The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1963, Page 17

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
15
etry, astronomy and mathematics. The
writing of poetry, the study of music,
and the illumination of manuscripts
were cultivated. The Irish excelled in
the illuminating art, as shown by the
Book of Armach, the Book of Darrow,
and especially the Book of Kells, which
is the all-surpassing masterpiece of Cel-
tic illuminative art, and is acknow-
ledged to be the most beautiful manu-
script in the world. All monks, of
course, learned Latin and some learn-
ed Greek and Hebrew. King Cormac,
of Cashel, later Abbot-bishop, was
praised for his knowledge of Irish, La-
tin, Greek, Welsh, Anglo-Saxon and
Norse. In the monasteries a vast num-
ber of scribes were continually oc-
cupied copying sacred scriptures and
manuscripts. Masterpieces of cal-
ligraphy, written by Irish monks, as
well as some two hundred documents
and books, have been discovered scat-
tered in European libraries, brought
there by monks and teachers who were
forced to flee their country due to
raids by Vikings and the invasion of
Ireland by the Norman-English. About
one third of this literature is written in
Irish and the rest in Latin. Practical-
ly no research has been conducted on
this great store of Irish literature.
Aside from the church, it appears
there were at this period, (the seventh,
eighth and ninth centuries), three
great lay professions: Poetry, Law and
History. Poetry generally gets prefer-
ence, and the Ollave-poets, or learned
poets, seem to have been at the very
top of the learned professions. It is
quite clear from the various references,
both in Annals and in the Brehon
Code, that from the sixth to the
twelfth century these three professions
were kept quite distinct; that they
were taught by various professors and
at different schools, these professors
being generally, but not always, from
the secular branch of learning. The
Bard, in this period, was distinguished
from the poet. The former is described
as a man without formal learning, but
using his own intellect,—that is a man
who had from nature the gift of poetry
and song, but who was never formal-
ly trained, and never graduated from
the school of poetry. Not so the File or
poet. He was trained in all the myster-
ies of the various kinds of Gaelic verse;
he could compose extempore or in
writing; he knew the legal number of
recognized poems and tales, and was
pronounced qualified to recite them
before kings and chieftains, whether
at a banquet hall, or on a battle march.
He could eulogize too, and satirize;
and he and all his company were en-
titled to both fee and maintenance;
they could not be denied food and
shelter.
The course in poetry extended over
twelve years of hard work; and besides
the knowledge of seven kinds of verse,
in each of which the Ollave poet was
expected to be able to compose ex-
temporaneously, and was also sup-
posed to know by heart two hundred
and fifty long stories and one hundred
short stories, for public recitation. In
addition to this, the learned poet was
expected to be able to syncronize sev-
eral short stories into one long story,
as some scholars claim was the method
used in composing the great master-
piece Njals Saga. Perhaps the earliest
school of this character to which we
find any definite reference, is the school
of Tuin Drecain. It was doubtless one
of many similar institutions in ancient
Ireland. Many tales recited were of a
wild and romantic character, but for
that very reason were highly popular
in the country. These tales included
tales of battle, voyages, cattle-spoils,
sieges, sorrow and death.
The historical poets, or chroniclers,