The concept of an otherworld in historical
Indo-European religion is reconstructed in
comparative mythology
Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.Littleton, p. 32 Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used ...
. Its name is a
calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...
of ''orbis alius'' (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
for "other Earth/world"), a term used by
Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...
in his description of the
Celtic Otherworld.
Comparable
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
,
mythological or
metaphysical
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of consci ...
concepts, such as a realm of supernatural beings and a
realm of the dead
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...
, are found in cultures throughout the world.
[''Gods, goddesses, and mythology'', Volume 11, C. Scott Littleton, Marshall Cavendish, 2005, , . Pp. 1286-1287] 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.
[
]
Indo-European reconstruction
Many Indo-European mythologies
Proto-Indo-European mythology is the body of myths and deities associated with the Proto-Indo-Europeans, the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language. Although the mythological motifs are not directly attested ...
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
In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; grc-gre, Κέρβερος ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the ...
, the three-headed hound of Hades
Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
, and the Indic सर्वरा Sarvarā, one of the hounds of Yama
Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities ...
, whose names may derive from an Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, ...
''*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
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 ruler of Hell in Vedic mythology, who watches the gates of Hell with his two four-eyed dogs.
Celtic
The Irish Otherworld is more usually described as a paradisal fairyland than a scary place. Many Celtic Immram
An immram (; plural immrama; ga, iomramh , 'voyage') is a class of Old Irish tales concerning a hero's sea journey to the Otherworld (see Tír na nÓg and Mag Mell). Written in the Christian era and essentially Christian in aspect, they pres ...
s 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 Voyage of Bran ( sga, Immram Brain [], meaning "The Voyage of Bran [son of Febail]") is a medieval seventh- or eighth-century Irish language narrative.
Source
The date of composition has been assigned to the late 7th or early 8th century, ...
. 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
In Germanic cosmology, Midgard (an anglicised form of Old Norse ; Old English , Old Saxon , Old High German , and Gothic ''Midjun-gards''; "middle yard", "middle enclosure") is the name for Earth (equivalent in meaning to the Greek term , "inha ...
. Red and white are the colors of animals in the Celtic Otherworld, and these colors still animate transcendent religious and political symbols today.
Germanic
As was the case in the Celtic mythologies, in Germanic myths apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...
s were particularly associated with the ''Otherworld''. In the Scandinavian tradition mythological localities are featured, as in Irish mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by ...
; 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 , . pp.67-76] In the Edda
"Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been attributed by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the '' Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poem ...
many locations are named including the dwellings of the gods such as Odin's hall of ''Valhalla
In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat ...
'' or Ullr
In Norse mythology, Ullr (Old Norse: ) is a god associated with archery. Although literary attestations of Ullr are sparse, evidence including relatively ancient place-name evidence from Scandinavia suggests that he was a major god in earlier G ...
's dwelling of ''Ydalar'' (''"Yewdale"'').[ The '']Gylfaginning
''Gylfaginning'' ( Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; c. 20,000 words; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first part of the 13th century '' Prose Edda'' after the Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' deals wi ...
'' and the later Norwegian poem the ''Draumkvaede'' feature travels into the Otherworld.[
]
Slavic
The Early Slavs
The early Slavs were a diverse group of tribal societies who lived during the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages (approximately the 5th to the 10th centuries AD) in Central and Eastern Europe and established the foundations for the Sla ...
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
In Slavic mythology (in particular Ukrainian, Czech and Slovak), the Raróg (russian: Рарог) or Raroh is a fire demon, often depicted as a fiery falcon.
According to Czech folklore, a raroh can hatch from an egg that was incubated on a stove ...
, grasping in its claws the keys to the otherworlds. Vyraj was sometimes also connected to the deity known as Rod
Rod, Ror, Ród, Rőd, Rød, Röd, ROD, or R.O.D. may refer to:
Devices
* Birch rod, made out of twigs from birch or other trees for corporal punishment
* Ceremonial rod, used to indicate a position of authority
* Connecting rod, main, coupling, ...
- it was apparently located far beyond the sea, at the end of the Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked ey ...
. 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
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...
(e.g. during the Christianization of Kievan Rus'
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
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.
Greek
In Greco-Roman mythology the Gods were said to dwell on Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...
whereas the dead usually went to the Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld ...
or Fortunate Isles
The Fortunate Isles or Isles of the Blessed ( grc, μακάρων νῆσοι, ''makárōn nêsoi'') were semi-legendary islands in the Atlantic Ocean, variously treated as a simple geographical location and as a winterless earthly paradise inhabit ...
after death.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Authority control
Afterlife
Comparative mythology
Proto-Indo-European mythology