Conference Contribution Details
Mandatory Fields
Emma Nic Cárthaigh
The 14th International Congress of Celtic Studies
The Seven Heavens in the modern recension of In Tenga Bithnua or The Evernew Tongue.
National University of Ireland Maynooth
Oral Presentation
2011
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Optional Fields
01-AUG-11
05-AUG-11

The modern recension of In Tenga Bithnua contains a description of the ascent through the seven heavens by the soul after death which outlines the torments awaiting sinners and the rewards awaiting the righteous. This description does not appear in the two earlier recensions of the text and would seem to be a later interpolation. In this paper, I will outline the extensive manuscript tradition of the modern recension, examine the contents of the seven heavens section, noting its affinities with other accounts of the seven heavens in medieval Irish literature and make some observations on the possible background and provenance of this section.

IRCHSS Grant in Theology and Religious Studies