BIBLIOGRAPHICAL WORKS

http://www.arlima.net/mp/navigatio_sancti_brendani.html
http://www.arlima.net/uz/vita_sancti_brandani_abbatis.html
http://www.arlima.net/ad/actus_sancti_brandani.html
BHL 1: 21–18; Supp. 59–60, New Supp. 16–65.
Bosner, W. Anglo–Saxon and Celtic Bibliography, 1450–1807. 2 vols. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1957, vol. 1, nos. 6238–82.
• Lapidge, Michael, and Richard Sharpe. A Bibliography of Celtic–Latin in Literature, 400–1200. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1985, no. 362, pp. 105–6.
Selmer, C., ed. Navagatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis: From Early Latin. Publications in Medieval Studies 16. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959; rpt, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1989.
Selmer, C., ed. “The Vernacular Translations of the Navagatio Sancti Brendani: A Bibliographical Study.” Medieval Studies 18 (1956): 145–57.

SOURCES

Auracher, Theodor, ed. “Der Brandan der Arsenalhandschrift BLF 283.” Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie 2(1878):438–57. Diplomatic edition of the Old French verse version of Brendan’s Voyage.
Balz, Martha. Die M.E. Brendanlegende des Gloucesterlegenders: Kritisch herausgegeben mit einleitung. Berlin: Mayer & Müller, 1909. Introduction covers the manuscript tradition, sources, meter, and language. Presents a critical edition of the Middle English text.
Bartsch, Karl. “Saint Brendan.” La Langue et les litrératures françaises depuis le ixe jusqu’au xie siécle. Paris: Maisonneuve & C. Leclerc, 1887, vv. 69–83. Critical edition of Old French verse versions.
Bayard, Jean-Pierre. La légende de Saint-Brendan, découvreur de l'Amérique; légende du IXe siècle d'après la traduction romane de Achille Jubinal. Paris: Guy Trédaniel : Éditions de la Maisnie, 1988. Modern French version with introduction and commentary.
Bayerschmidt, Carl F., and Carl Selmer. “An Unpublished Low German Prose Version of the Navagatio Sancti Brendani.” Germanic Review 30 (1955): 83–91. An edition of the text found on four unnumbered leaves of the Legenda aurea of the British Library (3851 ee 16), accompanied by information on source, rendition, provenance, scribe, and dialect.
Bellemans, A. T. W. De reis van Sente Brandane, naar den Comburgschentekst. Antwerp: Nederlandsche Boekhandel, 1942.An edition of the Middle Dutch verse version with an  introduction and bibliography.
Benz, Richard. Sanct Brandans Meerfahrt. Jena: Diederichs, 1927. Modernized edition of the Volksbuch.
Bergsma, Jan. Bijgdrage tot de wordingsgeschiedenis en de Critiek der Middelnederlandsche Brandaen–Teksten. Groningen: B. Wolters, 1887. Middle-Dutch text.
Bonebakker, E. Van Sante Brandane naar het Comburgsche en het Hulthemsche Handschrift, opniew uitgegeven. Amsterdam: Binger, 1894.
Brill, W. G. “Van sinte Brandaen in Panthalioen, naar het utrechtsche Handschrift.” Bibliotheek van middelnederlandsche Letterkunde 6 (1871): 1–77 (Groningen: 1871). A translation dating from the thirteenth or fourteenth century of a German rhymed version, now lost.
Bute, The Marquess of (John P. C. Stuart). “Brendan’s Fabulous Voyage.” The Scottish Review 21(Jan. and April 1893):35–73; rpt. “St. Brendan.” County Louth Archeological Society Journal 2(1909):109–23. Synopsis of the Voyage with general introductory remarks as an annual address to the society. Supports idea of the voyage as imaginary rather than factual.
Dahlberg, Torsten, ed. Brandaniana: Kritische Bemerkungen zu den Untersuchungen uber die deutschen und niederlandischen Brandan. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis 64 (1958), part 5: 1–149. An edition of the Middle Low German poem. Introduction discusses the tradition of the work, the mss and printed editions, and the relationship of the poem to other German versions. Includes bibliography.
Draak, Maartje. De Reis van sinte Brandaan. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1949. Combines text from Brill (above) with variants from earlier edition. Provides facing modern Dutch translation by Bertus Aafjes.
Fay, Rolf D. Sankt Brandan: Zwei Frühneuhochdeutsche Prosafassung. Stuttgart: Helfant, 1985. Critical edition based on edition by Anton Sorg (1476) and Gabriel Rollenhagens.
Gardiner, Eileen. Visions of Heaven and Hell before Dante New York: Italica Press, 1989, 81–127. English translation of the Navagatio with notes and bibliography.
Geck, Elisabeth, ed. Sankt Brandans Seefahrt. Faksililedruck d. Originalausg. Augsburg urn 1476. Wiesbaden: Pressler, 1969. Facsimile of incunabulum.
Grignani, Maria Antonietta. Navagatio Sancti Brendani, La navagazione di San Brandano. Milan: Bompiani, 1975.
Hamel, Anton Gerardus van. Primitieve Ierse Taalstudie. Amsterdam: Noord–Hollandsche, 1946. Old Irish text.
Hilka, A. Drei Erzählungen aus dem didaktischen Epos “L’image du Monde” (Brandanus – Nature –Secundus). Halle: M. Niemeyer, 1928, 1–49.
Horstmann, Carl. Early South English Legendary. Early English Text Society  87. London: E.E.T.S., 1887, 220–40. Rpt. Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen 53 (1874):16–48. Edition of metrical thirteenth-century Middle English text, based on Laud 108, Harley 2277, Ashmol 43, Vernon 107, Lambeth 223 and Trinity College Cambr. R. 3, 25.
Jubinal, Achille. La Légende latine de S. Brendaines avec une traduction inédite en prose et en poèsie romanes. Paris: Teuchner, 1836, 105–6. An edition of the Provencal fragment of 1740 verses, introduced by Gautier de Metz in the second edition of his Image du Monde. Based on Paris B.N. Fr. 1444.
Marchand, Jean. L’autre monde au Moyen Age. Poèmes et récits de la vielle France 17. Paris: Boccard, 1940, 117–83. Provides a brief introduction, bibliography, and French translation of the Anglo–Norman text of Benoit.
Martin, Ernst, ed. “Die Lateinisehe Ubersetzung der altfranzösischen Gedichts auf St. Brendan.” Zeitschrift für deutsches Altherthum 16 (1873): 289–322. Diplomatic edition of the thirteenth-century metrical translation of the Anglo–Norman poem into Latin. B.L. Cotton Vesp. D. ix.
Meyer, Kuno. “Ein mittelirisches Gedicht den Meerfahrer.” Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 76 (1912): 436–43.
Meyer, Paul. “Legendes Hagiographiques en Français.” Histoire Litteraire de la France. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1906, 33: 341–42, 378–458. Lists French octosyllabic verse versions by Benoit (c.112 1) (mss: London, B.L. Cotton. Vesp. B.x; Oxford, Bodi. Rawllnson, misc. 1370; Paris B.N. Nouv. acq. ft. 4503 [formerly Ashburnham 112]; York, Chapter Library 16 K 12); and a thirteenth-century version (Arsenal 3516) edited in Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie (see Auracher above); and a version introduced by Gautier of Metz (see Jubinal above). Description of prose versions dispersed throughout discussion on pp. 378–458.
Meyer, Wilhelm. “Die Uberlieferung dei deutschen Brandanslegende.” Ph.D. Diss.: University of Gottingen, 1918. Discusses the prose Brendan legend, the mss, their relationships, reviewing previous research, and in an appendix examines the preservation in the prose text of rhyme words from the verse versions, and the depiction of the legend in the graphic arts.
Michel, Francisque, ed. Les voyages merveilleux de Saint Brendan à la recherche du paradis terrestre. Legende en vers du xe siècle, publié d’apres le manuscrit du Musée Britannique. Paris: A. Claudin, 1878. Diplomatic edition of Anglo–Norman text based on London, B.L. Cotton Vesp. B. x., with an introduction covering earlier editions and the historic background of the legend, and providing a brief description of the narrative.
Moltzer, H. E., ed. “Levers en Legenden van heiligen Brandaen in Panthalioen, naar het utrechtsche Handscbrìft.” Bibliotheek van middelnederlandsche Letterkunde (XVL). Leiden: Sijthoff; Groningen: Wolters, 1891. Edition of Middle Dutch text with brief introduction.
Moran, Patrick F., ed. Acta Sancti Brendani. Dublin: William Bernard Kelly, 1872, 85–131. Latin documents connected with the life of Brendan, including the prose and metrical Vitae, the Oratio, and the Navagatio (critical edition).
Muller, J.W. “Brandaris en Sint-Brandarius.” Nederl. Tidskr. en Letterk. 16 (1895).
Muller, J.W. “Nog jets over Sint–Brandarius.” Nederl. Tidskr. en Letterk 18 (1897).
Muller, J.W. “Sporen van Oudermansche en andere overleverindgen in middeleeuwsch–Nederlandsche Geschriften.” Nederl. Tidskr. en Letterk. 30 (1911).
Novati, Francesco, ed. La “Navagatio Sancti Brendani” in antico veneziano. Bergamo: Istituto d’ arti grafiche, 1892 and 1896; rpt. Bologna: Forni, 1973. Edition of the Venetian (Italian) prose version based on a unique ms (Ambrosiana D. 158 inf.). Includes a ms description and extensive discussion of the language of the Venetian version. Discusses the major versions, the four Italian versions (all prose) and the ms; includes a literary introduction describing the narrative. Review by C. Boser, Romania 22 (1893): 578–90.
O’Donoghue, Denis, ed. and trans. Brend niana: St. Brendan the Voyager in Story and Legend. Dublin: Browne & Nolan, 1893. A collection of material in English relating to Brendan, including an account of the cathedral at Ardfert–Brendan; translations of the Irish “Life of Brendan”; the Latin Navagatio (pp. 111–75), and the Latin “Life”; Legends of Brendan; geographic lore regarding Irish settlements in North America before the tenth century; a description of a pilgrimage to Brandon Mountain (6/28/1868); appendix includes the Early English metrical life and the Early English prose life of Brendan.
O’Kelly, John Joseph. Beata Bréandain. A Imteahta is a iomráma. Dublin: M. H. Macguill, 1915. Irish text. Includes bibliography.
O’Meara, John, trans. The Voyage of Brendan: Journey to the Promised Land. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press. 1976.Includes introduction. English text is a translation from Latin based on edition by Selmer. Brief introduction treats the Brendan/America question and literary questions, such as the appeal of the narrative and its stylistic qualities of symmetry and repetition. Sees the work as a stylized, abstract, non–naturalistic narrative that shows sophistication and humor. Discusses his translation in the light of the need for one that is accessible.
Orlandi, Ioannes, ed. Navagatio Sancti Brendani. Testi e documenti per lo studio dell’ antichità 38. Milan and Varese: Istituto Editoriale Cisalpino, 1968. Discusses mss and redactions of Latin and Irish versions; the relationship between the Vita and the Navagatio, the relationship of the Navagatio to the imrama and to other visions of heaven and hell, and the date and place of composition. Includes bibliography. This volume was apparently designed as a first volume, with the second as an edition of the Latin text, but it is not clear that this second volume was ever published.
Oskamp, H.P.A., ed. De reis van Sente Brandane, naar de versie in het Comburgsche handschrift. Zutphen: Thieme, 1972.
Pfitzner, Erich. Das angionormanische Gedicht von Brandan als Quelle einer lateinischen Prosafassung. Halle: Karras, 1910; rpt. Zeitschrift fur RomanischePhilologie 35 (1911): 31–66. Comparison of versions. Dissertation: Halle–Wittenburg.
Plummer, Charles. Bethada Náem nErenn: Lives of Irish Saints. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922, 1: 44–95, 2: 44–92. Includes the prose Life of Brendan (1:44–95, 2:44– 92), based on Brussels, B.R. 4190–200; and the verse Twelve Apostles of Ireland or Brendan 11(1:98–102, 2:93–98), based on the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum (Dublin, Royal Irish Academy); London, BL. Egerton 1781; and Brussels B.R. 2324–40 and 5100–4. Vol. 1 contains an introduction (xvi–xxv) discussing the relationship between the vitae and the Navagatio and editions of the Irish texts; vol. 2 contains English translations.
Plummer, Charles. Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910, 1:xxxvi–xliii, 98–151; 2:270–94.A Latin edition of the Vita S. Brendani that has the Navagatio (ch. 12–66) embedded in the text; a Vita that is actually a peculiar Latin recension of the Navagatio; plus curious satirical verses on the Navagatio. Introduction discusses the mss and the relationship of various Latin versions and the Anglo–Norman poem.
Riber, Lorenç. “Els camins del Paradis perdut.” Biblioteca Literària 31(1920):2–189. Rpt. in Lorenç Riber. Obres completes. Barcelona: Editorial Selecta, 1949, 1245–1319.
Ruhe, Ernstpeter, ed. Le Voyage de Saint Brendan. Klassische Texte des Romanischen Mittelalters in zweisprachigen Ausgaben 16. Munich: W. Fink, 1977. Text in Old French text by Benedeiz and parallel translation in German. Includes bibliography and list of mss.
Schröder, Karl. Sanct Brandan: Eine lateinischer und drei deutsche Texte. Erlanger: E. Besold, 1871. Latin prose edition based on two manuscripts and the edition of Jubinal; three German editions; two in verse (Middle German, thirteenth-century, Berlin Germ. Oct. 56; and Middle Low German, fifteenth century, Wolfenbüttel, Helmstädt 1203) and one in prose based on several printed editions.
Schröder, Karl. “Zum Brandan.” Germania: Viertel-jahrsschrift für Deutsche Alterthumskund 16 (1871):60–74. Compariosn of the texts of the Netherlandisch and the Low German poetic versions of the Brendan legend.
Selmer. Briefly discusses the historical Brendan, the nature of the literary text, the manuscripts — of which there are 120 of the Latin prose version; discusses fully the eighteen manuscripts that he uses for his text. Provides a Latin edition with extensive notes, appendices of Latin editions and Latin mss. Includes an extensive bibliography up to 1959 (pp. 117–32). lengthy and substantive review by J. Carney (Medium Aevum 32 (1963): 37–44) deals primarily with certain names, the date and relationship of the NB to other Irish voyage literature.
Sherwood, Margaret Merriam. “Le Voyage de Saint Brandan: An Anglo–Norman Poem of the Twelfth Century.” Ph.D. Diss.: Columbia University, 1918. Includes introduction, notes, glossary and bibliography.
Short, Ian and Brian Merrilees, ed. The Anglo–Norman Voyage of St. Brendan. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1979.Benedeit’s text in Anglo–Norman verse with introduction and notes in English. Includes bibliographical references and index. Includes list of Anglo–Norman manuscripts.
Steinweg, Carl. “Die handschriftlichen gestaltungen der lateinischen Navagatio Brendani.” Romanische Forschungen 7 (1893):1–48. A study of seventy–four mss to determine the relationships between them; also taking the Old French prose translation into consideration in constructing a hypothesis for the transmission of the text. Review by C. Boser in Romania 22 (1893): 578–90.
Suchier, H., ed. Brendans seefahrt. Romanische Studien. Ed. by E. Böhmers. 1 (1875): 555–88. Edition of Anglo–Norman text from B.L. Cotton Vesp. B.x., preceded by introduction discussing various versions of the work.
Tuffrau, Paul. Le merveilleux voyage de Saint Brandan à la recherche du Paradis. Paris: L’Artisan du Livre, 1925. Liberally using the Latin text published by Jubinal and the two French texts in Jubinal (prose and verse), plus the French Michel text, Tuffrau “retells” the Brendan legend in contemporary French. No notes; general introduction.
Verwijs, Eelco. “Het Middelnederlandische Gedicht van sinte Brandane.” Verslagen en mededelingen van de Koninklijke Academie vor Wetensch. 2 [Amsterdam] (1872):531–35.
Verwijs, Eelco. “Dr. Brill’s uitgave van Sinte Brandane.” De Taal– en Letterbode 3 (1872): 235–56.Comments of the text of Brill’s edition, Van Sinte Brandane.
Villari, Pasquale. Antiche leggende e traduzione che illustrano la Divina Commedia precedute da alcune osservazioni. Pisa: Nistri, 1865. Also in AnnaIi delle Università Toscane 8 (1866): 1–462; rpt. 1979. General, Antiche Legende 82–109, Annali 134–62.Edition of Italian text based on Florence B.N. Cod. Magl. C.2. no. 1550.
Wahlund, Carl. Brendans Seefahrt: Eine Altfranzösische prosaübersetzung aus dem xii–xii jahrhundert nebst dem Lateinischen Original zum druck befordert. Upsala: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1891. Not seen. Originally appeared in Latin with the title Navagatio Brendani.
Wahlund, Carl. Die altfranzösische prosaübersetzung von Brendans Meerfahrt; nach der Pariser hdschr. Nat. bibl. fr. 1553 von neuem mit einleitung, lat. und altfrz. parallel-texten anmerkungen und glossar. Upsala: Almquist & Wiskell, 1900. Editions of a Old French prose versions from mss Paris B.N. 1553 and 1716; with, respectively, facing Latin texts based on ms. Paris B.N. 15076 and a composite text. Includes a glossary, bibliography, and a learned introduction on the life of Brendan, the Brendan legend, the mss of the Brendan legend (Latin, Old French, and a Norwegian/Icelandic fragment); the grammar of this edition; the relationship of the translation to the prototype; and the editions.
Wahlund, Carl. “Eine alte provenzalische Prosa Ubersetzung von Brendans Meerfahrt.” Beitrage zur romanischen und englischen Philologie. Festgabe fur Wendelin Foerster. Halle: Niemeyer, 1902, 175–98; rpt.: Genève, Slatkine Reprints, 1977. Edition of shortened version of the thirteenth century Paris, Bibl. Nat. Fr. 9759 in High Languedoc.
Waters, E.G.R., ed. The Anglo–Norman Voyage of St. Brendan by Benedeit: A Poem of the Early Twelfth Century. Oxford: Clarendon, 1928; rpt. Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1974.A critical edition of the Anglo–Norman poem, written about 1121 for Adeliza, queen of Henry I, by a monk calling himself Benedeit. The introduction covers mss, author, date, versification, classification of manuscripts, relationship of Anglo–Norman poem to the Navagatio; Latin prose and rhymed translations, the language of the author, the text. Notes, glossary, index of proper nouns, appendix on some Anglo–Norman forms. Latin text in footnotes. London, B.L. Cotton Vesp. B.x. collated with York, Dean and Chapter Library 16 K 12.; Oxford, Bodleian Rawlinson D. 913; Paris B.N. nouv. acqu. Fr. 4503; and Arsenal 3516.
Waters, E.G.R., ed. An Old Italian Version of the Navagatio Sancti Brendani. Publications of the Philologcal Society 10. London: H. Milford and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1931. Discusses the ms (Tours, B.M. 1008), the translation, the language of the text (spelling, phonology, morphology and syntax); presents an annotated edition of the Tuscan text. Includes glossary and index of proper names.
Webb, J. F., ed. Lives of the Saints. Baltimore, Md.: Penguin, 1965, pp. 33–68; rpt. in D.H. Farmer, ed., The Age of Bede. Baltimore: Penguin, 1983. A “plain, readable” translation of the Voyage of St. Brendan based on the edition of the Latin text by Carl Selmer. Also included in this volume is Bede’s Life of Cuthbert and Eddius Stephanus’ Life of Wilfrid. Introduction concentrates on the ecclesiastical history of Ireland. Brief introduction to Voyage of Brendan (pp. 18–20).
Wien, Max. “Das Verhältnis der handschriften anglo-normannischen Brandanlegende.” Diss.: Halle, 1886. Old French.

return to top

STUDIES

Ancona, Alessandro D’. I precursori di Dante. Florence: G. Sansoni, 1874, 48–53. Treats the antecedents of Dante in general and gives some particular attention to the Paul, Brendan, Tundale, Patrick, and Alberic visions. He does not make firm connections between these and the Divine Comedy, but indicates a general milieu of vision literature, which does not detract from Dante’s originality.
Ashe, Geoffrey. Land to the West: St. Brendan’s Voyage to America. London: Collins, New York: Viking, 1962. Speculates as extensively as possible on the geographic aspect of St. Brendan’s voyage across the Atlantic, but concludes that the legend is a gigantic extension of an actual sea pilgrimage by Brendan in the Hebrides. Bibliography on exploration.
Babcock, William H. “The So-called Mythical Islands of the Atlantic in Medieval Maps: Considered as Evidence of Pre-Columbian Exploration Toward America.” Scottish Geographical Magazine 31(May–August 1915):261–69, 315–20, 360–71, 411–22. The geographical lore of early exploration; Brendan’s voyage dealt with at 411–22.
Babcock, William H. “St. Brendan’s Explorations and Islands.” Geographical Review 8 (1919): 37–46. Attempt to identify the islands of Brendan’s voyage.
Babcock, William H. American Geographical Society of New York Research Series 8 (1922):31–38.
Backer, Louis de. “La Légende flamande de S. Brandane sa bibliographie.” Ed. by Edouard Rouveyre and Oct. Uzanne. Miscellanées bibliographiques. Paris: E. Rouveyre, 1878, 1:191–200. Brief discussion with bibliography.
Baer, C. H. “Des Heillgen Brendan Kapelle und Legende in Basel.” Basler Jahrbuch 1939: 31–62. Peripherally discusses the voyages of Brendan.
Baum, Paul F. “Judas’ Sunday Rest.” Modern Language Review 18 (1923): 168–82. Discussion of Christian attitude toward Judas as revealed in the NB and of the oriental idea of Sunday rest introduced into Western literature.
Bayot, Alphonse. “Le Voyage de saint Brendan dans les légendiers français: essai de classement dans manuscrits.” Melanges d’Histoire offerts à Charles Moeller 1. Louvain: Catholic University, 1914, 1:456–67. Classification of twenty mss.
Beckers, Hartmut. “Brandan und Herzog Ernst. Eine Untersuchung ihres Verhältnis anhand der Morivparallelen.” Leuvense Bijdragen 59:1 (1970):41–55.
Bejczy, István. “Brandaan ende antipoden.” Millenium 2.1 (1988):1–8.
Bernier, Gildas. “Les navires celtiques du Haut Moyen Age.” Etudes Celtiques 16 (1979):287–91. Brief article on ships and navigation among the Cells drawing on the Brendan legend for evidence.
Bieler, Ludwig. “Casconius, the Monster of the Navagatio Brendani.” Eigse 5 (1947):139–40. Discusses the monster’s name: Iasconius in the Navagatio and Casconius in the Vita in the Rawlinson manuscript.
Bieler, Ludwig. “Two Observations Concerning the Navagatio S. Brendani.” Celtica 11(1976): 15–17. Briefly discusses two points: the first concerning the relationships between the NB and the Voyage of Máel Dúin, and the second on the identification of several particular islands mentioned in the NB.
Birkenhof, Richard. “Ueber metrum und reim der altfranzosischen Brandanlegende.” Ausgaben und Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Romanischen Philologie 19 (1884):1–95. Study of the poetics of the Old French version of the NB.
Bouet, Pierre. La fantastique dans la litterature latine du Moyen Age: La navagation de saint Brendan. Caen: Centre d’etudes et de la recherches pour l’antiquite, 1986. Contains introduction, bibliography and illustrations accompanying extracts from the anonymous Latin text with facing modern French text, a simplified Latin text,  and the corresponding text by Benedeit with a modern French translation of Benedeit, all annotated.
Boas, George.
Brekke, K. Etude sur la flexion dans Le Voyage de S. Brandan. Poème anglo–normand da xiie siècle. Paris: F. Vieweg, 1884. On OF verse Voyage.
Brown, A.C.L. “Barintus.” Revue celtique 22 (1901):339–44. An examination of Barintus, a character in both the Navagatio and the Vita Merlini. The author concludes that Barintus seems to be a survival of some Celtic sea god who mysteriously and probably independently appeared in both these works.
Burrell, Margaret. “Narrative Structures in ‘Le Voyage de St. Brendan.” Parergon 17 (1977): 3–9. Delineates two main quest structures that form a “type of interlace pattern which at the same time unifies and diversifies the complexities of the structural pattern.”
Carp, Teresa. “The Three Late–Coming Monks: Tradition and Invention in the Navagatio Sancti Brendani.” Medievalia et Humanistica n. s. 12 (1984):127–42. Through the layering of narrative the story of the latecomers mirrors and foreshadows the narrative  progress of the frame tale – the larger story of death and rebirth. Claims that the narrative manipulation reveals a sophistication that is remarkable for the time.
Caulkins, Janet Hillier. “Les notations numériques et temporelles dans la Navagation de saint Brendan de Benedeit.” Le Moyen Age 80(1974):25–60.
Chapman, Paul H. The Man who Led Columbus to America. Atlanta: Judson, 1973. Brendan as possible precursor to Columbus.
Dahlberg, Torsten. “Der hochdeutsche Zweig der Brendanüberlieferung.” Suomalaisen Tiedeakateian Toimituksia (Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae), ser. B 8 (1954): 53–66.
Daly, Dominick. “The Legend of St. Brendan.” Celtic Review 1(1905): 135–47. Discusses the legend of the voyage claiming that Brendan himself had correct information about the West Indian Islands and the continent beyond and apparently made some attempt to cross the Atlantic, but was unsuccessful and was not “converting pagans” there.
De Goeje, J. “La légende de Saint Brendan.” Actes du 8e Congrès International des Orientalistes, 1889, Stockholm and Christiania. Leiden: P. unk., 1893, 3– 76.
De Goeje, J. Brandaan en Virgilius. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1957. Text of talk, with bibliographical references included, making comparisons between the cosmologies of Virgil and the Brendan legend.
De Goeje, J. “Rekenschap na vijf–en–twintig jaar.” Leuvense Bijdragen 59:1 (1970): 82–92. Taking stock after 25 years.
Djurhuus, Hans A. Sankta Brandan. Tórshavn: P. Unk., 1936.
Dunn, Joseph. “The Brendan Problem.” Catholic Historical Review 6 (1920–21):395–477. Survey of research to 1921 with select bibliography.
Dumville, David N. “Two Approaches to the Dating of the Navagatio Sancti Brendani.” Studi medievali  29:1 (1988):87–102; also in Romano barbarica 8 (1983).
Edel, Doris. “Antipoden, ankers en een wereld–onder–het–water.” In Tussentijds: Bundel studies aangebogen aan W.P. Gerristenn ter gelegenheid van zijn vijftigste Verjaardag. Ed. by A.M.J. van Buuren. Utrecht: HES Uitgevers, 1985, 101–14, 339–42. Discusses the possible influence of Irish literature on the Middle Dutch Reis van Sinte Brandaan.
Esposito, Mario. “Un fragment de la Navagatio Sancti Brendani en ancien Venetien.” Mélanges philologiques 5 (1921): 22ff.
Esposito, Mario. “Sur la Navagatio sancti Brendani et sur les versions italiennes de la Navagatio.” Romania 64 (1938):328–46. Includes a list and description of 99 mss, notes on the authorship and diffusion of the Navagatio, and on its popularity as a pseudo–geographical text.
Esposito, Mario. “An Apocryphal ‘Book of Enoch and Elias’ as a Possible Source of the Navagatìo Sancti Brendani.” Celtica 5 (1960):192–206. Discusses the NSB as a book of fantasy with a possible source in apocryphal literature.
Evans, S. “Judas Iscariot’s Paradise.” Brother Fabian’s Manuscript. London and Cambridge: P. unk., 1885.
Fleuriot, Loon. “Les récite de navagation.” In Histoire Litteraire et culturelle de la Bretagne: Heritage celtique etcaptation francaise des origines à la fin des Etats.” Ed. by Leon Fleuriot and Auguste–Pierre Ségalen. Paris and Geneva: Champion– Slatkine, 1987. Discusses the journeys of St. Malo, St. Brendan, and the Breton sailors who discovered relics of St. Matthew.
Gerritsen, W.P. “Zeilen met sint Brandaan.” Spiegel Historiael 15:3 (1980): 171–80. On geographical lore.
Hammer, Wilhelm. Die sprache der anglonormannischen Brandanlegende. Halle: Dr. v. Karras, 1885; rpt. Zeitschrft für Romanische Philologie 9 (1885):75–115. Brief discussion of manuscripts followed by extensive, philological comment on Old French Navagatio.
Hanning, Robert W. “Mony turned tyme: the Cycle of the Year as a Religious Symbol in Two Medieval Texts.” In Saints, Scholars and Heros. Ed. by Margot King and Wesley Stevens. Collegeville, Minn.: Hill Monastic Library, 1979, 1:281–98. Discusses circular motion as an image of perfection and stasis in the Navagatio.
Hennig, John. “A Note on Ireland’s Place in the Literary Tradition of St. Brendan.” Traditio 8 (1952): 397–402. Discusses the Irish tradition of Brendan’s Voyage as opposed to the continental tradition and makes a case for the influence of this tradition on medieval literature. Reviews recent scholarship.
Hogetoorn, Corry. “Le Voyage de Saint Brandan par Benedeit.” Rapports: Het Fanse Boek 55:3 (1985):110–24. Discusses the historic person, the texts associated with the legend, the relationship of the text to hagiography and imrama; provides a synopsis of the poem and a bibliography.
Hull, Eleanor. “The Legend of St. Brendan.” The New Irish Review 4 (1916): pp. unk.
Illingworth, R.N. “The Structure of the Anglo–NormanVoyage of St. Brendan by Benedeit.” Medium Aevum 55 (1986): 217–29. Examines the structure of this work to show that it is a “masterpiece of organization, whose constituent parts are created by parallels and contrasts of theme and style (frequently involving the use of key–words) and that far from being a sequence of episodes loosely cobbled together around a central theme, the poem has a grand design based on a nine–fold cruciform pattern.”
Ireland, John de Courcy and David C. Sheehy, eds. Atlantic Visions. Dublin: Boole, 1989. Proceeding of the first International Conference of the Society of Saint Brendan. Sept. 1985. Essays generally on discovery and exploration, except for articles by MacCana, O Caoimh, and Lemarchand.
Jones, Robin F. “The Mechanics of Meaning in the Anglo–Norman ‘Voyage of Saint Brendan.” Romanic Review 71:2 (1980):105–13. Discusses narrative structure to find a work unified more by contrast than by consequence.
Kenney, James. The Sources for the Early History of Ireland: Ecclesiastical. An Introduction and Guide. New York: Columbia University Press, 1929; rev. ed. and rpt.: New York: Octogon Books, 1966, 406–17. Discusses the Navagatio in relationship to the Vita, with descriptions of additional Brendan–related material. Excellent bibliography up to 1929. Identifies six versions of the NB and lists mss for each version.
Kenney, James. “The Legend of St. Brendan.” Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, ser. 3.14, sect. 2 (1920):51–67. Discusses the historical Brendan, the historical background of the legend, the versions of the legend, and the background in literature and folklore.
Kenney, James. “The Legend of St. Brendan.” Revue Celtique 39 (1922): 393–95. Brief bibliographic essay.
Kervran, Louis. Brandan, le Grand Navigateur Celte du vie siecle. Paris: Laffont, 1977A discussion of the geographical reality of the voyages with an examination of the texts relating to the voyage.
Klerk–Oppenhuis De Jong, S. I. “Brandaan en het geloof in Gods genade. Structur analuyse van het Middlenederlandse gedicht van Sente Brandane.” Tijdschrift vor Nederlandse taal–en leetterkunds 105: 4 (1989):21–51. Brendan and belief in God’s mercy. Structural analysis of the Middle Dutch poem of St. Brendan.
Kölbing, Eugen. “Christian von Troyes, Yvain und die Brandanuslegende.” Zeitschrift für vergleichende Literaturgeschichte n.f. 11–12 (1897–98): 442–48. Briefly discusses certain motifs common to the two works, mainly the tree full of birds.
Krenn, Ernst. “Wer hat Amerika zuerst entdeckt?” Petermanns geographische Mitteilungen 95 (1950):207–11. On the geographical veracity of the voyage.
Langlois, Louis. La découverte de l’Amérique par les Normands vers l’an 1000. Deux sagas islandaises. Paris: Société d’éditions géographiques, maritimes et coloniales, 1924. Not seen. Voyage of Brendan discussed pp. 107–10.
Larmat, Jean. “L’eau dans la Navagation de Saint Brandan de Benedeit.” Senefiance 15 (1985):233–46.
Lavery, Simon. “The Source of the St. Brendan Story in the South English Legendary.” Leeds Studies in English n.s. 15 (1984):21–32. Considers the Latin NSB to be the direct source for the South English Legendary not drawing from the Anglo–Norman poem by Benedeit.
Lemarchand, M. I. “‘Li Salt Brandan’: Navigation and Flight, a Contribution to the Study of the Fantastic Narrative in Benedeit’s Voyage of St. Brendan.” In Ireland. Examines the symbolic meaning underlying the saint’s departure as told by Benedeit.
Little, George A. Brendan, the Navigator. Dublin: Gill, 1945. On Brendan’s life and voyages with particular attention to the role of Brendan in the opening of the western hemisphere.
Low, C. E. “Description and Classification of the Manuscripts of the Navagatio Sancti Brendani.” Thesis (D.Phil.): Oxford, 1934.
MacCana, Pronsais. “The Voyage of St. Brendan: Literary and Historical Origins.” In Ireland, pp. 3–16. Examines historical and literary precedents to explain how such a text as the Navagatio came to be written in the ninth century and why it possessed such a strong cultural influence.
Mackley, J. S. The Legend of St Brendan: A Comparative Study of the Latin and Anglo-Norman Versions. The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400–1700 A.D. Peoples, Economies and Cultures 39. Leiden: Brill, 2008.
Merkle, Sebastian. “Die Sabbathruhe in der Hölle.” Romanische Quartalschrift 9 (1895): 484–509.
Merrilees, Brian. “The Anglo–Norman Voyage of St. Brendan: Precocious or Unique? A Commentary on Recent Work.” Parergon 31(1981): 21–28. Attempt to reevaluate the voyage as an innovative text, at the same time recognizing it as a singular work of saint’s adventure.
Mulder, Maaike. “De filiiatie van de Reise/Reis–Teksten van de Brandaan.” Tijdschrft voor Nederlandse taal-en leetterkunds 105: 2–3 (1989):132–51. The filiation of the Reise/Reis texts of Brandaan. Includes texts and illustrations.
O Caoimh, Tomás. “St. Brendan Sources: St. Brendan and Early Irish Hagiography.” See Ireland, 17–42. A study of hagiographical material.
Oskamp, H.P.A. The Voyage of Máel Dúin: A Study in Early Irish Voyage Literature Followed by an Edition of Immram curaig Maele Dúin from the Yellow Book of Lecan, in Trinity College, Dublin. Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff, 1970. Introduction discusses Brendan and imrama.
Palgen, Rudolf. Brandansage und Purgatorio. Heidelberg: C. Winter, 1934.
Peeters, L. “Brandanprobleme.” Leuvense Bijdragen 59:1 (1970):3–27.
Peeters, L. “De Reis van Sente Brandane, v. 137–260.” Leuvense Bijdragen 59:1(1970):28–40.
Peeters, L. “Das Quellenstudium der Navagtio Sancti Brendani, der mitteldeutschen und mittelniederlandischen Brandenversion.” Leuvense Bijdragen 77:4 (1988):411–34.
Peters, Robert. “Die Reime der mittelniederländuschen Brandaen–Versionen.” Leuvense Bijdragen 59:1 (1970):67–81.
Plummer, Charles. “Some New Light on the Brendan Legend.” Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie 5 (1905):124–41. Study of the texts of Bodleian Rawlinson B 485 and 505 containing a Vita Brendani that has been conflated with the Navagatio Brendani.
Rekdal, Jan–Erik. “Med lukten av himmel i klaerne. Navagatio sankti Brendani og dens plass i irsk literatur.” Middelanderforum–Forum mediaevale 8 (1984):5–35. Not seen. “With a smell on heaven in the clothes.” Navagatio Sancti Brendani and its place in Irish literature.
Renan, Ernest. “La poésie des races celtiques.” Revue des Deux Mondes, 1 Feb. 1854, pp. 500–6. Briefly discusses NB as the most exceptional example of the joining of Celtic naturalism and Christian Spiritualism. Reprinted in various editions of Renan’s Essais de Morale et de Critique.
Ritchie, R.L.G. “The Date of the Voyage of St. Brendan.” Medium Aevum 19 (1950):64–66. Dates the Anglo–Norman Voyage by Benedeit to before 1 May 1118, possibly c. 1106.
Röcke,Werner. “Die Wahrheit der Wunder. Abenteuer der Erfahrung und des Erzählens im ‘Brandan’– und ‘Apollonius’–Roman.” In Wege in die Neuzeit. Ed. by Thomas Cramer. Forschungen zur Geschichte der alteren deutschen Literatur 8. Munich: ‘Wilhelm Kink, 1988, 252–69. Examines the nature of the fantastic in the Brendan voyage and its relationship to “Apollonius von Tyrlant.”
Runeberg, J. “Le Comte de l’Ile–Poisson.” Mémoires de la Societé Néophilologique à Helingfors 3 (1902):433ff.
Schirmer, G. “Zur Brendanus–Legende.” Diss.: University of Leipzig, 1888.
Schulze, Alfred. “Zur Brendanlegende.” Zeitschrifte für Romanische Philologie 30 (1906):257–79. Discusses the development of the Brendan Legend in connection with the life of Brendan and the feast of Easter.
Schulze, Alfred. “Textkritisches zum altfranzosischen Prosa–Brendan.” Zeitschrifte für Romanische Philologie 31 (1907): 188–99. Bibliographical notes.
Schreiber, Georg. Ireland im deutschen und             abendländischen Sakralraum. Zugleich ein Ausblick auf St. Brandan und die zweite Kolumbus reise. Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Forschung des Landes Norgrhain–Westfalen Geistes wissenschaften 19. Cologne: Westdeutcher Verlag, 1956. Study of Brendan’s voyage in the context of Irish missionary impetus.
Selmer, Carl. “The Brendan Legend in Old German Literature.” Journal of the American Irish Historical Society 32(1941):161–69. Brief article outlining the German version of the legend and providing an introduction to the geographical and spiritual nature of the text.
Selmer, Carl. “The Brendan Legend in Old German Literature.” Journal of the American Irish Historical Society 32(1941):161–69. Brief article outlining the German version of the legend and providing an introduction to the geographical and spiritual nature of the text.
Selmer, Carl. “The Beginnings of the St. Brendan Legend on the Continent.” Catholic Historical Review 29 (1943):169–76. Examines the spread of the legend to the continent through the possible intermediary of early monastic settlements on Britain and England and their manuscripts.
Selmer, Carl. “The Irish St. Brendan Legend in Lower Germany and on the Baltic Coast.” Traditio 4(1946):408–13. Traces an unexpected popularity and examines the importance of the Brethren of the Common Life in the transmission of this text into Lower Germany.
Selmer, Carl. “The Origin of Brandenburg (Prussia), the St. Brendan Legend, and the Scoti of the Tenth Century.” Traditio 7 (1949–51): 16–33. Examines the role of the Scots in spreading the insular legendary material on the continent during their mission to the Slavs.
Selmer, Carl. “St. Brendan, the Navigator, in an Old German Cisiojanus of the 15th Century.” Symposium 37 [or 38] (1984):408–11.
Selmer, Carl. “A Study of the Latin Manuscripts of the Navagatio Sancti Brendani.” Scriptorium 3 (1949):177–82. A brief study of the chronological and geographical distribution of manuscripts under various labels (Navagatio, Vita, Liber, Visio, etc.).
Selmer, Carl. “An Unknownm Manuscript of the Navagatio Sancti Brendani in U. S. A.” Scriptorium 4 (1951): 100–103. A note on and description of Brookland, Maryland, Franciscan College Library, Ms. 79 (Di Ricci 1(1935):483).
Selmer, Carl. “Die Herkunft und Frühgeschicte der Navagatio S. Brendani.” Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktiner–ordens und seine Zweige 67 (1956):5–17.
Selmer, Carl. “The Vernacular Translations of the Navagatio Sancti Brendani: A Bibliographical Study.” Medieval Studies 18 (1956): 145–57. The proliferation of vernacular translations in the late Middle Ages resulted from a variety of “secular purposes, such as satisfying the curiosity of burghers and instructing seafarers, adventurers, cartographers and economists.” Selmer discusses specifically translations into Germanic, Romance, and Celtic languages with an extensive bibliography on editions.
Selmer, Carl. “The Lisbon “Vita Sancti Brandani Abbatis.” A Hitherto Unknown Navagatio–text and Translation from Old French into Latin.” Traditio 13 (1957): 313–44.
Tardiola, Giuseppe. “I volgarizzamenti italiani della Navagatio Sancti Brendani.” Rassegna della letteratura italiana ser. 8, 90.3 (1986):516–36. Discusses the transformation of the Navagatio throughout the Italian translations.
Thrall, William F. “Clerical Sea Pilgrimages and the Imrama.” In The Manly Anniversary Studies in Language and Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1925, 276–83; rpt. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries, 1968. Proposes that it is more likely that pagan elements were added to rich religious legends of adventurous pilgrimages made by sixth–century Irish clerics than the Christian elements were grafted onto pagan literature.
Vitaletti, Guido. “Curiosita e appunti: Una propaggini orale della leggendae di S. Brandano.” Miscellanea Studi. Vol. 2, no. 42. Vatican Library, Rome. Brief article on the oral tradition of the Brendan legend in Italy.
Walburg, E. “Sur le nom de l’auteur de Voyage de Saint Brendan.” Studia neophililogica 12 (1939):6–55. Examines the authorship of the Anglo–Norman voyage attributed to Benedeit l’Apostoile.
Walsh, Honor. “Did St. Brendan Discover Brazil?” American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. Records 38 (1927): 377–84. More details for the discussion of Brendan in America.
Ward, H. L. D. Catalog of Romances in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum. London: British Museum, 1883–93, 2 (1893):516–57. Descriptions of Latin mss: Harley 3958, Cotton Vesp. A. xiv, Cotton Tiberius D. iii, Royal 8 E. xvii, Harley 3776; French mss: Cotton Vesp. B. x., Harley 108, Add. 15,106, Add. 6047, Cotton Tiberius EA. Part i., Arundel 330, Cotton Vesp. D. ix, Cotton Vesp B. x, Harley 4333, Add. 6524, Add. 17,275; English mss: Harley 2277, Add. 10,301, Cotton Julius D. ix, Add. 11,565.
Wilkie, James. St. Brendan, the Voyager and his Mystic Quest. London: Society of St. Peter and Paul, 1916.
Williamson, M. M. “The Dream of Cahus in Perlesvaus.” Modern Philology 3.1 (1932):5–11. Rpt. as Some Observations on the Legends of St. Brendan: A Comparison of an Episode in the Navagatio with One in Perlesvaus and the Voyage of Maelduin. Chicago: Pvt. Prtd., 1933. Discusses the incident of the theft by, and the resulting death of, one of Brendan’s companions – an incident that also appears in the eighth–century Voyage of Maelduin and in the thirteenth–century Perlesvaus. The author of Perlesvaus apparently remembered the Celtic story but failed to understand it.
Winkelmann, J. H. “Prolog en expositie can de Middelnederlandse Brendaan.” Leuvense Bijdragen 77.4 (1988):411–34.
Yoder, Emily K. “The Monks’ Paradise on The Land of Cokayne and the Navagatio Sancti Brendani.” Papers on Language and Literature 19.3 (1983):227–38. Discusses similarities of these two works concluding that the author of the Land of Cokayne took advantage of the great popularity of the Brendan legend to write a parody of it with the main purpose of satirizing contemporary abuses of religious life and ridiculing contemporary geographical notions.
Zimmer, H. “Keltische Beitrage. Brendans Meerfahrt.” Zeitschrift für Deutsches Alterthum 33,(1889): 129–220,257–338.Study of Brendan’s voyage in Middle Irish literature, Brendan’s voyage in the light of Irish imrama, and the promised land in the light of the Irish saga.

return to top