So it was with Celtic saints, and Adamnan, in his life of St Columba, i.
Much more important is the enlargement of that work by Adamnan, who became abbot of Iona in 679.
On his return he was driven by contrary winds to Britain, and so came to Iona, where he related his experiences to his host, the abbot Adamnan (679-704).
This narrative, as written out by Adamnan, was presented to Aldfrith the Wise, last of the great Northumbrian kings, at York about 701, and came to the knowledge of Bede, who inserted a brief summary of the same in his Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, and also drew up a separate and longer digest which obtained great popularity throughout the middle ages as a standard guide-book (the so-called Libellus de locis sanctis) to the Holy Places of Syria.
Adamnan wrote a Life of St Columba, which, though abounding in fabulous matter, is of great interest and value.