Don Brown 2002
The true story of Columcille, a pagan born in Ireland who converted to Christianity and founded monastaries throughout Ireland and Scotland. He worked as a scribe, creating a copy of the psalms that caused a fight among the clans. But he promoted learning and "through his efforts the embers of literature and scholarship, nearly extinguished during the Dark Ages were re-ignited."
A revered figure in Celtic history, Columcille left a legacy of learning that illuminated a corner of the Dark Ages.
The process of writing using the tools and materials of that time period is described. Also in the back is more biographical information. A nice compliment to this book is the movie The Secret of Kells. The artwork is incredible. The kids and I loved it (there were a few scary parts for Charlotte). We ended up looking up photographs of the real Book of Kells (which I didn't know anything about before.)
Books were made and dispatched, like small boats on a a dark and wild sea, to places where reading and writing had been forgotten or ignored. The books made colonies of learning and people's minds, once dark with ignorance, were brightened.
No comments:
Post a Comment