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The Irish Eschatological Tale The Two Deaths and Its Sources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2016

Katja Ritari
Katja Ritari*
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
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Extract

It is right to know, indeed, that everyone should prepare for the certain meeting and the uncertain meeting which is before him — namely, the meeting with death. For its coming is certain; it is uncertain, however, at what hour or what time one will go. Everyone should prepare for the two companies which come to meet every soul, namely, the company of God with beauty and magnificence and brightness, and the company of the devil with its darkness and with its baseness and its evil counsel. (The Two Deaths, 1)

Type
Research Article
Information
Traditio , Volume 68 , 2013 , pp. 125 - 151
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Copyright © 2013 Fordham University 

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References

1 The Two Deaths, 1: “Is c<oir> a fhis tra conid foichlidhi do cach æn in dal derb 7 an dal innderb … ra chind. i. dail bais. Ar is derbh a theacht, inderb immorro cisi uair nó cisi aimsir regthair. Is fochlighi do neoch an da muintir theguid do fhreasdul gach anma. i. muinter Dé co n-aille 7 aine 7 etrochta, 7 muinter diabuil cona duibi 7 cona taiscaire 7 a micomuirle.” All translations from The Two Deaths are by the present author, to be published with an edition in The End and Beyond: Medieval Irish Eschatology , ed. Carey, John, Cárthaigh, Emma Nic, and Dochartaigh, Caitríona Ó (Aberystwyth, forthcoming).+a+fhis+tra+conid+foichlidhi+do+cach+æn+in+dal+derb+7+an+dal+innderb+…+ra+chind.+i.+dail+bais.+Ar+is+derbh+a+theacht,+inderb+immorro+cisi+uair+nó+cisi+aimsir+regthair.+Is+fochlighi+do+neoch+an+da+muintir+theguid+do+fhreasdul+gach+anma.+i.+muinter+Dé+co+n-aille+7+aine+7+etrochta,+7+muinter+diabuil+cona+duibi+7+cona+taiscaire+7+a+micomuirle.”+All+translations+from+The+Two+Deaths+are+by+the+present+author,+to+be+published+with+an+edition+in+The+End+and+Beyond:+Medieval+Irish+Eschatology+,+ed.+Carey,+John,+Cárthaigh,+Emma+Nic,+and+Dochartaigh,+Caitríona+Ó+(Aberystwyth,+forthcoming).>Google Scholar Earlier versions of this article have been presented as papers at the XIV International Congress of Celtic Studies in Maynooth in August 2011, and at the Insular Studies seminar at University College Cork in October 2011. I wish to thank everyone present at these occasions, and especially Elizabeth Boyle, Damian Bracken, John Carey, Máire Herbert, Catríona Ó Dochartaigh, Tomás O'Sullivan, Diarmuid Scully, and Nicole Volmering for their comments. Special thanks are due to John Carey, who read an earlier version of this article and gave some constructive criticism. I am also grateful to the anonymous reviewers of Traditio for their valuable comments on this article. All the mistakes are naturally my own. The writing of the article was funded by the Academy of Finland and the Otto A. Malm Foundation.Google Scholar

2 For good introductions to this subject, see McGinn, Bernard, “The Last Judgment in Christian Tradition,” in The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism , 2, Apocalypticism in Western History and Culture (New York, 1998), 361–401; Wright, Charles D., “Next-to-Last-Things: The Interim State of Souls in Medieval Irish Literature,” in The End and Beyond: Medieval Irish Eschatology , ed. Carey, John, Cárthaigh, Emma Nic, and Dochartaigh, Caitríona Ó (Aberystwyth, forthcoming). See also Gurevic, Aaron J., “Au moyen âge: conscience individuelle et image de l'au-delà,” Annales: Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations 37 (1982): 255–75; Hilhorst, Anthony, “The Apocalypse of Paul: Earlier History and Later Influence,” in Apocalyptic and Eschatological Heritage: The Middle East and Celtic Realms , ed. McNamara, Martin (Dublin, 2003), 61–74, at 73–74; Griffiths, Paul J., “Purgatory,” in The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology , ed. Walls, Jerry L. (Oxford, 2011), 427–45, at 431–32. On Irish eschatological texts, see, for example, McNamara, Martin, “Celtic Christianity, Creation and Apocalypse, Christ and Antichrist,” Milltown Studies 23 (1989): 5–39; idem, “Some Aspects of Early Medieval Irish Eschatology,” in Irland und Europa im früheren Mittelalter: Bildung und Literatur , ed. Chatháin, Próinséas Ní and Richter, Michael (Stuttgart, 1996), 42–75.Google Scholar

3 On medieval vision literature, see, for example, Boyle, Elizabeth, “Visionary Texts,” in Handbook for Medieval Studies: Terms – Methods – Trends , ed. Classen, Albrecht (Berlin, 2010), 2131–35; Gardiner, Eileen, Medieval Vision of Heaven and Hell: A Sourcebook, Garland Medieval Bibliographies 11 (New York, 1993); Visions of Heaven and Hell before Dante , ed. Gardiner, Eileen (New York, 1989); Dinzelbacher, Peter, Vision und Visionsliteratur im Mittelalter, Monographien zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 23 (Stuttgart, 1981).Google Scholar

4 On the manuscript, see Gwynn, Edward, “The Manuscript Known as the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum,” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 26 C (1906–7): 15–41; Herbert, Máire, “Medieval Collections of Ecclesiastical and Devotional Materials: Leabhar Breac, Liber Flavus Fergusiorum and the Book of Fenagh,” in Treasures of the Royal Irish Academy Library , ed. Cunningham, B. and Fitzpatrick, S. (Dublin, 2009), 33–43, at 36–38.Google Scholar

5 “The Two Deaths,” ed. Marstrander, Carl, Ériu 5 (1911): 120–25.Google Scholar

6 In many of these studies The Two Deaths is treated as just an Irish variant of The Three Utterances exemplum.Google Scholar

7 Seymour, St. John D., “The Bringing Forth of the Soul in Irish Literature,” Journal of Theological Studies 22 (1920): 16–20, at 18–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

8 Migne reproduced in PL 73, 855–1022 Rosweyde's earlier edition, 1615–28. On the Apophthegmata patrum, see Harmless, William, Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism (Oxford, 2004), 169–71. For a brief discussion on the Irish adaptations of anecdotes from the De vitis patrum, see Wright, Charles D., The Irish Tradition in Old English Literature, Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England 6 (Cambridge, 1993), 175–79.Google Scholar

9 McNamara, Martin, The Apocrypha in the Irish Church (Dublin, 1975, repr. 1984), no.l02D. The emphasis is McNamara's original.Google Scholar

10 Wright, , The Irish Tradition , 177.Google Scholar

11 Charles, D. Wright has identified fourty-nine manuscript versions of the text; see “Latin Analogue for The Two Deaths: The Three Utterances of the Soul,” in The End and Beyond: Medieval Irish Eschatology , ed. Carey, John, Cárthaigh, Emma Nic, and Dochartaigh, Caitríona Ó (Aberystwyth, forthcoming). I wish to thank Charlie Wright for giving me access to this as yet unpublished article, as well as his article “Next-to-Last-Things” to be published in the same volume. See also Wright, Charles D., “Three Utterances Apocryphon,” in Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture: The Apocrypha , ed. Biggs, Frederick M., Instrumenta Anglistica Mediaevalia 1 (Kalamazoo, 2007), 80–83, at 80.Google Scholar

12 This motif may be inspired by the biblical example of Zech. 3:1: “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.” Google Scholar

13 The Two Deaths , 5: “Aen na fecht ann tra clandais in satan in trefiaclach fo leithchich cle don duine 7 du-ssreanga in ainim asin corp for lar. Ba duibhithir fiach hi 7 ba he an cétna labradh na anma iar tuideacht asin chorp: ‘Magna sunt tenebre.’ Fris-cair an satan co n-eabuirt: ‘Maioreis tibi restant.’ Gabuis an anmuin iarum ana laimh 7 do-ching for lar in taighi co n-accai. Is e labra tanuisti na hanma: ‘Arduum iter.’ Fris-cair in satan: ‘Altiores tibi restant.’ Is e an treas labra na hanma: ‘Magna sunt angustia.’ Fris-cair an satan: ‘Maiores tibi restant.’” Google Scholar

14 The Two Deaths , 9: “An tan do-chualaidh an ainim na ceola-sin do-ling for bruinne in fir 7 ba cometrocht fri grein ro bai. A cedna labra na hanma: ‘Magna est lux ista.’ As-bert ant aingil: ‘Maiores tibi erunt.’ Is e an lobra tanuisde na hamna: ‘Plane sunt viae.’ As-bert ant aingil: ‘Planiores erunt tibi.’ Is e an treas labra na hanma: ‘Latae viae sunt.’ As-bert ant aingil: ‘Latiores tibi erunt.’” Google Scholar

15 McNally, Robert, “In nomine Dei summi: Seven Hiberno-Latin Sermons,” Traditio 35 (1979): 121–43, at 134–36. The third manuscript was not known to McNally but is mentioned by Wright, Charles D. in “Docet Deus, Docet Diabolus: A Hiberno-Latin Theme in an Old English Body-and-Soul Homily,” Notes and Queries 232 (1987): 451–53, at 452 n. 6. On these sermons and others with the title In nomine Dei summi, see also McNamara, Martin, “Irish Homiliaries A.D. 600–1100,” in Via Crucis: Essays on Early Medieval Sources and Ideas in Memory of J. E. Cross , ed. Hall, Thomas N. (Morgantown, 2002), 235–84, at 257–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

16 O'Loughlin, Thomas, “Irish Preaching before the End of Ninth Century: Assessing the Extent of Our Evidence,” in Irish Preaching 700–1700 , ed. Fletcher, A. J. and Gillespie, R. (Dublin, 2001), 18–39, at 30–39. His translation of the sermons is also published in O'Loughlin, Thomas, Journeys on the Edges: The Celtic Tradition (London, 2000), 114–31.Google Scholar

17 My sincere thanks to Tomás O'Sullivan for kindly giving me a copy of his as yet unpublished PhD thesis. “Predicationes Palatinae: The Sermons in Vat.Pal.Lat.220 as an Insular Resource for the Christianization of Early Medieval Germany” (PhD diss., Saint Louis University, 2011). The thesis will be published in the series Studia Traditionis Theologiae by Brepols.Google Scholar

18 Willard, Rudolph, “The Latin Texts of The Three Utterances of the Soul,” Speculum 12 (1937): 147–66, at 149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

19 For other versions, see Willard, Rudolph, Two Apocrypha in Old English Homilies , Beiträge zur englischen Philologie 30 (Leipzig, 1935), 32–36; Kabir, Ananya Jahanara, Paradise, Death and Doomsday in Anglo-Saxon Literature, Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England 31 (Cambridge, 2001), 50–55; Wright, Charles D., “Apocryphal Lore and Insular Tradition in St Gall Stiftsbibliothek MS 908,” in Irland und die Christenheit: Bibelstudien und Mission , ed. Chatháin, Proinséas Ní and Ricther, Michael (Stuttgart, 1987), 124–45, at 134–37; Wright, , “Three Utterances Apocryphon,” 80–83.Google Scholar

20 Willard had suggested that latae viae is an emended form or interpretation of laetitia, Two Apocrypha, 114. For Wright's discussion of the sequence of the utterances in The Two Deaths as compared with The Three Utterances tradition, see “Next-to-Last-Things” (n. 2 above).Google Scholar

21 Pal. Lat. 212 and 220 (numbers 6 and 20 in Wright's forthcoming list of the manuscripts of The Three Utterances accompanying his edition in The End and Beyond [n. 1 above]); ed. McNally, , “In nomine Dei summi,” 121–43, at 134–36; trans. O'Loughlin, Thomas, “The Celtic Homily: Creeds and Eschatology,” Milltown Studies 41 (1998): 99–115, at 101–2. The third manuscript not used by McNally is Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, codex Phillipps 1716 (Number 7 in Wright's list of manuscripts). See Rose, Valentin, Verzeichniss der lateinischen Handschriften der köinglichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, 1, Die Meerman-Handschriften des Sir Thomas Phillipps (repr. Hildesheim and New York, 1976; originally published Berlin, 1893), 73.Google Scholar

22 Number 1 in Wright's list of manuscripts. Ed. and trans. Wright, , “Latin Analogue” (n. 11 above).Google Scholar

23 Number 30 in Wright's list of manuscripts. Willard, , “The Latin Texts,” 150–57.Google Scholar

24 Number 47 in Wright's list of manuscripts. Willard, , “The Latin Texts,” 150–57.Google Scholar

25 Number 12 in Wright's list of manuscripts. Wack, Mary F. and Wright, Charles D., “A New Latin Source for the Old English ‘Three Utterances’ Exemplum,” Anglo-Saxon England 20 (1991): 187–202, at 189–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

26 Old English Rogation homily, Bodleian Library, MS Hatton 114. Willard, , Two Apocrypha , 37–57. A new edition of the homily has been published in Eleven Old English Rogationtide Homilies , ed. Bazire, Joyce and Cross, James E. (Toronto, 1982), 115–24. Two other Old English versions, Be Heofonwarum 7 be Helwarum (London, British Library, MS Cotton Faustina A) and an Old English Lenten homily (Bodleian Library, Junius 85/86) were edited by Willard side by side with the Rogation homily in Two Apocrypha, 37–57. These versions do not retain the Latin but give also the speeches in Old English. Another edition of MS Cotton Faustina A by Lorena Teresi can be found at “Be Heofonwarum 7 be Helwarum: A Complete Edition,” in Early Medieval Texts and Interpretations: Studies Presented to Donald G. Scragg , ed. Trehane, Elaine and Rosser, Susan (Tempe, 2002), 211–44.Google Scholar

27 The same order has also been suggested by Willard, in Two Apocrypha , 139; “The Latin Texts,” 162.Google Scholar

28 Matt. 7:13–14: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Google Scholar

29 “Here begins Saint Augustine's declaration of the soul's exit out of body.” Translation by the present author. For U, see Willard, , “The Latin Texts” (n. 18 above), 150. Clm 6433 gives the tale the title: “Incipit epistola Sancti Augustini. Exitus animae.” See Wright, , “Latin Analogue” (n. 11 above). On the identification of Augustine as the source of the sermons on the soul and body, see Willard, Rudolph, “The Address of the Soul to the Body,” Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 50 (1935): 957–83, at 959–61. St. Augustine is cited as the source of a similar Irish tale of the dispute between the soul and the body; see The Passions and the Homilies from the Leabhar Breac , ed. Atkinson, Robert, Todd Lecture Series (Dublin, 1887), 267. A new edition of this text by John Carey will be published in The End and Beyond (n. 1 above). On Augustine's eschatological thinking, see Daley, Brian E., The Hope of the Early Church: A Handbook of Patristic Eschatology (Cambridge, 1991; rev. paperback ed. Rapids, Grand, 2010), 131–50.Google Scholar

30 On Gregory the Great and hortatory tales of death as a struggle with demons, see Rush, Alfred C., “An Echo of Christian Antiquity in St. Gregory the Great: Death a Struggle with the Devil,” Traditio 3 (1945): 369–80. On Gregory and stories about the afterlife, see also LeGoff, Jacques, The Birth of Purgatory (Chicago, 1984), 88–95; Daley, , The Hope of the Early Church, 211–15; Brown, Peter, The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200–1000, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 2003), 257–59; idem, “Gloriosus Obitus: The End of the Ancient Other World,” in The Limits of Ancient Christianity: Essays on Late Antique Thought and Culture in Honour of R. A. Markus , ed. Klingshirn, William E. and Vessey, Mark (Ann Arbor, 1999), 289–314, at 296–302; Hillgarth, J. N., “Eschatological and Political Concepts in the Seventh Century,” in The Seventh Century Change and Continuity: Proceedings of a Joint French and British Colloquium Held at the Warburg Institute 8–9 July 1988 , ed. Fontaine, Jacques and Hillgarth, J. N. (London, 1992), 212–35, at 220–24; Carozzi, Claude, Le voyage de l'âme dans l'au-delà, Collection de l'école française de Rome 189 (Rome, 1994), 44–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

31 The Two Deaths , 2: “Da-raga beist da piasduibh in ditrib cucad a mbarach 7 gebuid eó do chochuill 7 teis lee a lleath gebus remat.” Google Scholar

32 The Two Deaths , 4: “Uair nocha dernuis mo riar-sa a anim anfeachtnach-sa fri re n-ænuaire cidh itir, do-ber-sa pein suthuin duitt-siu ind-sin.” Google Scholar

33 The Two Deaths , 11: “Conach cubaid da duine tarcaisne ar duine eile ar deireolacht a pearsuinne acht curbad maithi a gnima. Ar is o gnimaibh thogus Dia neoch.” Google Scholar

34 Yerushalmi Talmud: Hagigah 2:2 & Sanhedrin 6:6. The Talmud of the Land of Israel: A Preliminary Translation and Explanation, 20, Hagigah & Moed Qatan and 31, Sanhedrin and Makkot , trans. Neusner, Jacob (Chicago, 1984 and 1986). I am grateful to Nicole Volmering for bringing this analogue to my attention. This is merely one example of a type of narrative that is discussed in more detail by Wright in “Next-to-Last-Things” (n. 2 above). The reversal of fortunes in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus and its parallels, including the Jewish and Egyptian examples, has been discussed by Richard Bauckham in The Fate of the Dead: Studies on the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses (Leiden, 1998), 97–118.Google Scholar

35 PL 73, 1011–12. Translation in The End and Beyond (n. 1 above).Google Scholar

36 Wright, , The Irish Tradition (n. 8 above), 177.Google Scholar

37 Willard has come to the same conclusion; see Willard, , Two Apocrypha , 107–8: “this fusion of the two separate themes, the Two Deaths and the Three Utterances…. That this blending did not take place in LF [i.e., in the Liber Flavus] itself, that is, in the translation into Irish, but that a Latin source is to be presupposed, wherein this junction had already been effected, is suggested and made tolerably certain by the Latin quotations in both series of utterances and in the account, now jumbled, of the bringing forth of the righteous soul.” Wright has discussed in “Next-to-Last-Things” the “code-switching” between Irish and Latin, suggesting that for the author “Irish is the profane and mortal language of this world, while Latin is the sacred and immortal language of the next world.” Thus the dialogue taking place before the soul's exit from the body is given in Irish, while the direct speech taking place after it is in Latin. For a brief discussion of Irish apocalyptic texts translated from Latin, see McNamara, Martin, “Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts in Irish Literature: Oriental Connections?” in Apocalyptic and Eschatological Heritage: The Middle East and Celtic Realms , ed. McNamara, Martin (Dublin, 2003), 75–97, at 77.Google Scholar

38 Seymour, , “The Bringing Forth” (n. 7 above), 20. See also Mac Cana, Proinsias, The Cult of the Sacred Centre: Essays on Celtic Ideology (Dublin, 2011), 111, 128–29, where he discusses circumambulation in clockwise direction as an act of veneration that brings blessing and good fortune, and its opposite — going around counterclockwise — as associated with danger, death, and evil.Google Scholar

39 See Wright's analysis of The Two Deaths in “Next-to-Last-Things.” Google Scholar

40 Wack, and Wright, , “A New Latin Source” (n. 24 above), 189–90.Google Scholar

41 Willard, , Two Apocrypha (n. 19 above), 77. For further discussion, see Wack, and Wright, , “A New Latin Source,” 191, 196–99.Google Scholar

42 Wright, , “Latin Analogue” (n. 11 above); McNally, , “In nomine Dei summi” (n. 15 above), 134.Google Scholar

43 See the biblical examples of brightness and whiteness as the markers of the heavenly citizens in Dan. 7:9, Rev. 7:9, 10:1, and 15:6, and blackness as the symbol of distress and the power of evil in Job 10:20–22 and 30:26, Mt. 8:12, and Col. 1:13.Google Scholar

44 The Two Deaths , 1: “muinter Dé co n-aille 7 aine 7 etrochta, 7 muinter diabuil cona duibi 7 cona taiscaire 7 a micomuirle.” Google Scholar

45 See Willard's comment on the colors in Two Apocrypha, 79 (LF=The Two Deaths in the Liber Flavus): “This circumstance suggests that the details which now occur in LF, descriptive of the blackness, or splendor, of the departed souls, have probably been added in LF itself, and are introduced through some tradition other than that represented in the Vita patrum, probably from the narrative of the Three Utterances itself.” Google Scholar

46 For a more detailed discussion of these tales, see Wright, , “Next-to-Last-Things” (n. 2 above).Google Scholar

47 There are three distinct versions of this tradition, in which the dialogue happens either right at the moment of death, at regular intervals, or at the Last Judgment. On those versions where the dialogue is tied to the hour of death, see Willard, , “The Address” (n. 29 above), 956–66. See also Gatch, Milton McCormick, “Eschatology in the Anonymous Old English Homilies,” Traditio 21 (1965): 117–65, at 156–57; idem, “Two Uses of Apocrypha in Old English Homilies,” Church History 33 (1964): 379–91, at 384–88; Brent, Justin J., “From Address to Debate: Generic Considerations in the Debate between Soul and Body,” Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies 31 (2001): 1–18. On the main elements of the Body and Soul legends and their origins, see also Silverstein, Theodore, “Dante and the Legend of the Mi'rāj: The Problem of Islamic Influence on the Christian Literature of the Otherworld,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 11 (1952): 89–110, at 107–9.Google Scholar

48 Seymour, , “The Bringing Forth” (n. 7 above), 17–18, 20.Google Scholar

49 I wish to thank the Irish Script on Screen project for providing access to a digitized copy of the manuscript through their website at http://www.isos.dias.ie/.Google Scholar

50 One inspiration for the tales of unwilling righteous souls might be the pseud-epigraphic Testament of Abraham written in Greek in the second or third century. In this text, Abraham is not yet dead, but the moment of his death is approaching. God first sends Michael and then Death itself to persuade Abraham to put his things in order and be ready to die. Abraham is in denial, refusing to follow those sent to fetch him and making up different reasons for delay. The righteous souls are furthermore asked gently to come by Death, who shows to them a radiant face, while to the sinners he appears in a terrifying form. Testament of Abraham , trans. Allison, Dale C. Jr. (Berlin, 2003).Google Scholar

51 The reading of The Two Deaths can be expanded as “[Ec]ce omnes psallentes Hierosolymae cum omni genere musi[cae].” Google Scholar

52 The Passions and the Homilies from the Leabhar Breac , 278 (edition), 514 (translation). A new edition and translation by John Carey is forthcoming in The End and Beyond (n. 1 above). See also Gaidoz, H., “Le débat du corps et de l'âme en Irlande,” Revue celtique 10 (1889): 463–70; Dottin, G., “Une version Irlandaise du dialogue du corps et de l'âme,” Revue celtique 23 (1902): 1–39; McNamara, , The Apocrypha (n. 9 above), 91E and 91F.Google Scholar

53 The quotation is from the In nomine Dei summi version. McNally, , “In nomine Dei summi” (n. 15 above), 135. Translation by O'Loughlin, in “Celtic Homily” (n. 20 above), 104. See also version Willard, L., Two Apocrypha, 54.Google Scholar

54 McNally, , “In nomine Dei summi,” 136. “Blessed is he whom you choose and take up, O Lord; he will dwell in your tents. We will be filled with good things in your house. Holy is your temple and wonderful in equity.” Translation in O'Loughlin, , “The Celtic Homily,” 104–5.Google Scholar

55 On the history and influence of the Visio Pauli, see, for example, Silverstein, Theodore, “The Vision of Saint Paul: New Links and Patterns in the Western Tradition,” Archives d'histoire doctrinal et littéraires du moyen âge 35 (1959): 199–248; Hilhorst, Anthony, “The Apocalypse of Paul” (n. 2 above), 61–74; idem, “The Apocalypse of Paul: History and Afterlife,” in The Visio Pauli and the Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul , ed. Bremmer, Jan N. and Czachesz, István, Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha 9 (Leuven, 2007), 1–22; McNamara, , “Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts” (n. 37 above), 80–87; Wright, , “Next-to-Last-Things” (n. 2 above). On the body and soul imagery in the Visio Pauli, see Hogeterp, Albert L. A., “The Relation between Body and Soul in the Apocalypse of Paul,” in The Visio Pauli and the Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul, 105–29.Google Scholar

56 See McNamara, , “Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts,” 81–82; Caerwyn Williams, J. E., “Irish Translations of Visio Sancti Pauli,” Éigse 6 (1949): 127–34; Seymour, St. John D., “Irish Versions of the Vision of St Paul,” Journal of Theological Studies 24 (1923): 54–59.Google Scholar

57 The text exists in various recensions of different lengths. I am here following the Long Latin version. Visio Pauli (Long Latin) 14–18, in Apocalypse of Paul: A New Critical Edition of Three Long Latin Versions , ed. Silverstein, Theodore and Hilhorst, Anthony (Geneva, 1997). English translation in The Apocryphal New Testament , ed. Elliott, J. K. (Oxford, 1993, repr. 2007), 616–44. In the shorter versions of the text, the episode concerning the sinful and the righteous souls is given in an abridged form. Visio Pauli (shorter Latin versions) 30–32. Jiroušková, Lenka, Die Visio Pauli: Wege und Wandlungen einer orientalischen Apokryphe im lateinischen Mittelalter unter Einschluß der alttsechischen und deutschsprachigen Textzeugen, Mittellateinische Studien und Texte 34 (Leiden, 2006).Google Scholar

58 Willard, , Two Apocrypha (n. 19 above), 67–68, 75–76. See also, Willard, , “The Address” (n. 29 above), 966–68; Kabir, , Paradise, Death and Doomsday (n. 19 above), 55–59.Google Scholar

59 A similar process of composition has also been suggested for the peculiar Irish text of the Visio Sancti Pauli, which, according to Seymour, was constructed from one of the versions of the Visio, the description of the soul's exit from the body in the Leabhar Breac, and possibly The Two Deaths. Seymour, , “Irish Versions,” 57. See also McNamara, , The Apocrypha (n. 9 above), 91C.Google Scholar

60 Dudley, Louise, The Egyptian Elements in the Legend of the Body and Soul (Baltimore, 1911), 16–24. For a short discussion of this tradition, see also Seymour, , “The Bringing Forth” (n. 7 above), 16–17. On Egyptian apocalyptic traditions in general, see Frankfurter, David, “Early Christian Apocalypticism: Literature and Social World,” in The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism, 1, The Origins of Apocalypticism in Judaism and Christianity , ed. Collins, John J. (New York, 1998), 415–53, at 417–24.Google Scholar

61 Dudley, , The Egyptian Elements , 17–18.Google Scholar

62 Reference in Armitage Robinson, J., Coptic Apocryphal Gospels , Texts and Studies 4, 2 (Cambridge, 1896), 233, notes on fragment III on the Death of Joseph. Robinson refers to Zoega, Georg, Catalogus codicum Copticorum manuscriptorum (Rome, 1810), 334f a “Sahidic account of a monk who wished to see the soul of a righteous man and of a sinner coming forth from the body.” Robinson summarizes the story as follows: “The monk first saw the soul of a man esteemed righteous in this world coming forth from his body in torments. After these things the brother went into the city; and found a stranger lying sick, no man watching him: and the brother sat by him for a day. Straightway, when he was about to fall asleep the brother saw Michael and Gabriel come, wishing to take his soul. The one sat on his right, and the other on his left. They kept beseeching the soul to come forth from the body. But it would not come forth. Gabriel said to him, God said, Do not trouble it, to bring it forth violently: now therefore I cannot bring it forth forcibly. Michael cried out, saying, God, what wilt Thou do to this soul? It will not come forth. And a voice came unto him, Behold I will send David with his harp and all the singers of Jerusalem, that it may hear their beautiful voice (or sound), and come forth. And straightway they all came down, and surrounded it, and sang to the soul; and it came forth, and sat in the hand of Michael; and they took it up with joy.” It is not clear whether Robinson's much longer account of the destiny of the righteous soul than that of the sinner reflects the original or only Zoega's summary of the story, since I am not able to read Coptic. Zoega's book is now available online at http://books.google.com/books/id=1r1JAAAAcAAJ.Google Scholar

63 Seymour, , “The Bringing Forth” (n. 7 above), 18.Google Scholar

64 Marstrander, , “The Two Deaths” (n. 5 above), 120.Google Scholar

65 Kenney, James F., Sources for the Early History of Ireland: Ecclesiastical (1929, repr. Dublin, 1993), 621.Google Scholar

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68 The text survives in two eighth-century manuscripts, one in Munich (Clm 6433) and the other in Zurich (Zentralbibliothek Rheinau 140). For a chronological list of the manuscripts, see Wright, , “Latin Analogue” (n. 11 above). See also Wright, , “Three Utterances” (n. 11 above), 82.Google Scholar

69 Willard, , Two Apocrypha (n. 19 above), 145. See also Willard, , “The Latin Texts” (n. 18 above), 157. Also, Kabir has noted the strong Insular manuscript tradition of The Three Utterances sermons; see Paradise, Death and Doomsday (n. 19 above), 51. On the close connections and interaction between the Irish and the Old English traditions, see Wright, Charles D., “The Irish Tradition,” in A Companion to Anglo-Saxon Literature , ed. Pulsiano, Phillip and Treharne, Elaine (Oxford, 2001), 345–74, on the accounts of departing souls especially 348.Google Scholar

70 The three Old English homilies including the Three Utterances are found in manuscripts dating from the second half of the eleventh or early twelfth century, but in all cases this theme seems to have been incorporated into the homily from some preexisting source. Willard, , Two Apocrypha , 32–36.Google Scholar

71 Wright, , “Three Utterances Apocryphon” (n. 11 above), 80.Google Scholar

72 Wright, , “Apocryphal Lore and Insular Tradition” (n. 19 above), 136.Google Scholar

73 See The End and Beyond (n. 1 above). I am most grateful to John Carey for his help with the linguistic dating of the text. On the historical development of the Irish language, see Russell, Paul, “‘What was Best of Every Language’: The Early History of the Irish Language,” in A New History of Ireland, 1, Prehistoric and Early Ireland , ed. Cróinín, Dáibhí Ó (Oxford, 2005), 405–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

74 Examples can be found, for example, in Adomnán's hagiographic accounts of Columba's encounters with supernatural agents and in Bede's, History of the English People: Adomnán's Life of Columba , ed. Anderson, Alan Orr and Anderson, Marjorie Ogilvie (Oxford, rev. ed. 1991), iii, 6–7, 9–13; Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People , ed. Colgrave, Bertram and Mynors, R. A. B. (Oxford, rev. ed. 1991), iv, 3, 23, v, 13. On Adomnán's views on the posthumous destinies of souls, see Ritari, Katja, Saints and Sinners in Early Christian Ireland: Moral Theology in the Lives of Saints Brigit and Columba, Studia Traditionis Theologiae 3 (Turnhout, 2009), 152–67. On another hagiographical source with similar visions of the afterlife, see O'Hara, Alexander, “Death and Afterlife in Jonas of Bobbio's Vita Columbani,” in The Church, The Afterlife and the Fate of the Soul , ed. Clarke, Peter and Claydon, Tony, Studies in Church History 45 (Woodbridge, 2009), 64–73.Google Scholar