be the original scene of the wanderings of some
early navigators, even if not of Brendan, and the Burning Island with
its savage inhabitants, and the infernal volcano would of course be
interpreted of the great volcano of Tenerife. But a more interesting
interpretation is that which sees in the voyage of Brendan a distorted
account of some ancient voyage by the Western Islands, the Orkneys and
Shetlands, the Faroe Isles, Iceland, and finally to the coast of
America. I need not remind you that the earliest voyages to America of
which we have historical accounts are those of the Norsemen, who, as
early as the year 1001, proceeded so far South as to come into a land
where the vine was growing wild, and which they consequently named
Vineland. It matters comparatively little to the naturalistic
interpretation of this romance whether it be based upon mutilated and
gossiping accounts of the voyages of the Norsemen, or upon some still
earlier adventures of which all truly historical record has perished.
The shores of America here become the Land of Promise, the clouds which
veil it are the fogs of the coasts of Newfoundland or Labrador, the
great and impassable river which divides it, perhaps the St. Lawrence:
the crystal column is an iceberg: the rough and rocky island, and the
black, cloud-piercing volcano, which burnt in the midst of the Northern
Ocean, are Iceland and its volcanoes; the Eden of white birds in some
region, perhaps the Faroes, where sea-fowl congregate in vast flocks:
and the minor isles are to be more or less identified with some of those
of the several archipelagos, many of which, in the time of the romancer,
if not in that of Brendan, possessed halls, monasteries, and hermits. It
may be urged as one of the main objections to this theory that it is
almost outside the bounds of possibility that a corach could make such a
voyage, but it is perhaps only fair to remark that in the Life, although
not in the Voyage, it is stated that after the first five years of the
wanderings Brendan returned to Ireland, where, among other things, he
went to see Ita, and the narrative then continues: 'She received him
with joy and honour, and said, "O my beloved, wherefore hast thou tried
without my counsel? Thou wilt not gain the Land of Promise borne in the
hides of dead beasts. Thou wilt find it with a ship made of boards." So
he went into Connaught, and embarked with 60 disciples in a ship
skilfully made of boards, and toile