Celtic fairy traditions
Time in the Celtic Otherworld
Ossian remains in the Otherworld for three hundred years, yet still desires the companions of his earlier life. On return, the country’s change makes the elapsed human time unmistakable. A warning forbids his foot from touching the ground. When he falls while helping lift a stone, the horse departs and age catches him, ending the protection that made the return possible.
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In the sources
Principal account
ReportedOssian remains in the Otherworld for three hundred years, yet still desires the companions of his earlier life. On return, the country’s change makes the elapsed human time unmistakable.
Further detail
ReportedA warning forbids his foot from touching the ground. When he falls while helping lift a stone, the horse departs and age catches him, ending the protection that made the return possible.
Context & interpretation
Evans-Wentz combines named informants, manuscript narratives, and his own psychical theory in a 1911 survey. This entry preserves those distinctions: collected belief and literary tradition do not establish the physical existence of an Otherworld.
Original passages
Source 1
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
lived in the Other world for three hundred years, an overpowering desire to return to Ireland and join again in the councils ofOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Celtic fairy traditions; active reader leaf 378
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0045-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0045-E001-P0378
- Original scan leaf
- 379
- Recorded leaf number
- 379
- Current Reader position
- 374
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
away on his way home, and Ossian became aged, -■ decrepit, and blind.' ^ The Going of Lanval to Avalon The fairy romancesOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Celtic fairy traditions; active reader leaf 378
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0045-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0045-E001-P0378
- Original scan leaf
- 379
- Recorded leaf number
- 379
- Current Reader position
- 374
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Oisín
Fenian hero whose return from Fairyland exposes the passage of centuries.
Same subject and traditionFairy Paths
Routes whose passage humans are warned not to obstruct.
Same subject and traditionSecond Sight in Celtic Testimony
Reported perception of people and events beyond ordinary sensory access.