The Voyage of St Brendan by A. B. Jackson

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Voyage of St Brendan by A. B. Jackson Jameson D. K. Lawwson The Voyage of St Brendan, by A. B. Jackson (Hexham, Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books, 2021, 80 p., paperback, $16.95) The Voyage of St Brendan follows the oceanic wanderings of the Irish monk St. Brendan, who, tasked by a higher power to repent after burning a book of fantastical tales, sets out to broaden his horizons and experience wonders the real world might have on offer. Along with six other monks, he assembles a traditional Irish ship called a currach and sets sail. On this voyage, Brendan experiences a plethora of things: a genteel whale with a forest on its back, sea serpents, hellfires, cast-aside angels in purgatory-paradise, and his own unceremonious-unsanctified-quiet death. In a well-crafted reimagining of this Irish tale, A. B. Jackson predominantly works with a fourteenth-century Middle Dutch version, originally translated from Old Irish. The book begins with the monk's folly: enjoyment of a book, which Brendan self-scorns with a measure of hefty Christian guilt, which forces him to disparage its contents. In a dream, an angel-messenger arrives to correct him: the contents of the book were in fact true. From there begins Brendan's journey to discover the honest and wonderful things available in the world. His worldview, and by extension his faith, is expanded wildly by his years on the sea, where witness is borne to mermaids and sirens, where temptations are resisted and succumbed to, where demons are surprisingly convivial. Jackson's work re-creates a variety of poetic form constraints from Irish history, paying homage to older works of Irish poetry. Jackson also includes elements of prosimetrum, the practice of offering sections of reflective prose to break up the poetry, hearkening to Irish epics like Táin Bó Cúailnge. The poetry within the collection, reminiscent of classic adventure narratives but still wholly adult and scholastic, serves the story well. Jackson preserves a sense of wonder that will delight readers new to the tale and reignite a passion for the journey in those already familiar. The quick-sharp poetry does not linger any longer than is welcome, the flitting from location to location is perfectly served by the author's careful hand, and the respect given to each incident places the reader deeply and firmly within the moment. While the poetry of the piece only runs from pages fourteen to fifty-six, the experience of Brendan's full journey is not lost or hastened beyond what is reasonable. The intricate lacing of facets of the journey appear as quick anecdotes, each incident a vignette of Brendan's thoughts and experiences regarding every interaction with the now-wondrous world. The stitching in of prose, as Jackson himself admits post-script, reminds the reader of the connection to epic poetry beyond the implications of the immram style and the ever-present comparison to Mael Duinn. The use of prosimetrum, while not necessarily a strict adherence to its traditional appearances in epic poetry and other earlier Irish works, is a [End Page 144] welcome addition to the tale's fluidity, breaking up the poetic verses and maintaining a narrative speed consistent with the content. The prose poem–esque sections, which number ten in total, are typically of moderate length and imitate the styles of the poetic verse well. The bulk of the collection takes the form of shorter, stanza-style verses, predominantly in quatrain. Jackson works with different old-style Irish meters and the classic ABCB quatrain to differentiate his version from the Middle Dutch one that served as his inspiration. The distinct and deliberate step away from the epic draws attention from the confines of the heroic couplet and the imposing bulk of the long poem. The movement away from heroic and epic conventions frees up space for interpretations and allows Jackson a considerable degree of creativity in manipulating form and content. Beyond the constraint of heroic couplets, Brendan's voyage is presented in the present tense; in this current-moment approach the reflective presence of the epic past is left by the wayside, removing the fantasy veil of separation expected of...