Medieval Death Trip

A Podcast Exploring the Wit and Weirdness of Medieval Texts

Concerning the Near-Death Visions of Fursa and Dryhthelm

Detail of St. Fursa being protected by angels from the assaults of devils from Morgan Library MS M.626, fol. 124r.

This episode we explore two glimpses of the afterlife presented by the Venerable Bede and consider how they relate to the modern conception of the near death experience.

Today’s Text

  • Bede. Ecclesiastical History. In The Complete Works of Venerable Bede. Edited and translated by J.A. Giles, vols. II & III, Whittaker and Co., 1843. Google Books.

References

  • Blasdel, Alex. “The New Science of Death: ‘There’s Something Happening in the Brain that Makes No Sense.'” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 2 April 2024, www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/02/new-science-of-death-brain-activity-consciousness-near-death-experience?CMP=share_btn_url
  • Cronin, Anthony. “The Historical Saint Fursey: The Achievements and Legacy of Haggardstown’s Patron Saint.” Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and History Society, vol. 27, no. 4, 2012, pp. 536-552. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23644252
  • Hamann, Stefanie. “St Fursa, the Genealogy of an Irish Saint — the Historical Person and His Cult.” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature, vol. 112c, 2012, pp. 147-187. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41714684
  • Rabin, Andrew. “Bede, Dryhthelm, and the Witness to the Other World: Testimony and Conversion in the Historia ecclesiastica.” Modern Philology, vol. 106, no. 3, Feb. 2009, pp. 375-398. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/605070.
  • White, Claire, Michael Kinsella, and Jesse Bering. “How to Know You’ve Survived Death: A Cognitive Account of the Popularity of Contemporary Post-mortem Survival Narratives.” Method and the Study of Religion, vol. 30, no. 3, 2018, pp. 279-299. JSTOR,www.jstor.org/stable/26507489

Image: Detail of St. Fursa being protected by angels from the assaults of devils from Morgan Library MS M.626, fol. 124r.

The Voyage of the Uí Corra (Part 2)

Detail from a manuscript of Bestiaire d'Amour, ca. 1290 (Morgan Library, MS M.459 fol. 18r).

This episode we finally enter the open ocean with the Uí Corra and their fellow pilgrims as they explore strange new lands, seek out new afterlives and new sects, and boldly go where many other saints and heroes of Irish legend have gone before.

Today’s Texts

  • “The Voyage of the Hui Corra.” Translated by Whitley Stokes. Revue Celtique, vol. 14, 1893, pp. 22-69. Internet Archive.

References

  • Breatnach, Caoimhín. “The Transmission and Structure of Immram Curaig Ua Corra.” Ériu, vol. 53, 2003, pp. 91-107. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30008353
  • Dumville, David. “Echtrae and Immram: Some Problems of Definition.” Ériu, vol. 27, 1976, pp. 73-94). JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30007669

Image Credit: Detail from a manuscript of Bestiaire d’Amour, ca. 1290 (Morgan Library, MS M.459 fol. 18r).

The Voyage of the Uí Corra (Part 1)

Cover image for Ep. 114. Detail from Bodleian Library MS. Barocci 170 f. 25v.

In this episode, we embark on another Irish adventure with the first part (of two) of “The Voyage of the Uí Corra,” in which we don’t actually set sail until final paragraph.

Today’s Texts

“The Voyage of the Hui Corra.” Translated by Whitley Stokes. Revue Celtique, vol. 14, 1893, pp. 22-69. Internet Archive.

References

Image credit: Detail from Bodleian Library MS. Barocci 170 f. 25v.

St. Patrick’s Letter to Coroticus

Detail of clover from an herbal tract in British Library MS Edgerton 747, f. 102r.

For this St. Patrick’s Day, we finally present the last canonical text written by St. Patrick, his letter to Coroticus, completing the series we began in Episode 68 with the first half of Patrick’s Confessio.

Today’s Texts

  • Patrick. Epistola ad Coroticum. St. Patrick: His Writings and Life, edited and translated by Newport J.D. White, Macmillan, 1920, pp. 52-60. Google Books.

References

Audio Credit: Father Ted, “The Old Grey Whistle Theft,” season 2, episode 4, written by Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews, 29 March 1996.

Image: Detail from an herbal tract in British Library MS Edgerton 747, f. 102r.

Concerning the Murder and Miracles of Kenelm of Mercia

Image of St. Kenelm from Bodleian Library MS Douce 368.

This episode, we go into more depth with the legend of St. Kenelm (Cynehelm) and his jealous sister Quendrida (Cwenthryth). We also learn what it means to “crab the parson.”

Today’s Text

  • “The Legend of St. Kenelm.” Translated by John Amphlett in A Short History of Clent, Parker and Co., 1890, pp. 177-193. Google Books.

References

  • Brand, John. Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our Vulgar and Provincial Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions, edited, revised, and expanded by Henry Ellis, vol 1, Henry G. Bohn, 1859. Google Books.
  • Cross, Tom Peete. “Witchcraft in North Carolina.” Studies in Philology, vol. 16, no. 3, Jul. 1919, pp. 217-287. Google Books.
  • Rollason, D. W. “The Cults of Murdered Royal Saints in Anglo-Saxon England.” Anglo-Saxon England, vol. 11, 1983, pp. 1-22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44510759
  • Weiskott, Eric. “Saint Kenelm, Illustrated.” Erikweiskott.com, 21 Nov. 2016, ericweiskott.com/2016/11/21/saint-kenelm-illustrated/
  • Whitelock, Dorothy, editor and translator. “From the Report of the Legates to Pope Hadrian (786).” English Historical Documents: ca. 500-1042, vol. 1, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1955,pp. 770-774. Archive.org.

Image Credit: Detail of Kenelm with a bird at his ear from Bodleian Library, MS Douce 368 f. 80r (12th cent.).

Audio Credit: “6 Morceaux, Op. 85 – 3. Cavatina.” Composed by Joachim Raff, performed by Benjamin Intartaglia. Musopen. Used under CC-BY 3.0 license.

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