Immram Maele Dúin (The Voyage of Máel Dúin)

Record summary

This Irish voyage tale follows Máel Dúin and companions through a sequence of strange islands, each presenting moral, biological, or supernatural marvels. The narrative belongs to the immram tradition, in which seafaring provides a structure for testing character, encountering otherworldly communities, and exploring boundaries between Christian and older mythic cosmologies. Its relevance to polar or maritime religious research lies in recurring themes of isolated islands, altered natural laws, and uncertain return. The surviving text reflects transmission and Christianization, while proposed real-world itineraries are speculative and not accepted as evidence of discovery.