Fairy: The Otherworld by Many Names

Living Liminally blogger Daimler (A New Dictionary of Fairies) delivers a methodical guide to the folkloric fairy world and its depictions across “Celtic language-speaking cultures” and through history. Cataloguing her subject’s sometimes-contradictory characteristics, Daimler explains the “Otherworld” can be interwoven with human reality, adjacent to the real world, literally under the ground, a realm of intangible energy, or a separate dimension. Additionally, the fairies who live there can be pagan gods or the souls of dead people (and can look like humans, animals, or “nothing we can easily describe”). Daimler meticulously elucidates each country’s portrayal of the Otherworld, from the Irish An Saol Eile with fairy hills populated by various fantastical beings, to the Scottish Elfland where mischievous elves change size and steal from humans, and the Welsh Annwfn of islands united by a single fairy king. Among other tips for travelers to the Otherworld, Daimler advises against eating or drinking there (or else risk never leaving). Complete with a useful pronunciation guide for Welsh and Irish terms, Daimler’s lucid and comprehensive guide to the magical realm is rooted in solid research (she cites Scottish and Irish poetry and ballads, along with folkloric literature) and her passion for the subject. Students of folklore and paganism will be eager to dig in. (Apr.)