Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Rohrbacher, David

Keywords

Cosmology, Medieval Ireland, Saltair Na Rann, Irish Literature, Middle Ages, Textual Transmission

Area of Concentration

Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Abstract

This thesis examines the cosmological section of the tenth-century Middle Irish biblical poem Saltair na Rann, and its relationship to medieval Irish literary and cosmological traditions. The first 336 lines of the poem describe the creation of the universe within the biblical framework of Genesis, but deviating substantially to include detailed cosmological information. Saltair na Rann and other works of ecclesiastical literature produced in medieval Ireland, including biblical exegesis, apocrypha, pseudo-history, and cosmological treatises, show a marked interest in incorporating native interests and literary motifs with continental Christian forms of literature. After an exploration of what cosmology was in the context of theological study, and how the cosmological tradition developed from the classical world to late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, I will consider which elements of Saltair na Rann's cosmology are consistent with continental sources and which are not. I will draw particular attention to elements of Saltair na Rann's cosmology that are non-standard and have no known precedent, which therefore exemplify the tendency of Irish writers to seamlessly blend native interests with imported models.

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