From Broceliande to the Gulf of Morbihan
The forest of Brocéliande is famous for being home to the Arthurian legend. But you won't find it on the map, as its name is not recognized administratively. It's in the forest of Paimpont that you'll have to look for traces of the Knights of the Round Table and Merlin the Enchanter, whose tomb you can see! Do you know the importance of fairies in this legendary land? In fact, it was Merlin's love for the fairy Viviane that led to his death! As for the knights, they had every reason to be wary of the fairy Morgane... She, terribly disappointed by the knight Guyomard, created a trap to trap all unfaithful lovers, with Merlin's help. This was the birth of the Val sans retour, or Val périlleux or Val des faux amants, where she managed to imprison knights for seventeen years... until Lancelot du Lac foiled her spell and managed to free 253 knights! As for Guyomard, he's still there, punished and petrified with his mistress for eternity!
The poor fairies, in love with their beautiful forest of Brocéliande, were eventually chased away by the korrigans, little elf-like creatures, sometimes benevolent, sometimes malevolent, and omnipresent in Breton tales. The fairies, then alone on a hilly land in what is now the Gulf of Morbihan, shed a flood of tears that soon became a torrent, so intense was their dismay. Their tears became the waters of the gulf, but it is said that their wreaths and the petals that fell from them formed its islands. The most beautiful crown, that of the fairy queen, drifted offshore to form Belle-Île-en-Mer. They are said to have contributed to the creation of as many islands as there are days in a year... However, of these 365 islands, travellers today seem to count only around 40..
But the story of the Gulf of Morbihan is far from over! Among the legends told here is that of the separation between Île-aux-Moines, then called Izenah and populated by sailors, and Île d'Arz, a fishermen's territory. When the two islands were linked by an isthmus, a young man from Izenah fell in love with a young girl from Arz. His parents soon discovered this relationship, which they violently disapproved of! Disappointed with their son, they locked him up with the monks. But every day, the young girl, full of love and courage, crossed the isthmus to sing at the foot of the monastery. The monks, weary of her incessant serenading, instructed the korrigans to submerge the isthmus, causing the faithful lover to drown and the two islands to part forever!
The mysteries of the megaliths
It is a must during a stay in Morbihan: go and see the menhirs alignments of Carnac. This megalithic site, the largest in the world, is now classified as a historical monument, and dates from the Neolithic period. Hundreds of menhirs stand perfectly aligned over more than four kilometers, from the most imposing to the smallest! Between the origin of these granite stones and their strange disposition, the mystery remains immense. However, it is assumed that these alignments were real places of life, and that people played between the menhirs, that they got married there, that they built houses in their alignment... It is even said that women rubbed themselves against these stones to stimulate their fertility! Moreover, megaliths are often linked to burials, especially the most imposing ones like tumuli, dolmens or cairns.
But we cannot ignore the legend of Saint Cornély, one of the first popes, between the years 251 and 253 of our era. Having left Rome following the persecutions of the emperor, he was travelling through Gaul accompanied by two oxen carrying his luggage. Suddenly, this holy man was attacked by the numerous soldiers of the Roman army. To escape, he hid in the ear of one of his oxen, and from there, he transformed his attackers into menhirs!
Many other sites in Morbihan bear the trace of this Neolithic past which fascinates us so much. Among these, the island of Gavrinis, in the heart of the Gulf of Morbihan, is very surprising, and more particularly its stone mound (or cairns). This one is hollowed out by a corridor of dolmens which leads to a burial chamber. This tomb was discovered in 1832, and its great particularity lies in the drawings that are carved on its granite walls, of a rare complexity and regularity. These engravings have been classified as a historical monument since 1901, and their beauty is as impressive as it is intriguing! If some identify motifs like tools or snakes, they continue to keep their secret with determination... As for the way these slabs of several tons were brought to the island thousands of years ago, suppositions remain vague... Perhaps a visit will allow you to feel the hidden history of this place?
Lakes with troubled waters..
The interior of the département is as rich in mysterious stories as its coasts and islands! And as is often the case in the world of legends, some are more likely to make our hair stand on end than to make us dream! At Lac de Guerlédan, you're in for a thrill... The largest artificial lake in Brittany, created less than a century ago, it marks the border between Morbihan and Côtes-d'Armor, and its dam powers a power plant. But in Brittany, no matter how relatively recent a feature of the landscape may be, it soon becomes the setting for exciting stories. It seems that some walkers are hearing bells ringing from a bell tower sunk to the bottom of the lake. The poor buggers... It's none other than the Ankoù, the fearsome Breton personification of death, announcing its imminent arrival... Perhaps this will reassure you: this lake dries up from time to time, and the last time, in 2015, we were able to check, there was no trace of this bell tower!
A few steps away, the bloodthirsty Count Conomor has left his terrifying mark. Frightened by a prophecy that he would end up murdered by his own child, he had already killed four pregnant wives one by one... Until he met Trephine, Count Waroc'h's daughter, so beautiful and virtuous. He asked for her hand, and the marriage was concluded after Trephine had sought advice from Saint Gildas, who had faith in Conomor's conversion thanks to Trephine. But as soon as she too became pregnant, Conomor locked her up in a barricaded room, from which she miraculously managed to escape by breaking the bars. But Conomor soon found her again, and beheaded her without further hesitation. Saint Gildas then discovered Trephine's body, and after long prayers, he laid her head on her body, and resurrected her! She gave birth to her son Trémeur, and lived in hiding in the village that today bears her name: Sainte-Tréphine. As for Trémeur, he perished at his father's hands in battle, without his father ever knowing his identity.
There's another stretch of water that stimulates the imagination: l'étang au Duc, near Vannes. Here, from time to time, a beautiful green-haired Mary-Morgane (a mermaid) is seen enjoying the summer sun. A soldier, captivated by her beauty, would approach her. But she pulled him under in a long embrace from which he never returned. Originally, the siren was said to be a princess, owner of Etang au Duc, whom the neighboring lord of Etang de Plaisance wanted to marry. Unable to bring herself to do so, she told him that this day would not come until the Plaisance lake flowed into the Duc lake, which the lord did by digging a canal between the two lakes! As he urged her to join him, the princess threw herself into the lake out of spite, never to return..
Saint-Cado, behind the postcard..
You have surely heard the name of Saint Cado, an island known in the Ria d'Étel for its pretty little house with blue shutters, perched on its neighboring islet. But Saint Cado is also one of the most popular saints of Brittany, represented in a stained glass window of the chapel that bears his name. Living on the island, he would have built the bridge that connects it to the continent to attract the faithful to him. But the devil would have intervened in this construction project, by offering his help to Saint Cado. The latter, accepting the proposal, was faced with a horrible pact: he had to offer the devil the first living being who would pass over the bridge. Fortunately, he managed to fool the evil being by making a cat pass over it!
A rather popular ghost
There will be many creatures and stories that will accompany you during your stay in Morbihan... If we cannot gather here centuries of oral tradition, there is a character that we will greet before closing this file. It is a nice... ghost! And it is in the south of the "Little Sea" that we find him, between the walls of the sumptuous castle of Suscinio, residence of the Dukes of Brittany, on the Rhuys peninsula. It would be a little boy of 6 or 7 years, the young son of a former captain of the guard. But this little ghost would never have finished having fun, and his favorite game would remain hide-and-seek. More teasing than frightening, he would be heard running around especially in the attic, the former children's room, and in the Duke's wardrobe! Will you meet him?
