The World of Saint Patrick
Philip Freeman
Abstract
Everyone has heard of Saint Patrick, the man who drove the snakes out of Ireland, battled druids, and used the shamrock to explain the Christian Trinity to the pagan Irish—but none of these stories are true. Patrick wasn’t even Irish and there were never any snakes in Ireland. The real story of Patrick and his times is even better than the tales that have grown up around him. The World of Saint Patrick brings together for the first time the greatest and most important works of early Christian Ireland in a fresh, vibrant translation for general readers. Beginning with the two deeply personal an ... More
Everyone has heard of Saint Patrick, the man who drove the snakes out of Ireland, battled druids, and used the shamrock to explain the Christian Trinity to the pagan Irish—but none of these stories are true. Patrick wasn’t even Irish and there were never any snakes in Ireland. The real story of Patrick and his times is even better than the tales that have grown up around him. The World of Saint Patrick brings together for the first time the greatest and most important works of early Christian Ireland in a fresh, vibrant translation for general readers. Beginning with the two deeply personal and moving letters written by Patrick himself describing his kidnapping by pirates and his slavery and later work in Ireland, we discover a distant world of violence, brutality, and faith. The book also includes a collection of early church laws, imaginative tales of Patrick’s struggles with pagan kings, soaring hymns of praise, and a prayer of protection against forces of evil, including “the magic of women, blacksmiths, and druids.” Included as well is the life story of Brigid, Ireland’s first female saint, and the astonishing voyage of St. Brendan and his monks across the western ocean.
Keywords:
St. Patrick,
St. Brigid,
St. Brendan,
Ireland,
Christianity
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199372584 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: June 2014 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199372584.001.0001 |
