French Literature Reviews - 2026

Benedeit Le voyage de saint Brendan
Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Benedeit
Le voyage de Saint Brendan.
Bilingual edition: French - Old French
Text, translation, introduction and notes by Ian Short and Brian Merrilees

Honoré Champion
Series: "Champion classiques - Moyen Age"
2006
ISBN: 2-7453-1479-3
206 pages
8 euros

Publisher's overview:

The Voyage of Saint Brendan (early 12th century) belongs to the genre of fantastical pilgrimages to the Otherworld that so fascinated the Celtic Middle Ages. Brendan, a legendary Irish monk whose historical prototype lived in the 5th century, voyages among the enchanted islands of the Atlantic in search of the Earthly Paradise. The source text for Benedeit's (Benoît) Anglo-Norman poem is the Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis, dating back to the 10th century or even earlier. The editors present this extraordinary tale of exploration and adventure as a spiritual odyssey, placing it within the long tradition of inspired poetry running from Antiquity to the Divine Comedy.

The Voyage of Saint Brendan is an early 12th-century Anglo-Norman poem that belongs to the genre of fantastical pilgrimages to the Otherworld that so fascinated the Celtic Middle Ages. The source text for Benedeit's poem is the Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis, dating back to the 10th century or even earlier. Brendan is a legendary Irish monk whose historical prototype lived in the 5th century, and who voyages among the enchanted islands of the Atlantic in search of the Earthly Paradise.

Readers interested in medieval literature may find this bilingual volume relevant. Ian Short and Brian Merrilees provide an edition that includes the Old French text alongside a translation, introduction and notes. The publication presents the tale of exploration and adventure as a spiritual odyssey, placing it within the long tradition of inspired poetry running from Antiquity to the Divine Comedy.