Two Different Ways of Knowing

The passage quoted above is more than merely beautiful: commentators have universally felt that this speech, and ‘The Voyage of Bran’ as a whole, is in some way intricately thought. This sequence can be read as contrasting two different ways of knowing: Bran perceives one version of the world—superficial and tied to time—where Manannán perceives quite another, and with a degree of insight deeper, truer, and keyed to eternity.