Otherworld
In historical
Comparable
Indo-European reconstruction
Many
Persian
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 similar myth is that of
Celtic
The Irish Otherworld is more usually described as a paradisal fairyland than a frightening place.[6] 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.[7]
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
Germanic
As was the case in the Celtic mythologies, in Germanic myths apples were particularly associated with the Otherworld.[4] 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.[2] 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").[2] The Gylfaginning and the later Norwegian poem the Draumkvaede feature travels into the Otherworld.[2]
Slavic
The
Greek
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.
Modern depictions
The idea of the Otherworld has been adapted and used by several modern authors. J. R. R. Tolkien drew upon the Sir Orfeo text, which depicts a journey to the Otherworld as inspiration for the Mirkwood Elves of The Hobbit.[15] C. S. Lewis also drew upon the tropes of the Celtic Otherworld in his creation of The Chronicles of Narnia, which depicts the journey from this world to another.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7614-7559-0. Pp. 1286-1287
- ^ ISBN 978-0-203-40850-6. pp.67-76
- ^ a b c d e Mallory & Adams 2006, p. 439.
- ^ a b Lincoln 1991, pp. 32–38.
- ^ Jackson 2002, p. 81.
- ^ Lincoln 1991, p. 34.
- ^ In J. J. C. Smart, Philip Pettit, Richard Sylvan & Jean Norman (eds.), Metaphysics and Morality: Essays in Honour of J.J.C. Smart. B. Blackwell (1987)
- ^ Dreams and Visions in the Anglo-Saxon Conversion to Christianity. Davis, Patricia M. Dreaming, Vol 15(2), Jun 2005, 75-88. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1053-0797.15.2.75
- ISBN 978-0-520-25396-4. Page 35.
- ISBN 9785882003561. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
- ^ ISBN 978-83-207-1629-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-83-7318-205-9.
- ISBN 9785457607705.
- ISBN 9785457607705. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
- ^ Andoni Cossio (2021) Sir Orfeo as the Source for the Medieval Romance Topoi of Abduction and Otherworld Rampant within The Hobbit’s Mirkwood, ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, DOI: 10.1080/0895769X.2021.1967105
Bibliography
- Jackson, Peter (2002). "Light from Distant Asterisks. Towards a Description of the Indo-European Religious Heritage". Numen. 49 (1): 61–102. JSTOR 3270472.
- Lincoln, Bruce (1991). Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology & Practice. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-48199-9.
- ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5.
- Mallory, James P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (2006). The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-929668-2.
- ISBN 978-0-19-928075-9.
Andoni Cossio (2021) Sir Orfeo as the Source for the Medieval Romance Topoi of Abduction and Otherworld Rampant within The Hobbit’s Mirkwood, ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, DOI: 10.1080/0895769X.2021.1967105
External links
- Media related to Otherworld at Wikimedia Commons