can be distinctly traced.[166]\n\nThe present condition of the blessed, as manifested to the Seer, is\nintended, it is said, to last until the Day of Judgment only, when,\nand not before, their state will attain to its utmost perfection (ch.\n6). Of like duration is the \u2018restless and unstable habitation,\u2019 \u2018on\nhill-tops and in marshy places,\u2019 which is allotted, in ch. 14, to\nthose who find no place in the City, \u2018after the words of Doom.\u2019 By\nthese, apparently, the damned are not intended, or else the present\npassage would be in contradiction with the following chapters, which\ndetail their progress to, and the manner of, their final doom, while\nthe abyss to which they are consigned answers neither in kind nor in\nsituation to the description of a wild and desolate region adjoining\nthe celestial city; neither can we suppose that the reprobate, in their\nfinal abode, would continue to receive the ministrations of their\nguardian spirits, as do the denizens of the region in question.[167] It\nwould rather seem that they are the mixed characters upon whom, at the\nindividual judgment immediately following death, no final sentence has\nbeen passed. The reservation of a temporary abode for suchlike occurs\nin the Avestan books, in certain Hebrew speculations--as shown by the\nreference in the Book of Enoch to the mountain Sheol in the west, and\nby the writings of several Rabbis--and in early Christian tradition.\nSeveral instances occur in the Irish legends already reported: _e.g._\nin the islands where hermits, in company with the flocks of bird-souls,\nawait the coming of Judgment, and the similar island inhabited by\nthe men of Ross, who had been banished for justifiable homicide. The\npassage affords some confirmation of the view that the second part of\nthe work is an interpolation, for in that part the sinners who are\ncapable of redemption are dealt with in a different manner.\n\nThe veil of fire and the veil of ice, which separate this desolate\nregion from the City, resemble the flame which surrounds the crystal\nmansion in the Book of Enoch, and is there said to be as hot as fire\nand as cold as ice.[168] The clashing together of these veils in the\ndoorway which separates the two regions bears the appearance of a\nremnant of some Symplegades myth, but I am not aware that any myth\nof the kind exists in a form which could account for the image in\nquestion. The anguish with which the guilty are filled by the din of\ntheir collision is in keeping with that extreme susceptibility to\nmusical sounds which is everywhere apparent. The effect of pleasure to\nthe good and pain to the wicked proceeding from the same cause recurs\nin many subsequent passages.\n\nIn chs. 15-19 is traced the course along which the soul proceeds on\nits way from death to Judgment. The several stages of this journey\nare made to correspond with the seven Heavens through which the soul\nwould naturally have to pass, each of those stages being attended with\nsome kind of punishment or suffering, which causes intense pain to the\nwicked, while the good pass through it unharmed.\n\nThe theory of the Purgatorial fires, founded on 2 Peter iii. 7-13,[169]\nwas held by the early fathers, though, at first, without defining the\nplace or manner in which the purgation was effected. St. Augustine\nwas the first to establish Purgatory in the intermediate state, and\nthe doctrine was further developed by St. Gregory. The early fathers\nheld that the good and bad alike must pass through this stage, and\nherein our author agrees with them; his theory, moreover, whencesoever\nderived, agrees closely with that held by certain of the Jewish Rabbis,\nwho held that all, good and bad alike, must pass through the seven\nlodges of _Hell_--at least as appropriate a term as that of the seven\n_Heavens_, which our author applies to them, though the latter is\nbetter suited to cosmological requirements--with the concomitants of\nfire, scourging, hail-showers, the extremes of heat and cold, etc.,\nthrough all of which the righteous passed unharmed;[170] all of which\nis reproduced in the present work. It is remarkable how little advance\nupon the early Chald\u00e6an myth of the Otherworld is displayed by this\npart of the subject, so far as regards the machinery or material\nframework, so to speak, although, of course, the ideas of sin and\nredemption which lie at the root of the Jewish and Christian doctrines\nalike, constitute a fundamental difference between the two stages of\nthought. The resemblance between the Irish and Chald\u00e6an narratives\nextends even to the porter who sat at each of the seven doors of the\nChald\u00e6an Hades, where the passenger had to leave some part of his\nearthly raiment; in the _Fis_ his counterpart exists in the person of\nthe angel who sits at the gate of each of the seven Heavens,[171] and\nchastises the souls as they enter.\n\nThe second of these Heavens is the only one which appears to be\nendowed with distinctly purgatorial functions: here the angel Abersetus\n\u2018purges the souls of the righteous, and washes them in the [fiery\nriver], according to the amount of guilt that cleaves to them.\u2019 Such,\nin substance, had been the teaching of the Church for some ages prior\nto Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s day, and such, too, the teaching of some of the Rabbinical\nSchools--that of Shammai, for instance, which held that those in whom\ngood and evil were mingled were cleansed by purgatorial pains; in like\nmanner, the author of the Book of Enoch describes a fire wherein they\nwho are capable of redemption are cleansed of their carnal lusts.[172]\n\nThe flowery spring in which the purified souls of the righteous are\nbathed for their solace, is a prototype, in some measure, of the\nflowery stream of Lethe, in which, according to Dante, the spirits\nwhose purgation was accomplished were immersed in like manner.\n\nMost of the trials endured in the first five Heavens have their\ncounterparts in the general literature of the Otherworld, down to and\nincluding the _Commedia_.\n\nThe fiery river or moat before the gateways resembles the river of fire\nwhich encircles Heaven in the Book of Enoch, and the similar river\nabout the infernal city in _\u00c6neid_ vi. 549-50.\n\nThe fiery wall, of which many parallels have already been cited, again\nappears in this place, where it may be compared, more aptly, with the\nCity of Dis, its iron walls and towers glowing red-hot, in c. viii. of\nthe _Inferno_. The fiery arch also recurs, the passage through which,\nand through the fiery wall, is analogous to the similar trial for\nthe purgation of fleshly lusts in c. xxvii. of the _Purgatorio_. The\nscourging of the spirits by the angelic warders is like the punishment\ninflicted--though there by demons--in _Inf._ xviii.\n\nThe description of the whirlpool in the fiery river (ch. 18) is\nthoroughly Dantesque in style, though none of Dante\u2019s infernal rivers\nor whirlpools exactly corresponds to it in details; equally Dantesque\nis the realistic touch of the angel lifting out the souls on the end of\nhis rod, \u2018hard as it were of stone.\u2019\n\nHitherto all the souls, good and bad alike, have been conducted by\ntheir guardian spirits. At the door of the sixth Heaven Michael\nassumes his accustomed function of _psychopompos_ for the remainder\nof the way. This Heaven is free from pain of any kind; apparently the\nauthor\u2019s intention is to convey the impression of a solemn pause,\nbefore the soul is ushered into the awful presence of the Creator. The\nmanner of his reception there recalls the corresponding scene in the\nAvestan account. This reception, and the Divine Judgment, are described\nin the briefest possible terms, but not the less impressively for\nthat.[173] The fate of the reprobate is depicted in a manner at once\nterse and complete, presenting a remarkable contrast to the rambling\nenumeration of horrors in which most of the vision writers indulge. One\ncircumstance, indeed, is marked by the grotesque horror characteristic\nof medi\u00e6val and Oriental imagery; namely, the twelve fiery dragons\nwhich swallow the guilty soul in succession, until the lowest finally\nlands him in the Devil\u2019s maw, the destination reserved by Dante for the\nworst of sinners.[174]\n\nUpon the whole, however, our author seems to dwell, by preference,\nupon the spiritual aspects of his subject. In his eyes, the essence of\nthe punishment consists in the forfeiture of the Beatific Vision by\nthose _chi hanno perduto il ben del intelletto_, a loss enhanced by the\nprevious glimpse of it which has been vouchsafed to them. This, indeed,\nis a common feature of ecclesiastical pictures of the Inferno, where\nthe idea, sufficiently obvious in itself, is sanctified by the parable\nof Dives and Lazarus, though there it is introduced with a special and\ndifferent purpose. Commonly, however, it is used merely to intensify\nthe sufferings of the lost by a Tantalus vision of the contrast between\ntheir own pains and the pleasures of the blest. Our author would seem\nto introduce it as essential for their full comprehension of the good,\notherwise inconceivable, which they have forfeited by their own wilful\ndefault. Evidently he understood that in this life and the next--Dante\nnotwithstanding--there is a _maggior dolore_ than the remembrance, in\ntime of sorrow, of past happiness, and that is the comprehension of the\nthings that once might easily have been, but never have been, and never\ncan be.\n\nFinally, the lot of the sinner--\u2018the perfection of all evil, in\nthe Devil\u2019s own presence, throughout all ages,\u2019--forms the exact\ncorrelative of the Beatific Vision enjoyed by the elect.\n\nThis climax leaves nothing to be desired for completeness, and it seems\nimpossible to believe that the next ten chapters were the work of the\nsame hand. Nevertheless, the author of this second part, whether he be\nthe original author or a compiler, has treated his materials, trite as\nthese are, with more than common skill.\n\nThe approach to the land of eternal pain, to which the Seer is now\nconveyed, leads across a desolate, fire-scathed region, on the farther\nside of which lies a glen, filled with \u2018flame, that extends beyond\nthe margin on either hand.\u2019 Even this slight descriptive touch is an\ninstance of the imaginative, or visualising, faculty which is often\napparent throughout the work. This glen is spanned by the bridge which\nserves to separate the bad from the good, in a manner quite consistent\nwith precedent, but entirely inconsistent with the earlier part of the\npresent work.\n\nThe description of that incident, as here given, differs from other\nvariants in several points of detail, and especially in the greater\nliterary skill with which it is related; but as much has been said upon\nthis subject as our present purpose demands. We have seen that the idea\nof such a bridge existed previously in Irish tradition, but the guise\nin which it appears in the present place leads us to suppose that the\nauthor\u2019s immediate source of inspiration was one of the ecclesiastical\nlegends, though we find the usual difficulty of assigning any given\nitem to some one specific source. It is possible that the author found\nhis immediate prototype in the writings of St. Gregory, with which he\nwas likely to be acquainted; equally possible that the idea was derived\nfrom the traditions of the Eastern Church, with which it is probable,\nboth on _\u00e0 priori_ grounds and from several internal indications,\nthat he had come in contact; or, again, from some floating popular\ntradition, originally emanating from either of the above sources.\nHowever this may be, the present is probably the best-told version of\nthe incident that we possess in any language; nevertheless, it fits in\nas badly with what follows as with what goes before. The good--both the\nmore and the less good--pass over in safety, and the bad, of course,\nfall off, but there is nothing to show how either sort reach their\nultimate habitations. The justified, in fact, are left to their own\ndevices, and we hear no more of them; the reprobate, indeed, as they\nfall from the bridge, are received in the jaws of eight fiery dragons,\nwhich await them in the fiery gulf, but there is nothing to show by\nwhat means they are subjected to the specific torments mentioned\nfurther on, nor yet how the redeemable sinners are brought to their\nstate of temporary punishment.\n\nThe classification of the three companies who attempt to cross the\nbridge is not without interest. The virtues of the righteous who\npass with ease are the specially ecclesiastical virtues of martyrdom\nand asceticism. Immediate access to Heaven had been regarded as the\npeculiar reward of martyrdom so early, at least, as Tertullian,\nwhose authority was Revelation vii. 14, 15; although in the fourfold\nclassification in the Book of Enoch the like precedence is awarded to\nthe martyrs.[175] The association of the mortification of the flesh\nwith the pains of martyrdom is easily explicable.\n\nSinners that have been induced to see the errors of their ways and\nto amend, find the bridge narrow and difficult at first, but easy\nafterwards, while those fall off who have persevered in evil. We thus\nhave only three of the usual four categories which frequently occur in\nIrish eschatology, as in the Book of Enoch: the _boni valde_, the _boni\nsed non valde_, and the _mali valde_. However, the _mali sed non valde_\nare represented, approximately, by those spirits of mingled qualities,\nand those sinners that are redeemed by their good works, who are dealt\nwith specially in the sequel.\n\nThe torments meted out to evildoers are of the usual description,\nthough represented with that increasing fulness and terror which had\nbeen perceptible for some time previously in the Irish visions, or\n_Imrama_, the result, apparently, of increased familiarity with the\nContinental writers of this kind, who, so early as the Apocalypses of\nSt. Peter and St. Paul, had devoted much ingenuity to this horrible\nbranch of their subject. We may also perceive an attempt at a more\naccurate classification of crimes and punishments; in this respect,\ntoo, those Apocalypses display more method than the visions of\nsubsequent writers. The classification adopted by our author, which\nwould seem to be his own, contains indications both of his nationality,\nand of his acquaintance with foreign literature. Four categories of\nevildoers are enumerated, in which, although they exhibit nothing of\nDante\u2019s scientific precision, a certain system is apparent, in spite\nof the several classes overlapping to a certain extent. In chapter\n25 fratricides and sacrilegious persons are dealt with, including\nfraudulent Erenachs--the guardians of the Church\u2019s temporalities--who\nhad abused the considerable powers which the tribal constitution\nof the Irish Church had given them. The class described in chapter\n27 comprises, for the most part, those guilty of various kinds of\ndishonesty or violence, though some of them, such as false judges,\nsorcerers, and teachers of heresy, would seem to belong rather to\nthe two following classes, the one of which comprises renegade\necclesiastics and heresiarchs (chapter 28), while the other, and last\ndeals with an apparently heterogeneous collection of crimes, all of\nwhich, however, will be found to involve, somehow, a breach of faith on\nthe part of the offender.\n\nThe punishments described contain many striking points of similarity\nto Dante, both in their kind, and in the vivid manner in which they\nare portrayed. Of such are the icy cowls in chapter 26, which recall\nthe leaden copes worn by the hypocrites in _Inf._ xxiii. 61 _sqq._ The\nsinners stand in black mire, like the _beletta negra_ where stand the\ngloomy-minded in _Inf._ vii. 124.[176] The scourging by demons occurs\nalike in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_(chapter 26), and in the _Inferno_ (xviii.\n35). A cold wind from the north blows upon the foreheads of the damned,\nas in the frozen regions of Dante\u2019s Tolommea.[177] The fiery rain, and\nthe unavailing efforts of the sufferers to ward it off, anticipate\nDante\u2019s vivid picture.[178] With the throngs of demons in chapter 28,\nwho assail the heresiarchs with flights of arrows, we may compare the\nCentaurs in _Inf._ xii. 56.\n\nThe pictures of the sinners fettered to fiery columns by means of fiery\nchains in the form of vipers (chapter 25), and of those clad in fiery\nmantles, are entirely Dantesque in spirit. In the punishment of those\nwho are alternately borne up to Heaven, and then dashed down again to\nthe depth of Hell, our author appears to typify the tumultuous distress\nand horrible restlessness which accompany hopeless suffering.\n\nTwo classes of sinners remain, who are dealt with in a manner wholly\nalien from Dante\u2019s scheme, though in accord with the earlier teaching\nof the Church. Reference has been made already to those in whom good\nand evil bear divided sway, and who, as in the Avesta, are reserved in\na place apart until the Day of Doom, when \u2018judgment shall be passed\nbetween them, and their good shall quench their evil on that day, and\nthen shall they be set in the Heaven of Life, in God\u2019s own presence,\nthrough ages everlasting.\u2019 This merciful solution of their case affords\na strong contrast to the loathsome doom to which Dante consigns these\nLaodiceans.[179] One passage Dante himself might have been willing to\nown, had it not been so discordant with his doctrine: the picture of\nthose charitable, but sensual, persons who are set upon islands--an\necho of the _Imrama_--in the midst of a fiery sea, but protected from\nits waves by a silver bulwark, built of their own almsgiving, until\nJudgment, when they shall be delivered.\n\nThese two conceptions, though not peculiar to the Irish Church, having\nbeen often promulgated, in various forms, by Jewish and Christian\ndoctors alike, are characteristic of that leaning towards mercy,\nwhich, in one form or other, often appears in Irish ecclesiastical\nlegends.[180]\n\nOur author declares that the state of the blest and of the reprobate\nalike, as revealed to him, is provisional only, and that after the Last\nJudgment the happiness of the righteous will be infinitely augmented,\nand the sufferings of the evil intensified in proportion,[181] when\nthey shall be consigned to the fiery wall, which until then is\ninhabited by the demons only.[182]\n\nChapter 30 gives a vivid representation of the mental sufferings of the\nlost in their mournful habitation, their own sufferings being augmented\nby the company of others in like case, and by a restless longing for\nthe coming of Doom to end their suspense. Herein the author recognises\na truth, the opposite of that truth contained in Hamlet\u2019s dictum,\nthough not less true; for often it is less tolerable to \u2018bear the ills\nwe have, than fly to others that we know not of,\u2019 even though the\nchange may surely be for the worse.[183]\n\nThen follows a short description of the dolorous country, which is\ndepicted as a waste and desolate region of the kind traversed by\nCuchulainn on his journey to the realm of Scathach, and by \u00c1rt on his\nway to the T\u00edr na n-\u00d3g. The general character of this description is\nrather Miltonic than Dantesque.[184] Many instances appear to indicate\nthat, to the northern spirit, the extreme of terror is suggested\nrather by the hauntings of wide and desolate spaces, than by the more\nrealistic--we might almost say materialistic--imagination apparent in\nthe intensive presentation of specific and concrete sufferings, which\nDante was led to adopt, alike by his racial and personal temperament,\nand by his theory of the Otherworld.\n\nPrecedents for the Devil\u2019s abode in the depths of the infernal seas are\nfurnished alike by the Scriptural Leviathan, and by the _Piast_, which\nhaunts almost every Irish loch of any depth, as also by the lake of\nfire and brimstone in Rev. xx. 10, into which Satan is to be cast at\nthe end of the world.\n\nThe four rivers of Hell, which likewise occur in the Voyage of the\nUi Corra and in several Continental visions, have been supposed by\nsome authorities to be intended as a counterpart to the four rivers\nof Paradise in Genesis ii. 10 _sqq._; this, however, seems doubtful,\nhaving regard to the absence of any mention of the suggested prototype,\nneither does it appear that the Scriptural Paradise was present to the\nauthor\u2019s mind. It seems more probable that the number has reference\nto the fourfold division of the upper world; indeed, in some later\nmedi\u00e6val visions, these rivers are placed in accordance with the\ncardinal points. They may possibly be due to a reminiscence of the\nclassical Styx, Acheron, Cocytus, and Phlegethon, as in Milton (_P. L._\nii. 575 _sqq._), and Dante (_Inf._ xiv. 115 _sqq._).\n\nThe tormenting of the spirits by the eager hosts of demons that infest\nthe infernal lakes may be compared to the sportive malice of the fiends\nin _Inf._ xxii.-xxiii.\n\nIn chapter 31 Adamn\u00e1n is re-conducted, by another skilfully managed\ntransition, to the Land of Saints. He desired to tarry there, but like\nseveral of his predecessors, from Plato\u2019s Er downwards, he heard a\nvoice which bade him return to earth and relate what had been revealed\nto him, for the instruction of his countrymen: he was then restored to\nthe body.\n\nChapter 32 would provide the work with a symmetrical conclusion. As\nin the exordium the author represents Adamn\u00e1n as the last in a series\nof holy men to whom analogous revelations had been vouchsafed, so in\nthis peroration he declares the identity of the doctrine preached by\nAdamn\u00e1n, respecting the world to come, with the teaching of other\nsaints and fathers of the Church. In designing his work with this\nstructural completeness, the author stands alone, so far as I am aware,\nuntil Dante comes on the scene.\n\nThe episode of Enoch and Elijah standing under the Tree of Life,\nsurrounded by the bird-flocks, though well told, adds nothing to the\nform in which it appears in other Irish legends of the period. We have\nalready given reasons for supposing that it is an excrescence upon the\noriginal design.\n\nThe reflections there made upon the sorrow experienced by the righteous\non hearing of the sorrows of Doomsday,[185] remind us of a similar\npassage in Dante:\n\n    \u2018Se di l\u00e0 sempre ben per noi si dice,\n    Di qu\u00e0 che dire e far per lor si puote,\n    Da quei, ch\u2019hanno al voler buona radice?\u2019\n\n                                                     _Purg._ xi. 31-33.\n\nThe rhapsodical description of Heaven, which concludes the work as it\nnow stands, is likewise a matter of \u2018common form.\u2019 It may possibly be\nan amplification of several passages in the Revelation (_e.g._ xxi. 4,\netc.), though we have seen that something of the kind existed, in a\nrudimentary form, in some of the _Echtra_, when describing the Sidhe of\na D\u00e9 Danann chief. The curiously close parallel in the Avesta has been\nnoted already.\n\nThis chapter, as before mentioned, does not form part of the version\npreserved in the Lebor Brec, and although that MS. is by far the\nmore recent, it is quite possible that the scribe followed a version\ntranscribed before the addition was made.[186]\n\n\n\n\n6. LATER DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\nThe _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ represents the culminating point to which the\nVision of the Otherworld was brought by writers of the Irish school:\nhenceforth the achievements of that school are principally apparent in\nthe influence which they exercised upon the course which the legend\ntook upon the Continent, and thus, indirectly, upon the development of\nEuropean literature. Enough has been said in an earlier part of this\nwork to show that abundant means existed for familiarising Continental\nstudents with any branch of letters to which the Irish schools might\nbe addicted, and accordingly we now find the Irish legend of the\nOtherworld disseminating itself through the medium as well of works\nwritten upon Irish soil, as of the writings of Irish scholars in\nContinental foundations, and similar works composed by foreign authors\nmore or less under Irish influences.\n\nThe first of these productions is the last of the great _Imrama_, and\nby far the most famous, though not the best from a literary point\nof view.[187] Not only did the legend of St. Brendan, of Clonfert,\nsurnamed the Voyager (483-574), become one of the most widely diffused\nand most popular tales of the Middle Ages, but it even influenced, in\nsome slight degree, the course of the world\u2019s history, for its account\nof a land beyond the Atlantic fired the imagination, and directed the\ncourse, of Spanish and Portuguese navigators many centuries after its\nown date.[188]\n\nAt one period of his labours, St. Brendan appears to have been seized\nwith that _taedium vitae_ which is apt, at times, to weigh with special\nforce upon diligent workers for righteousness. In his case it asserted\nitself, characteristically, in that impulse which even now urges so\nmany of his countrymen to follow his course across the Atlantic, but on\na voyage whence there is no return, and to another world which seldom\naffords a vision of Paradise, at any rate. In this frame of mind he\nprayed for a land, \u2018secret, hidden, secure, delightful, apart from\nmen\u2019; he then fell asleep, and, in a dream, was directed to repair\nto Sliabh Daidche (now Brandon Hill, in the Co. Kerry). This he did,\nand there met an angel, who bade him build three ships, and commit\nhimself to the ocean. The building and manning of the ships, and the\nearly stages of the voyage, wherein the old model of the _Imrama_ is\nclosely followed, are interesting, but cannot be given here. One day\nthe voyagers landed upon the back of a sleeping whale, taking it for an\nisland, until the monster, awaking, bore them off across the sea.[189]\nThus they journeyed for five years, being sustained the while by food\nmiraculously sent to them, as to the island hermits of the earlier\n_Imrama_. At length St. Brendan espied the Devil approaching them\nacross the waves.[190] He hailed the demon, and questioned him, who\nreplied that he had come to seek his punishment \u2018in the deep closes of\nthe black, dark sea.\u2019 This roused the Saint\u2019s curiosity, but the Devil\ntold him that none might see those things and live; he was prevailed\non, however, to guide the Saint to the gate of Hell. Here Brendan saw\n\u2018a rough, hot prison, full of stench and filth and flame,\u2019 and \u2018the\ncamps of poisonous demons\u2019; here were wailing and \u2018handsmiting of the\nsinful folk;[191] and a gloomy, mournful life in cores of pain, in\nprisons of fire, in streams of the rows of eternal fire, in the cup\nof eternal sorrow and death\u2019 (tr. W. S.). The land was full of black\nswamps, surrounding fiery forts, and fiery mountains, over which demons\nwere dragging the souls of the lost, without respite. Then follow long\nand gruesome descriptions of the sufferings endured in that place;\nthese are of the usual type, including all the horrors of a wild and\ndesolate region, with inclement weather, combining the extremes of heat\nand cold; foul, poisonous lakes; fierce winds; wild, rough brakes, and\nmountains haunted by monsters, etc., etc. Proceeding on their way, they\nvisited various islands; round one of them, very lofty, they cruised\nfor twelve days, without finding a spot where they might land, though\nthey saw a noble church in it, and heard voices praising the Lord.\nAfter visiting several islands, the Saint returned to Ireland.[192]\n\nHowever, the spirit of wandering was not yet laid, and St. Brendan\nset forth upon a second voyage. In this, as on the first voyage, the\nOtherworld type of the lands which he visited is evident. In one\n\u2018little, insignificant island,\u2019 the harbour was \u2018filled with devils in\nthe shape of dwarfs and pygmies, with their faces as black as coal.\u2019\nAt length Brendan came to an island whereon was a pilgrim covered with\nwhite hair, who directed him to the T\u00edr Tairngire. Here he found an\nold man, who bade him enter into possession of the land, for those\nwere \u2018the plains of Paradise, and the delightful fields of the land,\nradiant, famous, loveable, profitable,\u2019 etc. \u2018A land of odorous\nflowers, smooth, bland. A land of many melodies, musical, shouts for\njoy, unmournful\u2019 (tr. W. S.). There were \u2018health without sickness,\ndelight without quarrelling, union without wrangling, princedom without\ndissolution, rest without idleness, freedom without labour, luminous\nunity of angels, delights of Paradise, service of angels, feasting\nwithout extinction,\u2019 and so on, in the rhapsodical style of ch. 35\nof the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_. The old man was covered with white hair, like\na dove or sea-mew,[193] and had \u2018almost the speech of an angel.\u2019 At\nthe stroke of a bell tierce was celebrated, when \u2018they sing thanks to\nGod, with their minds fixed on Him,\u2019 a repetition of the words of the\n_Fis Adamn\u00e1in_; indeed, a long passage at the conclusion of the voyage\ncoincides almost word for word with the _Fis_, of which, according to\nMr. Whitley Stokes, it is a copy, and not _vice versa_.[194]\n\nThe Latin narratives of St. Brendan\u2019s voyages[195] differ widely from\nthe Irish account; on the whole, the Otherworld element is much less\nprominent in them, though they contain several details of the kind.\nOf such are the island standing on four pedestals, and an island with\na tall column on it, from which a veil or canopy like silver hung; a\nvolcanic isle with demon smiths at work, hammering upon their anvils\nthe souls of the wicked, who threw masses of glowing metal after\nthe ships; hermits fed with salmon by a cat, etc. There is also a\nvariant of the story told in the Voyage of Maelduin about the Torach\ngravedigger.\n\nThe Paradise of Birds appears with a new significance. The birds are\nthose angels who, upon the rebellion of Lucifer, _per s\u00e8 foro_, and\nfell without active guilt on their part, and were relegated to this\nisland, there to dwell until the general Resurrection, suffering no\npain, and celebrating the canonical hours; a happier lot than that\nwhich Dante bestows upon them in canto iii. of the _Inferno_.\n\nThe story of Brendan, it will be seen, though somewhat later than\nthe _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, is but an _Imram_ of the ordinary type, though\ncontaining several original features, and richer in incident than\nmost of its predecessors. However, its chief claim to consideration\nrests upon the work which it effected in securing for Irish legend a\npermanent place in European literature.\n\nWith the Voyage of Brendan the _Imram_ type of romance culminates, and\nceases to occupy its former important place in Irish literature.[196]\nHenceforth, the Otherworld tradition, whether in Irish or foreign\nhands, is continued by means of the _Fis_, the form properly its own,\nfrom the time of Plato downwards.\n\nIn this form it inspired a work which almost rivalled the Voyage of\nBrendan in the popularity it achieved, and the influence it exercised\nupon later writers. This was the Vision of Tundale, written at Ratisbon\nby an Irish monk, a Munster man, named Marcus, apparently about the\nyear 1149, in which the vision is dated. It was written in Latin, and\nimmediately became widely popular, being translated in the course of\nits own century, and several centuries following, into the languages of\nmost European countries, from Sweden to Spain and Italy.[197]\n\nThis Tundale, so-called--whose proper name Professor Kuno Meyer\nconjectures to be Tn\u00fathgal or Tn\u00fadgal (_op. cit._, p. 91)--was a knight\nof Cashel, said by the author to have been \u2018noble of blood, but bloody\nof deeds; fair as to body, but careless about his soul. Fierce and\nterrible towards the Church, for he would endure none of the poor folk\nof the Lord in his sight.\u2019 Once, when on a visit to a friend in Cork,\nhe fell into a fit while sitting at table; he was taken up for dead,\nbut was not buried, as a slight warmth was perceptible in his left\nside. He remained in a trance from the fourth hour on Wednesday until\nthe same time on Saturday, when he recovered slowly, partook of the\nSacrament, and gave thanks to God, after which he gave all his goods to\nthe poor, assumed the cross, and \u2018turned his back on his former life.\u2019\nIt was during this trance that he beheld the vision which he related to\nMarcus.\n\nImmediately after the departure of Tundale\u2019s soul from his body, his\nconscience expressed great dread by reason of the magnitude of his\nsins. Fain to re-enter his body, he could not, but flitted unsteadily,\nswiftly, to and fro, weeping and weary, in fear and lamentation. Great\nhordes of demons surrounded him, who welcomed him, terming his soul\n\u2018daughter of death and enemy of God, spouse of darkness and foe of\nlight,\u2019 etc. They tore his face with their talons, and taunted him\nwith his sins. At length he saw a light, like a star, approaching; this\nwas his guardian angel who bade him \u2018welcome from God.\u2019\n\nTundale, between fear and joy, replied, \u2018A sorry case, my lord; the\npains of Hell have surrounded me, and I am in the snare of death.\u2019\n\nThe angel answered, \u2018I have ever been with thee, yet never until now\nhast thou called upon me thus.\u2019 Then, pointing to the ugliest of\nthe demons, he added, \u2018That is the deed and the counsel [devised]\nindependently of me.\u2019 However, he promised that Tundale should receive\nmercy, though he must suffer somewhat first. He then bade him follow,\nand retain firmly in his memory whatever he should see.\n\nUpon seeing Tundale escape them, the demons began to blaspheme God, and\nto smite one another, and finally departed, leaving a foul smell behind.\n\nFor long Tundale journeyed on in darkness, lighted only by the radiant\ngarments of his guide. At length they came to a glen \u2018darkened with\nthe mist of death,\u2019 and filled with sparks of fire. An iron covering,\nsix cubits thick, was on it, hotter than the sparks themselves, and a\nstench issued forth that was a more grievous torment than Tundale had\never known. A huge multitude of wretched souls were sitting on that\nlid, burning, \u2018till they were melted, like garlic in a pan, with the\nglow thereof.\u2019 Others were strained through the lid, like wax through a\nlinen cloth, and then tempered in the sparks below for a repetition of\nthe infliction. These were parricides and slayers of their kin.\n\nThere was a vast and hideous mountain, one side of it all sulphur and\nstench, fire and darkness, the other side covered with snow, and a\npiercing wind blowing. Innumerable demons, armed with burning forks and\nsharp tridents, would hale the souls of them that had been false and\ntreacherous from snow to fire and back again. Another glen was full of\ndarkness and f\u0153tor, and \u2018such was its depth that none could discern the\nbottom of it, though he could hear the sound of streams, and [perceive]\nthe stench of ordure, and the outcry and wailing of the souls that\nwere in torment there,\u2019 and a mist uprose from it. A plank stretched\nacross between the mountains that bounded the glen, a thousand feet\nlong and a single foot in breadth, and such as none would dare to tread\nunless driven thereto by force. Tundale saw many souls falling from the\nbridge, and a priest passing over it unscathed. Those who fell into the\nglen were the proud and arrogant; nevertheless the angel bade Tundale\nnot to fear that trial, though he must bear other torments thereafter,\nand he bore him safe across. Again they went on through dark and\ntortuous ways, until, weary and wretched, Tundale espied an \u2018uncouth,\nintolerable monster,\u2019 greater than the mountains which they had\ncrossed; his eyes were like hills of flame; his mouth, wide yawning,\nmight contain a legion of armed men. Two giants stood therein, huge as\nthe pillars of a church, reaching from the lower tooth to the upper.\nFlames issued from its mouth, into which crowds of souls were pressing,\ndriven by the scourges of throngs of demons.[198] A sound of wailing\ncould be heard proceeding from the monster\u2019s belly, for many thousands\nof souls were in there already.\n\nTundale, in dismay, asked why they approached so near; the angel told\nhim that his visit was not complete unless he passed through the\nmonster, for none but a chosen few escaped. Acheron was the monster\u2019s\nname; it devoured the covetous, and the giants standing in its jaws\nwere they who had been false and without conscience. After bringing\nTundale to the monster\u2019s mouth, the angel left him alone there, when\na horde of demons surrounded him, scourged him, and drove him into\nthe monster\u2019s belly. Here he found himself in company of many other\nsouls, who were bitten by hounds, lions and vipers, scourged by demons,\nsuffering the while from the extremes of heat and cold, foul stenches,\netc. Here the soul accused himself of all the sins he had ever\ncommitted, in grief and lamentation, tearing his face with his nails.\n\nAt length Tundale found himself outside the monster, and languidly\nopening his eyes saw the angel, who bore him to a broad, stormy lake,\nwherein were monsters innumerable, seeking to devour the wretched\nsouls.[199] A bridge spanned the lake, two thousand feet long by one\npalm in width, studded with iron nails.[200] The beasts sought to\nswallow and chew the souls that were on the bridge, each beast being\nas great as a chariot, and a fiery mist issuing from their jaws, till\nit seemed as though all the lake were ablaze. Tundale saw a man\nattempting to cross with a burden on his back like a sheaf of corn. He\nwas told that all had to cross that bridge who had stolen anything,\ngreat or small, bearing a burden proportionate to the magnitude of the\ntheft. Tundale had once stolen a cow; he had, indeed, made restitution,\nbut only because he had been forced to do so, therefore he had to cross\nthe bridge, carrying a wild cow on his back. On reaching the other\nside, he pointed out to the angel that his feet were all bleeding from\nthe spikes; this was because he had been one of \u2018those whose feet are\nswift to shed blood.\u2019\n\nThey went on their way through rough and gloomy places, till they came\nto a house, great as a mountain, and round like an oven, whence flames\narose to the height of a thousand feet, and souls were burning therein.\nOn approaching, they saw executioners standing in the flames, armed\nwith axes, sharp razors, scythes, sickles, augers, hooks, \u2018and all\ninstruments beside, which might serve for wounding, flaying, beheading,\nor cutting.\u2019 Tundale begged hard to be let off, but the angel told him\nthat he must endure it, and handed him over to the demons, who \u2018applied\nto him the instruments of torment we have before mentioned until they\nmade small fragments of him.\u2019 \u2018In that house were much moaning and\nsighing, shrieking and wailing, weeping and gnashing of teeth, sharp\nfire scorching the souls.\u2019 At length Tundale confessed that he had but\nsuffered his deserts, after which he found himself standing alone in a\ndark place free from pain.\n\nUpon being rejoined by the angel, Tundale asked him--as well he\nmight--what was the meaning of the saying, _Misericordia Domini plena\nest terra_. \u2018That sentence,\u2019 replied the angel, \u2018has puzzled many\nbefore you. Now thus is my King: though He is beneficent, yet is He\nwont to do justice.\u2019 And he proceeded to expound the necessity for\nconstraining man to follow his duty. None were entirely free from sin,\nbut even the righteous were brought to see those sufferings, in order\nthat they might see what they had escaped, and give thanks; \u2018so were\nsinners brought to see the joys of Heaven, that they might grieve the\nmore for their loss.\u2019[201]\n\nAnother hideous monster there was, with two feet and two wings, and\nmany necks, beaks, and talons. An unquenchable fire issued from his\nmouth; he sat upon a lake of ice, and swallowed the wretched souls,\nmelting them, and dipping them into the icy lake for a renewal of\ntheir pains.[202] The beast became pregnant with these souls, who kept\nbiting and tearing him like a brood of mountain vipers, until the\ntime for delivery came. This gruesome conception is elaborated with a\nnumber of fantastic details. Thus were punished monks, canons, nuns,\netc., who had broken their vows, who had tongues sharp as of vipers,\nand refrained not themselves from evil speaking; also they who had\ndefiled themselves with inordinate lust. This punishment too had to be\nendured by Tundale. After it their way led them by a dark and devious\nglen, descending from mountain-tops into deep abysses, their path\nlighted only by the radiance of the angel. Tundale asked whither their\nroad led. The angel replied, \u2018This is the road which leadeth unto\ndeath.\u2019 Tundale expressed surprise, for he had heard that that way was\nbroad, and that many went by it; but the angel explained that the text\nreferred to this life only.\n\nAfter a weary journey, they came to a valley wherein were several\nsmithies, and a great weeping and wailing in them. The smiths seized\nTundale with their tongs, and cast him into a furnace, glowing fiery\nred; many souls were in it already, and the bellows were plied beneath\n\u2018as though they were iron on the hearth, until they were reduced to\nnought, until they were turned into water.\u2019 They were again uplifted\nwith the tongs, and forged into one single mass, their pain exceeding\nall other pain, and they calling for death, which they could not\nobtain. After which they were passed on to the other smithies in\nsuccession.\n\nThe angel explained that all the souls whom Tundale had yet seen were\ndestined finally to receive mercy; it still remained for them to see\nthose that were in the nethermost Hell. Suddenly Tundale was seized\nwith a great trembling, as he became aware of an intolerable cold\nand stench, dense darkness, tribulation and anguish, while he saw\nthe foundations of the earth sinking. Turning to question his guide\nhe found himself alone. He heard the wailing and howling of wretched\nsouls, and terrible thunderings, but could perceive no face, nor\ndistinguish any voice. At length he discerned a vast four-cornered\ncavern, in the midst of which a huge pillar towered up; fire and\nvapour rose up against the pillar, and in the midst of the flame many\nthousands of demons and souls flew up like sparks, and fell back.\nTundale strove to turn away, but could not, for his feet clave to the\nfloor; whereat, filled with frenzy, he began to tear himself with his\nnails. Demons surrounded him, threatening and reviling, but the angel\nrescued him and brought him to the gate of Hell. Here, he told him,\nwas no light small nor great, but he could see the inhabitants without\ntheir seeing him. Tundale looked, and saw the Prince of Darkness, black\nas a raven from head to foot, with more than a thousand hands on him,\neach two hundred cubits long, and every finger one hundred palms in\nlength, with iron nails like warriors\u2019 spears, and toes to match; he\nhad a long thick tail, covered with iron spikes. He lay on an iron\nhurdle over fiery gledes, a bellows on each side of him, and crowds\nof demons blowing it. Every limb was covered with chains of iron and\nbronze. As he lay there roasting, tossing from side to side, filled\nwith rage and fury, he grasped the souls in his rough, thick hands,\nbruising and crushing them, as a man would crush grapes to squeeze out\nthe wine. With his fiery, stinking breath he scattered the souls about\nHell, and as he drew in his breath again he swallowed them down with\nit, and those whom his hands could not reach he lashed with his tail.\nThis, the angel explained, was Lucifer, whom God had created first of\nall creatures, and of the rest some were angels of darkness, and some\nof the race of Adam; ever since their damnation they sought to lead\nothers to deny Christ, and the greater the power of each, the greater\nwas his punishment.\n\nHere Tundale saw numbers of his friends and kin, whom he had ever\nrejoiced to see in this world, but now beheld with pain.\n\nOn leaving Hell, they entered into a great light, and came to a wall\nwhereon were multitudes of men and women. Rain and wind were beating\non them, but abundant light fell on them, and no foulness was there.\nThese had led a \u2018variegated\u2019 life, in which good and evil were equally\ncommingled, therefore they were exposed to wind and rain, hunger and\nthirst, until the end, when they should enter into everlasting life.\n\nThey next came to a forest, and passing through an open door therein\nfound themselves in a goodly plain, covered with flowers and fragrant\nherbs, and the Well of Life in the midst of it; here dwelt the good who\nwere not yet permitted to join the heavenly host. Tundale recognised\nmany whom he had known, including two Irish kings, Donnchad and\nConcobar, between whom a feud had subsisted, but they had repented\nand become reconciled. He also saw a house of stone, without door or\nwindow, yet all might enter in who would, and it seemed as though\nthe sun were in every part of it. It had no foundations, but was all\nset about with precious stones. In it was a golden throne, set with\njewels, and covered with fine silk, whereon a king sat, calm and mild,\nwhile great numbers approached him, in gladness and rejoicing, bearing\njewels and great treasures. Tundale drew near to see, for in the king\nhe recognised Cormac, whose subject he had been. Great numbers of\npriests and deacons were about him in rich vestments, as though for\nthe mass. The house was hung with choice drapery, and tables were set\nout, covered with vessels of gold and silver and ivory, as though for\na royal banquet, so that they who saw that house would think that even\nthough there had been no glory nor wealth beside, this would suffice\nfor delight. All present fell on their knees and repeated, _Labores\nmanuum tuarum manducabis; beatus es, et bene tibi erit_. Tundale\nwondered to see that none of those who were serving Cormac were the\nking\u2019s own people, but the angel said that he was served by the\npoor and pilgrims of the Lord whom he had relieved, so that God had\ndelivered unto him the everlasting kingdom by their hands.[203]\n\nEven as they watched, the house was suddenly darkened, and all within\nit were thrown to the ground, and, lifting up their hands, said,\n_Domine, Deus omnipotens, sicut vis, et sicut scis, miserere servi\ntui!_ Then Cormac left the house, and Tundale, following, saw him enter\ninto a fire up to the waist, and a hair-shirt on him from the waist\nupward. Thus he spent three hours of every day; the fire being the\nexpiation of a breach of his marriage vow, and the hair-shirt, of the\nmurder of a noble that was under the protection of Patrick, and of a\nfalse vow, all other sins being freely remitted.\n\nProceeding on his way, Tundale saw women, and men, and elders, in\nsilken robes, and the countenance of each one was like the sun at\nmidday. Their hair was like gold, they wore golden crowns covered with\nprecious stones, and they sang _Alleluia_, giving praise, so that \u2018if\none heard them but once, he would have no memory of the grief and care\nhe had known before.\u2019 These were the saints \u2018who had macerated their\nbodies for God\u2019s sake, and washed their robes in the blood of the\nspotless Lamb, and turned their backs to the world, and crucified their\nwill in the service of God while in the body.\u2019\n\nHe also beheld many castles, and pavilions of purple and byssus, gold\nand silver, silk and other precious coverings, and in them organs and\ntimpans and harps, and every kind of music, were playing. Therein were\npeople of devotion, who had submitted their own will to God, and had\ntaken upon them humility and lowliness, without pride or vainglory, and\nwere submissive to their superiors, and found savour in spirituality,\nand had bridled their tongues, not only from evil-speaking, but even\nfrom good words.\n\nA little further on they saw a wall, high and thick, all of silver,\nand no door in it. Choirs of saints were there, clad in white raiment,\nfull of gladness and rejoicing, perpetually praising the Trinity.\nThe radiance of their apparel was like the snow of a single night\nbeneath the sun\u2019s brightness. These had been faithful in wedlock, had\nmaintained their people after the will of God, and had distributed\ntheir goods among the poor and the Church; to them will Christ say,\n_Venite benedicti Patris mei, possidete regnum quod vobis partum est\nab origine mundi_. Another wall was of gold, and within it golden\nseats innumerable, all set with precious stones--pearls and sapphires,\nsardius and topaz, etc. Then they saw that, the like of which eye\nhad not seen, nor ear heard, neither had the heart of man conceived:\nnamely, the glory which God had prepared for them that loved Him. The\nnine orders of angels, and the saints mingled with them, hearkened\nto words exceeding sweet which none might record. In the presence of\nthat vision, Tundale could not only see the glory that was before him,\nbut also all the pain that he had left behind, for \u2018to whomsoever\nGod giveth power to behold Himself, to him is power to see all other\ncreatures likewise.\u2019 \u2018From that time forth Tundale asked nothing of the\nAngel, for to himself was given from God knowledge of what he desired\nto know.\u2019\n\nHe saw St. Patrick and several bishops, four of whom he had known: viz.\nCelestine, Malachi (the celebrated primate of Ireland, and friend of\nSt. Bernard), Nemias (Gilla na Naemh Ua Muirchertach, bishop of Cloyne\nand Ross), and Christian. He also saw a great tree laden with blossom,\nand with fruit of every kind. Vast flocks of birds of many hues\nwere on the tree-tops, singing every kind of music, and no scent of\nfragrant herb is known that was not about that tree. All round the tree\nmultitudes of men and women sat in chairs of gold and silver and ivory,\nwith golden crowns on their heads, and golden wands in their hands,\nsinging, and praising the King. This tree was the prop and stay of the\nChurch, and the people about it were they who had united to support and\ndefend the Church, turning their backs upon worldly things, and leading\na devout life.\n\nThe vision over, Tundale begged to be allowed to stay, but the Angel\ntold him that he must return to the body. He further bade him remember\nwhat he had seen, that he might deliver it to the people of the world.\nHe engaged Tundale to eschew evil in future, and promised to protect\nand counsel him.\n\nFor several reasons, it seemed advisable to relate Tundale\u2019s vision\nwith some fulness of detail. In the first place, it can hardly be\nthat a work which so soon acquired, and long maintained, an immense\npopularity throughout all Western Christendom, failed to exercise\ngreat influence in the way of fixing, if not of determining, the views\ngenerally held concerning the Otherworld. Further, as the work of an\nIrish author, written in the centre of Europe, and almost immediately\nadopted throughout the West; embodying, moreover, while continuing\nand enlarging, the ideas currently held by members of the Christian\nChurch respecting the future life, and, at the same time, containing\nmany elements of distinctly Irish, and even pagan, origin, it reveals\nbeyond dispute the existence, the manner, and, partly, the extent of\nthe contribution which the legend made to the development of modern\nliterature, after quitting the soil upon which it had matured.\n\nThe Vision of Tundale has many points in common with the _Fis\nAdamn\u00e1in_, _e.g._ the preference accorded to the martyrs and ascetics,\nthe special provision made for the charitable sinners, the nine\norders of Heaven, the episodes of the bridges and the Tree of Life,\netc. Like Adamn\u00e1n, Tundale expressed a desire to remain in Paradise,\nbut was bidden return, and relate what he had seen. From a literary\npoint of view, the work is decidedly inferior to the _Fis_; it is\nretrograde, too, in the absence of a definite scheme of the Otherworld;\nhistorically, however, it marks a forward step in the development of\nthe purgatorial idea, of which, perhaps, it affords the most complete\nexample which religious fiction contains, prior to its final perfection\nby Dante. It also prepares the way for the group of legends associated\nwith St. Patrick\u2019s Purgatory, for it introduces the idea of the Seer\nhimself suffering the purgatorial pains, with a view to his own\nredemption; Tundale\u2019s vision, however, contains no suggestion of a\nlocal purgatory in this world. In both these respects, he is followed\nby Dante, to some extent, though the comparatively slight annoyances\nendured by the latter during his ascent of the purgatorial mount--with\nthe exception of the fiery wall, for which there was a special\nreason--were rather, so to speak, incidents of travel, necessitated by\nthe nature of the country through which he had to pass, than sufferings\ninflicted on him for his purgation. In one respect, Marcus merits to be\nraised to a bad eminence among his kind: we have marked already, in the\ndevelopment of the Irish idea of the Otherworld, a growing tendency to\naccumulate horrors, and to elaborate and multiply painful details; but\nperhaps, in all the repulsive literature of the Christian Inferno,[204]\nthere is no instance equal to the present of the length to which the\nmedi\u00e6val imagination could go in its conception of the grotesque and\nhorrible, the cruel and obscene. It displays nothing of the higher\nqualities which the author of the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ possessed: his devout\nraptures, his sense of beauty, his strong moral feeling, and his pity\nfor the reprobate. At the same time, it shows how far Dante was from\ndeserving the reproach, so often made, of the wanton accumulation of\nhorrors; how much of the kind, in which his predecessors revelled, he\nrejected, retaining only so much--and that, in all conscience, was no\nlittle--as was necessary to enable him to represent the grim theory of\nhis day, in all the completeness and vividness with which it presented\nitself to his imagination.\n\nIt is difficult to avoid making some comparison of the present work\nwith the _Commedia_, for of all the writings of its class it is,\nperhaps, that which we have most reason to assume must have been known\nto Dante, for not only does it seem improbable that so widely known a\nwork on his own subject should have escaped his notice, but there are\nanalogies between the two, deeper than mere similarities in detail.\nTundale, for instance, frequently applied to his angelic guide for the\ninterpretation of passages of Scripture which presented themselves to\nhis recollection, even as Dante had frequent recourse to Virgil, and\nafterwards to Beatrice and Matilda, for the like purpose. So, too,\nthe sentences of Scripture which Tundale heard repeated in the region\nof probation may be compared to the similar sentences which Dante\nheard floating along the air in Purgatory. Tundale, moreover, met and\nconversed in the world of shades not only with persons of his own\nacquaintance and kin, as Thespesios and others had done before him,\nbut with a variety of historical personages of past and present times,\nincluding semi-mythical Irish heroes like Fergus Mac R\u00f3ig and Conall\nCernach, and sacred personages like St. Paul and St. Patrick. Like\nDante, too, he introduced incidents of contemporary history in which\nhe felt an interest, such as the strife between the princes Donnchad\nand Concobar, and passed his own judgment upon the actors. The reward\nbestowed upon King Cormac, in the shape of a little kingdom of his\nown, is a curious instance of the same kind; it was probably due to\nan excessively literal interpretation of the Scripture promises. It\nrecalls the aristocratic type of the more primitive Elysium. The vision\nexhibits the usual agreement with Dante in the provision of a special\ntreatment for the \u2018variegated,\u2019 or half-and-half sinners, and the\nusual contrast to him in the nature of that treatment. Marcus follows\nprecedents which had become inconsistent with the design of his work,\nwhich expresses the more complete theory of Purgatory as a separate\nstate. Dante, apparently, was guided in his mode of dealing with this\nclass of persons by his own sense of moral and artistic fitness.\nMarcus, in giving the name of Acheron to the flaming mouth of the\nbeast, betrays a slight tendency towards that importation of classical\nideas into Christian eschatology which Dante afterwards developed to\nsuch an extent.\n\nComing to similarities existing between single incidents, there is, of\ncourse, a general resemblance between the penalties, etc., enumerated\nby both authors, as in the lakes of fire and ordure, the flames and\nice, the piercing winds, the scourging by demons, etc. etc.; there is\nalso a more special likeness in the nature of the conception, if not\nin the details, between the grotesque transformations undergone by the\nsouls swallowed by Tundale\u2019s monster, and the terrible metamorphoses\nbrought about by the serpents in cantos xxiii. and xxiv. of the\n_Inferno_. Again, the demon on the ice, in Tundale\u2019s Vision, devouring\nthe souls, resembles Dante\u2019s Lucifer chewing the arch-traitors in\nthe icy centre of Hell. Tundale\u2019s demon, indeed, is not Lucifer, who\nis described later on as being roasted on a gridiron. We may note in\nthis place that the Irishman and the Italian have exchanged the ideas\ncommonly accepted by their respective countrymen on the subject: Dante\nmaking the sufferings of the inmost core of Hell to consist in cold,\nMarcus in heat. There are various touches besides in which the one\nauthor reminds us of the other. Tundale\u2019s rescue by the angel from\nthe demons,[205] and the strife between these in the fury of their\ndisappointment, present a curiously close parallel to the similar\nincidents in _Inferno_ xxii. Tundale and his guide, after their rude\njourney, looking down into the gulf of fire and ordure, recall Dante\nand Virgil pausing in like manner upon the steep and rugged causeways\nof the Inferno, to gaze into the abysses of the lower circles. As\nTundale was abandoned by his guide before entering into Hell, so\nwas Dante left to himself by Virgil upon reaching the Terrestrial\nParadise.[206] To Tundale, when in Heaven, it was shown that he could\nlook back, and view the regions through which he had passed; so Dante,\nin Paradise, was bidden to look downward toward this world and its\nways.[207] Other resemblances exist, but these are the most striking.\n\nOf course it is not to be supposed that the continuation and\ndevelopment of the Vision legend at this period of the Middle Ages was\nconfined to the Irish school. It was still, and had been since the\nearliest days of the Church, a favourite topic with monastic homilists\nand biographers of the saints.[208] However, it has not been my object\nto compile a history, or a summary, of this branch of literature, but\nto select those examples of it which have either carried the subject\nto a further stage of development, or, by reason of their popularity,\nor of their accessibility to later writers, may have served as links\nin the chain of transmission. Few, indeed, out of the whole mass\npossess any interest either from originality of invention, or variety\nof treatment, still less from any literary merit, and it is more than\nprobable that the vast majority of them never passed beyond the limits\nof the community to which their author belonged, until they were\nbrought to light by the researches of modern antiquaries.\n\nNevertheless, of the Continental visions which belong to this epoch,\nthere is one which demands further notice, as well by reason of the\nexceptionally elaborate manner in which it treats the subject, as of\nthe recognition accorded to it by later writers. This is the Vision\nof Paul, or the Descent of Paul into Hell, a Latin work known in\nthe South of France before the middle of the eleventh century, and\ntranslated into Anglo-Norman by Adam de Ros, and soon afterwards into\nseveral modern languages. We have seen that the early Church produced\na work known as the Apocalypse of St. Paul, but this, apparently, was\nnot known to the later Middle Ages, at any rate at first hand, though\nthe terms in which St. Paul\u2019s Vision is mentioned at the opening of\nthe _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ suggest that at least the tradition survived, and\nseveral passages in medi\u00e6val visions bear a strong resemblance to the\nearlier work. It is probably to the eleventh-century vision that Dante\nrefers in _Inferno_ ii. 28 _sqq._;[209] evidently he does not refer to\nthe Apostle\u2019s own words exclusively, for St. Paul in his Epistles makes\nno mention of a visit to Hell, though it is also possible that Dante\nhad no other authority for this than the floating tradition.\n\nIn this Vision St. Paul was conducted by Michael to Hell, on the\nthreshold whereof stood a fiery tree, from the branches of which were\nsuspended by the tongue, leg, neck, or other peccant member, those who\nhad been guilty of rapacity, or had given false judgment _por confundre\nla gente_. Near this was a fiery furnace, whereof _li feus est plus\nneirs que mors_, and in it were plunged they who had loved not God.\nThey then came to a great and turbid river in which devils, in form of\nlions, swam about like fishes. The river was spanned by a bridge, the\nwidth of a single hair,[210] which had to be crossed in order to reach\nGod\u2019s presence. The wicked fell off into the mouth of Beelzebub, which\nstood wide open, vomiting flame, ready to receive them. Upon issuing\nthence, all black and charred, they were plunged into the river, where\nthey stood immersed to different depths--to the knees, navel, eyes,\neyebrows, crown, etc.--in proportion to the degree of their guilt.[211]\nThese were hypocrites, adulterers, envious persons who had exulted in\nthe sight of others\u2019 sorrow--_por ceo sunt ore dolereux_, etc. Those\nwho had made war upon the Church were submerged entirely. Faithless\nvirgins who had violated their vow of chastity, and had destroyed\ntheir children, were clad in black garments smeared with pitch and\nsulphur, and aflame, while they endured the embraces of serpents and\ndragons.[212] Corrupt judges, who had abused the widow and orphan,\nburnt like brushwood amid walls of ice. Priests who had known the law\nof God, but failed to keep it, wore heavy collars about their necks.\n\nSt. Paul, like Tundale, exclaimed, and asked why man should be born\nfor such misery; but Michael replied that beneath those depths a still\ngreater depth remained. This was a well, covered, and sealed with seven\nseals, whence proceeded such a stench that St. Paul started back.\nHere were imprisoned such as had denied the articles of the Christian\nfaith.[213] These called upon St. Paul, St. Michael, _and the \u2018twelve\npeers,\u2019_ to pray for them, and that so loudly that their cry reached to\nHeaven; but God Himself replied that no pardon was possible for those\nthat had rebelled against Him; howbeit, He was prevailed upon by the\nprayers of the Saints to grant them the usual Sunday respite, which was\nmade to last from none on Saturday to prime on Monday.\n\nThe authorship of this Vision is unknown, so that there is no saying\nwhether or not it was composed under the influence of the Irish\nVisions. The date and other circumstances would admit of this, and\nit has much in common with them; notably, the manner in which the\nfamiliar bridge episode is treated is very similar to that of the _Fis\nAdamn\u00e1in_; nevertheless, the greater part of it might quite as well\nhave been derived from other sources, and it bears at least as strong\na resemblance to the Apocalypses of St. Peter and St. Paul; like them,\nbut to a greater extent, it aims at the recompense of specific crimes\nby the appropriate punishments. However, there is a considerable group\nof Visions, the authors of which, though foreigners, have confessedly\ndrawn from Irish sources. This series dates back at least as far as\nthe time of Bede, to whom, likewise, we are indebted for the earliest\naccount of the visions of St. Fursa, and for several particulars of\nthe life of Adamn\u00e1n. For Bede has recorded a vision seen by Drihthelm,\na Northumbrian monk, who related it to one Haemgils, then a hermit in\nIreland, from whom Bede received it.[214] The soul of Drihthelm, on\nparting from the body, was taken in charge by an angel, who brought\nhim to a great valley in the north-east, which was Purgatory. One side\nof the valley was covered with flames, the other with ice, with the\nusual accompaniments of hail and snowstorms, filth, evil spirits, etc.\nThey afterwards came to a great pit and a fiery plain, where they saw\nglobes of fire rising and sinking, and in them the souls of men were\nimprisoned.[215] Here Drihthelm was assailed by demons armed with fiery\nforks, but the angel rescued him. They finally reached a wall in the\nsouth-east,[216] wherein was no opening. They were conveyed to the top\nof it, whence they could see a wide, flowery plain, and the light on\nit was brighter than the sun at noon. People in shining raiment were\nwalking there; these were the _boni sed non valde_, who were to dwell\nthere until Judgment. Beyond this could be descried a yet brighter\nregion, whence fragrant odours and the singing of the saintly choirs\nwere borne to them. This narrative, commonplace as it is, proves the\nearly date of several features of some of the principal visions, which\nwere composed at a much later period.\n\nBy far the most famous of the present group of visions are those\nassociated with St. Patrick\u2019s Purgatory, which attained to a popularity\nwhich almost surpassed that of the Vision of Tundale or the Voyage of\nSt. Brendan.\n\nIt would seem that the earliest known version of this legend is the\nvision seen in 1153 by the knight Owen, and written soon after the\nmiddle of the twelfth century by Henry of Saltrey, a monk in the\nBenedictine monastery of Huntingdon, who received the story from\nGilbert, Abbot of Louth. Owen was an Irishman in the service of King\nStephen, from whom he received knighthood. Like Tundale, he was a brave\nsoldier, but in the course of an ungoverned life had been guilty of\nrapine, lust, sacrilege, and other crimes. In the course of time he\nrepented, and returned to Ireland, where he heard of an old tradition,\nto the effect that once St. Patrick, when his preaching had failed to\nmove a pagan audience, wrought their conversion by causing a chasm to\nopen, through which the next world became visible to them. Tradition\ngave out an island in Loch Derg, in the County Donegal, as the scene\nof this miracle, and there a religious house was established. Owen\npresented himself to the Abbot, and prevailed on him to allow him to\nenter the cavern, which he did after being duly prepared by fasting\nand prayer. He was conducted by a party of monks along a dark passage,\nand then through a brightly lighted cloister. After this he was\nleft to himself, when he was assailed by a party of demons, from\nwhom he escaped by pronouncing the name of the Lord. Like Fursa, he\nwas exposed to repeated attempts of the kind, but always extricated\nhimself without need of angelic succour. He traversed various plains\nset apart for the purgation of different offences. Among other\ntorments, mostly of the conventional kind, which seem to presuppose an\nacquaintance with the visions already related, he beheld sinners of\nvarious kinds suspended from trees by the members that had offended.\nOthers were plunged in molten metal to a depth corresponding to the\ngravity of their offences,[217] while demons tore them with hooks\nwhenever they attempted to raise themselves therefrom.[218] Others\nwere congealed in ice,[219] buried in fiery trenches,[220] buffeted\nby violent winds,[221] gnawed by serpents,[222] etc. Although the\nPurgatory of Owen resembles the Inferno of Dante in so many respects,\nit differs from it, and, indeed, from most of its predecessors, in not\ndistinguishing between the various crimes that are chastised there.\nOne instance of an idea common to the author and to Dante is very\nsuggestive: Owen passed several figures lying on the ground crucified,\nlike Dante\u2019s Caiaphas.[223] Like Dante and Tundale, Owen recognised\nseveral of his friends.\n\nHe came to the mouth of Hell, which here, again, assumes the form of\na demon\u2019s wide-opened mouth, into which, each time he draws in his\nbreath, swarms of souls are drawn in with it, to be again puffed out as\nhe respires--an image already occurring in the Vision of Esdras before\nreferred to. There, too, was the usual bridge, spanning a foul flood,\nwherein condemned spirits wallowed. At the far end of it was a crystal\nwall, and in it a gate of gold and jewels, which led to the Terrestrial\nParadise, the halting-place of the spirits that were cleansed of sin,\nand awaiting their final perfection; while, to render this anticipation\nof Dante yet more striking, a multitude of these passed before Owen,\nchanting psalms. Two archbishops met him, and conducted him to the\ntop of a mountain, whence he obtained a Pisgah view of the gate of\nParadise, \u2018like gold refining in a glowing furnace.\u2019 Then, with a flash\nof fire from Heaven, the vision ended.\n\nNothing certain is known concerning the origin of this legend, though\nit evidently existed long before Henry of Saltrey\u2019s day. As we have\nseen, it was accounted for by a legend connecting it with the Apostle\nof Ireland; it is referred to by Joscelin, also a twelfth-century\nwriter, in his _Life of St. Patrick_, but there is no mention of it\nin any of the earlier writings concerning that Saint. Indeed, some\nchroniclers refer it to one Patrick, a hermit of the neighbourhood,\nand this origin is given in the popular story of Fortunatus; and it\nis unlikely that popular tradition would have had recourse to some\nobscure and even hypothetical Saint, if the connection with the Apostle\nhad been generally recognised. Probably, the island may have been\nthe scene of some local pagan cult, taken over, with the necessary\nmodifications, by the Christian community established there, in\nsomething the same manner as St. Brigid\u2019s fire at Kildare. From the\nresemblance which the practices there observed bore to those connected\nwith the Cave of Trophonius and the Eleusinian Mysteries, it seems\nnot unlikely that if the origin of the rites could be traced, some\nanalogies might be established between the ancient worship of Ireland,\nand some of the more obscure Greek cults. However this may be, the\nlegend of St. Patrick\u2019s Purgatory soon achieved an almost unexampled\npopularity, and was speedily adopted into the popular fictions of\nmost European countries. Marie de France, in the early part of the\nthirteenth century, made it the subject of a long poem, and was closely\nfollowed by several Anglo-Norman writers, while it is recorded in the\nlearned collections of Jean de Vitry, Vincent de Beauvais, and Caesar\nof Heisterbach, and by several of the leading chroniclers, such as\nGiraldus Cambrensis, Matthew Paris, and Froissart. Meanwhile, the\nisland in Loch Derg became one of the recognised holy places to which\npilgrims even from remote parts of Europe, such as Italy, Hungary,\netc., resorted for the purpose of procuring the remission of past sins,\nby undergoing the purgatorial discipline in this life, and the English\narchives still contain records of certificates given by Edward III. and\nRichard II. to several illustrious foreigners, testifying to their due\naccomplishment of the pilgrimage and its attendant rites.[224] I do not\nknow to what authority it was intended that these certificates should\ncommend the recipients.\n\nThe institution never received the formal sanction, nor even the\napprobation, of the Church, and in the year 1497 the purgatorial cavern\nwas closed by order of Pope Alexander vi. For some time to come,\nhowever, the tradition lived on in various forms: in hagiology, as\nin the _Aurea Legenda_ of Jacobus de Voragine; in such specimens of\npopular literature as the story of Fortunatus; in Tassoni\u2019s burlesque\npoem, _La Secchia Rapita_, and in the tragedy of Calderon, to which it\nfurnished both title and subject. The two points in connection with it\nthat concern us, are the facts that the legend continued the Irish\nschool of the _Fis_, and that it achieved a popularity so widespread\nand so enduring as to render it almost certain that it must, at least,\nhave come to Dante\u2019s knowledge.\n\nA few years before the Vision of Owen, a somewhat similar work had\nbeen produced in Italy--the Vision of Alberic, the son of a Campanian\nnoble, and a monk of the famous Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino.\nFor the most part, this vision is constructed on the conventional\nlines, but in several of its details it is in such close agreement with\nDante\u2019s _Inferno_ as to call for some remark.[225] The commencement,\nindeed, appears to be original. At the age of ten, Alberic fell into\na trance, which lasted for nine days. While in this state he was\nvisited by a dove, which put its bill within his mouth, and carried\nhim to St. Peter, who, in company with two angels, conveyed him to\nthe nether world. On his way thither he passed through the _Limbus\ninfantium_, which also is an unusual feature in works of this class.\nAmong the penalties of Hell which bear a more or less close resemblance\nto Dante\u2019s _Inferno_, are a valley where the unchaste stood in fire\nand ice to a greater or less depth according to the gravity of their\noffence; tyrants and infanticides were enclosed in masses of fire;\nhomicides were plunged in a lake of fire, like blood; breakers of\necclesiastical vows were gnawed by serpents. One purgatorial infliction\nresembles the punishment of suicides in _Inferno_ xiii.: the souls in\nquestion were hunted by a demon, mounted on a dragon, through plains\nfull of thorns and briars, where they left scraps of their clothes and\nflesh upon the thorns, until, being lightened of their superfluous\nflesh, they escaped, and were thus purged. Several familiar features\nreappear, and are, in some measure, reduplicated; thus, besides the\nbridge, there is a red-hot ladder, which the wicked have to ascend\nuntil they drop off; Hell\u2019s mouth again appears as the mouth of a\nserpent, drawing in and ejecting the souls with his breath, to which\nare added a dog and a lion, who, by their breath, blow the souls to\ntheir allotted stations. Alberic, like several of his predecessors, and\nalso like Dante, is assailed by demons armed with hooks. He crossed the\nbridge to the Terrestrial Paradise, where the purified spirits dwell\nuntil the Beatific Vision shall be revealed to them after Judgment.\nThis place is a flowery plain, from out of which rises the Mountain\nof Paradise, surrounded by a wall, over which Alberic was permitted\nto look, though he might neither enter, nor repeat what he saw there.\nAlberic, too, received St. Peter\u2019s instructions in cosmology--of a very\ncrude description--and as to the virtues of a monastic life, etc.; he\nwas then bidden to return and relate his vision.\n\nAs the influence of the Irish school upon European letters waned, and\ngradually spent itself, a deterioration in the Vision literature became\napparent; it lost what little method and symmetry that school had\nintroduced into it, and reverted to the primitive amorphous type; we\ncan no longer trace any indication of original thought or invention;\nlittle, even, of vividness or picturesque description is left. Not\nthat this deterioration of quality is attended by any diminution of\nquantity: on the contrary, several causes combined to render the output\ngreater than ever. The rapid revival of ecclesiastical literature led,\nas one of its results, to increased activity in this long-worked field,\nand improved communications enabled the inmates of each monastery to\nstudy and imitate the works of their fellows in other countries and\nprovinces. Moreover, the anticipation of a speedy end of this world,\nwhich prevailed towards the close of the tenth century, directed the\ntrend of religious thought towards the world to come, and even after\nthe cause had ceased to be operative, the effect remained. Then came\nthe reform of several monastic orders, and the establishment of the\nfriars, resulting in a renewed activity in preaching and teaching,\nwhich would naturally quicken the demand for subjects so well adapted\nto moving exhortation and edification; while the rise of pictorial\nart, which found attractive subjects in visions of Judgment, and\nrepresentations of the Divine Glory, at once fostered, and was fostered\nby, the prevalence of those same subjects in popular literature. At the\nsame time, the rise of a literature in the vernacular tongues would\nnaturally co-operate with the development of a genuine theology to\ndiminish the importance of the Visions of the Otherworld as works of\nimagination or vehicles of instruction, and to relegate them to the\ndomain of the homilist and fabliast.\n\nAccordingly, the literature of the Middle Ages teems with stories\ndealing with the Otherworld, and the lot of departed souls therein.\nSome of them occur in the lives of Saints and Martyrs; others describe\na visit to Heaven or Hell, made either in vision, or _in propria\npersona_, or else record some traveller\u2019s temporary return from the\nbourne, charged with a message for the living. Many were composed\nwith some particular end in view, in order to convey a warning to some\nnotorious sinner, or to instruct by the edifying fate of some one\nremarkable for virtue or vice; often, again, with the practical object\nof exacting restitution or reparation from the sinner or his heirs.\n\nThe subject was equally popular in sacred and profane literature,\nappearing in homily and apologue, folk-tale and fabliau, in poems\nserious and comic, tending to edification and otherwise.\n\nIn all this there was little enough of originality, or intrinsic merit\nof any kind, save only when some aspect of the subject happened to fall\ninto the hands of a skilled _raconteur_. Nevertheless, it all served\nto keep the subject present to the public mind, and thus to afford\nthat degree of preparation, which always appears necessary alike for\nthe production and reception of any great and novel work of art, and\nlikewise to amass a considerable store of material, ready for any hand\ncapable of dealing with it. At length, in Dante, the one poet arose\nwhose genius was sufficient to extricate from this heap of trivialities\nthe great dogmas of the Christian faith which lay at the bottom, and,\nby his matchless constructive power, to give form and substance to\nthe theme, to illustrate it with all that his age could afford of\nphilosophy and learning, to animate it with the spirit of devotion and\nsublime human passion, and to enrich it with all the resources of the\npoetical imagination.[226]\n\n\n\n\n7. CONCLUSION\n\n\nIn the foregoing pages it has been attempted to trace, from its\nvarious sources, the progress of the legend which culminated in\nDante\u2019s _Commedia_. It did not form a part of this design to collect\nthe corresponding traditions which abound in the folklore of many\ntimes and peoples, nor even to give an exhaustive account of the forms\nwhich the legend assumed in the several fields which have come within\nour purview; rather to confine our examination to those examples\nwhich may be regarded as its sources, or may have contributed to its\ntransmission, or determined the form which it assumed in later stages\nof its development. We have seen that Dante\u2019s poem had been led up\nto by a long series of predecessors, like it in theme, if in nothing\nelse, and that it had already approved its fitness for a place in\nthe world\u2019s literature, by the success which it had achieved, in\ncountless forms, among peoples of widely diverse stages of culture. We\nhave also seen how the Irish Church, in its palmy days, developed a\nhighly characteristic treatment of the theme, and while following, in\nthe main, the accepted traditions of the medi\u00e6val Church, introduced\ncertain modifications of a strongly individual and national type. Of\nthis class the Vision of Adamn\u00e1n has been selected for a specimen,\nas representing the highest level attained by the school to which it\nbelonged, and as being the most important contribution made to the\ngrowth of the legend within the Christian Church prior to the advent of\nDante.\n\nI have purposely abstained from offering a conjecture as to any\npossible indebtedness on the part of Dante to the Visions of the Irish\nschool, and to the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ in particular, further than as these,\nby reviving, transmitting, and popularising the theme, placed ready\nto his hand the subject which was, of all others, best adapted to\nhis genius, and, at the same time, best calculated to appeal to the\npublic of his day. The various topics into which this examination has\ncompelled the writer to enter--Dante literature, Celtic tradition,\nfolklore, mythology--are all favourite subjects with that type of\ntheorist who is wont to accompany a small modicum of the bread of fact\nwith an intolerable deal of the sack of hypothesis, to the no small\ndetriment of critical sobriety, so that one who approaches the subject\nwith no preconceived theory of his own to prove--unless, like those\npresent at a revival meeting, he be set a-prophesying by contagion--is\napt to become almost as sick of these shadows as was the Lady of\nShalott of those in her magic glass. I have therefore endeavoured to\npresent the author of the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ merely as a \u2018precursor\u2019 of\nDante, without attempting to prove him Dante\u2019s \u2018progenitor.\u2019 All the\nsame, I do not think I am transgressing these limits by suggesting the\nalmost certainty that so omnivorous a reader as Dante must have been\nacquainted with works so generally known at and prior to his day as the\nVoyages of St. Brendan, the Vision of Tundale, and the legends of St.\nPatrick\u2019s Purgatory, all of which were more or less influenced by the\n_Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, and were productions of the same school. There is no\nground to imagine that Dante was acquainted with the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_,\nnor can that supposition be entertained unless it can be shown that\nthere existed in his day a translation of it into Latin, or one of the\nRomance languages, to which he might have had access. Indeed, pending\nthe results of future research, it is impossible to put forward any\nwork, or group of works, as the model which Dante followed. Probably\nno such model will ever be discovered, for the simple reason that none\nsuch ever existed. It is true that Dante availed himself freely of all\nthat the previous Vision literature could give him, just as he drew\ncopiously from every source at his command. But for the Latin classics,\nand Virgil in particular; but for the Latin Fathers, Augustine, Jerome,\nand Gregory; the Schoolmen, from Erigena to Thomas Aquinas; the Romance\npoets of France and Italy, it is certain that Dante\u2019s work, as we\nhave it, could never have come into being. So much may be claimed\nfor the Visions of the Irish school, and, apparently, no more, but\neven this much is enough to entitle them to a place in the history of\nmodern literature. Indeed, independently of any such relation of cause\nand effect between the two, the writings of the Irish school would\nstill constitute an interesting study, both as the fruits obtained by\nprevious labours in the same field under widely different conditions,\nand even more for the light which they cast upon what is still one of\nthe darkest places in the intellectual life of Europe.\n\nWe have had occasion to remark before upon several particulars wherein\nthe analogy between the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_--and, to a less extent, others\nof the Irish Visions--and the _Commedia_ would appear to go deeper\nthan can be explained by their common subject, and their use in common\nof the same general stock of ideas. However, it does not appear that\nthe influence exercised by the Irish school mainly consisted in the\nintroduction of novel ideas and incidents, though even these were not\nentirely absent. Indeed, throughout the history of the Vision legend,\nwe may observe a continual tendency to drop any national or personal\ncharacteristics which it may have acquired at a previous stage of\nits evolution. For instance, we have seen to how great an extent the\npopular Christian eschatology was modelled upon the classical Elysium\nand Tartarus, yet even the earlier Church works upon the subject\ncontain no such references to classical personages and traditions as\nwere employed so copiously by Dante, and, in a slight and tentative\nmanner, by certain of his predecessors. The same may be said of the\nOriental myths which formed part of the Hebrew contributions to\nthe subject. So, in proportion as the late medi\u00e6val visions of the\nOtherworld recede in date from those of the Irish school, they tend to\ndrop more and more of the structure and imagery which were peculiarly\ncharacteristic of the latter, as owing great part of their form or\ncolour to the Irish national traditions. This process is carried still\nfurther by Dante, who rejected many of the most familiar incidents of\nthe earlier visions: _e.g._ the bridge, the open mouth of the dragon\nas symbolising Hell, Enoch and Elijah beside the Tree of Life, and the\nbird-flocks about them, the special provisions for various kinds of the\nhalf-righteous, etc.\n\nThus, while exercising a secondary influence by further enriching the\nstock of material already in existence, the main function of the Irish\nVisions was to set a literary fashion, so to speak, whereby the Vision\nof the Otherworld came to be regarded as the most natural vehicle for\nconveying men\u2019s thoughts and imaginations, as in other ages the epic,\nthe drama, the dialogue, the pamphlet, the novel, and other forms of\ncomposition, have been specially affected for the like purpose.\n\nIt remains to say a few words respecting the literary merits of the\n_Fis Adamn\u00e1in_. Obviously there can be no rivalry, or even comparison,\nin this respect, between it and the poem which stands high among the\nsupreme achievements of the human intellect. Noteworthy, rather, is\nthe degree of excellence to which the earlier writer attains, when we\nconsider what was the state of vernacular literature in the Europe of\nhis day. His style, like the style of most Irish writers of the best\nperiod, is simple, picturesque, and forcible; the language is terse\nand pregnant, without being bald or meagre. There are certain writings\nof every age, differing much in merit, from which, as we read them, we\nseem to be hearing the author\u2019s voice proceeding; where this is so, the\nstyle can hardly be other than good of its kind, however simple, and\neven rude, it may be, and however little it may owe to technical skill.\nThis characteristic, I think, the work in question possesses; but this\nis an evanescent quality which must needs disappear in translation,\nespecially such a translation as the present, where the aim has chiefly\nbeen at literal accuracy.\n\nMention has been made already of the advantages which this Vision\npossesses over most others of its class, by reason of its superiority\nin construction, which is manifested alike in the general design\nof the work, and in the superior grouping and visual presentment of\ncertain portions, such as the description of Heaven, and the righteous\nassembled about the Throne. Our author, too, compares favourably with\nhis fellows as regards his general cast of thought, as particularly in\nthe stress which he lays upon the spiritual or emotional side of the\nsufferings of the lost, and the grave pity with which the contemplation\nof their fate repeatedly inspires him--a feeling wonderfully absent\nfrom the generality of his class.\n\nOther characteristics are shared by him with the Irish romantic\nwriters. One characteristic was common to both of them: there was\n_life_ in what they wrote; the scene of their narrative became a\nveritable _T\u00edr na mbeo_. They possessed, moreover, that sensibility\nto natural beauty, which is often, but most erroneously, assumed to\nbe the peculiar property of modern times. They were keenly alive to\nthe amenities of woods and meadows, flowers and birds, to the charm\nof colour, of brightness and light of every kind. Above all, they\ndelighted in melodious sound, whether the music of strings or of the\nhuman voice, the note of birds and bees, the wind in the leaves, or the\nsound of falling water. Like Byron, they knew that \u2018there\u2019s music in\nall things, if men had ears.\u2019 Nor did this delight in Nature consist in\nsensuous pleasure merely. They too were aware of \u2018a something yet more\ndeeply interfused\u2019; it was \u2018the light of setting suns\u2019 across the ocean\nthat wooed the Ui Corra to their quest of the Unknown; St. Brendan\nyearned for that retreat, \u2018secret, hidden, secure, delightful, apart\nfrom men,\u2019 which the ocean solitudes alone appeared to promise him.\n\nThis national susceptibility to beauty constantly asserts itself in\nour author, in manner appropriate to his theme. He also manifests the\nno less national capacity for vivid and picturesque description, and\nthis without being led into redundancy, or straining after effect, the\nleading characteristic of his narrative being a simple earnestness\nwhich is often very effective. It is needless to dwell upon individual\ndescriptions, most of which have been dealt with in their place. It is\nenough just to refer in particular to the description of Heaven, of\nthe Throne, and the celestial choirs; the na\u00efve but striking symbol\nof Omnipresence; the waste and desolate places of Hell in c. 30; the\nvarious kinds of penalties in cc. 25-29; the picture of the generous\nbut carnally minded souls protected from the fiery sea by a rampart of\nthe alms they had bestowed.\n\nIn two respects our author differs both from Dante and from several\nwriters of his own school. His work contains no dissertations upon\ntheology, morals, nor natural science; neither does he hold intercourse\nin the world of spirits with his own contemporaries, or with historical\nor mythical personages; hence we do not find in it even an anticipation\nof the dramatic episodes, or the endless procession of lifelike\ncharacters which render the _Commedia_ a veritable microcosm. We are\ntempted to speculate upon the results which might have been obtained,\nhad our author brought to the treatment of his subject the dramatic\nforce, the vivid portraiture, and the narrative power, which are\ndisplayed in the great romantic cycles of Irish story.\n\nSoon after the time when our author wrote, the development of the\nnational literature, and, indeed, all other forms of national\ndevelopment, were brought, by pressure of circumstances, to a stand.\nOften since then the subjects and characters of Irish tradition have\nfurnished themes for masterpieces of European literature, but these\nintellectual triumphs have been like the victories which Irish arms\nhave won for others, and under banners not their own. It is only in\nour own day that any serious and well-directed attempt has been made\nto resume the interrupted work upon truly national lines. Even within\nthe last few years the results obtained, and the promise shown, warrant\na belief that success may prove more speedy and complete than could\nhave been deemed possible a single decade ago; and with success may\ncome--who knows?--an infusion into modern literature of a new spirit\nand new methods, of which it stands so grievously in need. \u039a\u03b1\u03bb\u1f78\u03bd \u03b3\u1f70\u03c1 \u03c4\u1f78\n\u1f06\u03b8\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd, \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f21 \u1f10\u03bb\u03c0\u1f76\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7.\n\n[Uncial: U \u010br\u00edo\u010b annso, Bui\u1e0beacas le Dia.]\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n[1] For further particulars of the life of Adamn\u00e1n, see Dr. Reeves\u2019s\nintroduction to his _Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s Life of St. Columba_, Dublin, 1857\n(Irish Arch\u00e6ological Society); Dr. Healy\u2019s _Ireland\u2019s Ancient Schools\nand Scholars_; Canon John O\u2019Hanlon\u2019s _Lives of the Irish Saints_, vol.\ni.\n\n[2] Mr. Alfred Nutt has suggested that the above passage appears to\nclaim for the Irish scholars and clerics a monopoly of the educational\nand missionary work of the age to the exclusion of the eminent\nAnglo-Saxons who were labouring with success and distinction in the\nsame field. I had no intention to disparage either the original genius\nnor the learning of Bede and Aldhelm, Caedmon and Cynewulf, Winifred\nand Alcuin, nor their missionary and scholastic work, both at home and\nin the Frankish Empire; only to point out that the position acquired\nby the Irish scholars and clerics enabled them speedily to disseminate\nthrough Western Europe the works of their compatriots. By recalling the\nnames of a few of the most eminent Irishmen who enjoyed a Continental\nfame during the Middle Ages, we may perceive how wide was the area, and\nhow long the duration, of their influence.\n\nClement was the chief of a group of Irish scholars who took a leading\npart in the educational reforms promoted by Charlemagne. Alcuin,\nClement\u2019s great English rival at the Frankish Court, had been educated\nat Clonmacnois. Joannes Scotus Erigena, in the reign of Charles the\nBald, founded the scholastic philosophy, and by his translation of the\npseudo-Areopagite, and his studies of the Neo-Platonists, bridged over\nthe chasm between ancient and modern thought. Dungal, in the first\nhalf of the ninth century, was the first astronomer of his age; at\nthe mandate of Lothair, King of Lombardy, he founded a school which\nafterwards developed into the University of Pavia, with branches\nin several other cities, and laboured with success at the task of\ncivilising the Lombards. Add to these Dicuil, a geographer of the same\ndate, the most accurate topographer of the early Middle Ages; Firghil,\nor Virgilius, Archbishop of Salzburg, who taught the rotundity of the\nearth and the existence of antipodes; Sedulius, the ninth-century\ngrammarian; St. Donatus, Bishop of Fiesole (fl. _c._ 840), traveller,\ntopographer, and Scripture commentator; Marianus Scotus, one of the\nleading chroniclers of the eleventh century; and many others, who\nlaboured with distinction in France, Italy, Germany, England, and\nFlanders, down to the thirteenth century, when Frederick II., Emperor,\nsummoned Petrus Hibernicus to the University of Naples, where he\ncounted among his theological pupils no less a personage than Thomas\nAquinas.\n\n[3] There was also a T\u00edr Enda, between L. Foyle and L. Swilly.\n\n[4] Tigernach gives the date as 624, which Dr. Reeves is inclined\nto accept, _op. cit._ Introduction, xl-xli. Lanigan is in favour of\n627, which agrees with the reputed age of Adamn\u00e1n, 77, at the time of\nhis death. Possibly the latter date is correct, the difference being\nexplicable by the different system of chronology adopted by Tigernach.\n\n[5] _Lives of the Irish Saints_, vi. 708; and see _Ibid._, ix. 505.\n\n[6] Acts x. 11.\n\n[7] 2 Cor. xii. 2-4. Cp. also Galat. i. 12, 16; Ephes. i. 3; and the\n_Apocryphal Acts of Paul_, Ante-Nicene Library, vol. xvi.\n\n[8] With the ancient Irish, the abode of the departed was beyond the\nAtlantic, towards the setting sun; so, in the Hindu mythology, Yama,\nKing of the Dead, crossed the stream towards the sunset, first showing\nthe way by which all men were to follow him. This natural idea has been\nshared by many barbarous races.\n\n[9] Vault; [Uncial: inna luinge], genitive of [Uncial: long], = ship.\n_Qy._ here = \u2018nave\u2019?\n\n[10] South-east, possibly because that is the direction of Jerusalem,\nthe Holy City.\n\n[11] The word used is [Uncial: M\u00f3rd\u00e1il], the name of the Irish National\nAssembly, or States-General. See _ante_, Sec. 2.\n\n[12] Or, \u2018a chair highly wrought,\u2019 [Uncial: Inna \u010ba\u1e6bair \u010bumta\u010bta].\n\n[13] The comparison of the arch above the head of the Heavenly King\nto a wrought helmet or a regal diadem, may have been suggested by the\npicturesque and chivalrous custom of the Irish kings recorded in the\nancient Irish poem upon the Fair of Carman, whence it appears that\ntheir head-dress on ordinary state occasions was a wrought helmet, the\nroyal crown being reserved for the day of battle.\n\n[14] \u2018Glow,\u2019 [Uncial: derge], lit. \u2018redness,\u2019 which, Mr. Whitley Stokes\nsuggests, \u2018symbolises divine love, creative power, royalty.\u2019 If so,\ncp. Dante\u2019s description of a \u2018goodly crimson\u2019 as \u2018questo nobilissimo\ncolore.\u2019\n\n[15] Or, _qy._ \u2018comet\u2019?\n\n[16] Compare the description of the seven walls of Ecbatana, of\ndifferent hue, in Herodotus, Book I.\n\n[17] So Windisch trans. [Uncial: Crand caingil], = _cancelli_.\n\n[18] \u2018Seats,\u2019 or _qy._ stalls; the author appears to have in mind\nthe construction of a Christian church. Cp. note to ch. 31 _post._\n\u2018Canopies,\u2019 lit. \u2018crowns.\u2019\n\n[19] Or \u2018virgins,\u2019 W. S.\n\n[20] See last note.\n\n[21] Or \u2018parricides,\u2019 [Uncial: fingala\u010b], which O\u2019Donovan translates\nboth as \u2018a fratricide, one who has killed a tribesman,\u2019 and\n\u2018parricidal\u2019 (Supplement to O\u2019Reilly\u2019s Dictionary).\n\n[22] The Erenach, or [Uncial: aircinde\u010b], was the official guardian of\nChurch temporalities.\n\n[23] [Uncial: D\u00e1naib], which signifies \u2018gifts,\u2019 \u2018arts,\u2019 etc.\n\n[24] [Uncial: pluic], which W. S. trans, \u2018maces,\u2019 or \u2018clubs.\u2019\n\n[25] \u2018Reivers,\u2019 [Uncial: ai\u1e6bdibergaig], which W. S. trans. \u2018men who\nmark themselves to the Devil,\u2019 but expresses doubt on the subject, and\ncites authorities which seem to imply the sense of rapine or plunder.\n\n[26] Or \u2018without remission, but they,\u2019 etc.\n\n[27] [Uncial: Co l\u00e1r], which W. S. trans. \u2018down to the ground.\u2019\n\n[28] [Uncial: Ro\u1e6ba], so Windisch from [Uncial: ru\u1e6b]; W. S. trans,\n\u2018wheels\u2019 from [Uncial: ro\u1e6b].\n\n[29] Or, \u2018the ordained who have broken their vows.\u2019\n\n[30] [Uncial: Erdam], which, Mr. Whitley Stokes says, was the name\nused by the Irish ecclesiastical writers as equivalent to the Greek\n_pronaos_ or _narthex_. See notes 1 and 2 to Ch. 13, _ante_.\n\n[31] Cp. _ante_, Sec. 2.\n\n[32] The M\u00f3rd\u00e1il at which these laws were passed was apparently held\nin the year 697, while Finnachta Fledach had been assassinated in 695.\nThis anachronism affords yet further evidence of the comparatively late\ncomposition of our version of the Vision.\n\n[33] [Uncial: Anm\u010bairdine], \u2018soul-friendship\u2019; [Uncial: anm\u010bara],\n\u2018soul-friend,\u2019 is the Irish name for a father-confessor.\n\n[34] Professor Bryce considers that the first extant mention of the\nDonation of Constantine is contained in the letter of Pope Hadrian 1.\nto Charlemagne, dated A.D. 777 (_Holy Roman Empire_, ch. vii. p. 112\nnote, 4th ed.). If so, the allusion is couched in very general and\nobscure terms. D\u00f6llinger, who dates the letter in question 775, holds\nthat it refers not to what is commonly understood by the Donation of\nConstantine, but to gifts of land in various parts of Italy, afterwards\nseized by the Lombards. The forgery of the Donation would appear to be\nlater than 750, but prior to 774, as it refers to the state of things\nexisting before the first Frankish settlement in Italy, which took\nplace in 774. In any case, it is later than the time of Adamn\u00e1n.\n\n[35] Philip succeeded to Gordian III. in 224, but was not his son,\nbeing an Arab. He favoured the Christians, and corresponded with\nOrigen, whence arose a report, countenanced by Eusebius, that he had\nembraced Christianity, but for this there is no authority.\n\n[36] [Uncial: Tai\u1e6ble\u010b], so W. S.\n\n[37] [Uncial: Su\u1e6bi]. So Windisch, though W. S. trans. \u2018fruitfulness\n(?).\u2019\n\n[38] Mr. Alfred Nutt, in his _Essay on the Irish Vision of the Happy\nOtherworld and the Celtic Doctrine of Rebirth_, appended to Prof. Kuno\nMeyer\u2019s _Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal_, 1895-7, points out that in\nGreece and Ireland alone of Aryan nations the Elysium legend existed\ndevoid of any eschatological belief (i. 329).\n\n[39] See _Odyssey_, xi. 36 _sqq._; 222, 391 _sqq._; 488 _sqq._ This\ngloomy impression is little mitigated by mention of the \u2018Asphodelian\nmeadow\u2019 in which the dead reside (_Od._ xi. 539; xxiv. 13).\n\n[40] See, in particular, Homer, _Odyssey_, iv. 563; Hesiod, _Works and\nDays_, 110, 166; Pindar, _Olympiad_, ii. 68, 120, which last, perhaps,\ncontains the most finished picture of the Elysium drawn by the earlier\npoets.\n\n[41] It would be possible to cull from the Greek writers a great wealth\nof allusions to the Otherworld; not only, however, do exigencies\nof space forbid this, but they are hardly pertinent to the present\nsubject, for the reasons mentioned in the text. Still less need we\nenter into the burlesque descriptions of an Otherworld, conceived as a\nLand of Cockayne, several of which are preserved in fragments of the\ncomic poets.\n\n[42] The Greeks themselves referred to a foreign origin most of their\nmystical rites, and the deities worshipped therein. No doubt it is\noften the case that peoples who observe in foreign nations practices\nakin to those existing among themselves, are apt to derive these from\nthe former; nevertheless it appears certain that while the cults which\nformed the basis of the mysteries existed, in a primitive form, in the\nindigenous Greek religion, they received a great impetus, at several\ndistinct periods, through the importation of similar myths and rites\nfrom abroad. Thus M. Paul Foucart (_Recherches sur l\u2019origine et la\nnature des Myst\u00e8res d\u2019Eleusis_, p. 75) accepts the Greek theory of\nthe Egyptian origin of the Demeter cult and the Eleusinian rites at\na date prior to the eleventh century B.C. These rites, he assumes,\nwere purely agricultural at first, but at a later day (seventh century\nB.C.) became associated with the doctrine of a future life (pp.\n75-9). He further holds that this doctrine was itself brought from\nEgypt by the philosophers, Pythagoras and others, who are reported\nby tradition to have travelled thither for instruction (p. 83). This\nlatter part of M. Foucart\u2019s theory presents certain difficulties. The\nname of Pythagoras is commonly associated with the Orphic mysteries,\nto which M. Foucart denies any connection with Eleusis, while the\nconception of a future life which prevailed both in the Orphic and\nEleusinian mysteries and in the teaching of Pythagoras, differed in\nimportant points from the Egyptian doctrine, as will be pointed out in\na later place. Professor Rohde likewise holds that while the Dionysiac\nmysteries existed in Greece in pre-Homeric times as a minor and local\ncult, the Dionysos-Zagreus rites, which formed the basis of the Orphic\nmysteries, were imported from Thrace at an early date; probably, Mr.\nNutt suggests (_op. cit._, ii. 141), during the period of change which\nfollowed upon the Dorian invasion. Thrace, apparently, derived the\nZagreus myth from Phrygia. Prof. Percy Gardner (_Contemporary Review_,\nMarch 1895) is also inclined to accept the Greek traditions as to the\nderivation of many of their mystical rites and cults from Asiatic\nsources, differing herein from Prof. Dieterich, who holds that these\nwere native developments. For a discussion by Mr. Alfred Nutt of these\nvarious theories see _op. cit._, 1. ch. xi.\n\n[43] The best authorities appear to be agreed that there are no grounds\nfor the views once held that the mysteries contained either some\nesoteric creed of a religion purer than that held by the multitude, and\njealously guarded from the latter, or, according to others, a system of\noccult philosophy or theosophy.\n\n[44] See his article, \u2018Mysteries,\u2019 in the _Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica_ ed.\n9, vol. xvii.\n\n[45] Sir W. M. Ramsay further mentions a Rhodian inscription of the\nfifth century B.C., which required the candidates for initiation at the\ntemple of Lindus to bring a pure heart and a conscience free from crime\n(_loc. cit._).\n\n[46] This may possibly represent the conception originally prevailing\nin the mystic schools concerning the future life of mankind in general.\n(See Mr. Nutt hereon, _op. cit._, i. 256.) If so, redemption from such\na lot would be one of the most important objects to be compassed by\nthe theurgic effects of initiation, until the growth of moral ideas in\nconnection with the mysteries converted this \u2018place of filth and gloom\u2019\ninto a place of punishment for the wicked.\n\n[47] In like manner, the spirits were amazed to see that Dante\u2019s\nbody cast a shadow, as the souls of the dead did not (_Purg._, iii.\n88 _sq._), and that he breathed (_ib._, ii. 67-9). According to the\nold Persian belief, the souls of the beatified dead were to cast no\nshadows. See Sec. 2, _post._\n\n[48] See Books iv. and vi. of his _De Civitate Dei_.\n\n[49] See Dante\u2019s Tenth Epistle, addressed to Can Grande della Scala,\n_Oxford Dante_, pp. 414 _sqq._\n\n[50] _Op. cit._, p. 416, ll. 173-5.\n\n[51] _Ib._, l. 169.\n\n[52] _Ib._, p. 417, l. 268.\n\n[53] Lenormant, _Origines de l\u2019Histoire_, vol. ii., cited by Ragozin,\n_Chald\u00e6a_, p. 276, which work gives a compendious account of the\nsubject. For fuller particulars see Sayce, _Hibbert Lectures_, 1887,\nLectures iv. and v., and his article \u2018Chald\u00e6a\u2019 in the _Encyclop\u00e6dia\nBritannica_, ed. 9, vol. iii.\n\n[54] Sayce, _Hibbert Lectures_, 1887, p. 364.\n\n[55] \u2018She makes the soul of the righteous one go up above the\nHara-berezaiti (Mount Elborz), above the Kinvad bridge she places it,\nin the presence of the heavenly gods themselves.\u2019--_Vend\u00eed\u00e2d_, xix. 30;\nin Darmesteter\u2019s translation, _Sacred Books of the East_, iv. 219; and\nsee Ragozin, _Media_, c. iv.\n\n[56] In the Avesta we meet with an idea which is prominent in Jewish\nand Christian examples of the Vision legend. If, at the balance of any\nsoul\u2019s account, when his good and evil deeds were weighed one against\nthe other, the scales were equally poised, he was reserved for the last\nJudgment in a place set apart for his like.\n\n[57] _Vend\u00eed\u00e2d_, p. 55.\n\n[58] _Loc. cit._, footnote.\n\n[59] _Vend\u00eed\u00e2d_, p. 20, note. A similar bird occurs frequently in the\nHindu mythology. The Accadian \u2018divine storm-bird\u2019 stole the lightning\nfrom heaven, and was thereby enabled to impart to man the knowledge\nof fire, and of divination by lightning flashes.--Sayce, _Hibbert\nLectures_, 1887, 293-4. The Babylonian Semites identified this bird\nwith their culture-god Zu, who, in form of a bird, robbed the gods\nof the \u2018tablets of destiny\u2019 (_op. cit._, 295-7). All the world over,\nthe part of Prometheus has been played by a supernatural bird, such\nas Yehl, the crane, of the Thlinkeets; Pundgel, the eagle-hawk, of\nAustralia, etc.\n\n[60] _Vend\u00eed\u00e2d_, vi. 15-16.\n\n[61] _Op. cit._, p. 17.\n\n[62] Speaking of the effects which the conquest of Babylon by the\nPersians produced upon the religion of the latter, Professor Dill\nremarks: \u2018The conquerors, as so often happens, were to some extent\nsubdued by the vanquished. Syncretism set in; the deities of the\ntwo races were reconciled and identified. The magical arts and the\nastrolatry of the valley of the Euphrates imposed themselves on the\npurer Mazdean faith and never released their hold, although they failed\nto check its development as a moral system.\u2019--_Roman Society from Nero\nto Marcus Aurelius_, 1904, p. 587, where the author cites Cumont,\n_Monuments relatifs aux Myst\u00e8res de Mithra_, and Gasquet, _Le culte de\nMithra_.\n\n[63] _Vend\u00eed\u00e2d_, Introduction, sec. v.\n\n[64] The cult of Mithra, which, in the earlier ages of the Empire,\nextended not only over the Mediterranean littoral, but throughout\nall Europe so far as the Roman legions went, even to Yorkshire and\nthe forests of Pannonia, was full of symbolism, the meaning and even\nthe nomenclature of which are only to be explained by the Persian\nreligion, in which the cult originated, although it came to receive an\ninterpretation consonant with the Neo-Platonic theories.\n\n[65] He further suggests that the original notion of the Var as a place\nof refuge for the seeds of things from a coming destruction is borrowed\nfrom the Judaic account of Noah. This would seem to be a very strained\ninference from a slight analogy. The Biblical account finds much closer\nparallels not only in the Chald\u00e6an traditions, but in the Vedic account\nof Manu and the Rishis being saved from the deluge in an ark containing\nthe seeds of things, not to speak of deluge myths in the East and in\nthe West, as the Thlinkeets, the Natchez, and other tribes of North\nAmerica; the Muyscas and Orinoco Indians of South America; the Samoans,\nTahitans, etc.\n\n[66] He assumes that Vohu Mano (Good Thought) is the Neo-Platonic\nLogos, and if so, that the other Amesha Spentas are of post-Alexandrian\ndevelopment, and he goes on to find parallels for them too in the rest\nof the seven emanations enumerated by Philo. However, even if the\nparallels are so close as to compel the conclusion that the character\nand functions ascribed to the Amesha Spentas in their latest form\nare due to Neo-Platonic influences--and even this is not shown very\nconvincingly--it by no means follows that the very conception of the\nseven celestial powers is due to the same source.\n\n[67] We have here, in Persia, an anticipation of the Neo-Platonic \u00e6ons\nbefore the time of Plato himself--a conception which can hardly be\nreferred to the earlier theory of the kind propounded by Hesiod.\n\n[68] _Vend\u00eed\u00e2d_, Introduction, p. liv, and see p. lxi. For the dead\ncasting no shadow, cp. Plutarch\u2019s Vision of Thespesios.\n\n[69] _Op. cit._, p. lxv.\n\n[70] Article \u2018Chald\u00e6a,\u2019 in _Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica_, vol. iii.\n\n[71] Revelation xv. 2, and cf. _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, ch. II.\n\n[72] Herodotus, _Euterpe_, ii. 156.\n\n[73] Dill, _op. cit._, p. 561.\n\n[74] Athenian colonists were settled in the Nile delta in the seventh\ncentury B.C. at latest, and at an even earlier date intercourse had\nbeen maintained between Greece and Egypt by the medium of Greek traders\nto the Nile, and Greek mercenaries in the Egyptian service. The cult of\nIsis was introduced into Attica, at the Peiraios, in the fourth century\nB.C. (Foucart, _Associations r\u00e9ligieuses_, etc., p. 83), and extended\nover the Grecian islands and the mainlands of Greece and Ionia.\n\n[75] Budge, _Book of the Dead_, 1901, 1. lxv., and _Ib._ lxvii. _sqq._\nLe Page Renouf, _Hibbert Lectures_, 1879, pp. 180-1.\n\n[76] According to one Rabbi Leo, the wicked are tortured by fire and\notherwise, some without hope of remission, others for a time only.--E.\nCowper, _Apocryphal Gospels_, Introduction, lxviii.\n\n[77] At a somewhat later date, the doctrine of the end of the world\nby fire, held by many of the Stoics who, in the first century of the\nEmpire, represented the best and most serious side of Pagan thought,\nwould appear to have encouraged the bent of Christian teaching in that\ndirection rather by familiarising the subject to men\u2019s minds than by\nthe contribution of any new matter.\n\n[78] The speculative writings of the Rabbis belong to a time when the\nJewish schools of learning had fallen under the spell of Hellenism. So\npreponderating was the influence of the latter that Professor Percy\nGardner appears inclined to trace the entire Hades theory to the Orphic\nrites, and suggests a \u2018great probability that the Christian doctrine of\nthe Descent into Hades, together with the imagery in which the future\nworld was presented to the early Christian imagination, was derived\nneither from a Christian nor a Jewish, nor even a Hellenic source,\nbut from the mystical lore of Dionysos and Orpheus.\u2019--_Contemporary\nReview_, March 1895. So Mr. Alfred Nutt, speaking of the Elysium of the\nChristian apocryphal writers, considers that the \u2018source must be sought\nfor not in Jewish but in Greek conceptions,\u2019 and that the Christian\nHeaven derives immediately from the Hellenic one.--_Voyage of Bran_,\ni. 256, and see ch. xi. generally. With all respect to these eminent\nauthorities, I would submit that it would be going too far absolutely\nto exclude from those parts of late Jewish and early Christian\neschatology which deal with the theory of Hades, including the Descent\nthither, and with the description of Elysium, all indebtedness to the\nOriental creeds which have contributed so much to that eschatology\nin other respects. With this reservation, we may readily agree with\nMr. Nutt that \u2018Christian eschatology, as so much else of Christian\ndoctrine, is emphatically a product of the fertilising influence of\nHellenic philosophy and religion upon Eastern thought and fancy\u2019\n(_op. cit._, p. 281); only contending that Eastern thought and fancy\ncontributed much of the raw material.\n\n[79] Le Page Renouf, _op. cit._, p. 183.\n\n[80] _The Book of Enoch_, translated from Dillman\u2019s text, with notes,\nby Charles. Oxford, 1893. See also _The Book of Enoch_, trans.\nLawrence. Oxford, 1821.\n\n[81] Cp. the veil of fire and veil of ice in the doorway of Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s\ncelestial city.--_F. A._ 14.\n\n[82] 2 Esdras iv.\n\n[83] _L.c._ ii. 12, 18-19; and cp. Isaiah xxv. 6; Revelation xxii. 2.\n\n[84] 2 Cor. xii. 2-4; and cp. Galatians i. 12, 16; Ephesians i. 3.\n\n[85] _E.g._ in Revelation ii. 7. \u2018To him that overcometh will I give to\neat of the Tree of Life, which is in Paradise\u2019; and xxii. 2, \u2018In the\nmidst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there\nthe Tree of Life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her\nfruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of\nthe nations\u2019; also the Throne and One seated thereon in ch. iv., xx.\n11; the sea of glass mingled with fire in ch. xv.; the city built of\nprecious stones, etc.\n\n[86] _Vide_ Dante, _Inferno_, canto iv.\n\n[87] The fact that the work was most in repute in the Eastern Church,\nand that several of the leading Western fathers wrote of it in\ndisparaging terms, may possibly be held to militate to some extent\nagainst this ascription.\n\n[88] This passage, so thoroughly Dantesque, reminds us curiously of\nchapters 9 and 12 of the _Vita Nuova_. Indeed, the little episode might\nalmost be termed a painting of Dante and Beatrice executed by one of\nthe primitives. In like manner, the passage that ensues recalls the\nreproaches which Beatrice addressed to Dante on meeting him in the\nEarthly Paradise at the close of the _Purgatorio_.\n\n[89] Herein the plan of the work accords to some extent with that of\nthe _Book of Enoch_.\n\n[90] _Ante-Nicene Christian Library_, vol. xvi. p. 480.\n\n[91] Two Latin versions, together with the account of the pseudo-John,\nare translated in vol. xvi. of the _Ante-Nicene Christian Library_.\n\n[92] Using the word \u2018people\u2019 in its wider sense, not as equivalent to\nthe _popolaccio_, for there were persons of rank and culture among\nthe early converts, but as distinguished from those who were in high\nstation, or were remarkable for learning.\n\n[93] _De Legibus_, II. xiv. 36.\n\n[94] See Plutarch\u2019s Consolatory Epistle to his Wife.\n\n[95] Plutarch: _On Superstition, On the Tardy Vengeance of God, On the\nImpracticability of a Happy Life on Epicurean Principles._ Lucian:\n_Philopseudes, De Luctu_.\n\n[96] See _Ireland and the Celtic Church_, by Dr. G. T. Stokes; ed. 5,\n1900, pp. 169-174.\n\n[97] _Op. cit._, p. 229, and cp. pp. 215-16.\n\n[98] Edited by Mr. Whitley Stokes in _Anecdota Oxoniensia_, _Medi\u00e6val\nand Modern Series_, vol. i., part 3.\n\n[99] G. T. Stokes, _op. cit._, pp. 228-9. For other points of\nresemblance and instance of communication between the Irish and the\nEastern Churches, cited by the learned author, see pp. 105 _n._, 173-4,\n186-7, 229, and Lecture x., _passim_.\n\n[100] This classification, in theory at least, regulated the structure\nof society from top to bottom. There were four ranks of kings, from the\n_\u00c1rd R\u00ed_, High King, or Emperor, of all Ireland, to the _R\u00ed Tuatha_,\nKing of a Tribal Territory. The territories themselves were divided\naccording to a descending scale, analogous to the English division into\ncounty, hundred, tithing, etc. There were six grades of princes under\nthe king, classified according to the extent of their lands. Society\nwas divided into nobles, freemen, and serfs, and each of these classes\nwas subdivided into a great number of minor grades. The family was\ntraced to the seventeenth degree, and was grouped into six classes,\nwhose rights and liabilities in matters of inheritance, in the receipt\nor payment of fines and damages, etc., are defined with the utmost\nminuteness. The land tenure, and the dues to be paid in respect of each\nkind; the circumstances of crimes and civil injuries, and the fines or\ndamages to be paid for each; in short, all the details of public and\nprivate life, were elaborated with similar minuteness. For particulars,\nthe reader may be referred to the ancient legal and customary\ntreatises, and the respective commentaries thereon, printed in the\nRolls Series, the _Lebor na g-Cert_, ed. O\u2019Donovan, 1847, and O\u2019Curry\u2019s\n_Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish_, ed. W. K. Sullivan, 3\nvols., 1873.\n\n[101] The _Filid_ must be distinguished from the _B\u00e1rd_, a name often\napplied to the poetic and literary class promiscuously, but really the\ntitle pertaining to a rank far below the _Filid_ in dignity. See Dr.\nDouglas Hyde, _The Literary History of Ireland_, pp. 486, etc.\n\n[102] It is not to be supposed that so elaborate a system ever existed,\nor could exist, in its entirety, or that the population of Ireland was\never sorted out into sets of social pigeon-holes with anything like\nthe completeness represented by the chroniclers. The old Irish writers\ncombined two characteristics, which may appear, at first glance,\ncontradictory, though reflection may enable us to see how compatible\nthey are on psychologic grounds, viz. a tendency to run riot in the\nexuberance of fancy, and an equally excessive love of system and minute\ndetail. Nevertheless, writing as they did of the state of society\nin which they lived, and for readers who were acquainted with the\nfacts which they described, they cannot be supposed to have invented\ntheir systems and classifications, but rather to have idealised and\nelaborated their picture of an existing state of things so as to\nmake it accord with their conception of the true significance of the\nsocial scheme. Modern writers have often done much the same thing in a\ndifferent way, in their treatment of the Feudal System, the Imperial\nTheory, the Renaissance, Reformation, and similar movements, etc.\n\n[103] The Irish writers are further remarkable for not confining their\ntolerance to traditional practices and the like, but extending it even\nto the spiritual beings of the national faith. This point has been well\nput by Mr. Nutt, _Voyage of Bran_, ii. 205: \u2018And whereas in every other\nEuropean land the ministers of the new faith were as bitterly opposed\nto the fanciful as to the business aspect of the older creed, in\nIreland it is the saint who protects the bard, the monk who transcribes\nthe myth, whilst the bird-flock of Faery, alike with the children of\nAdam, yearn for and acclaim the advent of the Apostle.\u2019 And even when\nit has seemed necessary to regard these beings as demons, several tales\nshow priest or saint feeling for them the like regretful kindliness as\nOrigen, Burns, and Uncle Toby expressed for the chief of the demons. A\nvery striking instance of the eagerness shown by the Christian writers\nto put the best possible construction upon their pagan predecessors,\noccurs at the close of \u2018The Irish Ordeals,\u2019 etc., trans. by Mr. Whitley\nStokes, _Irische Texte_, III. i. 221: \u2018The wise declare that when\nany strange apparition was revealed of old to the royal lords \u2026 it\nwas a divine ministration that used to come in that wise, and not a\ndemoniacal ministration. Angels, moreover, would come and help them,\nfor they followed Natural Truth, and they served the commandment of the\nLaw.\u2019\n\n[104] Most of the principal Irish deities include among their functions\nthat of ruler of the dead. One of the most pronounced examples of the\nYama type is Tethra, who is described in the legends as Chief of the\nFomorians, whereby his distinctly Chthonian character is asserted; and,\nafter the defeat of his people at the battle of Mag Tured, as ruler of\na land beyond the ocean, like Varuna, when overcome by Indra (and cp.\nHesiod, _Works and Days_, 168-9, and Pindar, _Olymp._ ii.). Thence,\nfrom time to time, he would send beautiful maidens to summon to him the\nchiefs and heroes of \u00c9ire.\n\n[105] The subject of the Otherworld in Irish literature has been\ntreated very fully by Mr. Nutt in his _Essay on the Irish Vision of\nthe Happy Otherworld, and the Celtic Doctrine of Rebirth_, appended to\nProfessor Kuno Meyer\u2019s _Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal_, 2 vols., 1895-7.\n\n[106] Extracted from the _Lebor na h-Udri_, by O\u2019Curry, _Manners and\nCustoms_, etc., vol. iii.\n\n[107] A similar caldron was a favourite property of supernatural beings\nin the heroic tales of Ireland as of Wales; indeed, so desirable a\npossession enters into the folklore of most nations.\n\n[108] _Aislinge Meic Conglinne_,\u2018The Vision of Mac Conglinne,\u2019 edited,\nwith translation, notes, and glossary, by Prof. Kuno Meyer, 1892.\n\n[109] _Ante_, note 3, p. 44. The work is edited, with translation,\nnotes, and glossary, by Prof. Kuno Meyer, who dates the composition of\nthe tale in its present form in the seventh century; Mr. Nutt suggests\nthe eighth century (_op. cit._, i. 141). Fragments of the tale exist in\nthe L.U. Prof. Rhys identifies Bran with Cernunnos, the divine ancestor\nof the ancient Celts (_Hibbert Lectures_, pp. 85-95). Mr. Nutt further\nsuggests an identity with Brons, the Fisher King, and keeper of the\nGraal (_Studies on the Legend of the Holy Graal_, 1888, p. 208).\n\n[110] In the disputation between Neid and Fercertue which was to decide\nwhich of them should be \u00c1rd Ollamh (Chief Doctor) of Ulster, Fercertue\nput the riddling question, \u2018What is it that thou traversest in haste?\u2019\nNeid replied, \u2018The plain of age, the mountain of youth, the course of\nthe ages, in pursuit of the King in the house of earth and stones,\nbetween the candle and its ending, between the combat and the hatred of\ncombat, amid the brave warriors of Tethra.\u2019\n\n[111] Transcribed into the L.U. before 1103 A.D. from the earlier\nBook of Slane, now lost: edited (without a translation) by Professor\nWindisch in _Irische Texte_, vol. i. pp. 197 _sqq._ Professor Windisch,\nwho states that the tale is composed of materials from several distinct\nsources (_op. cit._, pp. 202-3), calls attention to the thoroughly\npagan character of it, despite the introduction of a passing allusion\nto Adam on p. 219. Portions of the descriptions of the T\u00edr Tairngire\ncontained in this tale and in the story of Mider have been rendered in\nmetre by Dr. Douglas Hyde, _Literary History of Ireland_, pp. 202-3.\n\n[112] As Zeus was brother to Pluto, and as the strife between the\nOlympian and Chthonian powers--the powers of light and darkness--are\ntypified, in most mythologies, by discord between a pair of divine\nbrothers; a conception surviving in such creations of the popular or\nthe lettered imagination as Valentine and Orson, Alcina and Logistilla,\netc.\n\n[113] The episode is contained in the _Tochmarc Emere_, The Wooing of\nEmer, dated eighth century, by Professor K. Meyer. Miss Eleanor Hull\ntranslates the L.U. version in her _Cuchullin Saga_, pp. 56 _sqq._\nProfessor Meyer publishes a shorter version, with translation, in the\n_Revue Celtique_, xi. 442 _sq._\n\n[114] Mr. Nutt gives abstracts of these stories in the _Voyage of\nBran_, i. 297 _sqq._\n\n[115] In the Perceval legend, a bridge of glass occurs in Gautier\u2019s\ncontinuation of the _Conte du Graal_ (Nutt, _Studies_, etc., p. 17).\n\n[116] A similar \u2018obstacle bridge\u2019 occurs in other Irish Sagas. In\nthe _Voyage of Maelduin\u2019s Curach_ is a bridge of glass, on which the\npassenger kept falling backwards. Of this kind must have been the\nbridge which the celebrated Irish M.P.--real or mythical--described as\n\u2018separating\u2019 two shores.\n\n[117] Edited and translated by Professor K. Meyer in _Revue Celtique_,\nx. 212 _sqq._, from the MSS. in T. C. D.--H. 2, 16 and Eg. 1782.\n\n[118] This flagstone, the Lia F\u00e1il, was endowed with the property\nof shrieking whenever pressed by the foot of a lawful king. The\nfrequency of vocal stones in Irish legend will be referred to later on.\nPopular tradition identifies the Lia F\u00e1il with the stone now inside\nthe Coronation Chair at Westminster, stolen by Edward I. from Scone,\nwhere the kings of Alban used to be crowned upon it, and whither\nit was said to have been brought from Tara by the Dalriad Scots. I\nbelieve, however, that the identity of the stone so taken to Scotland\nby the Dalriada with that of Tara has been impugned. The practice of\ninaugurating a king or chief upon a certain stone survived into late\nhistorical times.\n\n[119] The habitual presence of the great tree outside the raths of\nthe Tuatha D\u00e9 Danann is doubtless to be ascribed to the custom which\nprevailed in Ireland of having in a similar position a public tree\nof the tribe, round or beside which assemblies were held and games\ncelebrated. The Irish chronicles frequently report the cutting down of\nsuch a tree by raiders as an insult to the invaded tribe. This practice\nwas exactly paralleled in the medi\u00e6val republics of Italy, where an\ninvading army would often put scorn and offence upon a city by cutting\ndown the public tree which stood outside the gates, and was the central\npoint in games and festivals.\n\n[120] Cethlenn was the wife of Balor of the Mighty Blows, a Fomorian\nchief, and therefore of the Chthonian race of Tethra. She has left her\nname to Enniskillen, Inis Cethlenn, Cethlenn\u2019s Island.\n\n[121] _The Adventures of \u00c1rt, son of Conn, and the Courtship of\nDelbchaem, \u00c9rin_, iii. 149 _sqq._ Edited and translated by Mr. R. I.\nBest, from the _Echtra \u00c1irt_, one of the _Pr\u00edm-sc\u00e9la_ of Ireland,\npreserved in Early Modern Irish in the Book of Fermoy, R.I.A., a MS. of\nthe fifteenth century.\n\n[122] Edited, with translation and notes, by Mr. Whitley Stokes,\n_Irische Texte_, III. i. 183 _sqq._, from the Book of Ballymote,\nR.I.A., and the Yellow Book of Lecan, T.C.D., both MSS. of the\nfourteenth century.\n\n[123] Another instance of the sacred character with which the Irish\ncode of honour invested a pledge, and which is apparent in the stories,\nbefore quoted, of Mider, Conn, \u00c1rt, etc. So in the _Baile Mong\u00e1in_,\na story printed by Prof. K. Meyer as an appendix to his _Voyage of\nBran_, Mong\u00e1n is obliged to surrender his wife Dubhlaca to the King of\nLeinster (apparently an euhemerisation of Manann\u00e1n, who figures in an\nearlier version, also given by Prof. Meyer (_op. cit._)) in fulfilment\nof a like promise.\n\n[124] At the same time, it is perceptible that incidents of the\n_m\u00e4rchen_ type are more numerous in this group than in the great heroic\ncycles.\n\n[125] In the story of Cormac, Manann\u00e1n\u2019s Paradise, instead of lying\noversea, is placed within a d\u00fan, at which Cormac arrives by land.\n\n[126] So the group of Carolingian romances, which long passed for the\nwork of Archbishop Turpin, retained the characteristics of a barbarous\nsociety in their views concerning magic, superstition, morals, etc.,\nthough sanctified by the addition of ecclesiastical miracles, and other\nmatters of edification, which earned for it the formal approval of Pope\nCalixtus II. in the year 1122.\n\n[127] Manann\u00e1n is presented in like fashion in the story of Mong\u00e1n,\n_op. cit._\n\n[128] So in the tale of Mider, _ante_, where, as here, it is introduced\ninto the description of the pagan Elysium, Magh M\u00f3r; the ecclesiastical\ninterpolations, as here again, being brought in in the usual\nincongruous manner.\n\n[129] As in the _Voyage of Maelduin\u2019s Curach_, an Imram of\nsubstantially the original type, treated from a Christian point of\nview. The trait is copied in the _Adventures of Tadg Mac C\u00e9in_, a late\nmedi\u00e6val romance composed in the archaic style, where it receives from\nTadg the characteristic comment, \u2018\u2019Tis queer, though charming\u2019; he\nevidently regarded it as an example intended rather for edification\nthan imitation. It is interesting to note how the idea recurs in modern\nIrish poetry, as, indeed, practically, in Irish peasant life. In poor\nMangan\u2019s beautiful _Love Ballad_, translated or imitated from the\nIrish, the hero--\n\n    \u2018Sheltered by the sloe-bush black,\n    Sat, laughed, and talked, while thick sleet fell,\n         And cold rain.\n    Thanks to God! no guilty leaven\n      Dashed our childish mirth.\n    You rejoice for this in Heaven,\n      I not less on earth.\u2019\n\n[130] One of the most explicit instances occurs in the Graal series,\nin the _Queste_, when Perceval is informed that the Castle of Maidens\nis Hell, and the captives therein are the souls that await Christ\u2019s\ncoming; the seven knights that defend the castle being the seven deadly\nsins (Nutt, _Studies_, etc., p. 41).\n\n[131] Edited and translated by Mr. W. Stokes in _Rev. Celtique_,\nix.-x., from a version contained in the L.U., parts being completed\nfrom later versions. Cf. _Voyage of Bran_, i. 162-3.\n\n[132]\n\n    Pars in gramineis exercent membra palaestris;\n    Contendunt ludo, et fulva luctantur arena, etc.\n\n                                               VIRG., _\u00c6n._, vi. 642-3.\n\n[133] _Odyssey_, ix. 481 _sqq._\n\n[134] David Fitzgerald, \u2018Popular Tales of Ireland,\u2019 _Rev. Celtique_,\niv. 189 _sqq._\n\n[135] The root conception belongs to the common stock of Celtic\ntradition. We shall see more of the fiery rampart later on; for the\nrevolving wall, cp. the castle in the Welsh story of Peredur, which\nspun round faster than the winds.\n\n[136] Probably a reminiscence of some hermit who had chosen a snowy\nregion in the North for his retreat.\n\n[137] A similar miraculous provision by the agency of some animal\noccurs in the legends of several of the Irish hermits. In Wolfram\u2019s\n_Parzifal_, the Grail appears as a \u2018stone which yields all manner of\nfood and drink, the power of which is sustained by a dove, who every\nweek lays a Host upon it.\u2019--Nutt, _Studies_, etc., p. 25.\n\n[138] _Vita S. Columb\u00e6_, I. xiv.\n\n[139] _Iomram Churraig h-Ua g-Corra_, ed. and trans, by Mr. W. Stokes,\nin _Rev. Celt._, xiv. 22 _sqq._, from the Book of Fermoy, a MS. of\nthe fourteenth century. The tale, in its present form, is later than\nthat of Maelduin, though Professor Zimmer considers that the original\nwas written early in the eighth century, the present being probably\n\u2018a thirteenth-century _rifacimento_, save the opening portion, which\nhe (Zimmer) thus looks upon as being the earliest fragment of this\ngenre of story-telling.\u2019--Nutt, _Voyage of Bran_, i. 162. Mr. Stokes,\nhowever, regards the extant version as a work of the eleventh century,\n_loc. cit._\n\n[140] Here, again, the harp in the hands of a modern minstrel re-echoes\nthe ancient tune:\n\n    \u2018And, as I watch the line of light, that plays\n      Along the smooth wave, tow\u2019rd the burning west,\n    I long to tread that golden path of rays,\n      And think \u2019twould lead to some bright isle of rest.\u2019--MOORE.\n\n[141] A similar belief existed in the old Latin religion. Outside the\ncity gates of every town there used to be a pit, the \u2018Mundus,\u2019 which\nwas regarded as the receptacle of the souls of the dead. It was covered\nwith a flagstone, which was lifted on three days in the year, occurring\nin August, October, and November, to give the imprisoned souls a\nholiday. Cp. the belief, once prevalent all over Europe, and still\nexisting in many parts, that on All Souls\u2019 Eve the spirits would go\nthrough their towns in procession, and visit their former homes.\n\n[142] _Imrum Snedghusa agus Mic R\u00edagla_, ed. and trans, by Mr. Whitley\nStokes, _Rev. Celt._, ix. 12 _sqq._, from the Yellow Book of Lecan,\nbefore mentioned; and see O\u2019Curry, _MS. Materials of Irish History_,\npp. 333 _sqq._ Mr. Stokes ascribes the tale to the middle of the\nseventh century; Mr. Nutt, to the middle or latter part of the ninth\ncentury.--_Voyage of Bran_, i. 231.\n\n[143] The anticipation of a general battle immediately prior to the\nJudgment, though an article of many religions (_e.g._ the Persian, the\nNorse, etc.), is unusual in Irish writings of the present class; it\nis probably suggested by the prophecies contained in the Revelations,\nand in the prophetical books of the Old Testament, more especially\nthe mention of the Battle of Armageddon in Rev. xvi. The mention of\nEnoch in connection with this battle is singular, and suggests the\nlegend of Enoch in the Talmud. The disappearance of a national hero,\nand his seclusion until he shall appear to take part in some great\nconflict, though common to the traditions of most races (some of the\nmost familiar being Arthur, Dietrich of Berne, Holger Danske, Frederick\nII.--not Frederick I., Barbarossa), has always appealed to the Irish\nimagination, and recurs in the modern folk-tales of Gearoid Iarla,\nO\u2019Sullivan, the MacMahon, etc. It will be remembered that on Mr.\nParnell\u2019s death many believed that the Chief was not really dead, but\nhad only disappeared for a time.\n\n[144] There is no intention to suggest that the _Echtra_, the _Imram_,\nand the _Fis_, or the tales in each group, succeeded one another in\nthe order in which they are referred to in the text, either in their\npresent form or in their original composition, least of all as regards\nthe very ancient materials which are embodied in all of them. It has\nbeen attempted to present them in such order as may best illustrate the\ndevelopment of the eschatological idea, and the increasing fusion of\nnative traditions with the Church legends. A later writer, on account\nof his subject, or for other reasons, might sometimes employ a more\narchaic form of narrative than some of his predecessors.\n\n[145] Sanctorum quoque angelorum dulces et suavissimas frequentationes\nluminosas habere meruit. Quorumdam justorum animas crebro ab\nangelis ad summa coelorum vehi, Sancto revelante Spiritu, videbat.\nSed et reproborum alias ad inferna a demonibus ferri saepenumero\naspiciebat.--_Vita S. Columb\u00e6_, I. i. Part III. of the Life is largely\ndevoted to these visions, which, however, do not throw light upon our\nsubject.\n\n[146] Bede, _Hist. Eccl._, III. xix., where the author relates St.\nFursa\u2019s arrival in England from Ireland, and gives an account of his\nvisions. See, too, the Very Rev. Canon O\u2019Hanlon, _Lives of the Irish\nSaints_, under 16th January, where an account is given of several Acts,\nVisions, etc., of St. Fursa, mostly of the usual medi\u00e6val type.\n\n[147] Probably suggested by Ephesians vi. 16.\n\n[148] This episode suggests the manner in which Virgil protected Dante\nfrom the onset of Filippo Argenti (_Inf._ viii. 40 _sqq._), though the\nlatter passage does not contain any moral, in connection with Dante\u2019s\nown previous conduct, as is the case in Fursa\u2019s vision, and in similar\nmoral legends of the Middle Ages.\n\n[149] _The Vision of Laisr\u00e9n_, in _Stories and Songs from Irish MSS._,\nby Professor Kuno Meyer, _Otia Merseiana_, i. 1899; ed. and trans. with\nnotes from Rawlinson B. 512, a fifteenth-century MS. in the Bodleian.\nProfessor Meyer considers that the original was an O. I. work of the\nlate ninth or early tenth century (p. 112).\n\n[150] Edited by Mr. Whitley Stokes, in _A Middle Irish Homily, Rev.\nCelt._, iv. 245 _sq._\n\n[151] Cited by Mr. Nutt, _Voyage of Bran_, i. 225, where it is\nsuggested that this circumstance may have arisen in the distinction\nbetween the Pagan Elysium and Heaven, a provisional Hell being added\nfor the sake of symmetry. But it appears quite as probable that this\nclassification may be another instance of the acquaintance of the Irish\nChurch with Eastern writers, for the fourfold division already exists\nin the _Book of Enoch_, c. 22, the several categories being: (1) The\nmartyrs, as in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_; (2) The rest of the righteous; (3)\nSinners who have been punished in this life; (4) Sinners who have not\nmade expiation.\n\n[152] Cp. Milton, _Paradise Lost_, i. 61-3:--\n\n    \u2018A dungeon horrible on all sides round,\n    As one great furnace, flamed; yet from those flames\n    No light, but rather darkness visible.\u2019\n\n[153] Possibly this amplification of the usual description of the Piast\nowes something to the picture of Rumour, in Book iv. of the _\u00c6neid_.\n\n[154] David Fitzgerald, _loc. cit._, pp. 192-3, where he cites from\nKuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers_, a passage of the Vedas: \u2018Two birds\nsit on the top of the imperishable a\u00e7vattha, one eating its figs, and\nthe other looking on.\u2019 He also cites from the _F\u00e9lire Oengusa_: \u2018A\ngreat tree that was in the Eastern world, and the heathens used to\nworship it, so that the Christians fasted against all the Saints of\nEurope that the tree might fall, _et statim cecidit_.\u2019 This passage\ncontrasts curiously with the terms in which the \u2018great tree\u2019 is\ndescribed in other Irish writings. The _F\u00e9lire_ also speaks of Elijah,\nGospel in hand, preaching to the spirits under the Tree of Life in\nParadise, while the bird-flocks come to eat the berries of it, which\nare sweeter than honey and headier than wine; just as the ale of the\nT\u00edr Tairngire is described as headier than the ale of \u00c9ire.\n\nThe human souls in the form of birds are a variant of a belief of\nworld-wide extent. In Lithuania and the neighbouring countries the\nbelief still exists, or existed lately, that the souls of dead children\nreturn as birds. Nearer to the present instance is the Mohammedan\nbelief that the martyrs for Islam feast on the fruits of Paradise in\nthe shape of beautiful green birds.\n\n[155] Cp. hereon Professor Alessandro d\u2019Ancona, _I Precursori di Dante_\n(Firenze, 1874), pp. 29-30, 108, etc.\n\n[156] Cp. _Inferno_, i. 144 _sqq._: \u2018loco eterno Ove udirai le\ndisperate strida, Di quegli antichi spiriti dolenti, Ch\u00e8 la seconda\nmorte ciascun grida: E poi vedrai,\u2019 etc.\n\n[157] In nearly all the visions the seer is provided with a guide or\ninstructor, though there is a great variety in the persons invested\nwith this office. The earliest of these is the Archangel Michael in\nthe Book of Enoch, and he retains his functions in a large proportion\nof the subsequent visions, and even in the conventional relations of a\nvisit to Hades in Renaissance and post-Renaissance literature. Dryden,\nindeed, in his Essay on Epic Poetry, complains of the unfair share\nof work in this department that is thrust upon him. In the Vision of\nEsdras he is associated with Gabriel and thirty-four other angels. In\nthe Vision of Fursa he is conducted by three angels who represent the\nTrinity. In other narratives St. Paul or St. Peter figures. In the\nlater medi\u00e6val visions the guardian angel appears in this capacity with\nincreasing frequency, and in particular in the Irish legends from the\ntime of St. Patrick, who received his revelations through the mouth\nof his angel Victor. In the Shepherd of Hermas, the apparition of\nthe object of Hermas\u2019s affection, followed by that of the sibyl-like\npersonification of the Church, is a very curious anticipation of\nBeatrice instigating Virgil to undertake Dante\u2019s guidance.\n\n[158] Cp. the manner in which the D\u00e9 Danann chiefs are often\nrepresented in the heroic romances, sitting in state in their d\u00fans:\n_e.g._ Lugh Mac Cethlenn, in the story of Conn, thus enthroned, with a\ngreat tree in the doorway of his d\u00fan, and the birds singing on it.\n\n[159] Revelation iv., xx., etc. Cp. the Book of Enoch, where One clad\nin white robes sits in glory in the crystal mansion, whence a river of\nfire issues.\n\n[160] Revelation iv. 4; vi. 11, etc.\n\n[161] A conception similar in kind, though different in form, is\napparent in the d\u00fan with a hundred doors, and at each of them an altar,\nand a priest celebrating mass thereon, in the Voyage of Snedgus and\nMac R\u00edagla. Cp. the Castle of the Graal in the Perceval romances.\nThe accessories of Christian worship are frequently introduced into\nthe Heaven of medi\u00e6val legends, though seldom with such minuteness\nas in our text. Cp. the seventh- or eighth-century legend of Saints\nTheophilus, Sergius, and Hyginus, who came to a church built of crystal\nand precious stones.--Ancona, _op. cit._, p. 32. This church, indeed,\nwas not meant to symbolise Heaven, but corresponds to the churches on\nthe mystical islands of the Irish _Imrama_. Praise and psalmody, as\namong the joys of Heaven, of course have Scripture warrant; it remained\nfor Swedenborg to crown the bliss of his elect, who in other respects\n_se r\u00e9jouissent moult tristement_, with the privilege of listening to\nsermons through all eternity.\n\n[162] Cp. the Vision of Esdras, where the Apostles and Patriarchs and\nall the righteous are arrayed about the Tree of Life.\n\n[163] _Acallam na S\u00e9n\u00f3rach_, in _Irische Texte_, IV. i., II. 6089 _sqq._\n\n[164] Mr. Whitley Stokes aptly compares the three fiery orbs in\n_Paradiso_, xxxiii. 114 _sqq._ However, these orbs represent the\nvisible manifestation of the Trinity, and do not appear as circles\nencompassing the Divine seat.\n\n[165] It is curious to note how Dante employs this symbol to represent\nthe Imperial eagle, in _Purg._ xxxii. 125 _sqq._, which, in its\nonslaught upon the car of the Church, reminds us how the bird Karshipta\nbreaks off the branches of the Tree of Life in the Var of Yima. Surely\nthis coincidence, and also the frequency of the culture bird in the\nmyths of unconnected races, afford good examples of the independent\norigin of similar ideas. In the branch covered with life-giving\nberries, brought by the eagles in the Voyage of Maelduin, we may\npossibly have a modification of the popular Irish tradition, further\ninfluenced by the Ph\u0153nix legend, or, maybe, some Oriental tradition,\nderived through intercourse with the Eastern Churches.\n\n[166] In some Continental visions the Cockayne idea assumes a form more\naccordant with the Scriptural imagery, the inhabitants of Paradise\nrenewing their youth by eating the fruit of the Tree of Life and\ndrinking the Waters of Life (Ancona, _op. cit._, p. 32). The last\nitem is evidently suggested by Revelation xxii. 1, when the Waters\nof Life proceed from under the Throne, as in the Chald\u00e6an myth. By\na certain meeting of extremes the Cockayne idea passes over into\nasceticism; thus, in order to express the abundance and luxury of the\nmythical Elysium, it is said that a single loaf, or the very scent of\nthe apple-trees, or the like, affords sufficient sustenance; in later\ndevelopments we find in the Persian Paradise one loaf suffices for so\nmany persons, Connla lives for a month on the apple brought him by the\n_Leanamh\u00e1n Sidhe_, the fragrance of the candles in Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s Heaven\nyields sustenance enough, and so on.\n\n[167] Thus, Tundale\u2019s guardian angel quits him temporarily as he enters\ninto Hell. See _post_.\n\n[168] The Irish legends of the Otherworld, and the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ in\nparticular, offer so many points of resemblance to the Book of Enoch\nas to lead us to conclude that that work must have been known to the\nIrish Church. This is likely enough in itself, having regard to the\nclose connection maintained by that Church with the Churches of Egypt\nand Syria, referred to in a previous section, where a parallel case was\npointed out, viz. the preservation, in an Irish translation, of the\nBook of Adam and Eve, the original text of which disappeared.\n\n[169] And compare St. Paul, 1 Corinthians iii. 13.\n\n[170] The close agreement of this theory with the Egyptian belief has\nbeen pointed out in Section 2 _ante_.\n\n[171] Cp. the angel at the door of Purgatory (_Purg._ ix. 103-4).\n\n[172] Cp. the fire through which Dante had to pass in the seventh\ncircle of Purgatory (_Purg._ xxvii.).\n\n[173] It is remarkable that several of the most impressive incidents\nin the Apocalyptic description of the Last Judgment are omitted from\nthe present, as from most of the other medi\u00e6val visions; a circumstance\nwhich may cause us to hesitate before concluding positively that our\nauthor had as frequent recourse to the Book of Revelation as many\nanalogies would suggest.\n\n[174] Mr. Whitley Stokes, in a note on this passage, aptly compares the\nEgyptian demon Apap, which devoured the souls of the wicked. He also\ncites an Old English homily, where a dragon swallows the wicked and\ndischarges them into the Devil\u2019s maw. The fertile medi\u00e6val literature\non the subject furnishes several parallels, more or less close, both of\na serious and comic nature.\n\n[175] This is probably one of the additions made to the Book of Enoch\nin Christian times, cp. Rev. xx. 4-5, where precedence is given to the\nmartyrs, the other righteous not being permitted to live again until\nafter the lapse of one thousand years. Herein we have another form of\nthe doctrine of postponed redemption in certain cases, though not here,\nto allow time for the purgation of sins.\n\n[176] Cp. the similar fate of the flatterers (_Inf._ xviii. 113), and\nthe stinking Stygian lake in which the violent are immured (_Inf._ vii.\n110).\n\n[177] We have seen that in Persia, as in Ireland, the \u2018black north\u2019 was\nthe region whence cold winds and malignant beings proceeded. It is a\nwell-known fact that cold no less than heat entered into the Hell of\nthe Irish, as of the Northern nations, wherein they are followed by\nDante, who, indeed, makes the sufferings of the inmost circle, devoted\nto the worst of sinners, to consist in intense cold. Cp. Shakespeare,\n_Measure for Measure_, III. i.:\n\n                      \u2018The delighted spirit\n    To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside\n    In thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice.\u2019\n\nSo Milton: \u2018In fierce heat and in ice.\u2019\n\n[178] \u2018Senza riposo mai era la tresca Delle misere mani, or quindi or\nquinci Iscotendo da se l\u2019arsura fresca\u2019 (_Inf._ xiv. 40-42); and in\n_Inf._ xvii. 47-48: \u2018Di qu\u00e0 di l\u00e0 soccorrien con le mani, Quando a\u2019\nvapor, e quando al caldo suolo.\u2019\n\n[179] _Inf._ v., where Dante couples with them the angels who abstained\nfrom taking either part on Satan\u2019s revolt, but _per s\u00e8 foro_. In like\nmanner the Irish writers, as in the story of St. Brendan, extended\ntheir more merciful judgment to these spirits also. The popular\ntraditions of modern times identify them with the _Daoine Sidhe_, but\nwithout agreeing as to their ultimate fate after the Judgment.\n\n[180] Cp. the devices to which Christian redactors of Pagan legends\nhad recourse, in order to bring the national heroes within the pale\nof salvation: _e.g._ Cuchulainn, Concobar, Finn Mac Cumhal, Caoilte,\nCormac Mac \u00c1irt, Fintan, Tuan Mac Cairill, etc. The early Christian\nwriters dealt in like manner with Seneca, Trajan, Statius, Lucan, etc.;\nto whom Dante, apparently on his own responsibility, added Rhipeus.\n\n[181] This is the doctrine of St. Augustine, which Dante followed in\n_Inf._ vi. 106 _sqq._\n\n[182] Cp. the brazen wall wrapped in flame in the Revelation of St.\nPaul.\n\n[183] Cp. Revelation ix. 6, upon the authority of which text a similar\npassage is introduced into many of the medi\u00e6val descriptions of Hell.\nCp. the Book of Adam, where the damned \u2018call aloud for the second\ndeath, and the second death is deaf to their prayer\u2019 (Ancona, _op.\ncit._ 107). So Dante, \u2018che la seconda morte ciascun gride\u2019 (_Inf._ i.\n115). Cp. too Dante, _Inf._ iii. 124-6, where the guilty are eager to\ncross the river to their place of suffering: \u2018Ch\u00e8 la divina giustigia\ngli sprona S\u00ec che la tema si volge in disio,\u2019 when, however, Dante was\nprobably following Virgil, _\u00c6neid_, vi. 313-14.\n\n[184] See, especially, _Paradise Lost_, ii. 587 _sqq_.\n\n[185] \u2018Now seeing that they who make this moan are the Saints, to whom\nare allotted everlasting mansions in the heavenly Kingdom, how much\nmore meet were it for men that are yet on earth,\u2019 etc., ch. 34. Cp. the\nsimilar passages in the _F\u00e9lire Oengusa_ and the _Sc\u00e9la L\u00e1i Br\u00e1tha_\nreferred to in the preceding section.\n\n[186] Verbal differences between the two versions are frequent\nthroughout, though generally the later copy is the fuller, owing to\nthe insertion of a certain amount of \u2018padding.\u2019 Far wider divergences\nexist between the different versions of most of the medi\u00e6val legends,\n_e.g._ the Vision of Paul, the Voyage of St. Brendan, and the Vision\nof Tundale. This circumstance strengthens the internal evidence of\ninterpolations in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_. At the same time, it adds to\nthe difficulty of determining the relative priority of the incidents\ncontained in the several Visions.\n\n[187] The Acts of St. Brendan, and the accounts of his voyages, have\noften been translated by modern scholars. Besides the collections of\nhagiologists and Church historians, standard works on the subject\nare Jubinal, _La L\u00e9gende latine de Saint Brendaines_, Paris,\n1836; Schr\u00f6der, _Sanct Brandan_, Erlangen, 1871; Moran, _Acta\nSancti Brendani_, Dublin, 1872. The Irish Life is edited, with a\ntranslation and notes, by Mr. Whitley Stokes, in _Anecdota Oxoniensia_\n(_Medi\u00e6val and Modern Series_, pt. 5). In the Rev. Denis O\u2019Donoghue\u2019s\n_Brendaniana_ the subject is treated in an interesting and compendious\nmanner. The summary of the principal incidents of the voyages given in\nthe text, is taken, for the most part, from Mr. Stokes\u2019s edition of the\nIrish life.\n\n[188] The imaginary island of St. Brendan was delineated in the maps\nof the Middle Ages, and even of later periods. It was claimed by the\nPortuguese, but afterwards ceded to Spain. Many voyages were undertaken\nin quest of it, one so late as 1721.--Ancona, _op. cit._, p. 50.\n\n[189] Father O\u2019Donoghue points out that the whale episode appears too\nearly in medi\u00e6val churches to be due to an imitation of Sinbad. It\noccurs in a medi\u00e6val life of St. Machutus, or Malo, which, however,\nFather O\u2019Donoghue considers an imitation of St. Brendan, into whose\nlegend the incident entered at a very early period, being mentioned in\na poem by St. Cumin, who lived in the seventh century (_Brendaniana_,\npp. 88-91), where the author refers to parallels occurring in the\nMedi\u00e6val Bestiaries. Signer D\u2019Ancona (_op. cit._) says that the episode\noccurs in the Romance of Alexander, which is likely to be the origin\nof the Western variants. However, the idea is one which may well have\npresented itself spontaneously in several distinct quarters.\n\n[190] Apparently a travesty of Manann\u00e1n Mac L\u00edr as he appeared to Bran\nin the _Imram Br\u00e1in_, but _quantum mutatus_, or, literally, _diablement\nchang\u00e9 en route_. Already have the Celtic deities followed the\nOlympians, and become converted into demons.\n\n[191] Cf. Virgil, _\u00c6neid_, vi. 557-8, and Dante, _Inferno_, iii. 22-28.\n\n[192] We may note one curious incident which illustrates the sympathy,\nbefore mentioned, with which Irish Churchmen treated the beings who\npertained to that older faith which it was their mission to destroy.\nOne day St. Brendan came upon a maiden of vast stature and exceeding\nbeauty floating upon the sea, dead, and a spear through her. He\nrestored her to life, and asked her who she was: she replied that\nshe was one of the dwellers in the sea, who were praying for the\nResurrection. He baptized her, and gave her the choice--to die, and\ngo at once to Heaven, or to return to her own people. She chose to go\ndirect to Heaven, so he administered to her the last Sacrament, and she\ndied.\n\n[193] Mr. Whitley Stokes suggests that \u2018his feathers may be a\nreminiscence of some hermit\u2019s dress of bird-skins\u2019 (_op. cit._, p.\n354). Or, maybe, of some anchorite who may have lived into extreme old\nage, as doubtless many did, in the condition of King Nebuchadnezzar\nafter his fall, until his long white hair and beard suggested the\nplumage of a white bird. Or, again, it is just possible that this\nbird-like hermit, dwelling in an island Paradise, may be an attempt to\neuhemerise one of the many avatars of the sacred bird.\n\n[194] The influence of the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ likewise appears in the\nopening portion of the Life, which cites precedents for the Saint\u2019s\ndevout and holy life among the worthies of the Old and New Testaments.\n\n[195] The principal Latin Life of St. Brendan, though later than the\nIrish life, was written in the eleventh century. Both Lives, however,\ncontain elements which the Lives of other Irish saints prove to have\nbeen of much earlier date.\n\n[196] _Imrama_ still continued to be written, and the late medi\u00e6val\nstory of Tadg Mac C\u00e9in (published, with a translation, in Mr. Standish\nHayes O\u2019Grady\u2019s _Silva Gadelica_), presents a very admirable specimen\nof its class. That work, however, is a more purely literary production,\nconsciously imitative, and deliberately archaic in style.\n\n[197] The summary in the text follows the Irish version contained in\n_La Vision de Tondale_, V. H. Friedel and Kuno Meyer (Paris, 1907),\nwhich also contains two French versions in prose, and a fragment of an\nAnglo-Norman version in verse. The Irish translation was made in 151-,\nby Muirgheas Mac P\u00e1idin ui Maoilchanaire (_op. cit._, Introduction).\nThe original Latin has been edited by Scade, Halle, 1869, and A. Wagner\n(with an O. G. version), Erlangen, 1882. For translations into modern\nlanguages see _op. cit._, Introduction, and Ancona, _op. cit._, p. 53\n_n._\n\n[198] In Christian art, Hell was often symbolised by a picture of the\nDragon, his open mouth filled with flames, into which the wicked were\nimpelled. This image survived in book illustrations into the eighteenth\ncentury at least. It occurs in many of the medi\u00e6val visions; possibly\nthe Vision of St. Paul may have been the immediate authority. It\nappears so early as the Vision of Esdras, if not before.\n\n[199] This lake corresponds to the sea haunted by strange monsters\nwhich swarm about the hero\u2019s curach in the early _Imrama_ and in the\nmodern romantic folk-tales.\n\n[200] Signor D\u2019Ancona (_op. cit._) suggests that the apologue of the\nbridge in the _Fioretti_ of St. Francis (cxxvii.) is an imperfect\nquotation from Tundale, as also a similar passage of Joachim of Flora.\n\n[201] See the remarks in the preceding section upon a similar\nconception in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, and contrast the treatment of it by\nthe two authors.\n\n[202] The destruction of the guilty soul, and its reintegration\nfor a renewal of its suffering, dates back to Plutarch\u2019s Vision of\nThespesios. See Sect. I _ante_.\n\n[203] Cp. the analogous ideas in the Shepherd of Hermas, and the vision\nin St. Gregory\u2019s Epistle.\n\n[204] It is said that the Hells of the Oriental religions even surpass\nthose of medi\u00e6val Christendom in the morbid cruelty and obscenity, and\nin the childish extravagance of their descriptions.\n\n[205] The angel who came to Tundale\u2019s rescue may also be compared to\nthe angel who came to the aid of Dante and Virgil when their entrance\ninto the City of Dis was opposed by the demons (_Inf._ ix.). Signor\nD\u2019Ancona (_op. cit._, p. 55 _n_.) compares the approach of Tundale\u2019s\nangel, \u2018with a radiance as of a star,\u2019 to the approach of the angel\nin _Purgatorio_ xii. 89 _sq._, _nella faccia, quale Par tremolando\nmattutina stella_, citing the passage from the Latin Tundale, where the\nresemblance is still closer--_longe venientem velut stellam lucidam._\n\n[206] _Purg._ xxvii. 130 _sqq._\n\n[207] _Par._ xxii. 129 _sqq._ Dante evidently follows the corresponding\npassage in the _Somnium Scipionis_, or the derivative passage in Book\nix. of Lucan\u2019s _Pharsalia_. The manner in which the idea appears in\nTundale is not analogous. The doctrine--\u2018to whomsoever God giveth\npower to behold Himself, to him is power to see all other creatures\nlikewise\u2019--is precisely that of Dante. See _Paradiso_ ix. 61 _sq_. and\ncp. viii. 90; ix. 73 _sq._; xi. 19 _sq._, etc.\n\n[208] For many specimens of these visions, both of earlier and later\ndates, see Ozanam, _Dante et la Philosophie catholique au treizi\u00e8me\nSi\u00e8cle_; Wright, _St. Patrick\u2019s Purgatory_, 1844; Ancona, _op. cit._\nThe learned author of the last-named work has recorded several curious\nand little-known examples, and, in his notes, gives references to many\nworks upon special branches of the subject.\n\n[209] \u2018Andovvi poi lo Vas d\u2019elezione, Per recarne conforto a quella\nfede,\u2019 etc. (_Inf._ ii. 28-9).\n\n[210] For this extreme tenuity, cp. Al Sir\u00e2t, the Muslim equivalent of\nthe Chinv\u00e2t Bridge, narrow as a razor\u2019s edge; also the souls\u2019 bridge of\nthe Inoits of Aleutia, which, as in several medi\u00e6val visions, is of the\nthickness of a single thread.\n\n[211] Cp. the fate of the violent in canto xii. of the _Inferno_.\nThe traitors also stand more or less completely congealed in the\nice, according to the circumstances of their treachery (_Inf._\nxxxii.-xxxiv.).\n\n[212] It is possible that this circumstance was suggested by similar\ntravel tales told of the serpents of India, and preserved by the\nGreek naturalists. However, the idea is one which might well occur\nspontaneously, as one of the usual Otherworld applications of the _lex\ntalionis_.\n\n[213] Cp. the fiery sepulchres in _Inf._ canto xi., wherein, likewise,\ninfidels were immured.\n\n[214] Northumbria, it will be remembered, was Christianised by Irish\nmonks, who planted monasteries at Lindisfarne and elsewhere, which long\nmaintained the connection between the two countries.\n\n[215] Cp. Plutarch, Vision of Thespesios, _ante_, Sec. 1, where the\nsouls ascended contained in bubbles.\n\n[216] In the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_ Paradise is placed in the south-east.\n\n[217] Cp. _Inferno_ xii. and xxxii.-xxxiv.\n\n[218] _Inf._ xxi.-xxii.; and cp. the Centaurs in _Inf._ xii. 56.\n\n[219] _Inf._ xxxii.-xxxiv.\n\n[220] _Inf._ ix.\n\n[221] _Inf._ v.\n\n[222] _Inf._ xxiv.-xxv.\n\n[223] _Inf._ xxiii. 111 _sqq._\n\n[224] See a paper by M. Henri Gaidoz in _Revue Celtique_, ii. 482.\n\n[225] Signor d\u2019Ancona (_op. cit._, pp. 62-3) doubts whether this work\nwas ever known beyond its birthplace in the Abbey of Monte Cassino,\nuntil its discovery less than a century ago, where Dante was not likely\nto have seen it. In the absence of direct evidence on this point, I\nleave the passage in the text as it stands, for the reader to form his\nown conclusions.\n\n[226] Perhaps a reference should be made to the Vision of the\nOtherworld composed by Dante\u2019s friend, the learned Jew Immanuel ben\nSalamone, as the question might occur whether Dante may not, by his\nmeans, have arrived at such part of his subject as relates to Old\nTestament lore and Jewish tradition by a shorter cut than the usual\nchannels, which it has been here attempted to trace. Immanuel was born\nat Rome in 1265, the year of Dante\u2019s birth, and, like his friend,\nwas at once poet, scholar, theologian, philosopher, and exile, and,\nprobably, one of the most learned men of his day. It is possible that\nDante may have been indebted to him for stray pieces of information,\nscraps of Hebrew, and the like, but the debt can hardly go further\nthan this. Immanuel\u2019s vision of Hell and Paradise was not completed\ntill 1325, and is a manifest imitation of the _Commedia_; it has\nbeen conjectured, even, that by Daniel, who served as his guide, as\nVirgil did to Dante, he signified the latter. See Signor Seppelli\u2019s\ntranslation, with notes and introduction--_Inferno e Paradiso di\nEmanuele di Salamone_, Ancona, 1874.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX\n\n\n  Abersetus, 36, 194.\n\n  Acallam na S\u00e9n\u00f3rach, 187.\n\n  Accadian survivals in Assyrian mythology, 69.\n\n  Ach\u00e6menian elements in Avestan religion, 79.\n\n  Acheron, 216.\n\n  Achilles in Leuke, 143.\n\n  Achtlann, 149.\n\n  Adam, legend of death of, 84, 97;\n    Book of, 203 _n._;\n    Book of Adam and Eve, 114.\n\n  Adam de Ros, 230.\n\n  Adamn\u00e1n, St., authorities for life, 4 _n._, 12;\n    meaning of name, 7;\n    birth and lineage, 7;\n    anecdote of student days, 12, 13;\n    at monastery of Iona, 8;\n    Abbot, 8;\n    missions to England, 8, 9;\n    relations with Bede, 9;\n    Paschal controversy, 9, 10;\n    Boruma tribute, 15, 16, 17;\n    relations with \u00c1rd-R\u00ed Finnachta, 13 _sqq._;\n    emancipation of women, 18 _sqq._, 45;\n    death, 10, 22-3;\n    character, 9, 12, 23-4;\n    his learning, 10, 12, 25;\n    his _Life of St. Colm Cille_, 10;\n    cited, 157, 166;\n    treatise _De Locis Sanctis_, 11, 114;\n    his canons, 12, 18;\n    apocryphal writings, 12;\n    the _C\u00e1in Adamn\u00e1in_, 18 _sqq._, 27.\n\n  ---- The Vision of, date of, 25;\n    MSS. and editions, 27;\n    reasons of ascription to Adamn\u00e1n, 25 _sqq._, 45, 177;\n    Translation, 28 _sqq._;\n    precedents and authorities, 28-9, 106-7, 180-1;\n    contents discussed, 25 _sqq._, 174 _sqq._;\n    structural design, 175 _sqq._;\n    composite character, 176 _sqq._;\n    literary characteristics, 174-6, 186, 246-8;\n    ecclesiastical proclivities, 182-4;\n    Purgatorial theory, 193-4;\n    coincidences with Oriental eschatology, 83 _sqq._, 90, 193;\n    compared with Dante\u2019s _Commedia_, 181, 185, 187, 188 _n._, 189,\n        193 _n._, 194-5, 200-4;\n    relation to Dante, 243-6;\n    cited, 3, 22, 96 _n._, 133, 144, 152, 171, 172, 174, 211, 212,\n        218 _n._, 230, 232, 233.\n\n  Addison\u2019s _Vision of Mirza_ and Bridge episode, 132.\n\n  Aelian, 151.\n\n  \u00c6ons, early Persian, 79;\n    of Philo Jud\u00e6us, 79 _n._;\n    of Hesiod, _ib._\n\n  Ailill, 132.\n\n  Alberic, Vision of, 238-9;\n    cp. with Dante, _ib._\n\n  Alcuin, 5 _n._\n\n  Aldfrid, King of Northumbria, 8.\n\n  Alexandria, Jewish colony in, 86;\n    culture mainly Hellenic, 86-8;\n    contact with Egyptian ideas, 88-9.\n\n  Allegory, in the Avesta, 74-5, 182;\n    in Virgil, 46;\n    in the Shepherd of Hermas, 104;\n    in Irish legends, 135, 142, 144-5.\n\n  Amesha Spentas, the, and Philo\u2019s Emanations, 78-9.\n\n  Ancona, Prof. A. d\u2019, _I Precursori di Dante_, 175 _n._, 184 _n._,\n      190 _n._, 203 _n._, 208 _n._, 213 _n._, 216 _n._, 228 _n._,\n      229 _n._, 238 _n._\n\n  Angels, hierarchies, 30, 185, 223-4;\n    guardian angels, 29, 86, 181-2, 191, 214;\n    tending souls of dead, 35, 191 (and see art. \u2018Guide\u2019);\n    porter in Otherworld, 35, 84, 193;\n    fallen angels, 202 _n._, 211;\n    angel of death, mistaken, 110, 111;\n    angel giving light in Paradise, 34;\n    in Hell, 214.\n\n  Anglo-Saxon scholars and missionaries, 5 _n._\n\n  Annals, Irish, see under Ireland;\n    of Ulster, cited, 2 _n._\n\n  Apap, Egyptian \u2018Eater of the Dead,\u2019 89, 196 _n._\n\n  Apocalypse of St. John, see \u2018Revelations\u2019 of St. Paul, St. Peter, etc.;\n    see \u2018Paul,\u2019 \u2018Peter,\u2019 etc.\n\n  Apocryphal Books, Christian, abundance of, 101;\n    Jewish traditions in, 97.\n\n  Apostles, Vision at death of B. V., 29, 107;\n    in Paradise, 31, 98, 194-5.\n\n  Apuleius, 49.\n\n  Aquinas, Thomas, pupil of Petrus Hibernicus, 6 _n._\n\n  Arali, 70.\n\n  Arch, fiery, watery, etc., in legends, 32, 152, 160, 188.\n\n  Arculf, 11, 12.\n\n  \u00c1rd-Ollamh, the, 117.\n\n  \u00c1rd-R\u00ed, the Irish, 116 _n._\n\n  Ariel, archangel, 36.\n\n  Ariosto\u2019s enchanted gardens, Otherworld origin of, 181.\n\n  Aristophanes on the Otherworld, in the _Frogs_, 59 _sqq._;\n    on the mysteries, _ib._\n\n  Armageddon, 163 _n._\n\n  \u00c1rt mac Cuinn, 133, 136, 138-9.\n\n  Art, sacred, and the medi\u00e6val legends, 186, 215 _n._\n\n  Ascetics, priority of, in Paradise, 39, 198.\n\n  Assyrian eschatology, 69, 70, and see \u2018Chald\u00e6a.\u2019\n\n  Augustine, St., Vision of Curina, 110;\n    purgatorial theory, 193;\n    cited, 202.\n\n  Avesta, eschatology, 71 _sqq._;\n    animistic conceptions, 75;\n    allegorising tendency, 74-5;\n    date and composition, 76;\n    Neo-Platonic influences, 76 _sqq._;\n    early Persian elements, 79;\n    Oriental elements, 81;\n    influence on Hebrew thought, 70.\n\n  Axiochos, pseudo-Platonic dialogue, 58.\n\n\n  Bagadas, Bridge myth among the, 132.\n\n  Baitan, 157.\n\n  Ballyshannon, M\u00f3rd\u00e1il of, 18.\n\n  Balor, the Fomorian champion, 135 _n._\n\n  Bards, the Irish order, 117 _n._\n\n  Battle at the end of the world, 163.\n\n  B\u00e9cuma Cneisgel, 136, 138.\n\n  Bede, Venerable, and Adamn\u00e1n, 9, 10, 23;\n    account of St. Fursa\u2019s visions, 166 _sqq._;\n    of Drihthelm\u2019s vision, 233.\n\n  B\u00e9find, 122.\n\n  Belach D\u00fainn, 8.\n\n  Benn Edair, 136.\n\n  Best, Mr. R. I., _Adventures of \u00c1rt, Son of Conn, and the Courtship\n      of Delbchaem_, 136 _n._, 137.\n\n  Birds, mystical, 32, 72, 73, 154-5, 163, 189;\n    as divine messengers, 72, 73;\n    as culture bringers, 72;\n    human souls in, 46, 160, 174 _n._, 189, 191;\n    singing the canonical hours, 32, 85, 179;\n    choirs of, in Paradise, 31, 157-8, 163, 174, 185, 189;\n    in island Elysium, 160.\n\n  Birr, M\u00f3rd\u00e1il of, 18.\n\n  Book of the Dead, Egyptian, 89 _n._\n\n  Boruma Tribute, instituted, 14;\n    remitted, 15 _sqq._;\n    treatises on, 14.\n\n  Bran, son of Febal, Voyage of, 122 _n._, 123 _sqq._, 146-8, 189.\n\n  Brandenburg, Marquis of, legend, 121.\n\n  Brenainn of Birr, St., 154.\n\n  Brendan, St., Voyage of, 147 _sqq._, 202 _n._, 207 _sqq._;\n    influence on European literature, 202, 207;\n    his island, belief in, 207 _n._\n\n  Bridge, in legends of the Otherworld, 38-9, 71, 111, 131, 132,\n  139, 178, 197-8, 215-17, 231, 239;\n    cognate traditions, 131-2.\n\n  Brudin Da Derga, story of, cited, 12 _n._\n\n  Brug na Boinne, Elysium in, 122, 189.\n\n  Brunetto Latini, reference to his _Tesoretto_, 121.\n\n  Bryce, Prof., on the Donation of Constantine, 45 _n._\n\n  Buan, mystical hazels of, 140, 155.\n\n  Budge, Dr. W., _Book of the Dead_, 89 _n._\n\n  Bundehesh cited, 72.\n\n  Burghcastle, monastery founded by St. Fursa, 166.\n\n\n  C\u00e1in Adamn\u00e1in, see \u2018Adamn\u00e1n.\u2019\n\n  Caldron, magic, 122-3, 141.\n\n  Calixtus II., Pope, and Carolingian Romances, 147 _n._\n\n  Callimachus, 88.\n\n  Carman, poem on Fair of, cited, 32, 115.\n\n  Carolingian Romances, 146 _n._\n\n  Castle, enchanted, Otherworld origin of, 150;\n    revolving, in romance of Peredur, 154.\n\n  Castor and Pollux, 49.\n\n  Cernunnos and Bran, 123 _n._\n\n  Cethlenn, 135 _n._\n\n  Chald\u00e6a, eschatology of, 69, 70;\n    Hades, 70;\n    visits thereto, 69;\n    Elysium, 69;\n    multitudinous deities, 81-2;\n    no Rebirth doctrine, 80.\n\n  Charles, Rev. A. H., ed. of _Book of Enoch_, 95 _n._\n\n  Chastity ideal in Irish Elysium, 144, 147-8.\n\n  Chaucer cited, 143.\n\n  Chinv\u00e2t Bridge, 71, 112.\n\n  Christ\u2019s descent into Hades, 101.\n\n  Christian interpolations in Irish tales, 145-8;\n    ideas becoming predominant, 146-7.\n\n  Chthonian side of Irish myths, 121, 129, 130, 135 _n._, 136, 138-9.\n\n  Church, Paradise conceived as a, 34, 164, 184.\n\n  Cicero, _Somnium Scipionis_, 64;\n    approbation of the mysteries, 108.\n\n  Cinel Enda, 7.\n\n  City, celestial, 33, 35, 94.\n\n  Classical ideas in medi\u00e6val eschatology, 227.\n\n  Classification of departed spirits, 172, 198-9;\n    of penalties in the Otherworld, 40 _sqq._, 105, 199 _sqq._\n\n  Claudian, cited, 49.\n\n  Clement of Ireland, 6 _n._\n\n  Clovis II., 167.\n\n  Cockayne element in Irish Elysium, 122-3, 135, 137, 141, 190;\n    transition to higher conceptions, 144, 164-5, 171, 190.\n\n  Colm Cille, St., 8, 11, 18, 24;\n    visions of, 166;\n    privilege of order, 17;\n    Adamn\u00e1n, _Life_ of, see \u2018Adamn\u00e1n.\u2019\n\n  _Commedia_, see \u2018Dante.\u2019\n\n  Comyn, Michael, _Laoi Ois\u00edn ar dT\u00edr na n-\u00d3g_, 133.\n\n  Conall Gulb\u00e1n, 7.\n\n  Concobar, medi\u00e6val Irish king, 221.\n\n  Condla Coel Corrbacc, 149.\n\n  Conn Ced-cathach in Otherworld, 133 _sqq._, 143.\n\n  Connla mac Cuinn in Otherworld, 126, 133, 143.\n\n  Constantine, Donation of, 45.\n\n  Cormac, King of Cashel, 221-2.\n\n  Cormac mac \u00c1irt in Otherworld, 120, 133, 139 _sqq._, 146 _n._\n\n  Corpre Cundail, 149.\n\n  Cuchulainn, in Otherworld, 120, 127 _sqq._, 130;\n    and children of Doel Dermait, 146, 149, 150.\n\n  Curina, Vision of, 110.\n\n\n  _D\u00e1 Br\u00f3n Flatha Nime_, 174.\n\n  Dagda, Elysium of the, 121-3, 144, 183, 190.\n\n  Daire Degamra, 137.\n\n  Dante, antiquity of his theme, 1-3;\n    his true originality, 3, 241;\n    his design, 67-8, 181;\n    Dante and Virgil, 67;\n    non-classical sources, 68;\n    how far indebted to the Irish legends, 243-6;\n    Dante and Immanuel ben Salamone, 241 _n._;\n    parallels to the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 181, 185, 187, 188 _n._, 189,\n        193 _n._, 194-5, 200-4;\n    to the Vision of St. Paul, 230;\n    to the Vision of Tundale, 225-9;\n    to St. Patrick\u2019s Purgatory, 235, 238;\n    representation of the Trinity, 186, 188 _n._;\n    mystical bird, 189;\n    cited, 32 _n._, 101 _n._, 103 _n._, 169 _n._, 172, 181 _n._,\n        193 _n._, 194-6, 209 _n._, 231.\n\n  Darmesteter, trans. of _Vend\u00eed\u00e2d_, 71 _n._;\n    on Neo-Platonic ideas in the Avesta, 76 _sqq._\n\n  Dead cast no shadows, 61, 79;\n    nor move eyelids, 61.\n\n  D\u00e9 Danann, see \u2018Tuatha D\u00e9 Danann.\u2019\n\n  Delbchaem, 136, 138.\n\n  Demeter, 49;\n    and see \u2018Mysteries.\u2019\n\n  Demonax and the Mysteries, 108.\n\n  Demons, malice of, 43, 204;\n    opposition to the seer\u2019s progress, 167-8, 170, 213, 233, 234, 239.\n\n  Derg, Loch, 234.\n\n  Derry, M\u00f3rd\u00e1il at, 18.\n\n  Dicuil, 6 _n._, 114, 115.\n\n  Dietrich, Prof., on the Greek mysteries, 54 _n._\n\n  Dill, Prof., _Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius_, 75 _n._,\n      88 _n._\n\n  Dionysos, in the mysteries, 59;\n    in the _Frogs_ of Aristophanes, 59.\n\n  Divinity, the, representation of, in Paradise, 32, 33;\n    as a mystical face, 33.\n\n  Doel Dermait, children of, and Cuchulainn, 146, 149, 150.\n\n  D\u00f6llinger on the Donation of Constantine, 45 _n._\n\n  Donatus, St., Irish bishop of Fiesole, 6 _n._\n\n  Drihthelm, Vision of, 233.\n\n  Druimceatt, M\u00f3rd\u00e1il of, 18.\n\n  Drumhome, 7.\n\n  Dumas _p\u00e8re_, quoted, 1.\n\n  Dungal, 6 _n._\n\n\n  Easter, time of celebrating, 9;\n    and see \u2018Paschal Controversy.\u2019\n\n  \u2018Eater of the Dead,\u2019 Egyptian, 89, 196 _n._\n\n  Ecbatana, walls of, 33 _n._, 185.\n\n  Ecgfrid, King of Northumbria, 8.\n\n  Echtra, class of Irish romance, 118;\n    E. Nerai, 132;\n    E. \u00c1irt, 136.\n\n  Edward I. and Lia F\u00e1il, 134.\n\n  Egypt and the Greek mysteries, 52-3;\n    early intercourse with Greece, 88-9;\n    eschatology, 89, 93;\n    relations to Alexandrian culture, 87-9;\n    cults in the Hellenic world, 88-9;\n    intercourse with Irish Church, 113-15.\n\n  Elborz, Mount, 71, 81.\n\n  Eleusis, see \u2018Mysteries.\u2019\n\n  Elias in Paradise, 46, 85, 98, 157, 163, 174, 179, 205.\n\n  Elysium, Greek, 49 _n._, 50, 58, 59, 63;\n    Chald\u00e6an, 69;\n    Avestan, 72, 85;\n    Egyptian, 89;\n    Irish, 49 _n._, 121-6, 128-9, 135, 137, 138, 140-4, 146 _n._, 147;\n    aristocratic theory of, 70, 143, 227.\n\n  Emer, 128-9.\n\n  End of world anticipated by early Church, 100-1.\n\n  Enniskillen, derivation of name, 135 _n._\n\n  Enoch, in Paradise, 46, 85, 98, 157, 179, 205;\n    to reappear for final battle, 163;\n    Book of, date, 94;\n    cited by St. Jude, _ibid._;\n    general character, 95;\n    summary, 95 _sqq._;\n    purgatorial theory, 194;\n    whether known in Ireland, 192 _n._;\n    compared with Dante, 95;\n    cited, 183 _n._, 198, 199.\n\n  Eochaid Airem, 122, 127.\n\n  Eochaid Glas Corpre, 149.\n\n  Epicurean school, influence of, in first century, 91.\n\n  Er, Vision of, 56 _sqq._, 59.\n\n  Eratosthenes, 88.\n\n  Erenach, the Irish, 40.\n\n  Eridu, 70.\n\n  Erigena, see \u2018Joannes Scotus E.\u2019\n\n  Erik Saga, 131.\n\n  Esdras, Vision of, in O. T. Apocrypha, 97, 182 _n._, 215 _n._;\n    in N. T. Apocrypha, 98.\n\n  Etain, 122, 127.\n\n  Ethne, wife of Mider, 127;\n    E. Taebfada, 143.\n\n\n  Fabian, Bishop of Rome, 45.\n\n  Failbhe, Abbot of Iona, 8.\n\n  Fand, 128-9.\n\n  F\u00e9lire Oengusa, 174, 205 _n._\n\n  Fercertue, 126 _n._\n\n  Fermoy, Book of, cited, 136 _n._, 157 _n._\n\n  Ferry to Hades, 67.\n\n  Fidelis, Irish traveller, 114.\n\n  Fiery circles in Paradise, 30, 187;\n    lakes, rivers, etc., of Otherworld, 36, 37, 96, 132, 133, 194;\n    wall, 43, 153, 187, 194, 202.\n\n  Filid, Irish literary order, 117.\n\n  Filippo Argenti, 169 _n._\n\n  Finnachta Fledach, \u00c1rd-R\u00ed of Ireland, accession, 14;\n    relations with Adamn\u00e1n, 13 _sqq._;\n    and Boruma tribute, 14 _sqq._;\n    mentioned in connection with emancipation of women, 45;\n    death, 17.\n\n  Finn cycle, 133.\n\n  Firghil, Irish bishop of Salzburg, 6 _n._, 115.\n\n  Fis, class of Irish romances, 120;\n    the Christian Fis, 165, 212;\n    _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, etc., see \u2018Adamn\u00e1n,\u2019 Etc.;\n    see also under \u2018Vision.\u2019\n\n  Fitzgerald, David, _Popular Tales of Ireland_, 153 _n._, 174 _n._\n\n  Fomorians, the, Chthonian powers, 121, 135 _n._\n\n  Food, miraculous, 126, 155-6, 208, 210.\n\n  Forgall Monach, 130.\n\n  Foucart, M. P., on the Greek mysteries, 52-5;\n    on the Isis cult, 89 _n._\n\n  Four Masters, the, cited, 18.\n\n  Fravashi, the, 86, 183.\n\n  Frederick II., Emperor, and Petrus Hibernicus, 6 _n._;\n    legend of disappearance of, 164 _n._\n\n  Friedel, Dr. V. H., joint editor of _La Vision de Tondale_, 212 _n._\n\n  Fursa, St., 166;\n    Visions of, 167 _sqq._\n\n\n  Gardner, Prof. P., on the Greek mysteries, 53 _n._, 54, 92 _n._;\n    on Greek sources of Christian eschatology, 92 _n._\n\n  Gelasius, 25.\n\n  Gilbert, Abbot of Louth, 234.\n\n  Gi\u00f6ll, Bridge of, 131.\n\n  Gisdubar, 69.\n\n  Good and evil, souls of mingled, fate of, 39, 72, 85, 112, 191, 201-2,\n      220-2.\n\n  Gorm and Bridge myth, 131.\n\n  Graal legend, parallels to Irish legends, 124 _n._, 131, 150, 154, 156,\n      184 _n._\n\n  Greece, visits to Otherworld, 49;\n    visions of Otherworld, 56 _sqq._;\n    Greece and Alexandria, 86 _sqq._;\n    intercourse with Egypt, 89 _n._;\n    philosophic schools under early Empire, 91;\n    influence on early Christian eschatology, 92 _n._;\n    Greek learning in Ireland, 115;\n    Greeks in Ireland, _ibid._;\n    traces in Irish tales, 151;\n    and see \u2018Elysium,\u2019 \u2018Tartarus,\u2019 \u2018Mysteries,\u2019 \u2018Hades,\u2019 \u2018Plato,\u2019\n       \u2018Plutarch,\u2019 \u2018Aristophanes.\u2019\n\n  Gregory I., Pope and Saint;\n    vision of Stephen, 110;\n    of a soldier, 111;\n    of a Spanish monk, 112.\n\n  Guide to Hades, 182;\n    in _Book of Enoch_, 95;\n    in _Vision of Esdras_, 98;\n    in _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 29, 181-2, 195;\n    in Irish legends, 121, 130, 167, 170, 214;\n    in Continental legends, 230.\n\n\n  Hades, the Greek, 50;\n    Virgilian, 66;\n    Chald\u00e6an, 70;\n    Christian, 92 _n._\n\n  Haemgils, 233.\n\n  Hara-berezaiti, Mount, 71 _n._\n\n  Harrowing of Hell legend, 101.\n\n  Healy, Dr., _Ireland\u2019s Ancient Schools and Scholars_, 4 _n._\n\n  Heaven, described: in the _Book of Enoch_, 96;\n    in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 30 _sqq._, 183 _sqq._;\n    in Irish legends, 158, 174, 223, 234;\n    as a Christian Church, 34, 164, 184;\n    the Seven Heavens, 35, 83, 84, 192;\n    and see \u2018Paradise.\u2019\n\n  Hebrews, see \u2018Jews.\u2019\n\n  Hell, in the _Book of Enoch_, 95-6;\n    Greek ideas in Christian, 109;\n    _Apocalypse of Peter_, 105;\n    _Paul_, 106;\n    St. Gregory, 112;\n    _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 38 _sqq._, 196 _sqq._;\n    other Irish visions, 158, 170-1, 172-3, 209, 219 _sqq._, 233, 235;\n    Continental legends, 231, 239;\n    of Oriental religions, 226 _n._;\n    as mouth of a monster, 215, 216, 235, 239;\n    Northern and Southern conception contrasted, 200 _n._, 202, 228.\n\n  Hellenism, in Persia, 76 _sqq._;\n    Syria, 68;\n    Egypt, 87-9;\n    Jewish schools, 68, 86-7.\n\n  Helmet of Irish \u00c1rd-R\u00ed, 32 _n._, 188.\n\n  Henry of Saltrey, 234.\n\n  Herakles, visit to Hades, 49.\n\n  Hermas, Shepherd of, 101 _sqq._;\n    anticipations of Dante, 103, 182 _n._\n\n  Hermits on islands, 154-7, 160, 191, 210, 211.\n\n  Herm\u00f6dr and Bridge myth, 131.\n\n  Herodotus cited, 33 _n._, 87, 88 _n._, 151.\n\n  Hesiod, Elysium, 50 _n._;\n    \u00e6ons, 79 _n._;\n    cited, 121 _n._\n\n  Hierarchies, nine celestial, 30, 185, 223-4.\n\n  Hilarius, Pope, reforms calendar, 9.\n\n  Homer, Elysium, 50;\n    island Paradise, 121;\n    _Odyssey_ cited, 152.\n\n  Horse-races of demons, 152.\n\n  Hull, Miss Eleanor, _Cuchullin Saga_, 130, 131.\n\n  Hyde, Dr. Douglas, _Literary History of Ireland_, 117 _n._, 128 _n._\n\n\n  Immanuel ben Salamone, 241 _n._\n\n  Imram, class of Irish romance, 120;\n    adopts Christian eschatology, 146, 157, 164;\n    Christian Imrama, 147, 150;\n    modern Imrama, 212;\n    of Bran, Maelduin, the Ui Corra, Snedgus and Mac R\u00edagla, St. Brendan,\n        Tadg Mac C\u00e9in; see \u2018Bran,\u2019 etc.\n\n  Indian mythology, parallels in, 29 _n._\n\n  Inferno, see \u2018Dante.\u2019\n\n  Initiation, see \u2018Mysteries.\u2019\n\n  Interpolations, Christian, in Irish heroic tales, 145-9.\n\n  Iona, monastery founded by St. Colm Cille, 8;\n    abbots of, 8;\n    opposition to Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s reform, 10;\n    apocryphal disputes with Adamn\u00e1n, 22.\n\n  Ireland: Church in seventh century, 4;\n    three orders of saints, 4;\n    asceticism, 24;\n    tribal organisation, 7, 15;\n    political activity, 6;\n    learning in, 5, 115;\n    connections with Gaul, 113;\n    with the East, 113-15;\n    intercourse with Greeks, 115;\n    Oriental type of monasticism, 114;\n    pilgrimages to Egypt, 114;\n    missionary activity, 5;\n    Irish scholars abroad, 5, 115;\n    Irish monastic foundations in foreign countries, 5, 166, 233 _n._\n\n  ---- Social ranks and classes, 116 _n._;\n    position of women, 18 _sqq._\n\n  ---- Political constitution, 14, 116 _n._;\n    the M\u00f3rd\u00e1il, 18.\n\n  ---- The literary class, 116-18;\n    the annals, authority of, 16, 17.\n\n  ---- Romantic literature: classification of stories, 118-19;\n    pagan elements, 119, 120;\n    ethical ideas, 144, 145, 147-8;\n    tolerance of clergy, 119, 209 _n._;\n    clerical interpolations, 145-9;\n    transition to Christianity, 146-7, 157, 164-5;\n    possible borrowings from the Norse, 131, 152;\n    from classics, 151-2;\n    loss of natural beauty, 247;\n    of music, 124, 139, 141, 159, 181, 189, 191, 247.\n\n  ---- Interrupted development of Irish literature and modern revival, 247.\n\n  _Isaiah, Vision of_, 98.\n\n  Isht\u00e2r, 69, 97.\n\n  Isis, cult of, in Gr\u00e6co-Roman world, 89 _n._;\n    treatise on Isis and Osiris, 88.\n\n  Island Paradise, 123, 151, 153-4, 157, 159, 160, 162-3, 184 _n._, 210.\n\n  Israel, see \u2018Jews.\u2019\n\n\n  Jews, contact with Oriental religions during captivity, 68, 82;\n    Persian mythology, 70;\n    Hellenic influences, 68, 86-7;\n    colonies in Asia and Alexandria, 86;\n    Egyptian ideas, 87-9;\n    Rabbinical legends, 84;\n    spiritism, 81;\n    eschatology, 89, 90, 191;\n    Purgatorial theories, 90;\n    influence on Christian conception of Paradise, 109.\n\n  Joannes Scotus Erigena, 6 _n._, 115.\n\n  John of Thessalonica, 107.\n\n  Jubinal, _La L\u00e9gende latine de St. Brendaines_, 207 _n._\n\n  Jude, St., Epistle of, cited, 71, 94, 99.\n\n  Judgment: of individual on demise, 37, 38, 71, 106, 195;\n    deferred till Last Judgment, 39, 40, 41, 191;\n    Last, 31, 47, 72 _n._, 96;\n    impatience of damned for, 43;\n    intensification of bliss and woe after, 202.\n\n\n  Karshipta, mystical bird of Avesta, 72, 73, 81, 85, 189.\n\n\n  Labraid Luathlam-ar-Claideb, 128.\n\n  Lagny, monastery, founded by St. Fursa, 167.\n\n  Laisr\u00e9n, St., Vision of, 169 _sqq._\n\n  Lanigan cited, 7 _n._\n\n  Lawrence, ed. of _Book of Enoch_, 95 _n._\n\n  Leanamh\u00e1n Sidhe stories, 127, 136.\n\n  Lebor Brec, 27.\n\n  Lebor na g-Cert, 117 _n._\n\n  Lebor na h-Udri, 27, 122 _n._, 127 _n._\n\n  Lenormant, _Origines de l\u2019Histoire_, cited, 69 _n._, 82.\n\n  Lerins, monastery of, 113.\n\n  Leuke, 50, 143.\n\n  _Lex innocentium_, 22.\n\n  _Lex talionis_, in punishments of Otherworld, 63, 105, 171, 231, 238.\n\n  Lia F\u00e1il, 134, 187.\n\n  Liban, 128.\n\n  _Limbus infantium_, 172, 238;\n    _Limbus patrum_, 172.\n\n  Lindus, temple of, initiation at, 56 _n._\n\n  Loeg, 128-9, 147.\n\n  Loingseach mac Oengusa, \u00c1rd-R\u00ed, 18.\n\n  Lothair, King of Lombards and Dungal, 6 _n._\n\n  Lucan cited, 49, 229 _n._\n\n  Lucian cited, 108, 109, 151.\n\n  Lucifer, in _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 38;\n    in Vision of Fursa, 167;\n    in Vision of Tundale, 220.\n\n  Lucretius on Tartarus doctrine, 109.\n\n  Lug, Irish god, 121.\n\n  Lugh mac Cethlenn, d\u00fan of, 135, 183 _n._\n\n  Lying excluded from Otherworld, 141-2, 143.\n\n\n  Macbeth, parallel in Conn legend, 135.\n\n  Machutus, St., and whale, 208 _n._\n\n  Mac Conglinne, Vision of, 123.\n\n  Maelduin\u2019s Curach, Voyage of, 120, 150 _sqq._\n\n  Magh Breg, 8;\n    M. Mell, 152, 183, 187, 189;\n    M. Mon, 125;\n    M. M\u00f3r, 122, 148 _n._;\n    M. R\u00e9in, 124.\n\n  Malachi, St., 25.\n\n  Malignant powers in Irish myth, 129, 130.\n\n  Malo, St., see \u2018Machutus.\u2019\n\n  Manann\u00e1n mac L\u00edr, 121, 123, 128, 143, 146, 147, 156;\n    converted into the Devil, 208.\n\n  Mangan, J. C, quoted, 148 _n._\n\n  Marcus, author of _Vision of Tundale_, 212, 225.\n\n  Marianus Scotus, 6 _n._\n\n  Martyrs, precedence of, in Paradise, 39, 188.\n\n  Mary, B. V., Vision at death of, 9, 107, 181;\n    in Paradise, 31, 185.\n\n  Median conquests, effects of, 70.\n\n  Megasthenes, possible borrowings from, 151.\n\n  Mercy, leaning of Irish divines towards, 201-2.\n\n  Meru, Mount, 81.\n\n  Metempsychosis, see \u2018Rebirth.\u2019\n\n  Meyer, Prof. Kuno, ed. of the _C\u00e1in Adamn\u00e1in_, 18;\n    of the _Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal_, 49 _n._, 122 _n._, 123 _n._;\n    of the _Tochmarc Emere_, 130 _n._;\n    of the _Echtra Nerai_, 132 _n._;\n    of the _Baile Mong\u00e1in_, 140 _n._;\n    of the _Vision of Laisr\u00e9n_, 169;\n    of _La Vision de Tondale_, 212 _n._;\n    of the _Vision of Mac Conglinne_, 123 _n._\n\n  Michael, Archangel, 35, 95, 182, 195, 230.\n\n  Mider, Irish god, 121, 122, 123, 128, 148 _n._\n\n  Miller, Demon, 152-3, 162.\n\n  Milton cited, 173 _n._, 201, 203, 204.\n\n  Mithra cult in Roman Empire, 75 _n._\n\n  Moling, St., and Boruma tribute, 14, 15.\n\n  Mong\u00e1n, 140 _n._, 147 _n._, 153.\n\n  Moore, Thomas, quoted, 159 _n._\n\n  Moran, Dr., _Ada Sancti Brendani_, 207 _n._\n\n  M\u00f3rd\u00e1il of Ireland, 18;\n    Adamn\u00e1n at, _ib._\n\n  Morgan, 136, 138.\n\n  Moses, contest between Michael and Satan for, 71.\n\n  Muirgheas mac P\u00e1idin ui Maoilchanaire, translator of _Visio Tundali_,\n      213 _n._\n\n  Mundus of Latin towns, 161 _n._\n\n  Murias, 122.\n\n  Music, Irish susceptibility to, 124, 139, 141, 159, 181, 189, 191, 247.\n\n  Musical cords to St. Peter\u2019s vessel, 29.\n\n  Musical stones, 31, 125, 181, 187.\n\n  Mysteries, Greek, 51 _sqq._;\n    origin, 52-3;\n    Eleusinian, 51-2, 54-6;\n    Orphic Pythagorean, 52-4;\n    orgiastic, 55;\n    connected with Demeter, 52;\n    Dionysos, 59;\n    Pythagoras, 52-3;\n    benefits of initiation, 52, 58-60;\n    moral teaching, 51-2, 54-6;\n    doctrine of future life, 52 _sqq._;\n    of rebirth, 54;\n    survival of, 108.\n\n\n  Nature, Irish love of, 158-9, 247.\n\n  Neid, 126 _n._\n\n  Neo-Platonism and the East, 76 _sqq._;\n    in interpretation of Greek myths, 51.\n\n  Nera, adventures of, 132.\n\n  Niamh Cinn \u00d3ir, 133.\n\n  Nicodemus, gospel of, 97, 101.\n\n  Norse, possible Irish loans from, 131, 152.\n\n  North, region of evil powers, 200.\n\n  Northumbria, Christianised from Ireland, 233 _n._\n\n  Numenius, 77.\n\n  Nutt, Mr. Alfred, _Essay on the Irish Vision of the Happy Otherworld\n      and the Celtic Doctrine of Rebirth_, 49 _n._, 92 _n._, 119 _n._,\n      122 _n._, 123 _n._, 131 _n._, 150, 155, 162 _n._, 172 _n._;\n    _Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail_, 124 _n._, 131 _n._,\n        150 _n._, 156 _n._;\n    on the Greek and Irish Elysium, 49 _n._;\n    on the Greek mysteries, 53 _n._, 59 _n._;\n    on the Greek sources of Christian eschatology, 92 _n._;\n    on the Ph\u0153nix legend, 155;\n    on the date of the voyage of Snedgus and Mac R\u00edagla, 162 _n._;\n        5 _n._, 28.\n\n\n  Oath of Irish Kings, 21.\n\n  O\u2019Curry, _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish_, 117 _n._, 122 _n._;\n    _MS. Materials of Irish History_, 162 _n._\n\n  O\u2019Donnells, the, of T\u00edr Conaill, 7.\n\n  O\u2019Donoghue, Rev. Denis, _Brendaniana_, 207 _n._, 208 _n._\n\n  Oengus \u00d3g, 121, 122.\n\n  O\u2019Flaherty, _Ogygia_, 14.\n\n  O\u2019Grady, Dr. Standish Hayes, _Silva Gadelica_, 14, 15, 212 _n._\n\n  O\u2019Hanlon, Very Rev. Canon, _Lives of the Irish Saints_, 4 _n._, 14, 18,\n      166 _n._\n\n  Ois\u00edn, 133.\n\n  Orpheus, 49, and see \u2018Mysteries\u2019;\n    Orpheus myth in Ireland, 127.\n\n  Otherworld, visits to, in Greek myths, 49;\n    Chald\u00e6a, 69;\n    in Irish traditions, 121, 133;\n    Connla, 126;\n    Cuchulainn, 127 _sqq._;\n    Conn, 134 _sqq._;\n    \u00c1rt, 138 _sqq._;\n    Cormac, 139 _sqq._;\n    and see \u2018Vision,\u2019 \u2018Imram.\u2019\n\n  ---- Descriptions, Chald\u00e6an, 69, 70, 193;\n    Avestan, 71 _sqq._;\n    Greek, 49 _sqq._;\n    in _Book of Enoch_, 96;\n    in _Apocalypse of Peter_, 105;\n    in ancient Ireland, 122-6, 128-30, 133-5, 137-44;\n    and see \u2018Elysium,\u2019 \u2018Paradise,\u2019 \u2018Hell,\u2019 \u2018Heaven,\u2019 \u2018Purgatory.\u2019\n\n  ---- Orthodox character of the ecclesiastical legend, 109;\n    of minor importance in the Western Church, 110.\n\n  Owen, Vision of, 234 _sqq._;\n    Dante parallels, 235.\n\n  Ozanam, _Dante et la Philosophie catholique_, 229 _n._\n\n\n  Paradise, Hebrew ideas in Christian, 109;\n    described in _Book of Enoch_, 96;\n    _Vision of Esdras_, 98;\n    _Revelation_, 100 _n._;\n    _Apocalypse of Peter_, 105;\n    by St. Gregory, 111;\n    in _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 29, 30;\n    in the Irish legendary, 157, 221, 233;\n    Paradise of Birds, 211;\n    Terrestrial Paradise in Irish legends, 153-4, 162-3, 210, 236;\n    and see \u2018Elysium,\u2019 \u2018Heaven.\u2019\n\n  _Paradiso_, see \u2018Dante.\u2019\n\n  Parnell, Mr., and the return myth, 164 _n._\n\n  Paschal controversy, 9, 10, 25.\n\n  Patrick, St., 45, 113, 182 _n._, 223;\n    pagan prophecy of his coming, 135;\n    hymn of, 21.\n\n  Patrick\u2019s Purgatory, St., 120, 225, 234 _sqq._;\n    closed, 237;\n    doubtful origin, 236;\n    popularity of legend, 234, 237;\n    influence on European literature, 237;\n    Dante parallels, 235, 238.\n\n  Paul, St., Vision of, 29, 99;\n    Revelation of, 106, 181;\n    medi\u00e6val vision of, 202 _n._, 230 _sqq._;\n    authority for Purgatory, 192 _n._;\n    guide to the Otherworld, 182 _n._\n\n  Pavia, University founded by Dungal, 6 _n._\n\n  Perceval (Peredur) romances, parallels to Irish legends, 131, 150, 154,\n      156, 184 _n._\n\n  Persian eschatology, see \u2018Avesta.\u2019\n\n  Peter, St., Vision of, 28, 181;\n    on purification of the world by fire, 99;\n    Apocalypse of, 105;\n    authority for Purgatory, 192;\n    guide to the Otherworld, 182 _n._\n\n  Peter, Spanish monk, Vision of, 111.\n\n  Petrus Hibernicus, 6 _n._\n\n  Philip, Roman Emperor, 45, 46 _n._\n\n  Philo Jud\u00e6us, 76 _sqq._\n\n  Ph\u0153nix legend, 85, 154-5, 189.\n\n  Pillar on enchanted island, 151, 160, 210.\n\n  Pindar on Elysium, 50 _n._;\n    cited, 121 _n._\n\n  Plato and the Otherworld legend, 56;\n    Vision of Er, 56 _sqq._, 111;\n    eschatology of, 57-8;\n    on the mysteries, 58;\n    rebirth, 57-8.\n\n  Plutarch, Vision of Thespesios, 60 _sqq._, 111, 118 _n._, 233 _n._;\n    eschatology of, 61 _sqq._;\n    the mysteries, 108;\n    Tartarus, 109;\n    early Neo-Platonist, 77;\n    _On Isis and Osiris_, 88.\n\n  Porter of Hades, 35, 69, 84, 193.\n\n  Promise, sacredness of, in Ireland, 140.\n\n  Psychopompos, see \u2018Guide to Otherworld.\u2019\n\n  Ptolemy I., 88;\n    Philadelphia, _ib._;\n    Euergetes, _ib._\n\n  P\u00fbitika sea, 72, 85, 184.\n\n  Pundgel, Australian divine bird, 73 _n._\n\n  Punishments in Otherworld, see \u2018Hell,\u2019 \u2018Tartarus\u2019;\n    Purgatorial, see \u2018Purgatory\u2019;\n    temporary, 35, 39, 40, 41, 49, 201-2;\n    classified, 40 _sqq._, 105, 171, 174, 199 _sqq._, 231;\n    respited periodically, 43, 160, 161, 232.\n\n  Purgatory: idea in Plato, 57;\n    in Plutarch, 61-4;\n    theories of the Rabbis, 90, 193-4;\n    in _Book of Enoch_, 194;\n    development in the early Church, 192-4;\n    in the _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 36, 178-9, 193-4;\n    in Irish legends, 160, 215 _sqq._, 225, 227, 233, 235;\n    in the _Vision of Alberic_, 239;\n    St. Patrick\u2019s, see \u2018Patrick\u2019s Purgatory, St.\u2019\n\n  Pythagoras and the mysteries, 52-3.\n\n\n  Rabbis, see \u2018Jews.\u2019\n\n  Ragozin, M. de, _Chald\u00e6a_, cited, 69 _n._;\n    _Media_ cited, 71 _n._\n\n  Ramsay, Sir W. M., on the Greek mysteries, 55-6.\n\n  Raphoe, M\u00f3rd\u00e1il at, 18.\n\n  Rebirth doctrine, in Plato, 54, 57-8;\n    Plutarch, 62, 64;\n    Virgil, 65;\n    rejected by the Persians, 80;\n    Chald\u00e6ans, _ib._;\n    Egyptians, 93;\n    Jews, 92-3.\n\n  Reeves, Bishop, ed. Adamn\u00e1n\u2019s _Life of St. Columba_, 4 _n._;\n    cited, 7 _n._, 11.\n\n  Renouf, M. Le Page, on the Egyptian theory of the future life,\n      89 _n._, 93.\n\n  Respite, periodical, of the damned, 43, 160, 161, 232.\n\n  Return myth of departed heroes, 163.\n\n  Revelation, Book of, 85, 98 _n._, 99, 100 _n._, 163 _n._, 183, 184,\n      190 _n._, 195, 198, 205.\n\n  Rhapsodical description of Paradise, 43, 73, 174, 205-6, 210.\n\n  Rhys, Professor, on Bran, 123 _n._\n\n  Rivers of Hell, 43, 151;\n    four, 43, 204.\n\n  Rohde, Professor, on the Greek mysteries, 53.\n\n  Ron\u00e1n, 7.\n\n  Ronat, 7, 20.\n\n  Ross, men of, 162-3, 191.\n\n  Ruad\u00e1n, St., 18, 24.\n\n\n  Sabbatarianism in early Irish Church, 161.\n\n  Saints, Land of, in _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 30;\n    three orders of Irish, see \u2018Ireland.\u2019\n\n  Saltair na Rann cited, 114.\n\n  Samoan ten Heavens, 83.\n\n  Satan, in _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 38;\n    in Vision of Fursa, 167;\n    in Vision of Tundale, 220;\n    in Voyage of St. Brendan, 208.\n\n  Sayce, Professor, on Chald\u00e6an eschatology, 70 _n._, 72 _n._, 82.\n\n  Scathach, realm of, 130.\n\n  Sc\u00e9l L\u00e1i Br\u00e1tha, 171, 205 _n._\n\n  Schr\u00f6der, _Sanct Brandan_, 207 _n._\n\n  Scone, stone of, 134.\n\n  Sedulius, 6 _n._\n\n  Segda Saerlabrad, 137-8, 144-5.\n\n  Segine, Abbot of Iona, 8.\n\n  Seneca on Tartarus doctrine, 109.\n\n  Seppelli, Signor, trans. Immanuel ben Salamone, 242 _n._\n\n  Sereth, 7.\n\n  _Serglige Conchulaind_, 127 _sqq._\n\n  Seth, journey to Paradise, 84, 97.\n\n  Seven, favourite mystic number, 83;\n    Heavens, 35, 83, 84, 192;\n    walls of Celestial City, 33, 185;\n    of Ecbatana, 33;\n    Hells of Rabbis, 90, 193;\n    Chald\u00e6an Spirits of Earth, 70, 81;\n    Persian Magnificent Deities, 81;\n    Amesha Spentas, 78, 81;\n    Philonic emanations, 81;\n    Archangels, 84.\n\n  Shakespeare cited, 201.\n\n  Shammai, school of, 90, 194.\n\n  Sheol, 96, 191.\n\n  Shepherd of Hermas, see \u2018Hermas.\u2019\n\n  Sibylline books, 101.\n\n  Sibyls, medium of revelation, 67, 104.\n\n  Silvester, Pope, 45.\n\n  Sinbad, 151, 208 _n._\n\n  Sliabh Daidche, 208.\n\n  Snedgus and Mac R\u00edagla, 147, 162 _sqq._, 184 _n._\n\n  Soldier, St. Gregory\u2019s vision of a, 111.\n\n  Soleus, see \u2018Thespesios.\u2019\n\n  _Somnium Scipionis_, 64, 229 _n._\n\n  Sorrows, two, of Heaven, 46, 174, 205.\n\n  Stephen, Vision of, 110.\n\n  Stoics and early Empire, 91;\n    destruction of world by fire, 91 _n._\n\n  Stones, vocal and musical, 31, 125, 135, 181, 187-8.\n\n  Stokes, Dr. G. T., _Ireland and the Celtic Church_, 114 _n._, 115.\n\n  ---- Dr. Whitley, editor of _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 25, 32 _n._, 35 _n._,\n      40 _n._, 41 _n._, 42 _n._, 44 _n._, 47 _n._, 188 _n._, 196 _n._;\n    on date of, 25;\n    _Saltair na Rann_, 114 _n._;\n    _Adventures of Cormac_, 139 _n._;\n    _The Irish Ordeals_, etc., 120 _n._;\n    _Voyage of Maelduin\u2019s Curach_, 151 _n._;\n    _Voyage of the Sons of Ua Corra_, 157 _n._;\n    _Imrum Snedghusa agus Mic R\u00edagla_, 162 _n._;\n    _A Middle Irish Homily_, 173 _n._;\n    Latin life of St. Brendan, 207 _n._, 210 _n._\n\n  Sunday respite of the damned, 43, 160, 161, 231.\n\n  Swallowing of guilty by demons, 38, 39, 89, 195-6, 198, 216, 218, 220,\n      228, 231, 235.\n\n  Syria, Hellenism in, 68;\n    Jewish colonies, 86;\n    and Irish Church, 113-15.\n\n\n  Tadg mac C\u00e9in, adventures of, 120, 148 _n._, 212 _n._\n\n  T\u00e1in Bo Aingen, 132.\n\n  Tara, Synod of, 18;\n    abandonment of, _ib._\n\n  Tartarus, in Plato, 57;\n    Aristophanes, 59;\n    Plutarch, 62;\n    Virgil, 65-6;\n    under Roman Empire, 109;\n    contribution to Christian Hell, _ib._;\n    none in Pagan Ireland, 129;\n    kindred conceptions, 129, 130, 139.\n\n  Tertullian, precedence awarded to martyrs, 188.\n\n  Tethra, god of Irish Underworld, 121, 126, 143.\n\n  Theophilus, Sergius, and Hyginus, voyage of, 184 _n._\n\n  Theseus, 49.\n\n  Thespesios, Vision of, 60 _sqq._\n\n  Throne of Deity, 31, 96, 158, 183 _sqq._;\n    parallels in myths of Chald\u00e6a, 70;\n    Ireland, 122, 137, 183.\n\n  Tigernach cited, 7 _n._, 18.\n\n  Timotheus of Alexandria, 88.\n\n  Tinne, 7, 29.\n\n  T\u00edr Aedha, 7 _n._\n\n  T\u00edr na n-\u00f3g, 133, 136;\n    T\u00edr Tairngire, 123 _sqq._, 126, 136, 139, 141, 142, 144, 148, 210.\n\n  Tonsure, Irish, 9.\n\n  Torach, cook of, 155.\n\n  Tradition, historical value of Irish, 16, 17.\n\n  _Transitus Mari\u00e6_, 107.\n\n  Tree of Life, 46, 70, 75, 84, 96, 98, 157, 163, 174, 179, 184, 189,\n        190 _n._, 224;\n    parallels in Irish myth, 124, 128, 134, 137, 140, 154-5, 190.\n\n  Tree, public, in Ireland, 134;\n    in the Italian republics, 135 _n._\n\n  Trinity, the, in medi\u00e6val visions, 188;\n    in Irish visions, 37, 167, 188.\n\n  Trionfo del Vaglio, Il, cited, 153.\n\n  Tuatha D\u00e9 Danann, 122, 126, 127, 129, 134, 136, 183 _n._\n\n  Tuathal Techtmar, 14.\n\n  Tundale, Vision of, 212 _sqq._;\n    influence on foreign literature, 224;\n    compared with _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 225;\n    with Dante, 225-9.\n\n  Turpin, Archbishop, 146 _n._\n\n\n  Ua Corra, Voyage of the sons of, 120, 147, 157 _sqq._, 183.\n\n  Ui N\u00e9ill, the, 15.\n\n\n  Vara of Yima, 72, 73, 85, 144, 189;\n    suggested derivation from Deluge tradition, 78 _n._\n\n  Varuna and Tethra, 121 _n._\n\n  Veil before the Throne, 30, 187;\n    over mystical islands, 152, 160, 187, 210.\n\n  Vend\u00eed\u00e2d cited, 71 _n._, 72 _n._, 73 _n._, 74, 76 _n._, 79 _n._, 80.\n\n  Victor, St. Patrick\u2019s angel, 182 _n._\n\n  Virgil and the vision of the Otherworld, 48, 64 _sqq._;\n    descriptions, 65 _sqq._;\n    follows received authorities, 65;\n    agreement with Aristophanes, _ib._;\n    eclecticism, 66;\n    artistic point of view, 66;\n    received as prophet by the Church, 67;\n    influence on development of the legend, _ib._;\n    on Dante, _ib._;\n    cited, 152, 173 _n._, 194, 203 _n._, 209 _n._\n\n  Vision of Otherworld, wide diffusion of the legend, 1 _sqq._;\n    in Greece, 56 _sqq._, 60 _sqq._;\n    Rome, 48, 64 _sqq._;\n    lines of development, 3, 48;\n    popularity with post-captivity Jews, 94;\n    in early Church, 98 _sqq._;\n    survival in homilies, folk-tales, etc., 111, 114;\n    special developments in Ireland, 23, 121;\n    Irish acquaintance with earlier visions, 116;\n    Irish vision-writers on the Continent, 206-7;\n    their influence on European literature, 224, 242 _sqq._;\n    on Dante, 243-5;\n    tendency to increase in horror, 225-6;\n    popularity in later Middle Ages, 229, 240;\n    diminished importance and increased number, 239 _sqq._\n\n  Visions of Adamn\u00e1n, Er, Thespesios, Enoch, Esdras, Apostles, Hermas,\n      St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Colm Cille, St. Fursa, St. Laisr\u00e9n, Tundale,\n      Drihthelm, Owen, Alberic, see \u2018Adamn\u00e1n,\u2019 etc.\n\n  Vohu Mano and Neo-Platonic Logos, 78 _n._\n\n\n  Wagner, A., editor of Vision of Tundale, 213 _n._\n\n  Waters of Life, 69, 84, 98, 190 _n._\n\n  West, abode of the dead, 29, 96.\n\n  Whale taken for island, 208.\n\n  Windisch, Professor, editor of _Fis Adamn\u00e1in_, 27, 34 _n._, 47 _n._;\n    date of _F. A._, 25;\n    ed. _Serglige Conchulaind_, 127 _n._\n\n  Women, status of, in Ireland, 19;\n    military service, 18-20;\n    emancipation, 18, 20-23;\n    liability for crimes, 21.\n\n  World-Sea, 72, 85.\n\n  Wright, _St. Patrick\u2019s Purgatory_, 229 _n._\n\n\n  Yama, Indian god of dead, 29 _n._, 74, 121.\n\n  Yehl, divine bird of Thlinkeets, 73 _n._\n\n  Yima, Persian god of dead, 72 _sqq._, 85, 121.\n\n\n  Zimmer, Professor, on date of the Voyage of Maelduin\u2019s Curach, 150,\n      157 _n._\n\n  Zoroastrianism, see \u2018Avesta.\u2019\n\n  Zu, Babylonian culture-bird, 73 _n._\n\nPrinted by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty at the\nEdinburgh University Press","title":"An Irish precursor of Dante : $b a study on the Vision of Heaven and Hell ascribed to the eighth-century Irish saint Adamn\u00e1n, with translation of the Irish text","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":83353}