The Vision of Tnugdal

by Jean-Michel Picard, Yolande De Pontfarcy (Introduction), Brother Marcus

English (translation)
Original Latin

Genres: Irish Literature

162 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Daniel C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forgot how I came across this text but glad that I did. It is a fairly easy to read katabasis of a not too terrible person who goes into a coma and gets a guided tour of the good and bad parts of the afterlife. I, by the nature of schadenfreud, found the description of the bad parts to be the most interesting to read. At each step deeper into the underworld Tnugdalus is first repulsed by each new torture in the underworld, taught in great detail by the angle how terrible it indeed is, and then gets a preview suffering of it. If anything I now have a better understanding of the demonstratives hic, iste, and ille from the dialogue between Tnugdalus (who is on the razor thin bridge over a fiery abyss) and the angel (who is at a comfortable distance). What makes it even better is that there is a ton of artwork related to it on the internet. If you are wondering how a man frozen in a sheet of ice might give birth to angry serpent you can probably find it, if you want. The trip to the good place was ok. It is a lot of singing and staring and walls made of gold or diamonds or ivory. In this edition there seems to be a version in verse too but I had had enough at that point. There is another work similar to this called Visio Godeschalci but I am having no success finding the Latin text.

[Devero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ovviamente ho letto la versione italiana. Ben commentata, pubblicata da Sellerio, mi ha fatto ripensare alle lezioni Dantesche. Sì, perché chiaramente Dante la conosceva e il suo Inferno, in parte, ne risente. Ma non ricordo che ce ne parlarono al liceo, ed è strano, perché Zio Teddy è sempre stato molto scrupoloso e come erudito sulla Commedia era secondo solo al C.Loc.
Ma forse sono io in tutti questi anni che me ne sono scordato, e la memoria inizia a fare qualche scherzo. Comunque mi è piaciuto immergermi in questa lettura medioevale, questa visione celtica così diversa da quelle mitologiche che ben conosco e ricordo.