In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

The quest for solitude in the Vita Columbae (V. Col.)* can doubtless be studied under several different aspects. Here I wish to discuss a few points only from a broadly historical perspective. The strictly archaeological implications that discussion of these points undoubtedly raises have not been addressed here explicitly. The ascetic and anchoritic life in V. Col. appears to fall into two broad divisions. First, there are those who, alone or in groups, live probably close to and directly dependent on a larger cenobitic monastery. Second, there are those who seek the ‘desert in the ocean’. I shall review these two divisions in reverse order. The Desert in the Ocean Adomnán’s voyager is typically Cormac Ua Liatháin, ‘nepos Lethani’. Cormac’s three unsuccessful attempts to find a desert in the ocean, ‘herimum in ociano, desertum in pilago’, are described in V. Col. 1.6 (first voyage) and 2.42 (second and third). In 1.6, though he himself is ‘uir sanctus’, he fails because one of his companions has not obtained his abbot’s permission before joining him.1 In his second voyage, he eventually reaches Orkney, where he escapes death through Columba’s previous prophetic intercession on his behalf with the Pictish overking Brude, who has both the Orcadian subking and that king’s hostages to hand. Columba refers to Cormac and his crew as ‘some of our people’ (‘aliqui ex nostris’). Cormac subsequently returns to Iona at short notice, rejoining the surprised and thankful community in the church (‘oratorium’). In his third voyage, his * The edition normally used here is A.O. and M.O. Anderson (ed. and trans.), Adomnán’s Life of Columba (Oxford, 1991). 191 Seeking the Desert in Adomnán’s Vita Columbae AIDAN MACDONALD 192 Aidan MacDonald ship is blown northwards for a fortnight until it enters a region of monstrous dangers. The distant but clairvoyant saint and the community pray with and for their brothers (‘fratres’), their fellow members (‘commembres’). A north wind is duly granted and Cormac returns and meets Columba ‘face to face’ (‘facie ad faciem’), to the great wonder and joy of all. Several points occur to me. First, these voyages all end in failure. Common sense might reasonably object, of course, that for V. Col. they had to do so, if the stories were to have more than just a beginning: successful permanent settlement in the wilderness of the sea might well have removed the occupants from all outside knowledge indefinitely or for ever. The failure of Cormac’s first voyage, on the other hand, is explicitly attributed to an act of religious disobedience: that of the other two may similarly have been thought to result from religious considerations, though such is not stated. Second, it is noticeable that, not only do abbot and community continue to show concern for the voyagers, but also the abbot seems to retain overall responsibility for them as his monks. Third, the wanderer’s return and the way in which his reintegration into the community is noted may be significant. At the end of his second voyage, Cormac rejoins the community at its heart – in the church. At the end of his third voyage, he and Columba are reunited so as to see each other with an immediacy forcefully expressed – ‘facie ad faciem’.2 Cormac’s quests are an extension but still an integral part of the spiritual life of the community. These considerations lead me to suggest that such voyages were, frequently if not usually, seasonal; that they were undertaken for purposes of periodic retreat as much as, possibly more than, permanent withdrawal; and that they fail for spiritual, so internal, rather than for external and physical reasons. (This argument would be strengthened if Cormac’s landfall in Orkney ‘after some months’ [‘post aliquot menses’] and his return to Iona ‘after an interval of a few months’ [‘post aliquantum paucorum interuallum mensium’] are one and the same period of time. If, however, Adomnán intended consecutive periods, the argument is weakened – unless such voyages could legitimately extend to more than a few months.) Such periodic retreat is, admittedly, not mentioned explicitly in V. Col. (Columba’s solitary hours apart in 2.26, 3.8 and 3.16 are not pertinent); but that it was practised at Iona by the early seventh century is surely indicated by Bede’s reference to Bishop Aidan’s occasional solitary retirement to Farne Island.3 It is possible, I think, that Hinba functioned...

Share