Otherworld

   There is no clearly defined Otherworld for the dead in English folk tradition. Most stories and practices imply Christian beliefs, plus, in some cases, a vague, half-formulated idea that the dead are present in their graves. Traditions about *ghosts indicate that their presence on earth is an anomaly, but usually do not explicitly address the question of where they come from and where they should rightly be; one exception is the type of tale where an exorcist forces a ghost into a lake or under a boulder (see *laying) and binds it there; this might imply an Otherworld in the depths of the earth. Fairyland, too, is a form of Otherworld; it was thought to be close alongside the human world, but underground or under water. Belief in this was strong in the Middle Ages, but diminished in later centuries.