Category Archives: Book of Kells

The Curious Figures of the Garland of Howth

Described by Francoise Henry and Geneviève Marsh-Michele as ‘disconcerting’ the illumination of folio 1r of the Garland of Howth presents particular iconographical puzzles.

The folio contains the opening letters of Matt. 1.18 ‘χρι autem gener’ (see previous post).1

The lettering of the χρι is formed by fine interlace strands at the top left of the page, with the subsequent letters, in rectilinear display script, organised within along the right side of the page. The remainder of the page is dominated by four figures contained within a cross-shaped framework – a seated figure with a book, a seated figure with a sword, and two angels above. Most scholars have concurred that the figure on the bottom left is ‘probably Matthew’, but have expressed uncertainty about the figure on the right, while Isabel Henderson has suggested that the figures represent David and Abraham below, and Isiah and the Angel above, so acting to illustrate the missing text of the genealogy of Christ that opens Matthew’s gospel.2

Figure 1a The Garland of Howth, 8th-9th century, TCD MS 56, f. 1r © The Board of Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. 2015. Figure 1b The Garland of Howth. Fol. 1r. Chromolithograph by Margaret Stokes c. 1866. Photo. C.M. Thomas
Figure 1a The Garland of Howth, 8th-9th century, TCD MS 56, f. 1r © The Board of Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. 2015.
Figure 1b The Garland of Howth. Fol. 1r. Chromolithograph by Margaret Stokes c. 1866. Photo. C.M. Thomas

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Reading books in early Medieval Ireland

The material aspects of our project manuscripts can give us insight into the writing and reading culture of early medieval Ireland.  Size, script, organization, and wear all give indications of how they have been used and treated over the centuries.

Already we have seen that an indication of writing practice was illustrated in the quill that Matthew holds above an inkpot (fig. 1) in his portrait in the Book of Mulling (see previous post).

Figure 1 The Book of Mulling, 2nd half of 8th century, TCD MS 60, f. 12v © The Board of Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. 2015.
Figure 1 The Book of Mulling, 2nd half of 8th century, TCD MS 60, f. 12v © The Board of Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. 2015.

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Riddle Me This – Solving the Problems of Parchment

Can you solve this riddle?

A moth ate words.     To me it seemed
a remarkable fate,     when I learned of the marvel,
that the worm had swallowed     the speech of a man,
a thief in the night,     a renowned saying
and its place itself.     Though he swallowed the word
the thieving stranger     was no whit the wiser.

This short verse was recorded in Old English in the tenth century Book of Exeter (Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501).1  Riddles such as this likely served a host of functions in Anglo-Saxon culture, from educational to performative.2  In the case of our example, the riddle alludes to a problem inherent in the organic properties of medieval book-making materials (see previous post).  Manuscript texts were vulnerable to wear or damage from natural processes and environmental factors, not to mention handling (see previous post).

Figure 1 Book of Kells, TCD MS 58, f. 34r © The Board of Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. 2015.
Figure 1 Book of Kells, TCD MS 58, f. 34r © The Board of Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. 2015.

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X Marks the Spot – the Monogram of Christ

One of the most spectacular displays of ornamented text in early Irish manuscripts is the Chi-Rho page in the Book of Kells (fig. 1).  These elaborately decorated initials are found not only in luxury volumes such as the Book of Kells, the Lindisfarne Gospels (fig. 2a), the Codex Aureus (fig. 2b) and the Lichfield Gospels (fig. 2c), but also in Irish pocket Gospels like our Book of Mulling (see previous post) and Book of Dimma (see previous post).

The Book of Kells, ca. 800, TCD MS 58, f. 14r © The Board of Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. 2015.
The Book of Kells, ca. 800, TCD MS 58, f. 14r © The Board of Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. 2015.
Figure 2a Lindisfarne Gospels, late 7th or early 8th c., f. 29, British Library, London (Cotton Nero D. IV). Source Figure 2b Codex Aureus, mid-8th c., f. 11, Royal Library, Stockholm (MS A. 135). Source. Figure 2c Lichfield Gospels (St. Chad Gospels), 2nd quarter of 8th c., f. 5, Cathedral Library, Lichfield. Photographed by kind permission of the Chapter of Lichfield Cathedral. Final photographic adjustments by Bill Endres.
Figure 2a Lindisfarne Gospels, late 7th or early 8th c., f. 29, British Library, London (Cotton Nero D. IV). Source
Figure 2b Codex Aureus, mid-8th c., f. 11, Royal Library, Stockholm (MS A. 135). Source.
Figure 2c Lichfield Gospels (St. Chad Gospels), 2nd quarter of 8th c., f. 5, Cathedral Library, Lichfield. Photographed by kind permission of the Chapter of Lichfield Cathedral. Final photographic adjustments by Bill Endres.

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Decorating the Canon Tables

As discussed in a previous post , canon tables were intended to be a functional component of a medieval Gospel manuscript.1 That is perhaps one reason for adding canon tables to an existing Gospel text, such as in the Book of Mulling.  While the Mulling Gospels were likely copied in the eighth century, the canon tables are thought to have been inserted in a later period. Beyond their usefulness as a concordance, canon tables also demonstrated the harmony of the Evangelists’ texts.2 In some cases, the agreement was expressed with the decoration framing the tables.

The design of canon tables could vary from manuscript to manuscript.  They could be quite plain, as seen in the Book of Mulling (fig. 1).  The Mulling canons are simply columns of numbers separated by red vertical lines.  Corresponding passages are listed in the same row and so the table resembles a modern spreadsheet.

Figure 1 Canon I, Book of Mulling, 8th century, TCD MS 60, f. 5r © The Board of Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. 2015.
Figure 1 Canon I, Book of Mulling, 8th century, TCD MS 60, f. 5r © The Board of Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. 2015.

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