A mysterious woman appears nightly at the bedside of a prince and sings to him until he falls sick with love for her. A determined hero tracks his beloved through several incarnations, struggling to win her back. A young warrior seeks a woman who turns into a swan. These are the plots of little-known, anonymous tales composed over a thousand years ago in the monastic libraries of Ireland. In poetry and prose, they tell us what happens when human and supernatural lovers cross the boundaries between our world and the Otherworld (síd). Set in a lost time of heroes, demi-gods, warrior queens, and otherfolk of the Irish Otherworld (áes síde), these stories inspired some of the earliest fairy tales of France and England. What is more, they are sexier, funnier, and bloodier than better-known medieval myths and romances.

In Otherworld, historian and novelist Lisa M. Bitel offers lively retellings of these Irish original myths using her expertise in Irish history and literature to guide modern listeners. She traces themes and characters that link the nine magical tales, explains customs and locations, and brings out the humor. Like all storytellers—whether medieval or modern, performers or scribes—Bitel interprets the originals as she leads her listeners over the boundary of reality to the Otherworld.