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Columba: Difference between revisions
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The main source of information about Columba's life is the ''Vita Columbae'' by Adomnán, who was a successor of Columba's at the monestary in Iona. Both the ''Vita Columbae'' and Bede record Columba's visit to Bridei I of the Picts, King of Fortriu. Whereas Adomnán just tells us that Columba visited Bridei, Bede relates a later, perhaps Pictish tradition, whereby the saint actually converts the Pictish king. Another early source is a poem in praise of Columba, most probably also composed in the course of the 7th century. It consists of 25 stanzas of four verses of seven syllables each. | The main source of information about Columba's life is the ''Vita Columbae'' by Adomnán, who was a successor of Columba's at the monestary in Iona. Both the ''Vita Columbae'' and Bede record Columba's visit to Bridei I of the Picts, King of Fortriu. Whereas Adomnán just tells us that Columba visited Bridei, Bede relates a later, perhaps Pictish tradition, whereby the saint actually converts the Pictish king. Another early source is a poem in praise of Columba, most probably also composed in the course of the 7th century. It consists of 25 stanzas of four verses of seven syllables each. | ||
The ''vita'' of Columba is also the source of the first known reference to the Loch Ness Monster. According to Adomnan, Columba came across a group of Picts who were burying a man killed by the monster, and saved a swimmer with the sign of the Cross and the imprecation "You will go no further", at which the beast fled terrified, to the amazement of the assembled Picts who glorified Columba's God. Whether or not this incident is true, Adomnan's text specifically states that the monster was swimming in the River Ness, rather than in the lake itself. | The ''vita'' of Columba is also the source of the first known reference to the Loch Ness Monster. According to Adomnan, Columba came across a group of Picts who were burying a man killed by the monster, and saved a swimmer with the sign of the Cross and the imprecation "You will go no further", at which the beast fled terrified, to the amazement of the assembled Picts who glorified Columba's God. Whether or not this incident is true, Adomnan's text specifically states that the monster was swimming in the River Ness, rather than in the lake itself.<ref>Adomnan's Vita Columbae and the cult of Colum Cille in Continental Europe, Jean-Michel Picard, June 22, 1998, National University of Ireland, Dublin.</ref> | ||
*'''[[The Life of Columba - Book I|The Life of Columba - Book I: Of His Prophetic Revelations]]''' | *'''[[The Life of Columba - Book I|The Life of Columba - Book I: Of His Prophetic Revelations]]''' | ||
*'''[[The Life of Columba - Book II|The Life of Columba - Book II: On His Miraculous Powers]]''' | *'''[[The Life of Columba - Book II|The Life of Columba - Book II: On His Miraculous Powers]]''' | ||
*'''[[The Life of Columba - Book III|The Life of Columba - Book III: On the Visions of Angels]]''' | *'''[[The Life of Columba - Book III|The Life of Columba - Book III: On the Visions of Angels]]'''<ref>Source: Life of Saint Columba, Founder of Hy. Written by Adomnán, ed. William Reeves, ( Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1874) This text was taken from the [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columba-e.html Internet Medieval Source Book]. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history. | ||
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This specific electronic form of the document is copyright by © Paul Halsall March 1998. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. No permission is granted for commercial use. As the use on this site is for educational and not commercial purposes, and as the sources has been appropriately cited, it is believed to be appropriate to include the full text of these books on www.believethesign.org</ref> | |||
==Adomnan of Iona== | ==Adomnan of Iona== | ||