The Secret of Kells (11 page)

Brendan reached into his satchel, but as he did so, Tang, unable to contain himself any longer, asked excitedly, ‘But Brendan, how did you escape the Northmen? We were sure that you and Aidan had been killed or captured!’

So Brendan told them the story of how Aidan and himself had managed to escape from Kells through the secret entrance. Then he asked what had happened in the Abbey after they had made their escape.

It was Tang who told the tale, for his uncle had been very ill for a long time after having been wounded by the raiders. Tang began:

‘It was the strangest of things, the way it happened, the way they left. I watched everything
from the Round Tower. Those of us inside were safe from the raiders, as we could defend the door. They were still at their burning and destroying when some kind of fight broke out. A tall one with a black beard began to shout. It looked like he wanted something that the leader, the red-haired one, had. I couldn’t see what it was, but we thought afterwards that it must have been the lunula from the Abbot’s cloak. Anyway, they argued and argued and shouted at each other and then the axes came out. Then one of them pointed at something, and I saw, perched on the windowsill of the Scriptorium, a white bird. I have never seen a bird like it. It was a big one, and it cawed like a raven.

I could hear the Northmen getting anxious. I heard some of them mention Odin, and it seemed as if they had started to think that this place held bad luck for them. In any case, they decided not to wait around any longer. I don’t know if they went into the forest or back to their ships. They took most of the villagers and the monks with them – or at least those that were left alive – but they didn’t go near the Abbot, because they thought he was
dead.

When I was sure they were gone, I climbed down from the tower and went over to Abbot Cellach. I could hardly believe it when I found he was still breathing. Those of us that were left nursed him, until he woke up …’

Tang paused.

‘That was nearly the hardest part, Brendan. Because of course, the first thing he did was ask after you. And I had to tell him that I thought the Northmen had taken you and Aidan. He nearly didn’t want to come back to us then, from the dark place he was in. But I reminded him that he had to lead the few of us that were left in Kells. That he was the Abbot of Kells and he still had his duty to do. After that – well, after that – there were many long days of re-building and replanting. It’s hard to do such work the first time, but it’s harder still the second time, when all the work you did at the beginning has been destroyed. But there were small things that gave us hope, small lights in the darkness. And now that you have returned we can see that our hope was justified.’

‘Yes,’ interrupted Cellach. ‘Because you and
Aidan survived. But if only I had listened to Aidan!’

Brendan said, ‘Brother Aidan never did pay you much heed, Uncle.’

Cellach looked surprised for a moment, and then laughed. ‘I suppose he didn’t,’ he said.

As they spoke, the night ended and the storm quietened over Kells. The room in the tower was gradually filled with the light of a new day.

Brendan smiled at his uncle. He reached into his satchel as he said, ‘Brother Aidan lived to see his work passed on and completed.’

And he handed Cellach the Book.

For a moment, Cellach looked into Brendan’s eyes, as if afraid to believe what was in front of him.

‘Go on,’ said Brendan. ‘Look.’

Abbot Cellach slowly opened the Book. His hands turned page after page, as tears of joy rolled down his cheeks.

‘So beautiful,’ he whispered, ‘So beautiful.’

And then, when he came to the Chi Ro page, he could go no further, dazzled by the light and caught as he was in the intricate web of colour and
form, the jewelled patterns that shone and sparkled and seemed to fill the whole room with brightness. Finally he said,

‘The Book of Iona.’ ‘The Book of Kells?’ said Brendan, a question in his voice.

And his uncle repeated after him, his voice full of wonder, ‘The Book of Kells.’

The Chi Ro page of the Book of Kells

The book of kells

T
he Book of Kells is a precious book of the Christian gospels, created over 1,200 years ago, around
AD
800. This type of book is known as an illuminated manuscript.

The book was made in a monastery. We do not know the names of the monks who wrote and illustrated the book, but more than one person worked on the 680 pages.

A monastery was made up of a small group of people who felt that God wanted them to do special work. These people were called monks.

Some monasteries had a special writing room, called a scriptorium, where the monks could do their wonderful work. Two monasteries are connected to the Book of Kells: the monastery at Iona, a small windswept island off the west coast of Scotland and the monastery at Kells, in County Meath in Ireland. Some people believe the book was begun on Iona, perhaps even when St Columba (also called Columcille) was still there. Two hundred years after the death of St Columba, the island of Iona was invaded by the Vikings (called the Northmen in the novel) who came across the sea from Norway to rob and destroy the monastery. The abbot escaped and made his way to Kells in Ireland.

The Vikings were fighters and pagans from Scandinavia. Their longboats sailed across the ocean and rowed up the rivers to launch surprise attacks on monasteries and other settlements. For many years the Vikings kept up their hit-and-run attacks on Ireland and then they began to set up towns such as Dublin, Wexford and Cork.

The Book of Kells was written on vellum (calf-skin). It took about 150 calves to supply the pages for the manuscript. The scribes wrote with a pen made out of reed or a quill, sometimes a goose feather. Some of the inks were made from the juices of plants, berries, leaves and roots; others were made from metals and minerals: the red from red lead, the yellow, or gold, from orpiment (a mineral), some of the green from copper and the blue from the precious stone
lapis lazuli
.

The Book of Kells can be seen today in Trinity College, Dublin. It remains one of Ireland’s most visited treasures.

To find out more, you can read
Exploring The Book of Kells
by George Otto Sims and
The Vikings in Ireland
by Morgan Llywelyn. Both books available from www.obrien.ie.

EITHNE MASSEY is a graduate of University College Dublin and NUI Maynooth, and a short-story writer. She has worked with the Arts Council and as a librarian. Her interest in mythology has been a lifelong one. Legendary Ireland: A Journey through Celtic Places and Myths and Best-Loved Irish Legends are published by The O’Brien Press.

Eithne lives between Ireland and a cottage in Brittany, which is surrounded by oak forests very like those in The Secret of Kells. No wolves have been spotted, but there are wild boar, foxes, deer, fire salamanders,
squirrels
and many birds.

In the novelisation of the movie, The Secret of Kells, Eithne brings to life the story of the orphaned Brendan, from the monastery of Kells and his part in the
completion
of one of the world’s most famous and treasured books, the Book of Kells.

Brendan’s story is also available
for younger children
as a beautiful full-colour
picture book

From the animated film
by the Cartoon Saloon