TÃr na nÓg
In Irish mythology and folklore, TÃr na nÓg ([tʲiËÉ¾Ë nÌªË É™ ˈnÌªË oËÉ¡]; "Land of the Young") or TÃr na hÓige ("Land of Youth") is one of the names for the Otherworld, or perhaps for a part of it. It is depicted as a supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy.[1] Its inhabitants are the Tuath Dé, the gods of pre-Christian Ireland.[1] In the echtrae (adventure) and immram (voyage) tales, various Irish mythical heroes visit TÃr na nÓg after a voyage or an invitation from one of its residents. They reach it by entering ancient burial mounds or caves, or by going under water or across the sea.[1]
Tradition
TÃr na nÓg is best known from the tale of OisÃn and Niamh.[2] In the tale, OisÃn (a human hero) and Niamh (a woman of the Otherworld) fall in love. She brings him to TÃr na nÓg on a magical horse that can travel over water. After spending what seems to be three years there, OisÃn becomes homesick and wants to return to Ireland. Niamh reluctantly lets him return on the magical horse, but warns him never to touch the ground. When he returns, he finds that 300 years have passed in Ireland. OisÃn falls from the horse. He instantly becomes elderly, as the years catch up with him, and he quickly dies of old age.[3]
Other Old Irish names for the Otherworld include TÃr Tairngire ("Land of Promise/Promised Land"),[1][4] TÃr fo Thuinn ("Land under the Wave"),[1] Mag Mell ("Plain of Delight/Delightful Plain"),[1] Ildathach ("Multicoloured place"),[3] and Emain Ablach.
Similar tales
This story of OisÃn and Niamh bears a striking similarity to many other tales, including the Japanese tale of Urashima TarÅ.[5] Francis Hindes Groome recorded another such tale in his Gypsy Folk Tales.[6] Another version concerns King Herla, a legendary king of the ancient Britons, who visited to the Otherworld, only to return some two hundred years later after the lands had been settled by the Anglo-Saxons. The "Seven Sleepers of Ephesus", a group of Christian youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus around 250 AD, purportedly awoke approximately 180 years later during the reign of Theodosius II.
Related concepts
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