Sun dancing : a medieval vision Geoffrey Moorhouse.
Publication details: London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997.Description: xi, 241 p. :maps ;24 cmISBN:- 0297815954
- Skellig Michael (Monastery : Ireland)
- Monastic and religious life Ireland History Middle Ages, 600-1500 Fiction
- Monastic and religious life Ireland History Middle Ages, 600-1500
- Civilization, Medieval Fiction
- Civilization, Celtic Fiction
- Skellig Islands (Ireland) History Fiction
- Skellig Islands (Ireland) Antiquities
- Ireland Civilization
- 823/.914
Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item reserves | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Melbourne Athenaeum Library | Non-Fiction | 823.914 MOO | Available | 011129 |
Includes bibliographical references (p. [238]-241).
Visible on a clear day off the west coast of Ireland, the Skellig Islands, a cluster of cruel rocks, rise spectacularly from the Atlantic Ocean. A sanctuary to birds and seals today, for over six hundred years during the middle ages it was a center for a particularly intense form of monastic life, one that acclaimed writer Geoffrey Moorhouse explores with utmost fascination, scholarship, and imagination in Sun Dancing. A must read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Celtic spirituality, Moorhouse's lively narrative is a superbly imagined account of the monks' isolated life-the spiritual struggles and triumphs and unbelievable physical hardships. To complement and enrich the book, Moorhouse establishes the historical context of Irish monasticism and describes the monks' influence and undeniable role in preserving western civilization, as well as unexpected connections between medieval Ireland and India, Egypt, and Byzantium, and the surviving impact of pagan mythology. An entertaining and enlightening work, Sun Dancing makes medieval Ireland come alive.