Iona and the sea

Abstract

This paper discusses the parentage of the ascetic ideal exemplified by Adomnán’s description of Columba as ‘an island soldier’ and the power of that ideal in Britain and Ireland. It then turns to the necessity of sailing expertise and to the sailors among the community of Iona who possessed and transmitted that expertise. It then discusses Adomnán’s vocabulary for sea-going vessels and for wind directions. As a by-product it suggests a likely identification for Hinba.