Celtic Otherworld

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"), Tír Tairngire ("land of promise/promised land"), Mag Argatnél ("the silver-cloud plain"), 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. In Ireland there was a belief that the souls of the dead departed westwards over the sea with the setting sun, westward also being the direction in which the phantom island anglicised as Hy-Brasil was purported to be found. ==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==

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").;; 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. Greco-Roman geographers 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 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. ==Modern treatments==

Modern authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Jim Butcher and George R. R. Martin have all drawn inspiration from various aspects of the Celtic Otherworld. In Tolkien's The Hobbit, the inspiration is seen when the narrative ventures into the otherworldly elven realm of the Mirkwood. In Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, there exists a magical land called Narnia populated by magical beings, talking animals, and other supernatural elements. In Butcher's The Dresden Files, most supernatural beings come from another plane of existence called the "Nevernever," including the Sidhe (inspired by the Aos Sí) and Tuatha Dé Danann. In Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, magical races such as Children of the Forest, Giants and the Others originated from the Lands of Always Winter, with the Others specifically described as "Sidhe made of ice." ==See also==