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mask131 · 9 months ago

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Arthurian myth: Morgan the Fey (1)

Loosely translated from the French article "Morgane", written by Philippe Walter, for the Dictionary of Feminine Myths (Le Dictionnaire des Mythes Féminins)

MORGANE

Morgane means in Celtic language “born from the sea” (mori-genos). This character is as such, by her origins, part of the numerous sea-creatures of mythologies. A Britton word of the 9th century, “mormorain”, means “maiden of the sea/ sea-virgin”, et in old texts it is equated with the Latin “siren”. A passage of the life of saint Tugdual of Tréguiers (written in 1060) tells of ow a young man of great beauty named Guengal was taken away under the sea by “women of the sea”. The Celtic beliefs knew many various water-fairies with often deadly embraces – and Morgane was one among the many sirens, mermaids, mary morgand and “morverc’h” (sea girls/daughters of the sea).

Morgane, the fairy of Arthurian tales, is the descendant of the mythical figures of the Mother-Goddesses who, for the Celts, embodied on one side sovereignty, royalty and war, and on the other fecundity and maternity. In the Middle-Ages, they were renamed “fairies” – but through this word it tried to translate a permanent power of metamorphosis and an unbreakable link to the Otherworld, as well as a dreaded ability to influence human fate. The French word “fée” comes from the neutral plural “fata”, itself from the Latin word “fatum”, meaning “fate”.

There is not a figure more ambivalent in Celtic mythology – and especially in the Arthurian legends – than Morgane. She constantly hesitates between the character of a good fairy who offers helpful gifts to those she protects ; and a terrible, bloodthirsty goddess out for revenge, only sowing death and destruction everywhere she goes. Christianity played a key role in the demonization of this figure embodying an inescapable fate, thus contradicting the Christian view of mankind’s free will.

I/ The sovereign goddess of war

It is in the ancient mythological Irish texts that the goddess later known as Morgane appears. The adventures of the warrior Cuchulainn (the “Irish Achilles”) with the war-goddess Morrigan are a major theme of the epic cycle of Ireland. The Morrigan (a name which probably means “great queen”) is also called “Bodb Catha” (the rook of battles). It is under the shape of a rook (among many other metamorphosis) that she appears to Cuchulainn to pronounce the magical words that will cause the hero’s death.

The Irish goddesses of war were in reality three sisters: Bodb, Macha and Morrigan, but it is very likely that these three names all designated the same divinity, a triple goddess rather than three distinct characters. This maleficent goddess was known to cause an epileptic fury among the warriors she wanted to cause the death of. The name of Bodb, which ended up meaning “rook”, originally had the sense of “fury” and “violence”, and it designated a goddess represented by a rook. The Irish texts explain that her sisters, Macha and Morrigan, were also known to cause the doom of entire armies by taking the shape of birds. Every great battle and every great massacre were preceded by their sinister cries, which usually announced the death of a prominent figure.

The Celtic goddesses of war have as such a function similar to the one of the Norse Walkyries, who flew over the battlefield in the shape of swans, or the Greek Keres. The deadly nature of these goddesses resides in the fact that they doom some warriors to madness with their terrifying screams. One of the effects of this goddess-caused madness was a “mad lunacy”, the “geltacht”, which affected as much the body as the mind. During a battle in 1722 it was said that the goddess appeared above king Ferhal in the shape of a sharp-beaked, red-mouth bird, and as she croaked nine men fell prey to madness. The poem of “Cath Finntragha” also tells of the defeat of a king suffering from this illness. The place of his curse later became a place of pilgrimage for all the lunatics in hope of healing.

The link between the war-goddess and the “lunacy-madness” are found back within folklore, in which fairies, in the shape of birds, regularly attack children and inflict them nervous illnesses. These fairies could also appear as “sickness-demons”. Their appearance was sometimes tied to key dates within the Celtic calendar, such as Halloween, which corresponded to the Irish and pre-Christian celebration of Samain. Folktales also keep this particularly by placing the ritualistic appearances of witches and of fate-fairies during the Twelve Days, between Christmas and the Epiphany – another period similar to the Celtic Halloween. Morgane seems to belong to this category of “seasonal visitors”.

II) The Queen of Avalon

In Arthurian literature, Morgane rules over the island of Avalon, a name which means the Island of Apples (the apple is called “aval” in Briton, “afal” in Welsh and “Apfel” in German). Just like the golden apples of the Garden of the Hesperids, in Celtic beliefs this fruit symbolizes immortality and belongs to the Otherworld, a land of eternal youth. It is also associated with revelations, magic and science – all the attributes that Morgane has. Her kingdom of Avalon is one of the possible localizations of the Celtic paradise – it is the place that the Irish called “sid”, the “sedos” (seat) of the gods, their dwelling, but at the same time a place of peace beyond the sea. Avalon is also called the Fortunate Isle (L’Île Fortunée) because of the miraculous prosperity of its soil where everything grows at an abnormal rate. As such, agriculture does not exist there since nature produces by itself everything, without the intervention of mankind.

It is within this island that the fairy leads those she protects, especially her half-brother Arthur after the twilight of the Arthurian world. Morgane acts as such as the mediator between the world of the living and the fabulous Celtic Otherworld. Like all the fairies, she never stops going back and forth between the two worlds. Morgane is the ideal ferrywoman. The same way the Morrigan fed on corpses or the Valkyries favored warriors dead in battle, Morgane also welcomes the soul of the dead that she keeps by her side for all of eternity. Some texts gave her a home called “Montgibel”, which is confused with the Italian Etna. The Otherworld over which she rules doesn’t seem, as such, to be fully maritime.

The ”Life of Merlin” of the Welsh clerk Geoffroy of Monmouth teaches us that Morgan has eight sisters: Moronoe, Mazoe, Gliten, Glitonea, Gliton, Thiten, Tytonoe, and Thiton. Nine sisters in total which can be divided in three groups of three, connected by one shared first letter (M, G, T). In Adam de la Halle’s “Jeu de la feuillée”, she appears with two female companions (Arsile and Maglore), forming a female trinity. As such, she rebuilds the primitive triad of the sovereign-goddesses, these mother-goddesses that the inscriptions of Antiquity called the “Matres” or “Matronae”. In this triad, Morgane is the most prominent member. She is the effective ruler of Avalon, since it was said that she taught the art of divination to her sisters, an art she herself learned from Merlin of which she was the pupil. She knows the secret of medicinal herbs, and the art of healing, she knows how to shape-shift and how to fly in the air. Her healing abilities give her in some Arthurian works a benevolent function, for example within the various romans of Chrétien de Troyes. She usually appears right on time to heal a wounded knight: she is the one that gave a balm to Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, to heal his madness. In these works, Morgane does not embody a force of destruction, but on the contrary she protects the happy endings and good fortunes of the Round Table. She is the providential fée that saves the souls born in high society and raised in the “courtois” worship of the lady. However, her powers of healing can reverse into a nefarious power when the fée has her ego wounded.

III/ The fatal temptress

In the prose Arthurian romans of the 13th century, Morgane can be summarized by one place. After being neglected by her lover Guyomar, she creates “le Val sans retour”, the Vale of No-Return, a place which will define her as a “femme fatale”. This place transports without the “littérature courtoise” the idea of the Celtic Otherworld. Also called “Le Val des faux amants” (The Vale of False Lovers), “le Val sans retour” is a cursed place where the fée traps all those that were unfaithful to her, by using various illusions and spells. As such, she manifests both her insatiable cruelty and her extreme jealousy. Lancelot will become the prime victim of Morgane because, due to his love for Queen Guinevere, he will refuse her seduction. The feelings of Morgane towards Lancelot rely on the ambivalence of love and hate: since she cannot obtain the love of the knight by natural means, she will use all of her enchantments and magical brews to submit Lancelot’s will. In vain. Lancelot will escape from the influence of this wicked witch. In “La Mort le roi Artu”, still for revenge, Morgan will participate in her own way to the decline to the Arthurian world: she will reveal to her brother, king Arthur, the adulterous love of Guinevre and Lancelot. She will bring to him the irrefutable proof of this affair by showing her what Lancelot painted when he had been imprisoned by her. The terrible war that marks the end of the Arthurian world will be concluded by the battle between Arthur and Mordred, the incestuous son of Arthur and Morgan. As such, Morgan appears as the instigator of the disaster that will ruin the Arthurian world. She manipulates the various actors of the tragedy and pushes them towards a deadly end. It should be noted that any sexual or romantic relationship between Arthur and Morgane are absent from the French romans – they are especially present within the British compilation of Malory, La Mort d’Arthur.

Behind the possessive woman described by the Arthurian texts, hides a more complex figure, a leftover of the ancient Celtic goddess of destinies. Cruel and manipulative, Morgan is fuses with the fear-inducing figure of the witch. Despite being an enemy of men, she keeps seeking their love. All of her personal tragedy comes from the fact that she fails to be loved. Always heart-sick, she takes revenge for her romantic failure with an incredible savagery. Her brutality manifest itself through the ugliness that some text will end up giving her – the ultimate rejection by this Christian world of this “devilish and lustful temptress”. “La Suite du Roman de Merlin” will try to give its own explanation for this transformation of Morgane, from good to wicked fairy: “She was a beautiful maiden until the time she learned charms and enchantments ; but because the devil took part in these charms and because she was tormented by both lust and the devil, she completely lost her beauty and became so ugly that no one accepted to ever call her beautiful, unless they had been bewitched”. In this new roman, she is responsible for a series of murders and suicides – and as the rival of Guinevere, she tries to cause King Arthur’s doom by favorizing her own lover, Accalon. Another fée, Viviane, will oppose herself to her schemes.

The demonization of the goddess is however not complete. Morgan appears in several “chansons de gestes” of the beginning of the 13th century, and even within the Orlando Furioso of the Arisote, in the sixth canto, in which she is the sister of the sorceress Alcina. She is presented as the disciple of Merlin. Seer and wizardess, she owns (within Avalon or the land of Faerie) a land of pleasure, a little paradise in which mankind can escape its condition. At the same time the Arthurian texts discredit her, she joins a strange historico-pagan syncretism, by being presented as the wife of Julius Caesar, and as the mother of Aubéron, the little king of Féerie.

After the Middle-Ages, the fée Morgane only mostly appears within the Breton folklore (the French-Britton folklore, of the French region of Bretagne). There, old mythical themes which inspired medieval literature are maintained alive, and keep existing well after the Middles-Ages. Morgane is given several lairs, on earth or under the sea. In the Côtes-d’Armor, there is a Terte de la fée Morgan, while a hill near Ploujean is called “Tertre Morgan”. There is an entire branch of popular literature in Bretagne (such as Charles Le Bras’ 1850 “Morgân”) where the fée represents the last survivor of a legendary land and the reminder of a forgotten past. She expresses the nostalgia of a lost dream, of a fallen Golden Age. True Romantic allegory of the lands and seas of Bretagne, she most notably embodies the feeling of a Bretagne land that was in search of its own soul.

However, it is her role of “cursed lover” that stays the most dominant within the Breton folklore. The vicomte de La Villemarqué, great collector of folktales and popular legends, noted in his “Barzaz Breiz” (1839) that the “morgan”, a type of water spirits, took at the bottom of the sea or of ponds, in palaces of gold and crystal, young people that played too close to their “haunted waters”. The goal of these fairies was to kidnap them to regenerate their cursed species. This ties the link between these “morganes” (also called “mary morgand”) and the Antique “fairy of fate”. Similar names, a same love of water, and the presence of the “land below the waves”, of a malevolent seduction – these are the permanent traits of Morgane, who keeps confusing and uniting the romantic instinct for love, and the desire for death. More modern adaptations of the legend (such as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s novels) weave an entire feminist fantasy around the figure of this fairy, supposed to embody the Celtic matriarchy.

#arthuriana #arthurian myth #arthurian legend #morgane #morgan #morgan le fey #fée #french folklore #folklore of bretagne #celtic mythology #irish mythology

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chrysocomae · 10 months ago

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The Flight of King Gradlon, oil on canvas made around 1884 by Evariste-Vital Luminais

King Gradlon and the Legend of Ys:

"King Gradlon (Gralon in Breton) ruled in Ys, a city built on land reclaimed from the sea, sometimes described as rich in commerce and the arts. He lived in a wealth palace of marble, cedar and gold. In some versions, Gradlon built the city upon the request of his daughter Dahut, who loved the sea. To protect Ys from inundation, a dike was built with a gate that was opened for ships during low tide. The one key that opened the gate was held by the king.

Some versions, especially early ones, blame Gradlon's sins for the destruction of the city. However, most tellings present Gradlon as a pious man, and his daughter Dahut as a sorceress or a wayward woman who steals the keys from Gradlon and opens the gates of the dikes, causing a flood which destroys the whole city. A Saint (either St. Gwénnolé or St. Corentin) wakes the sleeping Gradlon and urges him to flee. The king mounts his horse and takes his daughter with him, but the rising water is about to overtake them. Dahut either falls from the horse, or Gradlon obeys a command from St. Gwénnolé and throws Dahut off. As soon as Dahut falls into the sea, Gradlon safely escapes. He takes refuge in Quimper and reestablishes his rule there." - Gradlon wikipedia article

#Evariste-Vital Luminais #art #The Flight of King Gradlon #bretagne #legend of ys #breton #breton folklore #brittany mythos

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racout · 1 year ago

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Korrigans

Note: I'm an English learner and I wrote this text to practise my written English. If you want to give me feedback about my English, please go ahead!

Korrigans are creatures from the folklore of Brittany (North-West of France) that look like little black and hideous people. They are described as hairy, thickset and they have frizzy hair. They keep with them a purse which is said to be full of gold. But if someone stole it, they would find inside only dirty horsehair and a pair of scissors. These pranksters like playing tricks on Christians who don’t respect their duty. They are sometimes accused of stealing animals or objects, or making a mess in houses.

See more :

They usually live in megalithic monuments, which are sometimes called “ville des korrigans,” “city of the korrigans”. They keep inside of these constructions their treasure, which they take out at night to spread it out on the ground. Sometimes they do it in the summer sunshine. Still at night, in some stories at full moon, they dance around blocks of stone, singing often the days of the week till Friday. If one tries to complete the song adding the two last days, the korrigans might dislike it and shower them with blows. If one runs into them, they could get swept up in the korrigans’ dance. They are forced to dance to the point of exhaustion.

Korrigans seem to be related to fairies. For instance, when a fairy steals a human baby, sometimes, it substitutes it with a korrigan.

In Chants populaires de la Bretagne, Théodore Hersart de La Villemarqué explains his theory about the origins of korrigans. The ancient bards venerated a goddess called Korid-Gwen. She was associated with another character who was similar to dwarves and who was called Gwion. He was nicknamed “le Nain” (the Dwarf) or “le Nain à la bourse” (the Dwarf with the purse), because he was sometimes represented with a purse in his hand. He was in charge of guarding a mystical vase containing the water of genius, divination and science. Three drops fell on his hand, and he took them to his mouth. Thus, he discovered the future and science. In addition to carrying a purse with them, Armorican dwarves are related with magic, occult, alchemy, metallurgy and divination, which reminds of the legend of Gwion. This link can also be found in a medicinal plant that dwarves are said to like. It is sometimes called the herb of kov, but the Welsh also call it the herb of Gwion, while the Gaulish used the word korig.

In an article from Bulletin de la Société polymathique du Morbihan, Alfred Fouquet tells a legend about a very poor farmer. One night, the farmer saw little black men around a tumulus. Some were dancing on it, others came in and out. The farmer let out a scream in surprise. The little men, who were korrigans, ran away when they heard him. A few days later, the man wanted to go back there at night. It took him the whole night to clear the entrance of the tumulus, but he eventually managed to go inside. He saw the goblins gathered around a pot. They noticed him and started to run all over the place. One of them even went to the neighbouring wood to hang itself, giving to the place the name of “bois du Pendu” (wood of the Hanged one). The man, who was, as we said, very poor, took their pot filled with their treasure, and brought it home. He became rich, and bought the farm where he worked. Years passed, and his children grew up used to a wealthy life. The farmer died, and shortly afterwards, his children reached the bottom of the pot. Finally, his grandson was buried in debt. He had to sell the farm. As he wasn’t able to pay the land rent anymore, he was evicted.

Emile Souvestre, in Foyer Breton, tells another story about these tiny beings. Lao was a Breton bagpipes player. One night, he went down the mountains with a group of people to play during the pardon of the Armor. They reached a crossroads. The women wanted to go down the path that leads to the ocean. But Lao wanted to take the one that goes through the heath. The women explained that there was a city of korrigans and only those who never committed any sin could go through there without trouble. He didn’t believe in these stories and said he would play for them since they liked dancing. He took the path to the heath and began playing. The women went down the way to the sea. He saw the menhir and the korrigans’ home. He heard a murmur which, little by little, became a rumble. Tussocks shook and became hideous dwarves. Surprised and intimidated, Lao stepped back against the menhir. The korrigans surrounded him and forced him to play. The musician was unable to stop, and he played and danced until dawn. Eventually, he collapsed from exhaustion.

Sources

Marie-Charlotte DELMAS. “Korrigan”. In: Dictionnaire de la France Merveilleuse. Paris, France: Omnibus, 2017, p. 418-420.

Alfred FOUQUET. “Un kilomètre en Crach”. Bulletin de la Société polymathique du Morbihan, 1863, p. 1-7.

URL (Gallica)

Théodore Hersart de La Villemarqué. Chants populaires de la Bretagne, First Volume, Fourth edition, p. 46-53. Paris : Leipzig, 1846.

Désiré Monnier, Aimé Vingtrinier. “Les Fées Chrétiennes”. In : Croyances et traditions populaires recueillies dans la Franche-Comté le Lyonnais la Bresse et le Bugey. Lyon : Henri Georg, 1874, p. 393-397.

Prisma Media. “Korrigan : qui est cette créature légendaire bretonne ?” Geo [online]. Gennevilliers. 05/11/2021. [Visited between 01/06/23 and 02/06/23]

URL

Louis Pierre François Adolphe Chesnel de la Charbouclais (marquis de). “Gauriks ou Gores”, p. 216, “Korandons”, p. 262, “Korigans ou Korigs”, p. 262, “Korils ou Kourils”, p. 264, “Kornikaneds”, p. 267, “Poulpicans, Poulpiquets, ou Korils”, p. 466, “Teus”, p. 594. In: Dictionnaire des superstitions, erreurs, préjugés et traditions populaires, vol. 20 of Troisième et dernière encyclopédie théologique. J.-P. Migne, 1856

#folklore #france #bretagne #brittany #korrigan #legend

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2t2r · 3 years ago

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La pierre tremblante de Huelgoat

Nouvel article publié sur https://www.2tout2rien.fr/la-pierre-tremblante-de-huelgoat/

La pierre tremblante de Huelgoat

#Bretagne #deplacement #equilibre #erosion #finistere #France #gargantua #Huelgoat #legende #menhir #mouvement #pierre #rocher #vidéo #imxok #nature #voyage

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florentinv · 2 years ago

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Merci à l'Ankou de la troupe @atometheatre pour la balade contée en octobre ☺️📷 #france #bretagne #paimpont #paimponttourisme #broceliande #broceliandetourisme #tourisme #ankou #atometheatre #caleche #contes #legend #tales #myth #death #photo #photography #lightroom #hdr #instagood #photooftheday #picoftheday #instalike #autumn #roadtrip #trip #holiday #travel #travelphotography #instatravel (à Paimpont) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmtZuLrs7Kv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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r-aindr0p · 10 months ago

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Are there any fae-like creatures in french myths?

I know about the story of a giant black wolf that terrorized France back in the day, but that’s all I can remember.

Legends and stories including wolves are in fact really widespread in european culture since middle age ! But yeah the most well known in France is the Beast of Gévaudan which was described as massive ! (and the one from Le petit chaperon rouge/Little red riding hood)

Concerning other creatures and fairies/faes in french legends and stories, we do have

Mélusine : fairies mentioned a bit everywhere in France, they are mostly described as women with a scaly tail lower body and are sometimes associated with mermaids or vouivres. (far from how they look like in genshin impact)

Vouivre : not to be mistaken with wyverns, vouivres are creatures described as snakes with bat wings, sometimes they are depicted having rear legs and wings (and they look very goofy like that imo). These creatures can be aquatic and in some descriptions, possess a big jewel on their forehead.

Tarasque : a creature from provencal legends, which lived in a swamp near Tarascon and terrorized and ate people. It's most popular description was of a big creature with a spiked turtle shell, six bear legs, horse ears, bull chest, lion head, a human face and a twisted tail. Legend says Ste. Marthe tamed the beast. (I swear they were just being attacked by bowser this is the same creature)

These are the one I depicted roughly in the pic above but there are many more creatures depending on the different regions of France ! (There's a lot of fairies and fantasy like creature in stories from bretagne/brittany) Some others that I find either fun or cool are :

Meneurs de loup : which translates to wolf leaders are people told to be able to talk to wolves and even transform into one, either because they are werewolves or they made a pact with the devil. (it's kinda giving spice and wolf vibes and I love that story sm)

Jambe crue/Came-cruse : Roaming in the Pyrénées at night, this thing is a single leg with an eye on the knee that eats people and runs very fast. (Idk why this one is so funny to me but oddly terrifying as well)

#french folklore #we also have fairies and mages that come from arthurian legends because i don't know how/why but some of the stories took place in france #it is said in France that Merlin used to live at some point in the forest of Brocéliande that is said to be either in brittany or normandy?#and there's that whole lancelot du lac thing as well #idk if I can choose a favorite creature in general french or not but kelpies are cool and rusalkas as well #medieval unicorns that look more like goats are dope as well #most man eating beings or creatures that use appearances to lure people are soo cool tbh #katsura otoko is an example from japanese folklore guy on the moon that feeds on your life essence the more you stare at the moon #if i recall it right..#Oh ! and Powerwolf did a song in french about beast of gevaudan ! if anyone likes power metal #the whole band’s aesthetic is priest werewolves idk why but hey half of it is right in my alley

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jean-dieu · 1 month ago

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Dragon age Meta : Breton Lavellan

My version of Clan Lavellan for Aloysius Lavellan, my Inquisitor, is inspired by Brittany and the Bretons.

And here's a lil ramble about how "Rather Death than Dishonor" became the clan's motto!

Brittany's historical motto is "Kentoc'h mervel eget bezañ saotret", which was translated on Wikipedia in "Rather death than dishonor", though there's a strong taint/dirt/filfth dimension to "dishonor".

It comes from a legend where a white haired stroat choose to be killed by Anne de Bretagne's dogs who were hunting it instead of crossing a muddy river that would have stained its fur. Admiring the animal's dedication, Anne spared its life.

Another version, my favorite, says it's Alain Barbetorte, son of the last King of Brittany and Duke of Brittany between 938 and 952) who said that to his men during a war against the Normands as he saw a stroat standing up to a fox rather than crossing that same muddy river.

NOW TO THE LAVELLAN. It's their motto as well.

Their legends say their motto, "Rather death than dishonor", has been said by an Emerald Knight to his men during the second exalted march against the Dales. Cornered by Orlesian soldiers, they're faced with a choice : Crossing a large muddy river to flee, or stand up and fight. As he remembers witnessing a Halla standing up to human hunters, refusing to cross a dirty river to preserve its coat and its whiteness, he shouts these words to his men and they fight the human soldiers until victory.

That's also why THEY particularly hold the Hallas as sacred animal, more than dalish already do.

#Dragon age #Dragon age Meta #dragon age inquisition #lavellan #clan lavellan #inquisitor lavellan #dragon age #da:i #dragon age lavellan #dalish elf #dalish elves #dragon age lore #my rambles #oc: aloysius #dragon age meta #dalish inquisitor

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adarkrainbow · 1 year ago

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An example of the book's fascinating studies: as I said before, the chapter about Sleeping Beauty notices how fin-de-siècle authors, when "perverting" the tale, focused on the fairies around the baby's cradle - and Jean de Palacio notices that the names chosen for these fairies are very revealing of this "perversion".

Indeed, some authors in their twist-take on Sleeping Beauty, decided to name the group of fairies around the cradle. Anatole France, in his take on the Sleeping Beauty story in 1909, listed eight fairies: Titania, Mab, Viviane, Mélusine, Urgèle, Anna de Bretagne, Mourgue. Catulle Mendès, in 1888, had evoked in his work a total of 12 fairies - Oriane, Urgande, Urgèle, Alcine, Viviane, Holda, Mélusine, Mélandre, Arie, Mab, Titania, Habonde. Jean Lorrain did this list twice - once in 1883 including Habonde, Viviane, Tiphaine, Oriane, Mélusine, Urgèle, Morgane ; and another in 1897, simply removing Urgèle. As for Joséphin Péladan, he also did a double list: one in 1893, Mélusine, Morgane, Viviane, Mourgue, Alcine ; and another in 1895 to which he removed Mourgue to add Urgèle, Nicneven and Abonde.

These names can be taken as just random famous fairy names - but Jean de Palacio highlights that... They are not just chosen randomly, and all denote a way to discredit the fairies or to highlight their ambiguous if not negative nature. Of the recurring names four are taken from the matter of Britain, Arthurian and medieval legends: Viviane, Melusine, Anna de Bretagne (a variation of Anne of Britanny, an actual queen of France) and Mourgue/Morgane. Famous characters, right... But who is present here, around this baby's cradle to deliver gifts? Morgan le Fay, half-main villain of the Arthuriana half-healer of Avalon. Viviane, the good lady of the lake, oh yes... but also a shameless seductress who used Merlin's lust and love to steal his secrets and get rid of him. And Melusine - a national treasure, one of France's beloved legends... And a snake-woman with a strong demonic aura and devilish reputation. Viviane, Melusine and Morgan are all manifestations of the "femme fatale", of the deadly though seductive woman.

There is also a British influence at work here, since we have Titania and Mab, the two famous Shakespearian fairy queens. But Titania's reputation had already been soiled in Shakespeare's play by her mad love for a donkey - sorry, an ass ; as for Mab, in the minds of fin-de-siècle century, she is still strongly associated with the "materialistic atheism" of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Queen Mab". Not perfect example of "godmothers"...

But let's return to Mourgue/Morgue briefly. Yes, she is the Franco-British Arthurian character of Morgan le Fay... But she is also part of the Italian literary tradition thanks to the Orlando Furioso, where she is Morgana, the incest-born sister of the enchantress Alcina who... Oh look! She is there too! Alcina in French is "Alcine" and in the lists you find... Alcuine. Once again, a new discredit over the fairies, as you have two wicked enchantresses dedicated to the dark art - including a lustful old hag so vain she hides her true appearance under a glamour of youth and beauty.

Of the various fairies presented in this list, only Urgèle seems to be free of any same, flaw or negative side - but that's because she is the most "recent" of them all, and not an old literary heritage or cultural figure, but rather a fresh creation. Urgèle was created by Voltaire in 1764 for a short tale/fairytale of his, "Ce qui plait aux dames", "What pleases the ladies", and immediately taken back for an "opéra-comique" adaptation by Favart in 1764, "La Fée Urgèle, ou Ce qui plaît aux dames". And while Théodore de Banville made her a good fairy victim of a wicked enchanter in his comedy "Le Baiser", "The Kiss" ; it didn't refrain Michel Carré and Paul Collin to make her the wicked fairy of Sleeping Beauty in their theatrical-opera adaptation of the fairytale in 1904...

[As a personal note, if you are interest in the other fairy names, Habonde is a variation of Abonde - la fée Abonde was a figure of popular folklore and superstitious beliefs in medieval France, an embodiment of abundance and prosperity fought off by the Church and who was tied to the rite of leaving "meals for the fairies" on special nights such as Christmas or the Epiphany. Holda is of course the same as Frau Holda/Frau Holle of Germanic mythology ; Arie is a reference to "Tante Arie", a Christmas gift-giver of eastern France, and Nicneven is a variation of Nicnevin/Nicnevan of Scottish folklore. I have to admit I do not know about the origins of Mélandre or Tiphaine.]

#sleeping beauty #fin de siecle fairytales #jean de palacio #fairy godmothers #fairies #famous fairies #fairytales with a twist

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ardenrosegarden · 2 years ago

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The name that Constance chose for her son predisposes him to his succession. The symbolic figure of King Arthur was reclaimed by Henry II. Amaury Chauou explains that the English King wishes to endow himself with “a conquering past and to legitimize his accession of the throne”. The objective is to compete with the sanctification of the Capetian dynasty through Charlemagne. This new cult of King Arthur is supported by so-called discoveries. Firstly, Arthur's sword, named Excalibur, is found in Glastonbury, converted into a sanctuary of English royalty. The tomb of Arthur was exhumed in 1191. The Arthurian legend experiences, at this period, a real renewal of interest and great success. This instrumentality is reversed by Constance. If Henry II reinvests the Arthurian figure to make it a protective king of his people, then the newborn symbolizes Bretons' hope fighting for their independence, which appears as a challenge in Henry II's eyes. By calling him that, Constance gave a certain power and value to the future title of her son. By selecting this name, she binds her son to kinship and honors. In fact, names identify kinship groups and belong to family patrimonies. But Constance did not name her son Alan, Conan, or even Hoël, common names of the dukes of Brittany in the high middle ages and also belong to a ducal heritage. Arthur’s name gives the future duke a symbolic value that is mythical, giving the Duke’s future title a superior, almost heroic and protective dimension.

-Élodie Chaudet, La duchesse Constance de Bretagne et le gouvernement en héritage à la fin du XIIe siècle

#historyedit #prince arthur #constance of brittany #twelfth century #my edit

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remcocoa · 3 months ago

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of course it is the man the myth the legend jonas abrahamsen himself off the front at bretagne. of course it is.

#cycling lb

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mask131 · 2 years ago

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A fantasy read-list: A-3

Fantasy read-list

Part A: Ancient fantasy

3) Medieval fantasy - the Arthuriana

While one root of the fantasy genre lies within the mythologies of the world, the other is coming from numerous medieval tales and supernatural stories, most of them being centered around what we call today the “Arthurian myth” or the “Arthuriana”. Though, in truth, the genre of these texts is a bit bigger - it is the “Matter of Britain”, which is larger than the Arthurian texts themselves.

And we will begin our list with... French texts! It might surprise you - you might say “But aren’t Arthurian texts all English?”. No. The Matter of Britain designates all the medieval texts that are not the “Matter of Rome” or the “Matter of Thebes” (aka coming from the texts and topics of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece). Britain is, of course, England, as in “Great-Britain”. But if there is a GREAT Britain, it means there is a “Little Britain”... And this Little Britain is none other than the Bretagne region of France, aka the north-west of France. The Arthurian myth is half-rooted in England, yes, but another half of the origins and founding texts of the Arthurian legend come from France. The famous Broceliande forest is in France, not in England.

# The founding texts of the French Arthurian literature are without a doubt the novels of Chrétien de Troyes. Considered the very first French novel of history, they created many of the well-known “Arthurian legends” of today. There is a total of five of these novels. Two are indirectly tied to the Arthurian world - Eric and Enide, Cligès. Two are right at the heart of the Arthuriana: Yvain or the Knight of the Lion, as well as Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart. And his final novel is incomplete, but it is the one that created the most famous part of the Arthurian literature: Perceval or the Story of the Grail, the first literary apparition of the famous “Holy Grail” (fun fact: the Grail wasn’t originally a cup, but a fish-plate. Go read the book, you’ll understand Xp).

# Equating and rivaling Chrétien’s novels, we find the lais of Marie de France. A “lai” is actually a short fiction typical of the Middle-Ages, something halfway between a narrative poem and a fairytale, telling short, concise, but very efficient stories. We have a LOT of lais that came to us anonymously, carrying numerous literary stories or folktales of medieval times - but in France the most famous lais are those attributed to a certain “Mary of France”. She wrote twenty or so VERY famous lais that are seen as one of the defining feature of old medieval French literature. We are talking Bisclaveret, one of the oldest werewolf stories, we are talking of the supernatural romance of Guigemar, we are talking about the twin-shenanigans of Le Fresne, about the tragic love of Chevrefoil, and about the Arthurian lai of Lanval, about a man in love with a fairy but wooed by Guinevere herself.

Mind you, there are other lais not composed by Marie de France, such as the one of Guingamor or the one of Sir Orfeo, but they are mostly anonymous.

# The works of Robert de Boron. Robert de Boron continued the work started by Chrétien de Troyes (and also took inspiration from the poet’s Wave semi-historical semi-fictional work, such as the Roman de Brut, a historical chronicle where Merlin and dragons appear), and built the next “step” in the Arthurian myth in France. Unfortunately we do not have his full work anymore, merely a fragment of his poem “Merlin” (where he presents the famous story of the “born of a demon” episode), a short “Perceval” story, and his full “Estoire du Graal ou Joseph d’Arimathie”, which is where the background of the Grail as the cup that collected Christ’s blood appears. Together they are considered as “le Petit Cycle du Graal”, “The Small Cycle of the Grail”, preceeding the following item...

# More interestingly, after the enormous success of Chrétien de Troyes’ work, there was an entire series of books that were created, remembered today as the Lancelot-Graal, or the Prose Lancelot, the Vulgate Cycle. These are five texts in prose (in opposition to Chrétien and Boron’s verse works), who continue or rewrite the previous author’s texts - these are L’Estoire del Saint Graal (L’Histoire du Saint Graal/The History of the Holy Grail), L’Estoire de Merlin (L’Histoire de Merlin/Merlin in prose), Le Lancelot (also called Lancelot in prose or Lancelot proper), La Queste del Saint Graal (The Quest of the Holy Grail), and La Mort d’Artu (The death of Artu). This cycle was followed by three prose texts known as “The Post-Vulgate Cycle” (Histoire du Saint Graal, Merlin, Queste-Mort Artu) which are merely the transcription in prose of some of Boron works, mixed with a rewrite of the “Tristan en prose”, an old novel of the Tristan and Iseult cycle (and the first that links the legendary duo with the Arthurian world).

# The Roman de Perceforest is a quite unique work designed to unite the “romans d’Alexandre” (Alexandrian novels, a big branch of medieval French literature centered around the adventure of Alexander the Great) and the Arthurian novels - more importantly, Perceforest is the oldest known literary version of the fairytale Sleeping Beauty.

# A section should be left here for the various novels involving the fairy Mélusine, one of the main characters of the French medieval legends. In fact, she is recognized (by Georges Dumézil’s work and those that continued it) as one of the two archetypal fairies of the middle-ages (the Melusinian fairy being the fairy entering the human world to live with humans, opposing the Morganian fairy who snatches humans into the otherworld). The legend of Mélusine was most notably recorded in Jean d’Arras “Roman de Mélusine”, and in Coudrette’s own “Roman de Mélusine”.

# There are many, MANY more literary works of medieval France, but to stay in the angle of “ancient fantasy” I will merely quote two more. On one side, la Chanson des quatre fils d’Aymon, a famous medieval epic which notably depicts the figure of Maugis the Enchanter, the other main sorcerer of medieval texts alongside Merlin (he has his own poem, La Chanson de Maugis d’Aigremont). On the other, the one one, the classic, the best-seller, the unavoidable Roman de Renart, the Novel of Reynart, the tentacular set of texts depicting the numerous adventures of the most famous European trickster in an animalistic parody of the Arthurian world.

If we jump outside of France to England, we have a different set of texts:

# The works of Geoffrey of Monmouth. This man wrote some of the earliest works part of the “Arthurian myth”, and from which a lot of elements were taken to create the “Arthuriana”. While his most famous work is “Historia Regum Britanniae”, a semi-historical chronicle of the kings of Britain which contains one of the earliest appearance of King Arthur as we know him today, he also wrote two texts fundamental to the figure of Merlin: Prophetiae Merlini, and Vita Merlini.

# Otia Imperialia, by Gervase of Tilbury. It was a work created as a gift to emperor Otto V, and it was supposed to be an encyclopedia of geographical, historical and scientific matters - but it is actually containing a LOT of mythical and legendary elements, including entire part of the “Arthurian myth” presented as historical facts - hence its latter name “The Book of Marvels”.

# Of course, we can’t list the major Arthuriana English works without talking about the most famous one: “Le Morte d’Arthur”, the final result of the “evolution” of the Arthurian myth. Thomas Malory’s attempt at creating a complete legend uniting all of the English and French Arthurian texts (though heavily inspired by the Lancelot-Graal cycle I described above). This text became the “definitive Arthurian text” in England for a very long time - and in more recent days, it was the main inspiration for the famous Arthurian novel “The Once and Future King” by T. H. White.

And while the Arthurian corpus is mostly made of English and French texts, you also have Arthuriana sources in other European countries - such as in Germany, where you can find Lanzelet, by Ulrich von Zazhikhoven, which marks the first apparition of Lancelot in German literature.

#fantasy read-list #read list #fantasy #read-list #arthurian myth #medieval literature #medieval fantasy #arthurian texts #french middle-ages #french literature #arthuriana #arthurian literature #ancient fantasy

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