﻿Where do you go when you die? Well our Proto Indo-European ancestors
had a rather different idea about the afterlife than many of us do today,
and so we’re going to look at this in this video is what this world of the dead looked like
in our ancestor’s eyes, the otherworld. I’m Jon White and this is Crecganford.
In Greek mythology Homer and many who came after him often painted a rather gloomy picture of
Hades and his underworld in their poetry, something that has influenced many modern
culture’s understanding. However, there are a few examples of poetry that describe the place you go
as a paradise after you have died, including some by Homer, and this place was reserved for
specially favoured souls. And we shall look at some of these examples to see if we can build up
a picture of what our Proto Indo-European speaking ancestors thought this place would be like.
We will look at three examples from Greece and then analyze them. And the first of three
Greek examples is from Homer’s Odyssey. It is not ordained by the gods for you, O Menelaos,
beloved of Zeus, To die in the Argive fields and reach your fate, But the immortals will
lead you to the Elysian field At the ends of the earth, where fair-haired Rhadamanthys dwells,
And where life is most free from care for men; There is neither snow, nor much of cold, nor
rain, But always Okeanos rouses blasts Of the whistling-breathed Zephyr to cool men; For you
possess Helen, and to the gods are a son-in-law of Zeus. The next example is Hesiod, in his Works and
Days, and this also talks of this place. And for the other group of men who did not die at Troy,
Father Zeus, son of Kronos, Set down a life and a country of their own at the ends of the earth,
Far from the immortals. Kronos holds sway over them. And they abide without cares of spirit
In the Isles of the Blessed beside deep-swirling Okeanos. Fortunate are these heroes;
the grain-giving earth Bears them luxuriant honey-sweet fruit three times over. And finally
we have the Olympian Ode by Pindar which reads. Ever possessing the sun - in nights
As much as in days - The good receive a life most devoid of trouble. They do not stir up the
earth with the strength of their hand, Nor the sea water For a barren living, rather,
beside those who are honoured among the gods They who have been faithful to their oaths rejoice:
they possess Life without tears, and the rest endure unbearable pain. Now whilst
these three texts have many differences, there are similarities which allow us to build up a picture
of this other world, and these are that the two poems use the term peirata gaies, meaning
paradise at the ends of the earth, both considered to be beside Okeanos, the river that encircled the
earth, and who had a god, a Greek Titan, of the same name associated with it. In effect suggesting
this place, this otherworld they are writing about is an island, or by an expanse of water.
Two of the pieces also talk about the productivity of the soil,
which bears fruit without requiring any labour of the blessed souls. And two of them dwell on
the climate, eternal sunshine, lack of rain, a place where any tourist would like to visit.
But the most important trait used within these texts is that paradise is often described
in terms of the negative, a place that is without things. And by that I mean it is a place that is
without cares, without tears, without cold, snow, or rain, without labour, without darkness,
and perhaps a really clear example of this is when Pindar uses tautology to say it is a
place in which life is "most without trouble" of any sort. And the use of these prefixes is
so common that we actually see alliteration of it from Homer’s work when he says aniêsin
anapsykhein anthropous. So we see this paradise as being defined as a place that it is
not, rather than by what it is, and this way of describing this afterlife
is not unique to Greek texts, it is also quite common in texts of literatures of other
Indo-European cultures. There is a well-known Celtic and Germanic theme of the inexhaustible
banquet, the food and drink of which are provided by magical cauldrons or animals, and this should
be taken in this light, for the otherworld is here marked not so much by the presence of food
as by the absence of want of food. You may be familiar about this if you know what Valhol is,
Valhalla. And this can be clearly seen in the Celtic text, Voyage of Bran, Imram Bráin,
which gives a similar view to the Greek texts, and I’ll read a few lines of this. Not known
is wailing, nor treachery In the well-known cultivated land. There is nothing rough or harsh,
But only melodious music striking the ear. Without sorrow, without gloom, without death,
Without any sickness, without debility: That is the mark by which Emain is known.
Not common is an equal wonder. While the imagery isn’t quite aligned to that of Homer, Hesiod,
and Pindar, we see the phrase "without grief, without sorrow" which may be directly compared.
In effect this negative wording is quite in keeping with that of the Greeks. But within
the Celtic text the physical world is less concentrated on, instead it is the emotional
and ethical considerations in afterlife that are mentioned,
such as "Not known is wailing, nor treachery", and the aesthetic ones "nothing rough or harsh". But
the end vision is the absence of the physical changes to the person,
death, disease, and infirmity. There are other important Celtic descriptions of this paradise
which again the Greek texts also talk about. In an 8th century text of the Imrara
tale, a Voyage tale, we see a description of the “land promised to the saints”
and it is described as follows. Having passed almost an hour, a vast light surrounded us,
and a land appeared-spacious and grassy and extremely fruitful. We saw no plant
without flowers, or trees without fruit. Even the stones themselves were of the precious variety.
[Shortly after landing, the visitors encounter an angel, whose name they ask,
to which the angel replies:] "Why ask me where I come from or what I am called? Why not ask me
about this island? Just as you see it, thus it remains from the beginning of the world.
Do you have need of any food, drink, or clothing? You have been in this island a year, and have
not tasted food or drink. Never have you been oppressed by sleep, nor has night covered you,
for it is always day without shadows. Our Lord Jesus Christ is himself the light." The Christian
influence within this story is very clear with the appearance of the angel and final line,
but if you place those parts to one side the rest is without doubt of Indo European origin.
This paradise is seen as an island, at the edge of the world, where there is always light
as no shadows appear, the earth brings forward fruit but there is no one labouring to farm it.
All of these considerations are found in the Greek texts. The text of the Navigatio Brendani has
additional points to these, such as that "even the stones themselves were of the precious variety",
which can be translated as meaning to say that in paradise there are no items that are without
value, there is no matter which rubbish. There is also an implication that time does not exist,
as what seemed like a few hours to the travellers was in fact an entire year. And at the end of the
text is says that none of the normal processes needed to keep someone alive are necessary,
stating no sleep, no food, no drink. And whilst this may seem to be a contradiction of themes,
why is the island so rich in harvests yet no one eats, the underlying message is that
this paradise is the negation of all that is unpleasant in the world of the living. There
are many Celtic descriptions of the otherworld, and they are varied, but for all these variations
many preserve this theme of negative definition. There is a text Chrétien de Troyes, an early Grail
romance which talks of the Isle of Glass, ruled by Maheloas, the “Prince of Death”. This has a
passage in it which reads. Among those whom you hear me name Is Maheloas, highly regarded by us,
The Lord of the Isle of Glass. In this isle there is no thunder, No lightning strikes, nor storm;
No toad or serpent there remains; It is not too hot, nor is there winter. Much like Homer’s words,
Chrétien dwells on the weather, the climate of paradise or strictly speaking,
the lack of a climate in paradise. The terms used are very similar, no heat, no cold,
no storms. But here in this text we now see that there are no horrible creatures, no monsters. The
serpent specifically is an Indo-European creature identified with hostility and violence and we know
this from the Cattle Raiding Myths of the Proto Indo-Europeans. But we also see some descriptions
of this place in Germanic texts, one of the most important of these is Ódáinsakr,
the "field of the Immortals", which is said to be the name Heathens gave to this Christian version
of the otherworld. It is described as follows. Guðmund is the name of the ruler of Jotunheim.
His dwelling is at Grund in the district of Glasisvellier (a field in a shining meadow).
He was a powerful man and wise, and he and all his men were so old that they outlived
many generations. Therefore, heathen men believed that Ódáinsakr must be in his kingdom, the place
in which sickness and old age depart from every man who comes there, and where no one is permitted
to die. This is an interesting passage for many reasons. First the figure of Guðmund is extremely
mysterious, and there are some scholars who believe he displaced Ýmir in Old Norse Creation
Myth, so in effect he would be the equiavalnet of the Proto Indo-European Yemo, the twin. And the
name Odáinsakr, which seems to appears nowhere else in earlier literature probably means "the
place where no one is permitted to die", or it can literally be translated as “in which sickness
and old age depart”. And these descriptions align closely with the other texts and so
they should be considered an authentic Germanic reflex of a Proto-Indo-European idea.
If we move across to the Indo-Iranian mythology we see a description of Yima's realm as given in
numerous Avestan texts (Yašt 9.9-10, 15.16-17, 17.29-30, and 19.32-33). And in Vidēvdāt 2.5,
when accepting the kingship from Ahura Mazdā, Yima pledges "In my realm there will be no
cold wind, nor heat, nor disease, nor death". And in one of the more extensive descriptions, this
list reads as And to Vivanhant a son was born, who was shining Yima of the beautiful herds,
most possessed of x'aranah of all those who have been born, whose appearance was like
the sun among men, and in his realm he made it that the cattle and men were immortal,
water and plants did not dry up, and edible food was undiminishing. During the region of swift
Yima, there was no cold nor heat; there was no old age, nor death, nor envy created by the daevas.
Yima is not depicted as a ruler of the paradise or the dead, but he is the first man and the first
king of Iranian legend. And so these descriptions aren’t of a world of the dead, but to a primordial
paradise in which all people lived until the moment at which Yima first sinned and death
came into the world. And given that the Indian Yama, who is directly related to the Iranian Yima,
is also presented not only as first man and first king, but importantly, also as the first to die,
it could be suggested that he was at this point the ruler of the otherworld.
This separation in the evolution of the role of Yemo is probably because Zarathustra denounced
him. In effect the Indo-Iranian Yama was probably seen as being the ruler of the otherworld,
and these features were then projected back into the Iranian Yima's primordial
realm. And we can then conclude that if the Iranian Yima lost part of his original role
under the impact of the Zarathustrian reform, he also acquired at least one new role to make
up for it, and this was the builder of the place in which the chosen people,
animals, and plants would survive in the winters of destruction, and from which they will come
forth and repopulate the world. Although this repopulation is never talked about in the Avesta,
but it is mentioned in a couple of other texts such as the Dādēstān ī Dēnigānd and
a Persian paraphrase of the Bahman Yašt. And although the origins of this legend are somewhat
obscure, there have been some good arguments that is represents an Iranian version of the
Mesopotamian flood saga, part of the Proto Indo-European destiny of mankind mythology,
or it could simply be a mythic account of the seasonal changes
which impact the life of the pastoral farmers. The story itself is recounted in Vidēvdät 2.20-43, and
one verse in particular stands out as being important to our story here. Here
there was not one who has a hump in front, nor a humpback, nor a eunuch, nor madness, nor blemish,
nor daiwi, nor kasvi, nor deviance, nor those whose teeth are decayed, nor a leper whose body is
overcome, nor any other marks which are the mark of Anra Mainyu, "the Evil Spirit", set down upon
mortals. Now whilst some of this text is difficult to translate, the overall intent of this passage
is still clear. It shows how Yima permitted only those who were "biggest, best, and most
beautiful" in his enclosure for that winter. But this acknowledgement of who would be in
this place is told in entirely in negative terms, stating that no disease or deformity is permitted,
as these show that the people, animals or plants would had been contaminated by the Evil Sprit.
And so this place is a paradise, free from all such evil. And there is a Pahlavi note to Videvdät
which describes it clearly as a paradise but in the now familiar negative terms, saying that
"It is said that there in Yima’s enclosure they live a hundred and fifty years; that they live
an existence which is most beautiful in soul; and that they never die." Within
the Rig Veda this pattern continues, for instance we see the passage. Where the light
is inexhaustible, in the world where heaven is established, Place me there, Pavämana,
in the endless, deathless world! And within this we see the imagery of the absence of darkness,
expressed as inexhaustible light, and absence of death which is extended to
include an absence of an end. An end that is both meant encompass time and space,
and this underlies the broader point that paradise knows none of the limits which mortals experience.
There is a description of Yama’s palace, found in the Mahabharata, and is often
considered comparable to Yima’s winter enclosure. Narada said "Listen, Yudhisthira, I will tell
you about the divine hall which Viśvakarman made for the sake of Yama, Vivasvat's son.
This hall is splendid, O King, being hundreds of miles in length and width, or even more,
O Pandava, Sparkling, bright as the sun, moving at pleasure in every direction. It is not excessively
cold, nor excessively hot, but gladdening spirit; There is no pain nor old age there, no hunger,
thirst, nor anything disagreeable; There is no misery or fatigue, nor any perversity. All desires
are fulfilled there, those which are divine and those which are human. The food and drink are
flavourful and abundant, O Tamer of foes!” So in summary with all these examples of texts we
should be to recreate an outline of what the Proto Indo-European description of this otherworldly
Paradise would look like. A place that was an island, away from mortal lands, separated
by a water. And a place where there is no heat or cold, there is no sun or rain, no wind or snow,
no one suffers but no one has any cares, there is no pain, there are no tears, there is no sickness,
old age, or death, no darkness or shadows. There is no need for labour and no want.
In effect there is nothing in this world that makes it unpleasant to be in.
Now the whole point of this isn’t to say how wonderful this paradise sounds, as nothing
wonderful is actually mentioned, and it isn’t a place of absolute nothingness, as there is
light. The point is to show how otherworldly this place is, how different it is to our mortal world,
in fact it is so different there are no words that can explain it in the positive. And so
we come to the reason why this place is called the Otherworld, as all that can be said of it
is that things there are completely opposed to all things of this earth. And so the logic and
language used in the poems supports this reverse like world, perhaps you could use the poetic term
of a topsy-turvy world, where waterfalls flow up mountains, maybe people walk on their heads,
or trees cut down woodmen. But where poets and seers tell stories of such lands, if they are a
visitor to this place they can only use negative definitions of the place. A place so charming
and so unlike our world that the poet or seer who tells of such a land must use negative definitions
of paradise to show it is charming and yet most reserved, because they are unable to describe it
in words they know, and thus they describe it as unlike anything they know. And with that I’ll
say thank you for watching, and I hope you enjoyed that look into the Proto Indo-European Otherworld.
Please like the video and subscribe to the channel if you want to see more videos from me. And please
ask questions or comment below, I do my best to read as many as I can and I’ll also reply to as
many as I can too. And with that, please stay safe and take care, and this was Crecganford.