The Secret of Kells.Brendan, a young, curious, and idealistic boy living in the tightly knit community at the Abbey of Kells, is under the strict care of his stern uncle, Abbot Cellach. Cellach is obsessed with building a wall around the Abbey, in order to prevent Viking attacks. Brendan is apprenticed in the scriptorium of the monastery. After listening to the other monks of the monastery talk about Brother Aidan, the creator of the Book of Iona, Brendan is curious about the mysterious illuminator and "the book that turns darkness into light" (the unfinished Book of Kells). Aidan arrives in Kells, accompanied by his white cat, Pangur Bán, after his own monastery is destroyed by a raid. After eavesdropping on a discussion between Cellach and Aidan, Brendan wanders to the scriptorium, where he finds the still-to-be-completed book. Pangur Bán guards the book, but when the cat sees that Brendan means no harm to the book, she accepts him. Aidan arrives and tells Brendan about the book. Seeing Brendan as a suitable apprentice, Aidan sends Brendan, with Pangur Bán for company, into the woods to obtain gall nuts to make ink for the illumination of the book. However, Brendan is cornered by a hungry pack of wolves. He is saved by Aisling, the forest spirit from the beginning of the film. Although at first suspicious of Brendan's presence, Aisling slowly comes to accept him after he reveals his intentions of helping to create the book. After a brief yet scary close encounter with Crom Cruach, a deity of death and destruction, of whom Aisling is deeply afraid, Brendan and Aisling return to the outskirts of the forest. She assures Brendan that he can come back and visit anytime he wants...