Otherworlds: Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature

by Aisling Byrne

This book offers a new perspective on the "otherworlds" of medieval literature. These fantastical realms are among the most memorable places in medieval writing, by turns beautiful and monstrous, alluring and terrifying. Passing over a river or sea, or entering into a hollow hill, heroes come upon strange and magical realms. These places are often very beautiful, filled with sweet music, and adorned with precious stones and rich materials. There is often no darkness, time may pass at a different pace, and the people who dwell there are usually supernatural. Sometimes such a place is exactly what it appears to be--the land of heart's desire--but, the otherworld can also have a sinister side, trapping humans and keeping them there against their will.

Otherworlds: Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature takes a fresh look at how medieval writers understood these places and why they found them so compelling. It focuses on texts from England, but places this material in the broader context of literary production in medieval Britain and Ireland. The narratives examined in this book tell a rather surprising story about medieval notions of these fantastical places. Otherworlds are actually a lot less "other" than they might initially seem. Authors often use the idea of the otherworld to comment on very serious topics. It is not unusual for otherworld depictions to address political issues in the historical world. Most intriguing of all are those texts where locations in the real world are re-imagined as otherworlds. The regions on which this book focuses, Britain, Ireland, and the surrounding islands, prove particularly susceptible to this characterization.

Genres: Nonfiction, Medieval

226 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 2016

Reviews

[Boris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rich content, exhaustive coverage of a large number of texts (with which I am anyway unfamiliar). but no focus or clear thesis, unless the reader makes a convoluted sequence of associations and concludes that the fantastical otherworlds in medieval insular literature carry the omen of future colonization. But I doubt this was really the intent: just a mishmash reworked dissertation that filled a gap in OUP's publishing catalog.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aisling Byrne has written a book that is often intriguing and insightful but ultimately isn't as satisfying as it might have been. The promise it seems to hold out is that we will have a survey of the Otherworld in medieval literature. Unfortunately, this promise goes unfulfilled for two main reasons.

First, the book is written as a series of short thematic pieces, almost like separate essays. No real synthesis is attempted. So, one chapter addresses the connections with power and kingship but it's subdivided into three sections that approach the topic via different otherworlds from very different angles. The only conclusion one can really draw is that there is no real pattern in the way that otherworlds and kingship connect.

Second, Byrne limits herself to literature from Britain and Ireland. Her stated focus is on England, though this is amply supplemented by Irish material. Of course, it's understandable that she needs to impose some limits and that those will be determined by her field of expertise but it means that the vast corpus of continental literature, especially Arthurian, lies beyond her scope. Even within these limits, the choices seem odd. The Alexander romance is the basis for one of the sections on kingship, as there are English versions of it, though it's hardly part of the insular tradition. Welsh material, though, is barely touched on, despite the predominance of otherworldly adventures. Not even to mention Pwyll's visit to Annwn seems a striking omission.

The results are mixed. A section on Avalon promises much but becomes sidetracked by a story about Arthur sleeping under Mount Etna, which is more a far-flung version of the cave legend than anything otherworldly. On the other hand, a section on desire and sinlessness is genuinely revealing whilst a chapter on how Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man were themselves cast in some of the trappings of otherworlds is fascinating.

There's enough here to make "Otherworlds" worth reading. Maybe it's unreasonable to wish for a magisterial survey of such a vast theme, but it's also hard to come away without wishing for something more.

[Ryan Denson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Byrne's book on the nature of medieval "otherworlds" or places in medieval literature that have some fantastical element, which distinguishes them from the "real" world, provides a brief survey of this literary element. It builds off the more scholarly work of medievalists like Patch who have researched otherworlds in more depth. Unfortunately, despite the wide interest, both popular and scholarly, in otherworlds, not much research has been done on the subject. Otherworlds like the Avalon of the Arthurian legend are widely known and, therefore, give this topic a wide appeal. Byrne primarily provides a general survey of the characteristics of medieval worlds. Even in "secular" worlds predominately associated with fairies, there was commonly and underlying influence of biblical imagery. The prelapsarian Eden and the earthly paradise from Revelation provide significant precedents for the medieval Christian imagination. Byrne also explores the psychological need to craft such "other" spaces, as well as relating medieval otherworlds and their traditional locations to earlier precedents in classical antiquity. Overall, it is an excellent introduction to the topic both for popular audiences and classical/medieval scholars.