The Voyage Of Bran

The Voyage of Bran
by Meyer Kuno

Old Irish saga of a voyage to the pagan Celtic otherworld, with parallel English and Gaelic.

This is Kuno Meyer's translation of the old Irish saga, the Voyage of Bran. In this magical odyssey to the limits of reality, Bran takes a characteristically time-dilated journey to a distant isle of luxury. On return, he learns that ages have passed and he and his expedition have already passed into myth. He can never again touch the soil of his homeland and sails off again. The text references ancient Celtic gods and also contains quasi-prophetic passages added at a later date by Christian scribes.

The appendices contain extracts from other Irish texts about Mongan, who is mentioned in the Bran saga, the son of Manannan mac Lir, the Celtic sea-god. This is of interest because of the descriptions of the training of bards, and lore of human visits to the Sídhe, the fairies.