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The Voyage of Bran (Old Irish: Immram Brain [maic Febail], meaning "The Voyage of Bran [son of Febail]") is a medieval 8th-century Irish language narrative.

Source

The date of composition has been assigned to the late 7th or early 8th century,[1][2] and the text is known to have been included in the lost 8th century codex Cín Dromma Snechtai.[3]

Although the conventional title Immram Brain identifies the tale-type as an immram (‘voyage’ tale), some scholars argue the work does count among the genuine immrama,[4] but rather be considered an echtra (‘adventure’ tale) and the title Echtrae Brain should be adopted, for indeed Echtra Bran maic Febail is the title (and categorisation) as occurs in the 11th century tale-list.[5][8] The constructed title Echtrae Brain ocus Tomaidm Locha Febuil has also been suggested.[9][10]

The tale may derive from the "otherworldly journey" material from Irish mythology, possibly of pan-Celtic origin[a][12] However there is a dissenting camp of scholars who hold that "these tales [echtrai] are literary compositions written within the Christian period".[12]

The concept of "voyage" has been widely used across the world in that time. While this specific set comes from Ireland, it can be compared with Classical sources such as the Odyssey and the Aeneid, some Scandinavian tales as well as other Brittonic tales told on what is now the United Kingdom, particularly those preserved from Wales (Y Mabinogion) and Brittany including Tristan and Yseult. The most recent translation is by Séamus Mac Mathúna (1985).[13]

Synopsis

Estructuralmente, El viaje de Bran es una combinación de poesía y prosa, con muchas estrofas cortas puntuadas por una narración en prosa más larga. Estas narraciones en prosa se conocen como sobres narrativos.

La historia se puede resumir de la siguiente manera: [14]

Bran mac Febail (modern spelling: Bran mac Feabhail) embarks upon a quest to the Otherworld. One day while Bran is walking, he hears beautiful music, so beautiful, in fact, that it lulls him to sleep. Upon awakening, he sees a beautiful silver branch in white bloom in front of him. He returns to his royal house, and among his retinue he spots a strangely dressed Otherworld woman,[15] who identifies the branch to be from an apple tree[16] (or tree of some fruit[17]) growing in land of Emain (or Emne),[b] and proceeds to sing a poem describing this Otherworld.[19]

Emain is a place of "lasting weather" (perpetually like spring or summer), without want of food or water, free from sickness or despair; it is otherwise called (or has a place called) Aircthech (‘Bountiful Land’) where dragonstones and crystals fall.[19][c] She instructs Bran to embark on a sea voyage to Emain, which she reveals to be a Land of Women, and disappears with the branch.[19] Bran gathers three companies of nine men apiece for the voyage, and his foster brothers were put in charge of each company.[22]

After traveling by boat for two days and nights, the group encounters the ocean deity Manannán mac Lir riding a chariot over the sea towards him. Manannán explains that while this may seem like a body of water to Bran and his crew rowing the coracle, it appears as an otherworldly flowery plain to the god. Manannán also foretells the birth of his son as Mongán mac Fiachnai in Ireland. Manannán then informs Bran that he will reach his goal by sundown.[23]

After parting ways with Manannán mac Lir, Bran's voyagers make a stop at the Isle of Joy, where the inhabitants just laugh and stare, and will not answer to calls. When Bran sends a scout ashore, he starts to laugh and gape just like the others. Bran abandons this crewman and sails on.[24]

He now approaches the Land of Women but is hesitant to go ashore. The leader of the land casts a magical clew (ball of yarn) at him, which sticks to his hand. She then tugs the boat ashore, and each man pairs off with a woman, Bran with the leader. There are three times nine "couches" available for all of them.[25]

During what seems to be one year's span, many more years have elapsed, while the men feast happily in the Land of Women,[25] until Nechtán mac Collbrain feels homesickness stir within him. The leader of the women is reluctant to let them go, and cautions them not to step upon the shores of Ireland, and counsel them to retrieve the man left abandoned on the Island of Joy. The group nears the shores of Ireland, and Bran shouts his own name to the people gathered on shore, but they do not recognize the name except as ancient legend. Nechtán cannot restrain himself and jumps off the boat, but the moment he sets foot ashore he turns into ashes.[26]

Bran and his company relate the rest of their story to the gathered people, and also hands over a written record of their voyage inscribed in ogam letters, and then sail across the sea, never to be seen again.[27]

Parallels

The poem shares similar themes and elements with other Irish immrama, such as The Voyage of Brendan and The Voyage of Máel Dúin, both written in early to mid-900.

For example, Both Bran's and Máel Dúin's voyagers reach an island of laughter or laughing people,[28] and in each case a crew member is left abandoned. And the material may possibly have been borrowed by the Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis, the Latin work on St. Brendan's voyage. Heinrich Zimmer contended that it led to the episode of the third latecomer being abducted by the demons (Navigatio 24), though Walter Haug [de] did not see this as an obvious parallel.[29] A different episode open to comparison is Brendan's abandonment of one of the monks to the psalm-singing choirs (Navigatio 17), although the situation in Brendan's case is a happy one and contrastive to Bran.[30]

Elsewhere, Bran is told of a tree with holy birds that all sing at the same time,[31] similar to what Brendan encounters in his voyage,[32] and Mael Duin encounters trees full of birds as well.[33]

However, some scholars emphasize that commonality of the voyage is only a superficial similarity, since the true immrama are "exclusively ecclesiastical in inspiration" in contrast to the echtrae (including Bran's Voyage) whose "central theme" is the voyage to the Celtic Otherworld.[34] However, there are specific points of close similarity also because the immrama do "draw to a limited extent on the motifs of the native secular literate (including the echtrae).[34]

Saint Brendan

The Voyage of Bran may have influenced the later story of Saint Brendan's voyage, owing perhaps to the similarity of the names of the leading figures.[35] The Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis stands out among other immrama since it mentions the terra repromissionis, which translates into Irish as Tír Tairngire (‘Land of Promise’), which is the term for the Otherworld in the secular tales.[34]

The stories are also similar in that at one point, one of the travellers is exorcised or left behind on an island, either by free will or as punishment for a sin.

Voyage of Máel Dúin

The Voyage of Bran has many parallels to The Voyage of Máel Dúin.[36][13]

  • The island of laughter is a common theme.[37][28] Bran and company visit the "Island of Joy." After being sent by Bran to investigate the island, one of Bran's men will not speak to the crew, only gaping at them, just like the inhabitants of the island. The man is then abandoned and left on the island.[38] Similarly in The Voyage of Máel Dúin, one of Máel Dúin's men is sent to investigate, cannot stop laughing, loses the ability to recognize his crew, and is eventually left behind.[39]
  • El motivo del mágico hilo de tracción es otro motivo que se encuentra en ambas obras. [37] Bran y compañía llegan a la "Isla de las Mujeres". Allí, son recibidos por muchas mujeres, bien alimentados, y una de las mujeres usa un ovillo de hilo para atrapar mágicamente a Bran. [40] En El viaje de Máel Dúin , la tripulación llega a una isla que alberga a diecisiete mujeres, que son hospitalarias con ellas. Cuando intentan irse, una de las mujeres lanza un ovillo de lana que mágicamente se adhiere a la mano de Diurán. [41] Pero este motivo aparece adicionalmente en otras obras, por ejemplo, el relato irlandés de los argonautas antepuesto a Togail Troí . [42]
  • Al final de la historia, los hombres de Bran saltan de la barcaza después de haber estado mágicamente en el mar durante cientos de años. Al tocar el suelo seco, se convierte en ceniza. [43] En El viaje de Máel Dúin , uno de los hermanos adoptivos intenta robar un collar y es reducido a cenizas por un gato mágico. [44] [se necesita fuente no primaria ]

Mabinogion

The Voyage of Bran may also be compared to the Welsh text Branwen Daughter of Llŷr from the Mabinogi. The parallels are not along the lines of plot, as with The Voyage of Brendan and The Voyage of Máel Dúin, but rather in similarity in the names of characters (Brân son of Febal vs. Bran son of Llŷr).[46][47]

But the parallel between the two figures is another point on which Celticists are of divided opinion.[d][45] It is pointed out that if Manawydan fab Llŷr has ah exact counterpart in Manannan mac Lir, then Brân has an Irish counterpart named Brón, though the latter is quite obscure.[45]

Classical sources

It has been pointed out that certain episodes in the Irish immrama bear striking resemblance to passages in classical works such as the Odyssey or the Aeneid.[48] Zimmer argued that The Voyage of Máel Dúin derived from the Aeneid, but this hypothesis was dismantled by William Flint Thrall.[4][49]

The mention of the sea god Manannán producing a human scion (Mongan) is analogous to Poseidon having ten sons begotten on human mothers residing on Atlantis as described by Plato, according to Thomas Johnson Westropp.[50] There is also a close resemblance between Atlantis being surrounded by concentric ringed walls made of metal (including orichalcum) and brazen ramparts around islands described in the immrama (Máel Dúin; Uí Corra),[50] and some resemblance to the findruine or white bronze "feet" or pillars underpinning the land of Emain, which the mysterious woman sings of in the Voyage of Bran.[51][52] The metal findruine (findrine) or "white bronze" is likened to orichalc by the Atlanticists.[52]

Alfred Nutt expressed skepticism over the notion that the Celtic Otherworld was founded on the Classical Greek Elysium, and contrasts the free-love milieu of the Land of Women in Bran's Voyage with Virgil's Elysium of chastity.[53]

Manuscript sources

  • Dublin, RIA, Lebor na hUidre, pp. 121a-24 (originally, f. 78). Diplomatic edition: 10088-10112.
  • Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawlinson B 512, f. 119al-120b2 (originally, f. 71–72).
  • Dublín, RIA MS 23 N 10 , págs. 56–61.
  • Londres, Museo Británico , MS Egerton 88 , f. 11b (col. 2) - 12a y f. 13a (cols. 1-2).
  • Londres, Museo Británico, MS Harleian 5280 , f. 43a-44b.
  • Estocolmo, Biblioteca Real, MS Vitterhet Engelsk II, f. 1b-4.
  • Londres, Museo Británico, Add. 35090.
  • Dublín, TCD , MS H 4.22 , f. 48b17-50a6 y f. 40–53. Incompleto.
  • Dublin, TCD , Libro amarillo de Lecan (= H 2.16, MS 1318). Cols. 395–398.

Ediciones y traducciones

  • Mac Mathúna, Séamus, ed. (1985). Immram Brain - El viaje de Bran a la tierra de las mujeres . Tubinga: Max Niemeyer Verlag. Texto irlandés @CELT.
  • Murphy, Gerard, ed. (1956). "Manannán, dios del mar, describe su reino a Bran y predice el nacimiento de Mongán". En Letras de principios del irlandés, siglos VIII al XII , ed. Gerard Murphy. Oxford: Clarendon Press, págs. 92-100.
El poema "Caíni amra laisin m-Bran" como se conserva en MS 23 N 10 . Texto irlandés @CELT.
  • Hamel, AG van , ed. (1941), Immrama , Mediaeval and Modern Irish 10, Dublín: Instituto de Estudios Avanzados de Dublín
  • Meyer, Kuno (1895), Voyage of Bran son of Febal to the land of the living, 2 vols., Alfred Nutt (summary), London: D. Nutt; Nutt (1897), vol. 2.

See also

  • Aeneid
  • Gulliver's Travels
  • Odyssey
  • Sinbad the Sailor

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ Commonality with acquisition of otherworldly treasures, named in Welsh triads, as according to Carney.[11]
  2. ^ The land is initially called Emain (¶3, ¶10) bu later given as Emne(¶19, ¶60).[18]
  3. ↑ Drgonstone, o dragontia en latín, está escrito por Plinio y supuestamente ocurre en cerebros de dragones. [20] Dado que se menciona en Immram Brain ¶12 parece sugerir que se lava en el mar, una teoría es que los irlandeses aparentemente lo asociaron con el ámbar. [21]
  4. ↑ Patrick Sims-Williams afirma que él mismo está menos convencido que Carney acerca de derivar el Welsh Brân del viajero irlandés. También nombra a Proinsias Mac Cana y Glyn E. Jones entre los escépticos, y a Rachel Bromwich como proponente.

Referencias

Citas
  1. ^ Carney (1976) , p. 174.
  2. ^ Olsen (2013) , p. 58.
  3. ^ Carney (1976) , p. 175.
  4. ↑ a b Thrall, William Flint (1923). Manly, John Matthews (ed.). Peregrinaciones del mar clerical y el Imrama. Los estudios del aniversario varonil en lengua y literatura . Prensa de la Universidad de Chicago. pag. 276 n2. ISBN 9780598933362.
  5. ^ Dillon, Myles (1948). Literatura irlandesa temprana p. 107 (págs. 101-130), apud Dumville (1976) , pág. 87
  6. ^ Dumville (1976) , págs.87, 91.
  7. ↑ Byrne, Mary E. (transcrito por) (1908). Bergin, DO ; Mejor, RI ; Meyer, Kuno ; O'Keeffe, JG (eds.). Anécdota de manuscritos irlandeses . 2 . Halle a. S .: Niemeyer. pag. 144.
  8. ^ "Lista B", incrustado en la historia Airec menman Uraird maic Coisse . [6] La historia se conserva en los manuscritos RIA 23 N. 10 , Rawlinson B 512 y Harleian 5280. [7]
  9. ^ Carney, James (1976). "El material más antiguo de Bran" apud Dumville (1976) , p. 86
  10. ^ Carney (1976) , p. 191.
  11. ^ Carney, James (1955). "El elemento externo en la saga irlandesa", págs. 276–323, apud Dumville (1976) , págs. 74–75
  12. ↑ a b Dumville (1976) , págs. 74–75.
  13. ↑ a b Mac Mathúna (1985) .
  14. ↑ Meyer (1895) (ed. Tr.) El viaje de Bran 1 : 1-17. Nutt, Alfred . " Resumen de la presentación de Bran del feliz otro mundo " El feliz otro mundo en la literatura mítico-romántica de los irlandeses , 1 : 141-143
  15. ^ ¶2. Meyer (1895) , 1 : 1-5.
  16. ^ eDIL sv " aball ".
  17. ^ Meyer (1895) , pág. 4, nota 2.
  18. ^ Meyer (1895) , pág. 10, n3; pag. 28, n 7.
  19. ^ a b c Immram Brain ¶3–30 (estrofas de poemas). Meyer (1895) , 1 : 5-15
  20. ^ Plinio, ' La Historia Natural 37.57
  21. ^ Kitson, Peter (1984). "Las joyas y el pájaro Hiruath de la 'lengua siempre nueva ' ". Ériu . 35 : 122, n. 56. JSTOR 30007780 . 
  22. ^ Immram Brain ¶31-32. Meyer (1895) , 1 : 16-17
  23. ^ Immram Brain (estrofas del poema). Meyer (1895) , 1 : 16-29
  24. ^ Cerebro de Immram ¶61. Meyer (1895) , 1 : 28–31
  25. ^ a b Immram Brain ¶62. Meyer (1895) , 1 : 30–31
  26. ^ Immram Brain ¶63–65. Meyer (1895) , 1 : 32–35
  27. ^ Cerebro de Immram ¶66. Meyer (1895) , 1 : 34–35
  28. ↑ a b Strijbosch (2000) , pág. 155.
  29. ^ Strijbosch (2000) , pág. 156.
  30. ^ Strijbosch (2000) , págs.157 , 170.
  31. ^ Meyer (1895) párr. 7, págs. 6-7; Hamel (1941) , pág. 10 apud Carney (1986) , pág. 102 n63
  32. ^ Selmer, ed. (1959) Navigatio págs. 22-25 apud Carney (1986) , pág. 102 n63
  33. ^ Stokes (1888) Cap. XIX, pág. 495; Hamel (1941) , pág. 39 apud Carney (1986) , pág. 102 n63
  34. ↑ a b c Dumville (1976) , pág. 82.
  35. ^ Dunn (1921) , pág. 447.
  36. ^ Oskamp, ​​Hans PA (1970). El viaje de Máel Dúin . Groningen: Publicación Wolters-Noordhoff. págs. 101-179.
  37. ^ a b Mackley (2008), pp. 56–57.
  38. ^ Meyer (1895) ¶61 pp. 28–31
  39. ^ Stokes (1889) Ch. 31, pp. 78–79
  40. ^ Meyer (1895) ¶62 pp. 30–31
  41. ^ Stokes (1889) Ch. 28, pp. 62–63
  42. ^ Stokes (1888), p. 449.
  43. ^ Meyer (1895) ¶65 pp. 32–35
  44. ^ Stokes (1888) Ch. 11, pp. 476–479
  45. ^ a b c Sims-Williams, Patrick (2011), Irish Influence on Medieval Welsh Literature, Oxford University Press, pp. 13–14 and n71, ISBN 0-19-958865-1
  46. ^ Carney (2007a), pp. 168ff and Carney (2007b) Ireland and the Grail, pp. 60–64 apud Sims-Williams.[45]
  47. ^ Ford, Patrick K., ed., tr. (2019) [2008], "Branwen Daughter of Llŷr", The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales (2 ed.), Berkeley: University of California Press, p. 55, ISBN 9780520974661
  48. ^ Dunn (1921), p. 438.
  49. ^ Dumville (1976), p. 76.
  50. ^ a b Westropp (1912–1913), p. 236.
  51. ^ Immram Brain ¶6/ Meyer (1895), pp. 6–7
  52. ^ a b Joseph, Frank (2004), Survivors of Atlantis: Their Impact on World Culture, Simon and Schuster, ISBN 9781591439653
  53. ^ Meyer (1895), 1: 290–291.
Bibliography
  • Carney, James (1976), O'Meara, John J.; Naumann, Bernd (eds.), "The earliest Bran material", Latin Script and Letters AD 400–900. Festschrift presented to Ludwig Bieler on the occasion of his 70th birthday, Leiden: E. J. Brill, pp. 174–193, ISBN 9789004258235 [= Carney (2000) (reprint)]
    • —— (2000), Wooding, Jonathan M. (ed.), "The earliest Bran material", The otherworld voyage in early Irish literature. An anthology of criticism, Four Courts Press, pp. 73–90, ISBN 9781851827480
  • —— (1986), "The Heavenly City in Saltair na Rann", Celtica, 18: 87–104
  • —— (2007a), Jankulak, Karen; Wooding, Jonathan M. (eds.), "Bran son of Febal and Brân son of Llŷr", Ireland and Wales in the Middle Ages, Dublin: Four Courts Press, pp. 168–179, ISBN 9781851827480
  • —— (2007b), Ireland and the Grail, Celtic Studies Publications, ISBN 9781891271151
  • Dumville, David N. (1976). "Echtrae e Immram: algunos problemas de definición". Ériu . 27 : 73–94. JSTOR  30007669 .
  • Dunn, Joseph (enero de 1921). "El problema de Brendan" . La Revista Histórica Católica . 6 (4): 395–477.
  • Mackley, Jude (2008). La leyenda de San Brendan: un estudio comparativo de las versiones latina y anglo-normanda . RODABALLO. ISBN 9789047442806.
  • Olsen, Karin E. (2013), "Female Voices from the Otherworld : The Role of Women in the Early Irish Echtrai", Airy Nothings: Imagining the Otherworld of Faerie from the Middle Ages to the Age of Reason: Essays in Honour of Alasdair A. MacDonald, Brill, pp. 57–74, ISBN 9789004258235
  • Stokes, Whitley (1888), "The voyage of Mael Duin (chapters I–XIX)", Revue Celtique, 9: 447–495, archived from the original on 18 January 2010
  • —— (1889), "The voyage of Mael Duin (chapters XX–XXXIV)", Revue Celtique, 10: 52–72, archived from the original on 24 February 2011
  • Strijbosch, Clara (2000). The Seafaring Saint: Sources and Analogues of the Twelfth Century Voyage of Saint Brendan. Translated by Summerfield, Thea. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 9781851824830.
  • Westropp, Thomas Johnson (1912-1913). "Brasil y las islas legendarias del Atlántico norte: su historia y su fábula. Una contribución al problema de la Atlántida". Actas de la Real Academia Irlandesa: Arqueología, Cultura, Historia, Literatura . 30 : 223–260. JSTOR  25502810 .
Otras lecturas
  • Hull, Vernam E. (1960-1961). " Un pasaje en Imram Brain ". ZCP 28 : 256–7.
  • —— (1930). " Una versión incompleta del Imram Brain y cuatro historias sobre Mongan ". ZCP 18 : 409-19.
  • Mac Cana, Proinsias (1975). "On the 'prehistory' of Immram Brain." Ériu 26: 33–52.
  • —— (1976). "The sinless otherworld of Immram Brain". Ériu 27: 115–195. [= Mac Cana (2000) (reprint)]
    • —— (2000), Wooding, Jonathan M. (ed.), "The sinless otherworld of Immram Brain", The otherworld voyage in early Irish literature. An anthology of criticism, Dublin: Four Courts Press, ISBN 9781851827480-->
  • —— (1972). "Mongán Mac Fiachna and Immram Brain." Ériu 23: 104–42.