Travels to the Otherworld and Other Fantastic Realms: Medieval Journeys into the Beyond

This book collects tales from the Middle Ages about voyages to Heaven and Hell, the realm of the Faery, mystical lands, and encounters with mythic beasts. It shares travelers’ accounts of voyages into the afterlife, encounters with strange creatures, doppelgängers, angels, chivalric romances, and legends of heroes. The book explains how travelers’ tales from the Middle Ages drew on geographies, encyclopedias, travel accounts, bestiaries, and herbals to captivate their audiences. It includes rare illustrations from incunabula and medieval manuscripts.

Editors Claude and Corinne Lecouteux explain how the Middle Ages were a melting pot of narrative traditions. Tales often drew on geographies, encyclopedias, travel accounts, bestiaries, and herbals to captivate audiences who would be fascinated by explorers’ discoveries.