The Work of Angels Buried in Irish Bogs

Friday, 28 July 2006 16:51

Ireland - What are the odds?  Irish archaeologists revealed that a man on a backhoe found a thousand-year-old book of psalms buried in a bog.  He was digging up potting soil when he spotted the medieval manuscript just beyond the machine's reach.  The director of the National Museum of Ireland called it "a miracle find." 

What are the odds that miracle's happened before?  The 20-page book of psalms, copied in Latin ten to twelve centuries ago, isn't the first biblical book to be rescued from an Irish bog.  So was the greatest set of illuminated Gospels ever made by medieval monks.  So was the Book of Kells.

The Work of Angels

Around the year 750, Irish monks laboring in isolation on a tiny island just west of Scotland began work on a book that would outlast empires, a book that many say may be the greatest illustrated version of the Gospels ever made.

Well, it wasn't quite a book really.  It was a codex--the first step up from a scroll and toward a modern bound and printed book.  Codex salesmen were quick to tout the advantages: you can open a codex to any page (try that with a scroll), you can write on both sides of the parchment or (in the deluxe model) vellum, and you can bind together long works.

For more than a century, the small monastic community on the tiny island had been laboring faithfully to copy and preserve classical and biblical texts that few in Europe even knew existed.  It wasn't an easy life.  The monks lived and worked in beehive-like stone structures with few creature comforts.  But their art has been called the work of angels. 

The Book of Kells was to be their masterwork: the four Gospels of the Christian faith laid lovingly onto the page in Latin and brought to life by the best and most colorful art of the age.  For the monks who labored over every figure, it wasn't simply a book.  It was the Word of God made manifest, and a devout and passionate prayer offered to the Word's source.  Here is just a sample of what those monks made.

One Chi-Rho

Probably the best known of all the Book of Kells' 680 vellum pages is the "Chi-Rho" page, introducing Matthew's account of Christ's birth.  Three Greek letters dominate the page: chi (X), rho (P), and iota (I)--shorthand for "Christ."

The early Christians used a number of symbols to represent Jesus (though not, apparently, the crucifix, which didn't come to prominence until later).  Of these, the chi-rho was a sort of monogram, combining the initial Greek letters of "Christ" in handy fashion.  The first Christian emperor of Rome, Constantine, used the chi-rho as a victory symbol and had it emblazoned on his soldiers' shields. 

Four Gospels

Some of the book's pages contain no letters at all.  Instead, they focus entirely on image, symbol, and brilliant color.  One page, for example, simply depicts the authors of the four Gospels: Matthew as a man, Mark as a lion, Luke as an ox (or calf), and John as an eagle.

As many as 10 colors appear throughout the book, using inks made from lead, pulverized beetle wings, crushed oak apples, and precious stones such as lapis lazuli.

Lots and Lots of Text

Of course, the monks set out to record the Gospels, not make a coffee-table book, so a great number of pages do contain plenty of text (though only two lack ornament entirely).  Just see the page that gives Luke's account of Christ's genealogy.

Not to be left out of the story, the scribe painted his picture in the lower right corner, including his brush and palette.  Sheltered monks weren't above such humor.  In marginalia from manuscripts of the era, they call attention to sloppy co-workers ("It's easy to spot Gabrial's work here"), bemoan tough translations from ancient Greek ("There's an end to that--and seven curses with it!"), and even react as readers ("I am greatly aggrieved at the above-mentioned death").

Buried in a Bog

At some point in the 9th century (after Vikings dropped by unannounced yet again), cautious monks moved the Book of Kells from its island home to the Abbey of Kells in eastern Ireland.  Documents show the abbey was plundered several times before 1006, when thieves finally got their hands on the book, stripped it of its bejeweled golden cover, and flung it into a bog.

Considering that the volume spent a few months buried there before being rescued, it's in remarkably good shape. Today, the book is at Trinity College in Dublin, which has been its steward since 1660.

.... by Michael Himick
Updated July 27, 2006