Otherworld

Ways to enter: in Persian, Greek, Germanic, Celtic, Slavic and Indic mythologies **a river had to be crossed to allow entrance to it and it is usually an old man that would transport the soul across the waters**.

In Greek and Indic mythology the waters of this river were thought to wash away sins or memories whereas Celtic and Germanic myths feature wisdom-imparting waters, suggesting that while the memories of the deceased are washed away a drinker of the waters would gain inspiration.

Otherworld is depicted in many ways, including peaceful meadows, islands and buildings

The Irish Otherworld is more usually described as a paradisal fairyland than a scary place.

Red and white are the colors of animals in the Celtic Otherworld, and these colors still animate transcendent religious and political symbols today.

The concept f an **otherworld** in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of *orbis alius* (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherworld.

Comparable religious, mythological or metaphysical concepts, such as a realm of supernatural beings and a realm of the dead, are found in cultures throughout the world. Spirits are thought to travel between worlds, or layers of existence in such traditions, usually along an axis such as a giant tree, a tent pole, a river, a rope or mountains.

## **Celtic Otherworld**

In Celtic mythology, the **Otherworld** is the realm of the deities and possibly also of the dead. In Gaelic and Brittonic mythology it is usually described as a supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy. The Otherworld is similar to the parallel universe, usually elusive, but various mythical heroes visit it either through chance or after being invited by one of its residents. They often reach it by entering ancient burial mounds or caves, or by going under water or across the western sea. Sometimes, the Otherworld is said to exist alongside our own located beyond the edge of the earth and intrudes into our world; signalled by phenomena such as magic mist, sudden changes in the weather, or the appearance of divine beings or unusual animals. An otherworldly woman may invite the hero into the Otherworld by offering an apple or a silver apple branch, or a ball of thread to follow as it unwinds.

The Otherworld is usually called *Annwn* in Welsh mythology and *Avalon* in Arthurian legend. In Irish mythology it has several names, including *Tír na nÓg, Mag Mell* and *Emain Ablach*. In Irish myth there is also *Tech Duinn*, where the souls of the dead gather.

## Irish mythology

In Irish mythology, the Otherworld has various names. Names of the Otherworld, or places within it, include *Tír nAill* ("the other land"), *Tír Tairngire* ("land of promise/promised land"), *Tír na nÓg* ("land of the young/land of youth"), *Tír fo Thuinn* ("land under the wave"), *Tír na mBeo* ("land of the living"), *Mag Mell* ("plain of delight"), *Mag Findargat* ("the white-silver plain"), *Mag Argatnél* ("the silver-cloud plain"), *Mag Ildathach* ("the multicoloured plain"), *Mag Cíuin* ("the gentle plain"), and *Emain Ablach* (possibly "isle of apples"). It is described as a supernatural realm where there is everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy, and where time moves differently. It is the dwelling place of the gods (the Tuatha Dé Danann) as well as certain heroes and ancestors. It was probably similar to the Elysium of Greek mythology and both may have a shared origin in ancient Proto-Indo-European religion. The Otherworld is elusive, but various mythical heroes—such as Cúchulainn, Fionn and Bran—visit it either through chance or after being invited by one of its residents. In Irish myth and later folklore, the festivals of Samhain and Beltane are liminal times, when contact with the Otherworld was more likely.

In the tales, the Otherworld is often reached by entering ancient burial mounds, such as those at Brú na Bóinne and Cnoc Meadha. These were known as *sídhe* ("Otherworld dwellings") and were the dwellings of the gods, later called the *aos sí* or *daoine sí* ("Otherworld folk"). Irish mythology says that the gods retreated into the *sídhe* when the Gaels (Milesians) took Ireland from them. In some tales, the Otherworld is reached by going under the waters of pools, lakes, or the sea, or else by crossing the western sea. In Irish *Immrama* ("voyage") tales, a beautiful young Otherworld woman often approaches the hero and sings to him of this happy land. Sometimes she offers him an apple, or the promise of her love in exchange for his help in battle. He follows her, and they journey over the sea together and are seen no more. Their journey may be in a boat of glass, in a chariot, or on horseback (usually upon a white horse, as in the case of the goddess Niamh of the Golden Hair). Sometimes the hero returns after what he believes is a short time, only to find that all his companions are dead and he has actually been away for hundreds of years. Sometimes the hero sets out on a quest, and a magic mist descends upon him. He may find himself before an unusual palace and enter to find a warrior or a beautiful woman who makes him welcome. The woman may be the goddess Fand, the warrior may be Manannán mac Lir or Lugh, and after strange adventures the hero may return successfully. However, even when the mortal manages to return to his own time and place, he is forever changed by his contact with the Otherworld.

The Otherworld was also seen as a source of authority. In the tale *Baile in Scáil* ("the phantom's ecstatic vision"), Conn of the Hundred Battles visits an Otherworld hall, where the god Lugh legitimises his kingship and that of his successors.

In Irish myth there is another otherworldly realm called *Tech Duinn* (the "House of Donn" or "House of the Dark One"). It was believed that the souls of the dead travelled to *Tech Duinn*; perhaps to remain there forever, or perhaps before reaching their final destination in the Otherworld, or before being reincarnated. Donn is portrayed as a god of the dead and ancestor of the Gaels. *Tech Duinn* is commonly identified with Bull Rock, an islet off the west coast of Ireland which resembles a portal tomb. In Ireland there was a belief that the souls of the dead departed westwards over the sea with the setting sun. West-ward also being the location of the phantom island, anglicised as, Hy-Brasil.

## Welsh mythology

In Welsh mythology, the Otherworld is usually called *Annwn* or *Annwfn*. The Welsh tale of *Branwen, daughter of Llyr* ends with the survivors of the great battle feasting in the Otherworld, in the presence of the severed head of Bran the Blessed, having forgotten all their suffering and sorrow, and having become unaware of the passage of time. *Annwn* is ruled by the Otherworld kings Arawn and Gwyn ap Nudd.

In the First Branch of the Welsh tales known as the Mabinogi, entitled *Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed*, the eponymous prince offends Arawn, ruler of Annwn, by baiting his hunting hounds on a stag that Arawn's dogs had brought down. In recompense, Pwyll swaps places with Arawn for a year and defeats Arawn's enemy Hafgan. Meanwhile, Arawn rules Dyfed. During this year, Pwyll does not sleep with Arawn's wife, earning himself gratitude from Arawn. On his return, Pwyll becomes known by the title *Pen Annwn*, "Head (or Ruler) of Annwn".

## Continental Celtic mythology

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The Gauls divided the universe into three parts: *Albios* ("heaven, white-world, upper-world"), *Bitu* ("world of the living beings"), and *Dubnos* ("hell, lower-world, dark-world").;; According to Lucan, the Gaulish druids believed that the soul went to an Otherworld, which he calls by the Latin name *Orbis alius*, before being reincarnated.

Graeco-Roman geographers[*who?*] tell us about Celtic belief in islands consecrated to gods and heroes. Among them were Anglesey (*Môn*), off the north coast of Wales, which was the sacred island of the druids of Britain; the Scilly islands, where archaeological remains of proto-historical temples have been found; and some of the Hebrides, which were, in the Gaelic tradition, home of ghosts and demons: on one of them, Skye, the Irish hero Cúchulainn was taught by the warrior woman Scathach.

The Byzantine scholar Procopius of Caesarea described the Otherworld of the ancient Gauls. He said it was thought that the land of the dead lay west of Great Britain. The Continental Celtic myths told that once the souls of the dead had left their bodies, they travelled to the northwestern coast of Gaul and took a boat towards Britain. When they crossed the Channel, the souls went to the homes of the fishermen, and knocked desperately at their doors. The fishermen then went out of their houses and led the souls to their destination in ghostly ships.

There are still remains of those beliefs in the Breton and Galician traditions. In Brittany, the name *Bag an Noz* is used to denote those ships who carry the dead to their goal: Anatole Le Braz describes in his book *La légende de la mort chez les Bretons armoricains* the existence of souls' processions which make their way toward coastal places like Laoual, to start their last travel from there.

In Asturian mythology, there are many stories which describe human encounters with *xanas*, fairies which are dancing around a chief fairy, the *Xana Mega*, or the "Queen of Fairies", known as *xacias* in Galicia. The *castro* of Altamira is said to hide an enormous underground realm which is ruled by a royal couple, and whose entrance is found some place on the hill.

## See also

* Caer Sidi
* Celtic animism
* Celtic polytheism

## Contents

* 1Indo-European reconstruction
	+ 1.1Persian
	+ 1.2Celtic
	+ 1.3Germanic
	+ 1.4Slavic
	+ 1.5Greek
* 2References
	+ 2.1Bibliography
* 3External links

## Indo-European reconstruction

Many Indo-European mythologies show evidence for a belief in some form of "Otherworld" and in many cases such as in Persian, Greek, Germanic, Celtic, Slavic and Indic mythologies **a river had to be crossed to allow entrance to it and it is usually an old man that would transport the soul across the waters**. In Greek and Indic mythology the waters of this river were thought to wash away sins or memories whereas Celtic and Germanic myths feature wisdom-imparting waters, suggesting that while the memories of the deceased are washed away a drinker of the waters would gain inspiration. The wayfarer will commonly encounter a dog either in the capacity of a guardian of the Otherworld or as the wanderer's guide. Examples of this are the Greek Cerberus, the three-headed hound of Hades, and the Indic सर्वरा Sarvarā, one of the hounds of Yama, whose names may derive from an Indo-European *\*ḱerberos* meaning *"spotted"*. In Indo-European mythologies the Otherworld is depicted in many ways, including peaceful meadows, islands and buildings making it hard to determine how the original Proto-Indo-European Otherworld was viewed. The ruler of the dead was possibly Yemo, the divine twin of Manu, the first man.

### Persian

See also: Chinvat

The Chinvat Bridge (Avestan Cinvatô Peretûm, "bridge of judgement" or "beam-shaped bridge") or the Bridge of the Requiter in Zoroastrianism is the sifting bridge which separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. All souls must cross the bridge upon death. The bridge is guarded by two four-eyed dogs. A related myth is that of Yama, the Hindu ruler of Hell who watches the gates of Hell with his two four-eyed dogs.

### Celtic

See also: Celtic Otherworld

The Irish Otherworld is more usually described as a paradisal fairyland than a scary place. Many Celtic Immrams or "voyage stories" and other medieval texts provide evidence of a Celtic belief in an otherworld. One example which helps the reader understand the Celtic concept of the otherworld is The Voyage of Saint Brendan. Another Classic example of a Celtic "otherworld" is the Voyage of Bran. The Otherworld is often portrayed as an island to the west in the Ocean in Celtic oral tradition, and even shown on some maps of Ireland during the medieval era.

The otherworld in the idea of Celtic people became hard to distinguish and sometimes overlapped with the Christian idea of hell or heaven as this was often an analogy made to the Celtic idea of an otherworld or Scandinavian idea of a world tree. This is likely because of Roman and Scandinavian influences on Celtic cultures. An example of Scandinavian influence is apparent in the Voyage of Saint Brendan from the likeness of Lasconius the serpent to the Scandinavian Midgard Serpent. Red and white are the colors of animals in the Celtic Otherworld, and these colors still animate transcendent religious and political symbols today.

### Germanic

See also: Alfheim, Asgard, Vanaheim, and Norse cosmology

As was the case in the Celtic mythologies, in Germanic myths apples were particularly associated with the *Otherworld*. In the Scandinavian tradition mythological localities are featured, as in Irish mythology; however, unlike Irish mythology, an attempt was made to map the localities of the Otherworld rather than list locales associated with it. In the Edda many locations are named including the dwellings of the gods such as Odin's hall of *Valhalla* or Ullr's dwelling of *Ydalar* (*"Yewdale"*). The *Gylfaginning* and the later Norwegian poem the *Draumkvaede* feature travels into the Otherworld.

### Slavic

See also: Vyraj and Nav (Slavic folklore)

The Early Slavs believed in a mythical place where birds flew for the winter and souls went after death; this realm was often identified with paradise and it is called Vyraj. It was also said that spring arrived on Earth from Vyraj. The gates of Vyraj stopped mortals from entering. They were guarded by Veles, who sometimes took the animal form of a raróg, grasping in its claws the keys to the otherworlds. Vyraj was sometimes also connected to the deity known as Rod - it was apparently located far beyond the sea, at the end of the Milky Way. It was usually imagined as a garden, located in the crown of the cosmic tree. Whereas the branches were said to be nested by the birds, who were usually identified as human souls. When the Slavic populations were gradually turning to Christianity (e.g. during the Christianization of Kievan Rus' and the Baptism of Poland), a new version of this belief became widespread in which there were two of these realms - one analogous to the original myth, a heavenly place where birds departed, and the other an underworld for snakes and zmeys, often associated with the Christian idea of hell. This second variant bears many similarities to Nav, another representation of the Slavonic underworld.

### Greek

See also: Mount Olympus, Greek Underworld, Hades, and Fortunate Isles

In Greco-Roman mythology the Gods were said to dwell on Mount Olympus whereas the dead usually went to the Underworld or Fortunate Isles after death.