Merlin is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and legendary figures, was introduced by the 12th-century British author Geoffrey of Monmouth. It is believed that Geoffrey combined earlier tales of Myrddin and Ambrosius, two legendary Briton prophets with no connection to Arthur, to form the composite figure called Merlinus Ambrosius . Geoffrey's rendering of the character became immediately popular, especially in Wales. Later writers in France and elsewhere expanded the account to produce a fuller image, creating one of the most important figures in the imagination and literature of the Middle Ages.
The Lady of the Lake is a name or a title used by several either fairy or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the Matter of Britain, the body of medieval literature and mythology associated with the legend of King Arthur. They play pivotal roles in many stories, including providing Arthur with the sword Excalibur, eliminating Merlin, raising Lancelot after the death of his father, and helping to take the dying Arthur to Avalon. Different sorceresses known as the Lady of the Lake appear concurrently as separate characters in some versions of the legend since at least the Post-Vulgate Cycle and consequently the seminal Le Morte d'Arthur, with the latter describing them as a hierarchical group, while some texts also give this title to either Morgan or her sister.
John of Montfort, sometimes known as John IV of Brittany, and 6th Earl of Richmond from 1341 to his death. He was the son of Arthur II, Duke of Brittany and his second wife, Yolande de Dreux. He contested the inheritance of the Duchy of Brittany by his niece, Joan of Penthièvre, which led to the War of the Breton Succession, which in turn evolved into being part of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. John's patron in his quest was King Edward III of England. He died in 1345, 19 years before the end of the war, and the victory of his son John IV over Joan of Penthièvre and her husband, Charles of Blois.
Ploërmel is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. On 1 January 2019, the former commune Monterrein was merged into Ploërmel.
Joseph Guy Marie Ropartz was a French composer and conductor. His compositions included five symphonies, three violin sonatas, cello sonatas, six string quartets, a piano trio and string trio, stage works, a number of choral works and other music, often alluding to his Breton heritage. Ropartz also published poetry.
Brocéliande, earlier known as Brécheliant and Brécilien, is a legendary enchanted forest that had a reputation in the medieval European imagination as a place of magic and mystery. Brocéliande is featured in several medieval texts, mostly related to the Arthurian legend and the characters of Merlin, Morgan le Fay, the Lady of the Lake, and some of the Knights of the Round Table. It first appeared in literature in the Roman de Rou chronicle by Wace in 1160 and today is most commonly identified as Paimpont forest in Brittany, France.
Paimpont Forest, also known as Brocéliande Forest, is a temperate forest located around the village of Paimpont in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany, France. Covering an area of 9,000 hectares, it is part of a larger forest area that covers the neighboring departments of Morbihan and Côtes-d'Armor. It contains the castles Château de Comper and Château de Trécesson as well as the Forges of Paimpont, a national historical site. It has been associated with the forest of Brocéliande and many locations from Arthurian legend, including the Val sans retour, the tomb of Merlin, and the fountain of Barenton.
Paimpont is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France.
The Val sans retour, also known as the Val des faux amants or the Val périlleux, is a mythical site from Arthurian legend, as well as a physical site located in central Brittany, in the Paimpont forest. The legend attached to it is primarily recounted in the Lancelot-Grail: in it, Morgan le Fay experiences a disappointment in love with the knight Guiomar, and, in retaliation, creates the Val sans retour in the forest of Brocéliande, where any knights unfaithful in love are imprisoned.
The Château de Comper is a former castle located in Paimpont forest, three kilometers to the east of the village of Concoret in the department of Morbihan in the region of Brittany, France. It has been rebuilt as a château. The name Comper, like Quimper, probably comes from the Breton word kemper, which means confluence. It is surrounded by several streams and lakes.
Larchant is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region. It is located on the southern edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau.
Merlin's Wood; or, The Vision of Magic is a short novel by British writer Robert Holdstock, first published in the United Kingdom in 1994. The novel is considered part of the Mythago Wood cycle, but takes place in Brittany, France instead of Herefordshire, England. The work has all new characters and focuses on the mythical birthplace and burial site of Merlin, the magical wood Brocéliande. Brocéliande is a smaller version of Ryhope wood where British myth predominates.
Jacques Briard was a French prehistoric archaeologist. He was a student of Pierre-Roland Giot, the creator of modern Armorican archeology.
The Centre de l'Imaginaire Arthurien is a cultural centre dedicated to the Matter of Britain. It was founded in 1988 in Rennes through the influence of different specialists in Arthurian legend, local politicians, artists and writers. Since 1990 its headquarters has been at the Château de Comper, in Paimpont Forest.
Guiomar is the best known name of a character appearing in many medieval texts relating to the Arthurian legend, often in relationship with Morgan le Fay or a similar fairy queen type character.
Donatien Laurent was a French musicologist and linguist.
The esplumoir Merlin is a place mentioned in the Arthurian legend in relation with the magician Merlin. Its nature remains uncertain, but it probably relates to a metamorphosis into a bird. It is presented as a hut, a tower or a high rock and is sometimes likened to the Hotié de Viviane, a megalithic site in Brittany. It is also mentioned in Raoul de Houdenc's narrative poem, Meraugis de Portlesguez.
Hotié, Hostié or Maison de Viviane, also known as Tombeau des Druides is a megalithic tomb in Paimpont, Ille-et-Vilaine, in Brittany. The Hotié de Viviane is one of the prehistoric monuments in the Forest of Brocéliande cursorily described in the 19th century, but more recently, following the fires that have periodically devastated the forest, rediscovered and excavated by local groups. Legend makes it the home of the fairy Viviane, where she held the enchanter Merlin imprisoned. Another legend equates it with the esplumoir Merlin. When the location of the Val sans retour, a place figuring in medieval Arthurian literature, was identified with the Val de Rauco in the 19th century, the megalithic site near the Gurvant valley took the name of Hotié de Viviane. Hotié de Viviane is also sometimes identified as Tombeau de Viviane.
The église Sainte-Onenne, or église Saint-Eutrope, also known as the église du Graal, is a parish church in the commune of Tréhorenteuc in Brittany. It is the only church dedicated to a local Breton saint, St Onenne. However, it is best known for its fittings and stained glass windows commissioned by Abbé Gillard between 1942 and 1962 which mix pagan themes from Arthurian legend with Christian elements.
The Armorican Tumulus culture is a Bronze Age culture, located in the western part of the Armorican peninsula of France. It is known through more than a thousand burial sites covered by a tumulus or otherwise. The culture is renowned for some exceptionally richly endowed burials of chieftains of the time, which are contemporary with the elite of the Wessex culture, in England, and the Unetice culture, in Central Europe.
