Studia Celtica Fennica

When is a Knight a Knight?

Claudia Zimmermann — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0300

The Middle Welsh Ystoryaeu Seint Greal, the ‘Stories of the Holy Grail’, are a late fourteenth-century translation of two thirteenth-century Old French Arthurian texts—La Queste del Saint Graal and Le Haut Livre du Graal (Perlesvaus). Statistical analysis shows evidence of a sophisticated and so far unique system for the use of the adjective urdaỼl (Mod. Welsh urddol) ‘ordained’ in qualifying the status of otherwise unknown knights.

The Cult of Kollumkilli in Medieval Scandinavia

Courtney Selvage — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0200

References to the veneration of Colum Cille in medieval Iceland and Norway use both versions of his name adapted to Old Norse conventions: Kolumba and Kollumkilli. Medieval primstaven refer to the saint distinctly as Kolbjørn med laksen ‘Kolbjørn with the salmon’. In the medieval Icelandic texts Landnámabók and Kjalnesinga saga, a presumed version of St Patrick presents Orlyg, a Norse settler wishing to migrate to Iceland, with several gifts intended to allow the successful foundation of a church dedicated to Colum Cille upon arrival. A church dedicated to the saint was also present in Bergen between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, indicating the presence of a cult in the area. Considering this evidence, this article discusses the way in which a cult dedicated to Colum Cille in medieval Scandinavia might be understood through medieval Norse sources, and especially the way in which they emphasise his eminence as an Irish saint.

Review of Motta, F., Studi Celtici

David Stifter — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0300

Review of Brett, C., with F. Edmonds and P. Russell, Brittany and the Atlantic Archipelago, 450–1200: Contact, Myth and History

Barry Lewis — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0200

Review of R. Fox, M. Cronin and B. Ó Conchubhair, Routledge International Handbook of Irish Studies

Seán Crosson — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Review of B. J. Stone, Rhetorical Arts in Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland

Dáibhí Ó Cróinín — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0200