Otherworld

Many Indo-European mythologies show evidence for a belief in some form of "Otherworld". 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 water.{{Sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|p=439}}

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.{{Sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|p=439}} 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".{{Sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|p=439}} In Indo-European mythologies the Otherworld is depicted in many ways, including peaceful meadows, islands, or buildings, making it hard to determine how the original Proto-Indo-European Otherworld was viewed.{{Sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|p=439}} The ruler of the dead was possibly Yemo, the divine twin of Manu, the first man.{{Sfn|Lincoln|1991|pp=32–38}}{{Sfn|Jackson|2002|p=81}}

{{Unsourced section|date=April 2025}}{{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 similar myth is that of Yama, the ruler of Hell in Hindu mythology, who watches the gates of underworld with his two four-eyed dogs.

{{See also|Celtic Otherworld}}

The Irish Otherworld is more usually described as a paradisal fairyland than a frightening place.{{Sfn|Lincoln|1991|p=34}} Many Celtic Immrams or "voyage stories" and other medieval texts provide evidence of a Celtic belief in an otherworld. One example which is helpful to understand the Celtic concept of the otherworld is the Voyage of Saint Brendan. Another classic example of a Celtic "otherworld" appears in the Voyage of Bran. In Celtic oral tradition, the Otherworld is often portrayed as an island out to the west, and even appears on some maps of Ireland during the medieval era.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)

The Celtic concept of the Otherworld became intertwined with the Christian ideas of hell and heaven, as they were explained via analogy to the Celtic Otherworld, or the Scandinavian world tree. This is likely because of Roman and Scandinavian influences on Celtic cultures.{{Cite journal |last=Davis |first=Patricia M. |date=May 2005 |title=Dreams and Visions in the Anglo-Saxon Conversion to Christianity. |url=https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/1053-0797.15.2.75 |journal=Dreaming |language=en |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=75–88 |doi=10.1037/1053-0797.15.2.75 |issn=1573-3351|url-access=subscription }} 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,The Mabinogi and other Medieval Welsh Tales Patrick K. Ford, University of California Press, 1977, {{ISBN|978-0-520-25396-4}}. Page 35. and these colors still animate transcendent religious and political symbols today.{{Tone inline|date=April 2024}}{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

{{See also|Alfheim|Asgard|Vanaheim|Norse cosmology}}

As was the case in the Celtic mythologies, in Germanic myths apples were particularly associated with the Otherworld.{{Sfn|Lincoln|1991|pp=32–38}} 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.The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe Hilda Ellis Davidson, Routledge, 2002 {{ISBN|0-203-40850-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-203-40850-6}}. pp.67-76 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.

{{See also|Vyraj}}

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 is called Vyraj.{{cite book|author=Людмила Викторовна Евдокимова|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sqEXAQAAIAAJ&q=вырий|year=1998| publisher=Изд-во Астраханкого пед. университета |isbn = 9785882003561|script-title=ru:Мифопоэтическая традиция в творчестве|access-date=23 August 2014 |language=ru}} It was also said that spring arrived on Earth from Vyraj.{{cite book|last=Kempiński|first=Andrzej|date=2001|title=Encyklopedia mitologii ludów indoeuropejskich|trans-title=Encyclopedia of mythology of Indo-European peoples|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Iskry|isbn=978-83-207-1629-0}} 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.{{cite book|last=Szyjewski|first=Andrzej|date=2004|title=Religia Słowian|trans-title=Religion of the Slavs|language=pl|location=Kraków|publisher=Wydawnictwo WAM|isbn=978-83-7318-205-9}} 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. The branches were said to be nested on 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.{{cite book|last=Левкиевская|first=Елена|title=Мифы и легенды восточных славян|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WO2xAwAAQBAJ&q=%D0%98%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9&pg=PT123|isbn=9785457607705|date=13 February 2019|publisher=Litres }}{{cite book|author=Елена Левкиевская|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WO2xAwAAQBAJ&q=%D0%98%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9&pg=PT123|year=2010| publisher=Litres |script-title=ru:Мифы и легенды восточных славян|access-date=23 August 2014 |language=ru|isbn=9785457607705}}

{{Unsourced section|date=April 2025}}{{See also|Mount Olympus|Greek Underworld|Hades|Fortunate Isles}}

In Greco-Roman mythology the Gods were said to dwell on Mount Olympus, whereas the dead usually went to the Underworld, Fortunate Isles, or Elysium for the righteous after death.{{Cite journal |last=Molyviati-Toptsis |first=Urania |date=1994 |title=Vergil's Elysium and the Orphic-Pythagorean Ideas of After-Life |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4432316 |journal=Mnemosyne |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=33–46 |doi=10.1163/156852594X00843 |jstor=4432316 |issn=0026-7074|url-access=subscription }} In Hades, Cerberus serves as its guard; preventing the dead from leaving.

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.{{Cite journal |last=Cossio |first=Andoni |date=2023-10-02 |title=Sir Orfeo as the Source for the Medieval Romance Topoi of Abduction and Otherworld Rampant within The Hobbit 's Mirkwood |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0895769X.2021.1967105 |journal=ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews |language=en |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=572–587 |doi=10.1080/0895769X.2021.1967105 |issn=0895-769X|hdl=10810/66953 |hdl-access=free }} 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. Stephen Lawhead's Song of Albion trilogy tells the story of an Oxford student who crosses over into the Otherworld.{{Cite journal |last=Bloomfield |first=Maurice |date=1904 |title=Cerberus, the Dog of Hades |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27899506 |journal=The Monist |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=523–540 |doi=10.5840/monist190414439 |jstor=27899506 |issn=0026-9662|url-access=subscription }}

• Parallel universe
• Extraterrestrial space
• Heaven
• Underworld

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin|indent=yes}}

• {{Cite journal|last=Jackson|first=Peter|date=2002|title=Light from Distant Asterisks. Towards a Description of the Indo-European Religious Heritage|journal=Numen|volume=49|issue=1|pages=61–102|issn=0029-5973|jstor=3270472|doi=10.1163/15685270252772777}}
• {{Cite book|last=Lincoln|first=Bruce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JY77EuSuLk8C|title=Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology & Practice|date=1991|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-48199-9|language=en}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Mallory|first1=James P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|last2=Adams|first2=Douglas Q.|publisher=Routledge|year=1997|isbn=978-1-884964-98-5|place=London|author1-link=J. P. Mallory|author2-link=Douglas Q. Adams}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Mallory|first1=James P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tF5wAAAAIAAJ|title=The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World|last2=Adams|first2=Douglas Q.|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-929668-2|location=Oxford, England}}
• {{Cite book|last=West|first=Martin L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXrJA_5LKlYC|title=Indo-European Poetry and Myth|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-928075-9|location=Oxford, England|author-link=Martin Litchfield West}}

{{refend}}

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

• {{Commons category-inline|Otherworld}}

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Category:Afterlife

Category:Comparative mythology

Category:Proto-Indo-European mythology

{{Indo European Mythology}}