FAQ

A young boy named Brendan, who lives at the Kells monastery in Ireland, plays a part in creating and preserving the Book of Kells.

The Book of Kells is an Irish manuscript containing the Four Gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) from the Bible. What makes it special is its age and the illustrations it contains. Thought to have been started in a monastery on the Isle of Iona off the west coast of Scotland, to honor Saint Columba in the early 8th century, it was moved to a cathedral in Kells, in the county of Meath, Ireland after a Viking raid sometime in the 9th century. It remained in Kells until the mid-16th century. In the 17th century, Archbishop Ussher presented it to Trinity College in Dublin, where it resides today. The book is characterized by lavish drawings in various colors of ink.

Kells (Irish: Ceanannus) is a town in County Meath, Ireland, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Dublin.

Technically, they are called "ear cuffs", common among Celtic folk. Essentially, they amount to a "clip on" earring that was a band of metal pinched onto the upper ear.

Crom Cruach was a deity in pre-Christian Ireland. He is often described as a bloodthirsty god to whom human sacrifices, particularly those of first-born children, were performed.

Yes. Pangur Bán is the subject of a medieval Irish poem, written around the 9th century by an anonymous monk who lived at or near Reichenau Abbey. The poem is now kept in St Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal. The poem paints a simple scene of a monk, hard at his studies, and his white tomcat, Pangur Bán, engaged in similar tasks. The poem in English as well as in the original Old Irish can be read here. It can be heard recited in Old Irish as the movie's ending credits roll.

Aisling (pronounced "Ashling") has been depicted by various viewers as a fairy, a sidhe, or even a member of the Tuatha Dé. More generally, she is thought to represent the pagan traditions of Old Ireland. As such, she provides a link between those traditions and the newer Christian ideas represented by Brendan and the monks of the monastery. Some viewers see her as the reason that the illustrations in the Book of Kells are rife with symbols from nature.

Yes, it was. The Secret of Kells was one of five films nominated for a 2009 Academy Award in the category for Animated Feature Films. Also nominated were Coraline (2009), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), La Princesse et la Grenouille (2009), and Là-haut (2009). The winner was Up.

Years pass after Brendan, Aidan, Pangur Bán, and the Book escape the Viking invasion at the Kells monastery. One day, when Brendan is grown, Aidan presents the Book to him and charges that he must bring the book to the people so that they might have hope during the dark days of the Northmen. Brendan and Pangur Bán return to Kells. Along the way, Brendan is followed by Aisling in the form of a white wolf, but she does not reveal herself to him. Brendan's voyage brings him to the deathbed of Uncle Cellach, who presumed that Brendan was killed in the Viking raid. In the final scene, Brendan shares the Book of Kells with his uncle.

When Brendan again enters Aisling's forest at the end of the movie, she appears to him as a white wolf, showing her human appearance for only a second or two. The most common explanation offered by viewers is that Brendan is no longer a child and cannot relate to her in her human form anymore. Other explanations include (1) he wasn't in danger anymore and she didn't need to help him, (2) Ireland had been successfully converted to Christianity, so her time had passed, and (3) Brendan's beliefs about his religion were so strong that her appearance might challenge them in some way.