Nederlands

FaithonMaps › All places › Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne

The Holy Island · England

In 635 King Oswald of Northumbria asked Iona for a missionary, and the gentle monk Aidan came and founded a monastery on this tidal island. From here Aidan, and later Cuthbert, walked the countryside to bring the faith to northern England. Around 715 the monks made the Lindisfarne Gospels, one of the most beautiful books of the Middle Ages, now kept in the British Library. Today you can walk among the red sandstone ruins of the priory, built centuries later on the same spot.

Did you know?

You can only reach the island at low tide, over a causeway. The Viking raid here in 793 is often seen as the start of the Viking Age.

View on the mapOpen in Google Maps

An inspiring story

Cuthbert and the otters

What do you do when nobody is watching?

The monk Cuthbert liked to slip out at night. A curious brother followed him and saw him walk into the cold North Sea up to his neck, where he stood praying until dawn. When Cuthbert came back onto the beach, two otters came out of the sea, warmed his feet with their breath and dried them with their fur. He blessed them and they slipped back into the water. The next morning Cuthbert asked the shaken brother to tell no one, as long as he lived. Why the secret? Because his prayer was meant for God, not for an audience.

The brother kept his word. Only after Cuthbert's death did the world hear one of the gentlest stories of the Middle Ages.

If I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me.Psalm 139:9-10

Sources

Journeys through this place

Also on the map