The Island That Was a Fish
Irish monks sailing the Atlantic landed on a bare island and lit a fire to cook. Then the island began to move.
What was reported
The Voyage of St Brendan, a medieval Irish tale written down by the 900s, tells of the abbot Brendan sailing west across the ocean with his monks in search of a promised land. One day they landed on a small, bare, black island and lit a fire to cook a meal.
As the fire grew hot, the island started to shake and move. The monks scrambled back into their boat as the 'island' swam away. Brendan told them it was a great fish named Jasconius, the largest in the sea, and in the story they returned to celebrate Easter on its back every year.
Explanations offered
The idea of an island that turns out to be a whale or giant turtle appears in many traditions, including the voyages of Sinbad and medieval bestiaries, where it's called the aspidochelone. It may grow from sailors seeing whales basking at the surface. Some have suggested Brendan's voyage remembers real Irish journeys to the Faroes or Iceland.
- When
- Told since the 800s
- Where
- The North Atlantic, on the voyage of St Brendan
- Witnesses
- The medieval Voyage of St Brendan
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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