Christians preserving prechristian beliefs

[metis]

Does anyone have any information or ideas why Christians monks of Ireland preserved in writing the pre-Christian beliefs and stories when they could have been lost forever since they were an oral tradition.

IMO, we can always learn from others and that we shouldn't be shutting ourselves off from new information and new experiences.

 

[Neutral Name]

Does anyone have any information or ideas why Christians monks of Ireland preserved in writing the pre-Christian beliefs and stories when they could have been lost forever since they were an oral tradition. The same can be seen in Icelandic Christians that preserved Nordic pre-Christian beliefs and stories. What motivated these Christians to preserve what could have been easily lost forever?

Wow! I don't know and didn't know that they did that. I will research it because it is very interesting. I can say that many monks were interested in intellectual pursuits such as science and math. Can you tell me where you discovered this so that I can begin my research there? Thanks

 

[Bear Wild]

Wow! I don't know and didn't know that they did that. I will research it because it is very interesting. I can say that many monks were interested in intellectual pursuits such as science and math. Can you tell me where you discovered this so that I can begin my research there? Thanks

Thanks for your interest. The sources include the Lebor na hUidre (the book of the Dun Cow) with a preserved version from the late 11th century, The Book of Leinster with a surviving manuscript from 1160 formerly known as the Lebor na Nuachongbála or Book of Nuachongbáil from the monastic site Oughaval and the Book of Glendalough. Other but much later written sources in the late 14th century include the Yellow Book of Lecan, The Great Book of Lecan, and The Book of Ballymote. These sources all came from Christians preserving pre-Christian events and rituals. They all are unlikely the originals but are the oldest remaining copies of the original writings. I can try and find some of the sources I learned from if your are interested in the topic. I have yet to find why Christians from Ireland found it so important to preserve the pre-Christian beliefs compared to other pre-Christian Celtic areas in which we have little to no record of their beliefs.

 

[Bear Wild]

IMO, we can always learn from others and that we shouldn't be shutting ourselves off from new information and new experiences.

I agree with you completely but that has not always be the way of things in the past. More often different views were eliminated at great length. Look at what happened to the gnostic beliefs in Alexandria. Only fragments buried out of reach to authorities of the time remain.

 

[David T]

Does anyone have any information or ideas why Christians monks of Ireland preserved in writing the pre-Christian beliefs and stories when they could have been lost forever since they were an oral tradition. The same can be seen in Icelandic Christians that preserved Nordic pre-Christian beliefs and stories. What motivated these Christians to preserve what could have been easily lost forever?

Most quantify monks qualify. Most understand quantity, monks quality. Where most see "hey thats not this" , monks see that is related to this. They tend to be radically different.

They are more artists and less business people less institutional, more poetic than marketing.

 

[Quintessence]

I'm sure this has been studied - what I would do is get in touch with one of the academics who studies these things. I haven't looked into it that much myself so I can't point you in the direction of good resources other than to name drop historian Ronald Hutton, who has done a lot of work studying the history of the British Isles (see for example The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy by Ronald Hutton). I've read a number of his works, but for some it's been a while and I just can't remember the specifics. I don't doubt somewhere in his works Hutton goes into why Irish lore was chronicled more than other Celtic sources.

What I do remember is that it is very, very important to bear in mind that in most cases, these stories were written down several centuries after Christians had destroyed the indigenous religions/cultures of the area. In addition, since the stories were chronicled by outsiders, we can expect no small amount of bias if not outright fabrication to be present. What this means is that our picture of indigenous religions/cultures of pre-Christian Europe is incomplete and limited one way or another.

 

[Bear Wild]

I'm sure this has been studied - what I would do is get in touch with one of the academics who studies these things. I haven't looked into it that much myself so I can't point you in the direction of good resources other than to name drop historian Ronald Hutton, who has done a lot of work studying the history of the British Isles (see for example The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy by Ronald Hutton). I've read a number of his works, but for some it's been a while and I just can't remember the specifics. I don't doubt somewhere in his works Hutton goes into why Irish lore was chronicled more than other Celtic sources.

What I do remember is that it is very, very important to bear in mind that in most cases, these stories were written down several centuries after Christians had destroyed the indigenous religions/cultures of the area. In addition, since the stories were chronicled by outsiders, we can expect no small amount of bias if not outright fabrication to be present. What this means is that our picture of indigenous religions/cultures of pre-Christian Europe is incomplete and limited one way or another.

Thanks, I have read three of Ronald Hutton's books. I will try to look at them again. The first book I read of his was "Triumph of the Moon" which influence the way I saw pagan religions. Although the copies preserved are from later dates we do not know how many were written much earlier and not preserved. The details included suggest at least a more immediate recording considering how quickly details are lost in oral traditions. The issue of fabrication is also always a complicated question although some archeological data is at least supportive in some of the information. Maybe there is no way to ever know.