and foods in another world, a world of the dead that gave up living souls to this world. An exchange of souls was always taking place between the two worlds; death in this world brought a soul to the Otherworld, and death in the Otherworld brought a soul to this world. Because of this, Philostratus of Tyana (ca. a.d. 170–249) observed that the Celts celebrated birth with mourning and death with joy. They mourned birth because it meant someone had died in the Otherworld and celebrated death because it meant a rebirth in the Otherworld.

It was believed that on one night of the year the Otherworld became visible to mankind. This was the Feast of Samhain (October 31/November 1). On this night all the gates to the Otherworld were opened and the inhabitants could set out to wreak vengeance on those living in this world who had wronged them. This ancient belief survived into Christianity as Hallowe’en, the evening of All Hallows, or All Saints’ Day on November 1. The modern Christian idea is that it is the night when witches and demons and spirits from Hell set out to ensnare unsuspecting souls.

The forms of Otherworlds range from dark, brooding purgatories of the Fomorii islands to the sunny lands of the Land of Youth or Land of Promise. The Otherworlds of both the Irish and Welsh are similar, and mortal humans could adventure and live in the Otherworld. Pwyll can journey to Annwn, while Cúchulainn can adventure in Hy-Falga. Most of the renditions of the Otherworld are generally as islands to the southwest of Ireland or Wales. The most famous sojourn in the Otherworld was that of Oisín, who rode off on a magical horse with Niamh, the daughter of the sea god Manannán Mac Lir, and stayed there for three hundred years.

Owain

[W] Son of Urien. He is a warrior of Arthur’s, and in the tale of “The Dream of Rhonabwy” he plays a chess game with Arthur. When Cymon is defeated by the Black Knight, Owain sets out to find and defeat him. Having done so, he finds the Castle of the Fountain and is rescued from imprisonment by a maiden called Luned, who gives him a ring to make him invisible. She then helps him win the hand of the Lady of the Fountain. After three years Arthur and his companions come looking for him. He returns to Arthur’s court and forgets his Lady. She comes after him and calls him a deceiver, a traitor, and faithless. He is ashamed and flees into a desolate country where he becomes a recluse. Near death, he is