Conversing with Angels and Ancients: Literary Myths of Medieval Ireland (review)

288 Reviews formulation in which m e n are the carnal, morally weak creatures while w o m e n are inherently chaste and spiritually inclined, while Parmer's witty deconstruction of Medieval versus Early Modern Subjectivities in scholarly discourse should evoke genuine laughter. As an example of the growing corpus of studies of premodern sexualities, Desire and Discipline testifies to the fruitful work emerging in this field. Stephanie Tarbin Department ofHistory Australian National University Nagy, Joseph Falaky, Conversing with Angels and Ancients: Literary Myths of Medieval Ireland, Ithaca and London, Cornell University Press, 1997; paper; pp. xi, 356; R.R.P. US$17.95. Nagy's latest book provides a complex and nuanced literary reading of early medieval Irish hagiographical traditions. As such it is a welcome addition to the burgeoning scholarship in this fascinating area of Irish medieval studies. The device on which Nagy centres his enquires is essentially a rereading of the wellk n o w n hagiographic topos of speech with older or divine authorities to provide legitimation for the missionary enterprise of early Christianity. In the case of Irish hagiography, Nagy argues that this was done using the topoi of dialogue, though speech and the written word, with angels and with ancients, both pagan and older Christian. A significant amount of space is devoted by Nagy to Patrician hagiography. Chapter One discusses the Confessio and other works of the historical Patrick. Chapter T w o moves on to the seventhcentury reworkings of the stories of Patrick by Muirchu, Tirechan Reviews 289 and the Tripartite Life. Adomnan's vita of Columba is discussed in the third chapter and it is only in the fourth chapter that there is any extended discussion of any of the other Irish saints. In Chapters Four and Five, the discussion shifts from individual saints to discussions of themes within a variety of texts, including hagiography, the early law tracts and some vernacular literature, particularly concerning C u Chulainn. The themes which are addressed are that of the role of the charioteer in both heroic and hagiographical texts in Chapter Four and the theme of outsiders such as brigands in Chapter Five. This concentration on Patrick is understandable, Patrician hagiography has always held the greatest appeal to scholars of Irish hagiography and Patrick is the saint with perhaps the most scope for an analysis of the interactions between the old order, the ancients, and the new Christian one. Both Patrick and Columba have lengthy discussion with angels which m a k e them important to Nagy's central themes. Columba with his special affinity with poets provides a different sort of bridge between old and n e w from the missionary Patrick. Columba becomes both old and Christian in a w a y that Patrick couldn't, (p. 197) Patrick, w h e n he needed the authority of ancients, of necessity had to call upon the pagan past, and find ways to reconcile it with his Christian mission. Nagy argues that this is done with varying degrees of success, but mostly that it is an inherent project within the texts of both the historical Patrick and Muirchti and Tirechan. Although the concentration on Patrick and Columba is logical and would have been understandable to the medieval Irish writers themselves, Nagy's choice is not transparent. The earliest hagiographic text from Ireland is in fact not from the Patrician or Columban dossier, but is the seventh-century vita by Cogitosus of Brigit. Brigit, in fact, is rather curiously neglected in Nagy's book. 290 Reviews Although she is used by Nagy in interesting discussions on the role of charioteers and brigands, and the complexities of her role as a w o m a n in the male dominated world of hagiography are briefly discussed [pp. 232-36] there is no extended layering of discussion such as that devoted to Patrick and Columba. This is perhaps surprising given the indisputable pre-Christian origins of her cult and the ways that these are dealt with in the early corpus of her hagiography. The method which Nagy uses in his analysis is to delineate a particular episode and then weave his analysis around it, often...