Aisling Byrne studied at University College Dublin and St. John's College, Cambridge. She has published on the transmission and translation of romance, on writers such as Gerald of Wales and Thomas Malory, and on themes such as marvels, feasting, chivalry, and territorial politics.

"A model of interdisciplinary Celtic studies, this book shows that the Celtic literature of the Insular world just might help with questions that cannot be answered by recourse to English, French, or Latin literature alone. Engaging, well-written, and adventurous, Byrne's Otherworldswill become the new starting point for scholarship on the otherworld in medieval Insular literature." -- Joshua Byron Smith, Speculum

"The conclusion makes a succinct argument for transformative power of literature, a fitting end to a bracing book." -- Medium Aevum

"a welcome addition to a recently expanding corpus of critical studies of magic and the supernatural in the medieval period. One of the distinguishing features of Byrne's study is the way in which she engages skilfully not just with English material, but also with Scottish, Welsh and Irish texts, as well as with material in Old French and that concerning the Isle of Man." --Emily Wingfield, Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen

"This is an admirable book, readable, interesting, and impressively extensive in its range of references across a large swathe of medieval English, French, Irish, and Latin romance and history. Taking on the complex idea of "otherworld," it conclusively demonstrates that there are as many otherworlds as there are texts, each one referring intertextually to others and to key influences such as the Bible. By a process of close comparison and analysis, the book demonstrates the significance of romance otherworlds as avatars of the "real world" and its driving concerns. For scholars of medieval romance, this is an important book that will need to be read and assimilated before any further discussion of the supernatural otherworld can be attempted." --Helen Fulton, Studies in the Age of Chaucer

"Since Howard Rollins Patch published The Other World (1950), no booklength analysis has emerged on the topic. Byrne admirably fills this scholarly void. Elegantly written, smoothly argued and highly informative, Otherworlds is the first book that anyone who wishes to learn about medieval otherworlds should read." --Kathy Lavezzo, Modern Philology

"Aisling Byrne's fine study of medieval Otherworlds takes our engagement with the concept of the archipelagic in new and exciting directions." --Robert Rouse, postmedieval

"The book will have wide-ranging appeal to students and academics. The material on popular texts such as Sir Orfeo and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight will be beneficial to undergraduates and the introduction offers an intelligent definition of key terminology and an assessment of challenges and assumptions that will be a useful model for graduate students. For scholars working on the otherworld, Byrne's book will be essential reading and, with its wealth of primary sources, will no doubt inspire further research and scholarship for years to come." -- The English Historical Review