Online Event
Levan Book Chat
Otherworld: Nine Tales of Wonder and Romance from Medieval Ireland
Lisa Bitel
11 March 2025, 12:00-1:00pm EST
A discussion of Lisa Bitel's new book, Otherworld: Nine Tales of Wonder and Romance from Medieval Ireland (Oxford University Press, 2024). The author will be joined in conversation by Eric Falci (UC Berkeley) and Siobhán McElduff (University of British Columbia), moderated by Daniela Bleichmar (USC). Organized in partnership with the Van Hunnick History Department and the School of Religion. Registration is required.
About the Book: 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 other folk 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 readers. 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 readers over the boundary of reality to the Otherworld. Drawings especially created for the book by Saba Joshaghani accompany these astonishing tales.
About the Author: Lisa Bitel is Dean's Professor of Religion and Professor of Religion and History at USC. She discovered the magical literature of early Ireland while studying at Harvard University and later University College Dublin. Since then, she has written or edited six books and many articles about medieval Europe, focused on Ireland, gender, or the history of Christianity before 1000 C.E.
Open to attendants outside of USC. An excerpt of the book will be made available to registered attendants. This event is part of the Levan Institute for the Humanities' “Book Chats” series, conversations about new books published by USC scholars in the humanities and humanistic social sciences.
To register and to obtain more information, visit https://calendar.usc.edu/event/levan-book-chatlisa-bitel-otherworld