Brocéliande is a place of legend due to its uncertain location, unusual weather, and its ties with Arthurian mythology, most notably the tomb of the legendary figure of Merlin.[1] According to these accounts, the forest sheltered Morgan's magical Vale of No Return, the faery fountain of Barenton, and the place of Merlin's retirement, imprisonment, or death.
The etymology is uncertain.[2] The oldest known form, Brecheliant, could be based on the CelticBrec'h (hill), followed by a man's name.[3] The later form of Brocéliande could be derived from bro (meaning country in Breton, Cornish and Welsh), but this variant does not appear until the 12th century, in the work of Chrétien de Troyes. A popular etymology from Old French derives the term ultimately from "broce" for "forest" and "liande" for "heath".[2]
Medieval historical accountsEdit
First known mention of Brocéliande is found in Roman de Rou, a c. 1160 chronicle Anglo-Norman poet Wace, which covers the history of the Dukes of Normandy from the time of Rollo of Normandy to the battle of Tinchebray.[4] Wace numbers the Bretons from Brocéliande (Brecheliant), about whom there are many legends ("ceux de Brecheliant dont les Bretons disent maintes légendes..."), along with the Breton knights.[5] Wace gives the name of the fountain of Barenton ("La fontaine de Berenton/sort d'une part lez le perron...") and describes how hunters scoop water from it and wet a stone in order to summon rain; he also mentions rumors of fairies and magic. Wace travelled to Brittany in search of these wonders, but found nothing notable[1] and left disappointed: "I saw the forest and the land and looked for marvels, but found none. I came back as a fool and went as a fool. I went as a fool and came back as a fool. I sought foolishness and considered myself a fool."[6]
Brocéliande is briefly mentioned in one historical text in Bertran de Born's 1183 poem dedicated to Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany – the duke to whom Brocéliande belonged. Its unusual weather alone is noted in a handful of texts: Giraldus Cambrensis's c. 1185 expeditionary account, Topographia Hibernica, Alexandre Neckham's c. 1195 work on nautical science, De naturis rerum, and William the Breton's c. 1215 poem, Philippide.[7]
Arthurian legendEdit
The Damsels at the Fountain, F. A. Fraser's illustration for King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (1912)
In the 1170s, Chrétien de Troyes mentions the forest of Brocéliande in his Arthurian romance, Le Chevalier au lion. While in Brocéliande, Yvain pours water from a spring into a stone, causing a violent storm to erupt. This in turn summons the knight Esclados le Ros who defends the forest.[1][8]
In the late 12th or early 13th century, Robert de Boron first associates the figure of Merlin with Brocéliande in his poem Merlin. It is also featured in several episodes of the prose adaptations and continuations of the poem, the Vulgate Cycle (Lancelot-Grail), notably in the stories of Merlin and Viviane.[9] Later, Morgan le Fay traps many unfaithful knights in her Vale of No Return within Brocéliande until they are freed by Lancelot.[10]
In Jaufré, the Arthurian romance of unknown authorship composed in Catalonia, the forest of Brocéliande is near King Arthur's palace and the site of a mill where Arthur battles a strange bull-like animal, really a shapeshifting mage knight. The dating of Jaufré is debated and may have been written as early as 1183 or as late as 1225–1228.[11][12] Later, Brocéliande also appears in context of Arthurian knights in Huon de Méry's allegorical poem Tournoiement Antecrist as well as in other texts such as Claris et Laris, where it is the site of Morgan's fairy castle,[13] and Brun de la Montagne.[14]
Early source works provide unclear or conflicting information on the exact location of Brocéliande; different hypotheses exist to place Brocéliande on the map. According to Wace, Brocéliande is in Brittany. Since the 15th century (Jean Cabaret d'Orville), Brocéliande has been linked by some to the forest of Lorge near Quintin in Brittany.[15] Since around 1400 (Ponthus et Sidoine, where the forest is named Berthelien) and commonly in modern times, Brocéliande is considered to be Paimpont forest in Brittany.[15]
Some scholars think that Brocéliande is a mythological place and has never existed.[16]Jean Markale notes that while the forest itself is legendary, it is part of the "remainder of the immense forest that covered the entire center of Brittany until the High Middle Ages."[17] He goes on to point out that the notion of a magical forest in France has its roots in the writings of Lucan who describes a numinous, magical forest full of ominous happenings in Gaul.[18]
Jean Lorrain wrote the play Brocéliande (1898), about Myrddhin (Merlin) and Viviane (Nimue/Elaine); as in many of the earlier Arthurian works, Brocéliande is the location where Viviane entraps Merlin inside an oak tree.[1]
The television series Once Upon a Time features Brocéliande in the season 5 episode "Siege Perilous" as the location of a magical toadstool needed for a potion to free the sorcerer Merlin from his imprisonment in a tree.
OtherEdit
Brocéliande is mentioned repeatedly in Andre Norton's Here Abide Monsters using the formula 'Avalon, Tara, Brocéliande, Carnac'.
The name was an inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional realm of Beleriand in Middle-earth. The name Broseliand was used in the early sketches of The Silmarillion (1926 to 1930). It is also the setting of Tolkien's poem The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun.[19]
Several short stories in Sylvia Townsend Warner's collection Kingdoms of Elfin (many of which appeared in The New Yorker in the 1970s) are set in Brocéliande or mention it, among several other enchanted forests where Townsend's Elfin folk live.
It appears in the 2010 film Robin Hood as the place where Robert Loxley is ambushed by the French.
Broceliande is the name of a forest in Joan Aiken's young adult novel The Stolen Lake, which, despite taking place in a fictionalized version of South America, has a strong Arthurian theme.
The Witcher novel series by Andrzej Sapkowski features an ancient forest inhabited by magical beings known as Brokilon to humans and Brokiloén in the Elven language.
It is also referenced in Destiny 2's DLC Black Armory. Niobe's Torment puzzle defeated the entire community of Destiny gamers for nearly 24 hours using this word.
A forest called the Brecilian Forest is inhabited by elves and filled with magical ruins in the video game Dragon Age: Origins.
^ abcdLupack, Alan. The Oxford guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press USA, 2007), page 437.
^ abBarrier, Philippe (1991). Forêt légendaire: contes, légendes, coutumes, anecdotes sur les forêts de France (in French). C. de Bartillat. ISBN9782905563422.
^Deshayes, Albert (1999). Dictionnaire des noms de lieux bretons (in French). Chasse-marée/ArMen. ISBN9782903708856.
^« Mil chent et soisante anz out de temps et d'espace/puiz que Dex en la Virge descendi par sa grace/quant un clerc de Caen, qui out non Mestre Vace/s'entremist de l'estoire de Rou et de s'estrasce/qui conquist Normendie, qui qu'en poist ne qui place/contre l'orgueil de France, qui encor les menasce/que nostre roi Henri la congnoissë et sace. »
^"e cil devers Brecheliant/donc Breton vont sovent fablant/une forest mult longue e lee/qui en Bretaigne est mult loee"
^"La Fontaine de Barenton dans le " Chevalier au Lion " - Encyclopédie de Brocéliande". broceliande.brecilien.org (in French). Retrieved 2018-06-02.
^"Brocéliande dans le Lancelot-Graal - Encyclopédie de Brocéliande". broceliande.brecilien.org (in French). Retrieved 2018-06-02.
^"L'origine littéraire du Val sans Retour - Encyclopédie de Brocéliande". broceliande.brecilien.org (in French). Retrieved 2018-06-02.
^"Breselianda dans le Jaufré - Encyclopédie de Brocéliande". broceliande.brecilien.org (in French). Retrieved 2018-06-02.
^Eckhardt, Caroline D. (May 2009). "Reading Jaufré: Comedy and Interpretation in a Medieval Cliff-Hanger". The Comparatist. 33: 40. doi:10.1353/com.0.0051. S2CID 171050011.
^"Claris and Laris | Robbins Library Digital Projects". Retrieved 2018-06-03.
^Bellamy, Félix (2002). Brocéliande et les romans de la Table Ronde. Arbre d’Or, Geneva.
^ ab"Brocéliande en forêt de Lorge - Encyclopédie de Brocéliande". broceliande.brecilien.org (in French). Retrieved 2018-06-02.
^Pelan, Margaret, "L'influence de Wace sur les romanciers français de son temps", p. 56, cité par A.-Y. Bourgès
^Markale, Jean Merlin: Priest of Nature, (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions International, 1995), page 121.
^Markale, Jean Merlin: Priest of Nature, (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions International, 1995), pages 120-121.
^Tolkien, JRR. as his horse bore him o'er the land to the green boughs of Broceliande (Welsh Review, 1945).
SourcesEdit
Eckhardt, Caroline D. (May 2009). "Reading Jaufré: Comedy and Interpretation in a Medieval Cliff-Hanger". The Comparatist33: 40–62.
Lupack, Alan (2007). The Oxford guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend (1st paperback ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press USA. ISBN978-0-19-921509-6.
Markale, Jean (1995). Merlin: Priest of Nature (1st English translated ed.). Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions International. ISBN0-89281-517-5.
External linksEdit
Broceliande | The Camelot Project
Encyclopédie de Brocéliande (in French)
September 02, 2023
brocéliande, modern, french, forest, paimpont, forest, 2002, film, film, earlier, known, brécheliant, brécilien, legendary, enchanted, forest, that, reputation, medieval, european, imagination, place, magic, mystery, featured, several, medieval, texts, mostly,. For the modern French forest see Paimpont forest For the 2002 film see Broceliande film Broceliande earlier known as Brecheliant and Brecilien is a legendary enchanted forest that had a reputation in the medieval European imagination as a place of magic and mystery Broceliande 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 BroceliandeMatter of Britain locationMerlin and Viviane in Broceliande Gustave Dore s illustration for Idylls of the King 1868 GenreHistorical fantasyIn universe informationOther name s Brecheliant BrecilienTypeEnchanted forestLocationsVale of No ReturnCharactersLady of the Lake Merlin MorganBroceliande is a place of legend due to its uncertain location unusual weather and its ties with Arthurian mythology most notably the tomb of the legendary figure of Merlin 1 According to these accounts the forest sheltered Morgan s magical Vale of No Return the faery fountain of Barenton and the place of Merlin s retirement imprisonment or death Contents 1 Etymology 2 Medieval historical accounts 3 Arthurian legend 4 Localisations 5 Modern fiction 5 1 Arthurian 5 2 Other 6 See also 7 Notes and references 8 Sources 9 External linksEtymology EditThe etymology is uncertain 2 The oldest known form Brecheliant could be based on the Celtic Brec h hill followed by a man s name 3 The later form of Broceliande could be derived from bro meaning country in Breton Cornish and Welsh but this variant does not appear until the 12th century in the work of Chretien de Troyes A popular etymology from Old French derives the term ultimately from broce for forest and liande for heath 2 Medieval historical accounts EditFirst known mention of Broceliande is found in Roman de Rou a c 1160 chronicle Anglo Norman poet Wace which covers the history of the Dukes of Normandy from the time of Rollo of Normandy to the battle of Tinchebray 4 Wace numbers the Bretons from Broceliande Brecheliant about whom there are many legends ceux de Brecheliant dont les Bretons disent maintes legendes along with the Breton knights 5 Wace gives the name of the fountain of Barenton La fontaine de Berenton sort d une part lez le perron and describes how hunters scoop water from it and wet a stone in order to summon rain he also mentions rumors of fairies and magic Wace travelled to Brittany in search of these wonders but found nothing notable 1 and left disappointed I saw the forest and the land and looked for marvels but found none I came back as a fool and went as a fool I went as a fool and came back as a fool I sought foolishness and considered myself a fool 6 Broceliande is briefly mentioned in one historical text in Bertran de Born s 1183 poem dedicated to Geoffrey II Duke of Brittany the duke to whom Broceliande belonged Its unusual weather alone is noted in a handful of texts Giraldus Cambrensis s c 1185 expeditionary account Topographia Hibernica Alexandre Neckham s c 1195 work on nautical science De naturis rerum and William the Breton s c 1215 poem Philippide 7 Arthurian legend Edit nbsp The Damsels at the Fountain F A Fraser s illustration for King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table 1912 In the 1170s Chretien de Troyes mentions the forest of Broceliande in his Arthurian romance Le Chevalier au lion While in Broceliande Yvain pours water from a spring into a stone causing a violent storm to erupt This in turn summons the knight Esclados le Ros who defends the forest 1 8 nbsp Merlin and Vivien by Henry Meynell Rheam 1895 In the late 12th or early 13th century Robert de Boron first associates the figure of Merlin with Broceliande in his poem Merlin It is also featured in several episodes of the prose adaptations and continuations of the poem the Vulgate Cycle Lancelot Grail notably in the stories of Merlin and Viviane 9 Later Morgan le Fay traps many unfaithful knights in her Vale of No Return within Broceliande until they are freed by Lancelot 10 In Jaufre the Arthurian romance of unknown authorship composed in Catalonia the forest of Broceliande is near King Arthur s palace and the site of a mill where Arthur battles a strange bull like animal really a shapeshifting mage knight The dating of Jaufre is debated and may have been written as early as 1183 or as late as 1225 1228 11 12 Later Broceliande also appears in context of Arthurian knights in Huon de Mery s allegorical poem Tournoiement Antecrist as well as in other texts such as Claris et Laris where it is the site of Morgan s fairy castle 13 and Brun de la Montagne 14 Localisations Edit nbsp Merlin s tomb tombeau de Merlin megalith within Paimpont forestEarly source works provide unclear or conflicting information on the exact location of Broceliande different hypotheses exist to place Broceliande on the map According to Wace Broceliande is in Brittany Since the 15th century Jean Cabaret d Orville Broceliande has been linked by some to the forest of Lorge near Quintin in Brittany 15 Since around 1400 Ponthus et Sidoine where the forest is named Berthelien and commonly in modern times Broceliande is considered to be Paimpont forest in Brittany 15 Some scholars think that Broceliande is a mythological place and has never existed 16 Jean Markale notes that while the forest itself is legendary it is part of the remainder of the immense forest that covered the entire center of Brittany until the High Middle Ages 17 He goes on to point out that the notion of a magical forest in France has its roots in the writings of Lucan who describes a numinous magical forest full of ominous happenings in Gaul 18 Modern fiction EditArthurian Edit Broceliande has continued to appear throughout the modern Arthuriana in works such as the 19th century poem Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson and in later works such as Edwin Arlington Robinson s 1917 poem Merlin and Alan Seeger s 1916 poem Broceliande Jean Lorrain wrote the play Broceliande 1898 about Myrddhin Merlin and Viviane Nimue Elaine as in many of the earlier Arthurian works Broceliande is the location where Viviane entraps Merlin inside an oak tree 1 In Bernard Cornwell s Arthurian trilogy The Warlord Chronicles Broceliande is one of two British Celtic kingdoms that form modern day Brittany the other being Armorica Broceliande serves as the location of Robert Holdstock s fantasy novel Merlin s Wood The television series Once Upon a Time features Broceliande in the season 5 episode Siege Perilous as the location of a magical toadstool needed for a potion to free the sorcerer Merlin from his imprisonment in a tree Other Edit Broceliande is mentioned repeatedly in Andre Norton s Here Abide Monsters using the formula Avalon Tara Broceliande Carnac The name was an inspiration for J R R Tolkien s fictional realm of Beleriand in Middle earth The name Broseliand was used in the early sketches of The Silmarillion 1926 to 1930 It is also the setting of Tolkien s poem The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun 19 Several short stories in Sylvia Townsend Warner s collection Kingdoms of Elfin many of which appeared in The New Yorker in the 1970s are set in Broceliande or mention it among several other enchanted forests where Townsend s Elfin folk live It appears in the 2010 film Robin Hood as the place where Robert Loxley is ambushed by the French In Michael Swanwick s The Dragons of Babel Broceliande is a train station where a bomb was dropped in a war between two kingdoms Vanni Santoni s novel Terra Ignota il Risveglio features a magic forest named Broceliande Sarah Singleton s book The Poison Garden features a magic garden called Broceliande Cassandra Clare s series The Mortal Instruments features a forest named Brocelind in the fictional Shadowhunter nation of Idris Broceliande is the name of a forest in Joan Aiken s young adult novel The Stolen Lake which despite taking place in a fictionalized version of South America has a strong Arthurian theme The Witcher novel series by Andrzej Sapkowski features an ancient forest inhabited by magical beings known as Brokilon to humans and Brokiloen in the Elven language It is also referenced in Destiny 2 s DLC Black Armory Niobe s Torment puzzle defeated the entire community of Destinygamers for nearly 24 hours using this word A forest called the Brecilian Forest is inhabited by elves and filled with magical ruins in the video game Dragon Age Origins In C S Lewis s That Hideous Strength the tomb of Merlin is located in the fictitious Bragdon Forest The forest is tied to the elves in Judith Tarr s historical fantasy The Hound and the Falcon and Alamut series Broceliande is invoked in the short story Main Street 1953 in Joanna Russ The Hidden Side of the Moon The name was an inspiration for the fictional city of Brecilien in the MMORPG Albion Online a magical city located in the Mists See also EditLocations associated with Arthurian legendNotes and references Edit a b c d Lupack Alan The Oxford guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend New York NY Oxford University Press USA 2007 page 437 a b Barrier Philippe 1991 Foret legendaire contes legendes coutumes anecdotes sur les forets de France in French C de Bartillat ISBN 9782905563422 Deshayes Albert 1999 Dictionnaire des noms de lieux bretons in French Chasse maree ArMen ISBN 9782903708856 Mil chent et soisante anz out de temps et d espace puiz que Dex en la Virge descendi par sa grace quant un clerc de Caen qui out non Mestre Vace s entremist de l estoire de Rou et de s estrasce qui conquist Normendie qui qu en poist ne qui place contre l orgueil de France qui encor les menasce que nostre roi Henri la congnoisse et sace e cil devers Brecheliant donc Breton vont sovent fablant une forest mult longue e lee qui en Bretaigne est mult loee Roman de Rou Part III lines 6329 98 Brecelianensis monstrum admirabile fontis La Fontaine de Barenton dans le Chevalier au Lion Encyclopedie de Broceliande broceliande brecilien org in French Retrieved 2018 06 02 Broceliande dans le Lancelot Graal Encyclopedie de Broceliande broceliande brecilien org in French Retrieved 2018 06 02 L origine litteraire du Val sans Retour Encyclopedie de Broceliande broceliande brecilien org in French Retrieved 2018 06 02 Breselianda dans le Jaufre Encyclopedie de Broceliande broceliande brecilien org in French Retrieved 2018 06 02 Eckhardt Caroline D May 2009 Reading Jaufre Comedy and Interpretation in a Medieval Cliff Hanger The Comparatist 33 40 doi 10 1353 com 0 0051 S2CID 171050011 Claris and Laris Robbins Library Digital Projects Retrieved 2018 06 03 Bellamy Felix 2002 Broceliande et les romans de la Table Ronde Arbre d Or Geneva a b Broceliande en foret de Lorge Encyclopedie de Broceliande broceliande brecilien org in French Retrieved 2018 06 02 Pelan Margaret L influence de Wace sur les romanciers francais de son temps p 56 cite par A Y Bourges Markale Jean Merlin Priest of Nature Rochester VT Inner Traditions International 1995 page 121 Markale Jean Merlin Priest of Nature Rochester VT Inner Traditions International 1995 pages 120 121 Tolkien JRR as his horse bore him o er the land to the green boughs of Broceliande Welsh Review 1945 Sources EditEckhardt Caroline D May 2009 Reading Jaufre Comedy and Interpretation in a Medieval Cliff Hanger The Comparatist 33 40 62 Lupack Alan 2007 The Oxford guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend 1st paperback ed New York NY Oxford University Press USA ISBN 978 0 19 921509 6 Markale Jean 1995 Merlin Priest of Nature 1st English translated ed Rochester VT Inner Traditions International ISBN 0 89281 517 5 External links EditBroceliande The Camelot Project Encyclopedie de Broceliande in French Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Broceliande amp oldid 1171758351, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
