Literature Atlas

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Theme
Genre

Immram

Epic and Heroic Narrative

An immram is a class of Old Irish tales about a hero's sea journey to the Otherworld, generally to island destinations such as Tir na nOg or Mag Mell located far to the west of Ireland. Written down in the Christian era and Christian in outlook even as they preserve older elements of Irish mythology, the tales follow a hero who sets out for adventure or to fulfill his destiny, stops at a series of fantastic islands before reaching his goal, and may or may not return home again.

Facts
Place of Origin
Ireland 1
Notable Example
The Voyage of Mael Duin 1
Defining Trait
hero has multiple adventures across several islands rather than one otherworld destination 1
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Immram, Wikipedia
  • Lead section
    An immram is a class of Old Irish tales concerning a hero's sea journey to the Otherworld (see Tir na nOg and Mag Mell).
  • Stories section
    Of those seven only three survive: The Voyage of Mael Duin, The Voyage of the Ui Chorra, and The Voyage of Snedgus and Mac Riagla.
  • Definition section
    in an immram the hero always has multiple adventures on several islands
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