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Celtic Otherworld

March 12, 2023

In Celtic mythology, the Otherworld is the realm of the deities and possibly also the dead. In Gaelic and Brittonic myth it is usually a supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy.[1] It is described either as a parallel world that exists alongside our own, or as a heavenly land beyond the sea or under the earth.[1] The Otherworld is 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.[1] Sometimes, they suddenly find themselves in the Otherworld with the appearance of a magic mist, supernatural beings or unusual animals.[2][3] 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.[3][4]

The 'Land of the Ever Young' depicted by Arthur Rackham in Irish Fairy Tales (1920).

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

 
Oisín and Niamh approaching a palace in Tír na nÓg, illustration by Stephen Reid in T. W. Rolleston's The High Deeds of Finn (1910)

In Irish mythology, the Otherworld has various names. Names of the Otherworld, or places within it, include Tír nAill ("the other land"),[5] Tír Tairngire ("land of promise/promised land"),[1] Tír na nÓg ("land of the young/land of youth"), Tír fo Thuinn ("land under the wave"),[1] Tír na mBeo ("land of the living"),[5] Mag Mell ("plain of delight"), Mag Findargat ("the white-silver plain"),[6] Mag Argatnél ("the silver-cloud plain"),[6] Mag Ildathach ("the multicoloured plain"),[6] Mag Cíuin ("the gentle plain"),[6] 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.[1] 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.[1]

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").[1] Irish mythology says 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.[1] 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 on 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.[3]

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 legitimizes his kingship and that of his successors.[1]

In Irish myth there is another otherworldly realm called Tech Duinn ("House of Donn" or "House of the Dark One").[7] 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,[8] or before being reincarnated.[7] 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.[9] In Ireland there was a belief that the souls of the dead departed westwards over the sea with the setting sun.[10] 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.[11] Annwn is ruled by the Otherworld kings Arawn and Gwyn ap Nudd.[12]

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

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, black-world").[13];[14];[15] 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.[16]

Greco-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 isle of the druids of Britain; the Scilly isles, where archaeological remains of proto-historical temples have been found; and some of the Hebrides, which were, in the Gaelic tradition, home to ghosts and demons: on one of them, Skye, the Irish hero Cúchulainn was taught by the warrior woman Scathach.

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 traveled to the northwest coast of Gaul and took a boat toward 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 folklore of Brittany, where 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

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Koch, John T. Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2006. p.1671
  2. ^ . Columbia Theological Seminary. 11 May 2017. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017.
  3. ^ a b c MacKillop, James. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press, 1998. pp.21, 205, 270, 322–3, 346, 359–60. ISBN 0-19-280120-1.
  4. ^ Cf. Eleanor Hull, The Silver Bough in Irish Legend, in Folk-Lore, xii.
  5. ^ a b MacCulloch, J. A. (1911). The Religion of the Ancient Celts. p.362.
  6. ^ a b c d Byrne, Aisling. Otherworlds: Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature. Oxford University Press, 2015. p.34
  7. ^ a b Freitag, Barbara. Hy Brasil: The Metamorphosis of an Island. Rodopi, 2013. pp.98-99, 101
  8. ^ MacKillop 1998, pp.147–9
  9. ^ Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. The Lore of Ireland. Boydell Press, 2006. p.179
  10. ^ Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. The Sacred Isle: Belief and Religion in Pre-Christian Ireland. Boydell & Brewer, 1999. pp.27, 58
  11. ^ Patrick K. Ford (ed/trans), The Mabinogi and other Medieval Welsh Tales, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1977. ISBN 0-520-03414-7
  12. ^ MacKillop 1998, pp.19–20
  13. ^ X., Delamarre (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise : une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental (2e éd. rev. et augm ed.). Paris: Errance. pp. 37 & 76 & 151. ISBN 9782877723695. OCLC 354152038.
  14. ^ Sterckx, Claude (12 March 2014). Mythologie du monde celte (in French). Marabout. p. 84. ISBN 9782501097178.
  15. ^ Black, Ronald; Gillies, William; Maolalaigh, Roibeard Ó (1999). Celtic Connections: Language, literature, history, culture. Tuckwell Press. p. 521. ISBN 9781898410775.
  16. ^ Lucani, M. Annaei (1740). Pharsalia. p. 52.

Further reading

  • GEDŽIŪTĖ, AUDRONĖ. "Perceptions of Human Nature in Celtic Tradition: Significance of the Figure of the Bird". In: Folklore Studies / Tautosakos Darbai. 2019, Vol. 58. pp. 189-206. ISSN 1392-2831
  • Simón Francisco, Marco (2018). "Los Caminos De La Muerte En La Hispania Romano-Céltica: Densidad Semántica Y Comunicación Religiosa". In: Palaeohispanica. Revista Sobre Lenguas Y Culturas De La Hispania Antigua, n.º 17 (junio). pp. 329-48. https://ifc.dpz.es/ojs/index.php/palaeohispanica/article/view/147.

External links

March 12, 2023
celtic, otherworld, celtic, mythology, otherworld, realm, deities, possibly, also, dead, gaelic, brittonic, myth, usually, supernatural, realm, everlasting, youth, beauty, health, abundance, described, either, parallel, world, that, exists, alongside, heavenly. In Celtic mythology the Otherworld is the realm of the deities and possibly also the dead In Gaelic and Brittonic myth it is usually a supernatural realm of everlasting youth beauty health abundance and joy 1 It is described either as a parallel world that exists alongside our own or as a heavenly land beyond the sea or under the earth 1 The Otherworld is 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 1 Sometimes they suddenly find themselves in the Otherworld with the appearance of a magic mist supernatural beings or unusual animals 2 3 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 3 4 The Land of the Ever Young depicted by Arthur Rackham in Irish Fairy Tales 1920 The Otherworld is usually called Annwn in Welsh mythology and Avalon in Arthurian legend In Irish mythology it has several names including Tir na nog Mag Mell and Emain Ablach In Irish myth there is also Tech Duinn where the souls of the dead gather Contents 1 Irish mythology 2 Welsh mythology 3 Continental Celtic mythology 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksIrish mythology Edit Oisin and Niamh approaching a palace in Tir na nog illustration by Stephen Reid in T W Rolleston s The High Deeds of Finn 1910 In Irish mythology the Otherworld has various names Names of the Otherworld or places within it include Tir nAill the other land 5 Tir Tairngire land of promise promised land 1 Tir na nog land of the young land of youth Tir fo Thuinn land under the wave 1 Tir na mBeo land of the living 5 Mag Mell plain of delight Mag Findargat the white silver plain 6 Mag Argatnel the silver cloud plain 6 Mag Ildathach the multicoloured plain 6 Mag Ciuin the gentle plain 6 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 1 It is the dwelling place of the gods the Tuatha De 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 Cuchulainn 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 1 In the tales the Otherworld is often reached by entering ancient burial mounds such as those at Bru na Boinne and Cnoc Meadha These were known as sidhe Otherworld dwellings and were the dwellings of the gods later called the aos si or daoine si Otherworld folk 1 Irish mythology says the gods retreated into the sidhe 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 1 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 on 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 Manannan 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 3 The Otherworld was also seen as a source of authority In the tale Baile in Scail the phantom s ecstatic vision Conn of the Hundred Battles visits an Otherworld hall where the god Lugh legitimizes his kingship and that of his successors 1 In Irish myth there is another otherworldly realm called Tech Duinn House of Donn or House of the Dark One 7 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 8 or before being reincarnated 7 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 9 In Ireland there was a belief that the souls of the dead departed westwards over the sea with the setting sun 10 West ward also being the location of the phantom island anglicised as Hy Brasil Welsh mythology EditIn 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 11 Annwn is ruled by the Otherworld kings Arawn and Gwyn ap Nudd 12 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 EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Celtic Otherworld news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message 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 black world 13 14 15 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 16 Greco Roman geographers who tell us about Celtic belief in islands consecrated to gods and heroes Among them were Anglesey Mon off the north coast of Wales which was the sacred isle of the druids of Britain the Scilly isles where archaeological remains of proto historical temples have been found and some of the Hebrides which were in the Gaelic tradition home to ghosts and demons on one of them Skye the Irish hero Cuchulainn was taught by the warrior woman Scathach 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 traveled to the northwest coast of Gaul and took a boat toward 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 folklore of Brittany where 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 legende 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 EditCaer Sidi Celtic animism Celtic polytheismReferences Edit a b c d e f g h i j Koch John T Celtic Culture A Historical Encyclopedia ABC CLIO 2006 p 1671 The Celts The People At The End Of The World Columbia Theological Seminary 11 May 2017 Archived from the original on 11 May 2017 a b c MacKillop James Dictionary of Celtic Mythology Oxford University Press 1998 pp 21 205 270 322 3 346 359 60 ISBN 0 19 280120 1 Cf Eleanor Hull The Silver Bough in Irish Legend in Folk Lore xii a b MacCulloch J A 1911 The Religion of the Ancient Celts p 362 a b c d Byrne Aisling Otherworlds Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature Oxford University Press 2015 p 34 a b Freitag Barbara Hy Brasil The Metamorphosis of an Island Rodopi 2013 pp 98 99 101 MacKillop 1998 pp 147 9 o hogain Daithi The Lore of Ireland Boydell Press 2006 p 179 o hogain Daithi The Sacred Isle Belief and Religion in Pre Christian Ireland Boydell amp Brewer 1999 pp 27 58 Patrick K Ford ed trans The Mabinogi and other Medieval Welsh Tales University of California Press Berkeley 1977 ISBN 0 520 03414 7 MacKillop 1998 pp 19 20 X Delamarre 2003 Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise une approche linguistique du vieux celtique continental 2e ed rev et augm ed Paris Errance pp 37 amp 76 amp 151 ISBN 9782877723695 OCLC 354152038 Sterckx Claude 12 March 2014 Mythologie du monde celte in French Marabout p 84 ISBN 9782501097178 Black Ronald Gillies William Maolalaigh Roibeard o 1999 Celtic Connections Language literature history culture Tuckwell Press p 521 ISBN 9781898410775 Lucani M Annaei 1740 Pharsalia p 52 Further reading EditGEDZIuTĖ AUDRONĖ Perceptions of Human Nature in Celtic Tradition Significance of the Figure of the Bird In Folklore Studies Tautosakos Darbai 2019 Vol 58 pp 189 206 ISSN 1392 2831 Simon Francisco Marco 2018 Los Caminos De La Muerte En La Hispania Romano Celtica Densidad Semantica Y Comunicacion Religiosa In Palaeohispanica Revista Sobre Lenguas Y Culturas De La Hispania Antigua n º 17 junio pp 329 48 https ifc dpz es ojs index php palaeohispanica article view 147 External links Edithttp www sacred texts com neu celt ffcc ffcc260 htm Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Celtic Otherworld amp oldid 1142949880, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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