“There was a Holy Race of Men on Lundy”: A Speculative Literature Search for the Otherworld Island

Abstract

This paper explores the ancient names which have been associated with Lundy Island. They all describe traditions which belong to the magical realm of the “Otherworld.” The objective has been to bring together for the first time the many disparate and, at times, perhaps tenuous links with Lundy in literature. Consideration is also given to aspects of the island's past which may have contributed toward this mythological status.