The voyage of Maeldum

the long version

THE VOYAGE OF MAELDUN belongs to the age-old tradition of nautical adventures such as those experienced by famed voyagers like Homer's Odysseus, Jason and the Argonauts, Sinbad the Sailor, and Ireland's Saint Brendan the Navigator. The novel, a tale of crime and punishment, is set during the period in which the old pagan religion of pre-Christian Ireland was first giving way to Christianity. The story concerns Maeldun and his sixteen companions whom, at the urging of Crimthain the Druid, must embark upon a mission of vengeance, a mission in which they hope to redeem the honor of their clan, Clan Murtagh. But they soon find themselves caught between their loyalties to the old pagan gods and their fear of the powerful new God now worshipped by the small groups of Christians in the west of Ireland. What Maeldun and his companions had expected to be a straightforward mission of retribution turns into something quite different as these mariners become entangled in a series of mystifying adventures.