Brocéliande, earlier known as Brécheliant and Brécilien, is a legendary

enchanted forest In folklore and fantasy, an enchanted forest is a forest under, or containing, magic (fantasy), enchantments. Such forests are described in the oldest folklore from regions where forests are common and occur throughout the centuries to modern wor ...

that had a reputation in the

medieval Europe In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

an imagination as a place of magic and mystery. Brocéliande is featured in several medieval texts, mostly these related to the Arthurian legend, as well as in numerous modern works. Brocéliande first appeared in literature in

Wace Wace ( 1110 – after 1174), sometimes referred to as Robert Wace, was a Medieval Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy (he tells us in the ''Roman de Rou'' that he was taken as a child to Caen), ending his car ...

's 1160 chronicle '' Roman de Rou'' that reported on the fanciful tales surrounding its location in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. It is a place of legend due to its uncertain location, unusual weather, and its ties with Arthurian mythology, most notably the tomb of

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

.Lupack, Alan. ''The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend'', (New York, NY: Oxford University Press USA, 2007), page 437. In

chivalric romance As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of high medieval and early modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalri ...

lore, the forest sheltered Morgan's magical Vale of No Return, the

faery A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Ger ...

fountain of Barenton, and the place of Merlin's retirement, imprisonment, or death. Today, it is most commonly identified as Paimpont forest in Brittany, France.

Etymology

The etymology is uncertain. The oldest known form, ''Brecheliant'', could be based on the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

(hill), followed by a man's name. The later form of ''Brocéliande'' could be derived from (meaning country in Breton, Cornish and Welsh), but this variant does not appear until the 12th century, in the work of

Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (; ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on King Arthur, Arthurian subjects such as Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's chivalric romances, including ''Erec and Enide'' ...

. A popular etymology from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

derives the term ultimately from "" for "forest" and "" for "heath".

Medieval historical accounts

First known literary mention of Brocéliande is found in '' Roman de Rou'', a c. 1160 chronicle Anglo-Norman poet

, which covers the history of the

Dukes of Normandy In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western Kingdom of France, France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles the Simple in 911. In 924 an ...

from the time of Rollo of Normandy to the battle of Tinchebray. However, a reference to "Briscelim sinus Armoricus" occurs in Bernardus Silvestris's Cosmographia (Megacosmus 3, line 353), which was read to

Pope Eugene III Pope Eugene III (; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He was the first Cist ...

in 1147-48. Wace numbers the

Bretons The Bretons (; or , ) are an ethnic group native to Brittany, north-western France. Originally, the demonym designated groups of Common Brittonic, Brittonic speakers who emigrated from Dumnonia, southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwal ...

from Brocéliande (Brecheliant), about whom there are many legends ("''ceux de Brecheliant dont les Bretons disent maintes légendes...''"), along with the Breton knights. 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 A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

and magic. Wace travelled to

in search of these wonders, but found nothing notable 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." Brocéliande is briefly mentioned in one historical text in

Bertran de Born Bertran de Born (; 1140s – by 1215) was a baron from the Limousin in France, and one of the major Occitan troubadours of the 12th-13th century. He composed love songs (cansos) but was better known for his political songs (sirventes). He ...

's 1183 poem dedicated to

Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany Geoffrey II (; , ; 23 September 1158 – 19 August 1186) was Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond between 1181 and 1186, through his marriage to Constance, Duchess of Brittany. Geoffrey was the fourth of five sons of Henry II of England and ...

– 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''.

Arthurian legend

In the 1170s,

mentions the forest of Brocéliande in his Arthurian romance, '' Le Chevalier au lion''. While in Brocéliande,

Yvain In Arthurian legend, Ywain , also known as Yvain and Owain among other spellings (''Ewaine'', ''Ivain'', ''Ivan'', ''Iwain'', ''Iwein'', ''Uwain'', ''Uwaine'', ''Ywan'', etc.), is a Knight of the Round Table. Tradition often portrays him as t ...

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. In the late 12th or early 13th century,

Robert de Boron Robert de Boron (also spelled in the manuscripts "Roberz", "Borron", "Bouron", "Beron") was a French poet active around the late 12th and early 13th centuries, notable as the reputed author of the poems and ''Merlin''. Although little is known of ...

first associates the figure of

with Brocéliande in his poem ''

''. 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

and Viviane. Later,

Morgan le Fay Morgan le Fay (; Welsh language, Welsh and Cornish language, Cornish: Morgen; with ''le Fay'' being garbled French language, French ''la Fée'', thus meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan , Morgain /e Morgant Mor ...

traps many unfaithful knights in her Val sans retour within Brocéliande until they are freed by

Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), alternatively written as Launcelot and other variants, is a popular character in the Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend's chivalric romance tradition. He is typically depicted as King Arthu ...

. In '' Jaufré'', the Arthurian romance of unknown authorship composed in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, the forest of Brocéliande is near

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

'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. Later, Brocéliande also appears in context of Arthurian knights in Huon de Méry's

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

poem ''Tournoiement Antecrist'' as well as in other texts such as ''Claris et Laris'', where it is the site of Morgan's fairy castle, and ''Brun de la Montagne.''

Localisations

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. 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. Some scholars think that Brocéliande is a mythological place and has never existed. 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 The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

." 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 Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

. William A. Young argues that Chrétien de Troyes' ''Le Chevalier au lion'' is derived from earlier tales which have their origins in the post-Roman Brythonic kingdoms beyond

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

in Britain, and suggests that there is a strong case for equating Broceliande with the forest of Celython, also known as the Great Wood of Caledon.Young, William A. (2022). ''The Ghosts of the Forest: The Lost Mythology of the North'', Inter-Celtic, pp. 330 & 331,

Modern fiction

Arthurian

Brocéliande has continued to appear throughout the modern Arthuriana, in works such as the 19th-century poem '' Idylls of the King'' by

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

, and in later works such as

Edwin Arlington Robinson Edwin Arlington Robinson (December 22, 1869 – April 6, 1935) was an American poet and playwright. Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on three occasions and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Early life Robins ...

's 1917 poem ''Merlin'' and Alan Seeger's 1916 poem ''Brocéliande''. * 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. * In

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also writ ...

's Arthurian trilogy '' The Warlord Chronicles'', Broceliande is one of two British (Celtic) kingdoms that form modern-day Brittany, the other being

Armorica In ancient times, Armorica or Aremorica (Gaulish: ; ; ) was a region of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, and much of historical Normandy. Name The name ''Armorica'' is a Latinized form of the Gauli ...

. * Brocéliande serves as the location of Robert Holdstock's fantasy novel '' Merlin's Wood''. * The television series ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

'' features Brocéliande, therein also known as the "Forest of Eternal Night", 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. * The poetry of Charles Williams, and its interpretation by

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

in "Taliessin Through Logres, The Region of the Summer Stars, Arthurian Torso" (1974) is steeped in the imagery of Broceliande, "the sea-rooted western wood."

Other

* Brocéliande is mentioned repeatedly in

Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen na ...

'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 Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...

. The name ''Broseliand'' was used in the early sketches of ''

The Silmarillion ''The Silmarillion'' () is a book consisting of a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited, partly written, and published posthumously by his son Christopher in 1977, assisted by G ...

'' (1926 to 1930). It is also the setting of Tolkien's poem ''The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun''.Tolkien, JRR. ''as his horse bore him o'er the land to the green boughs of Broceliande'' (Welsh Review, 1945). * Several short stories in Sylvia Townsend Warner's collection '' Kingdoms of Elfin'' (many of which appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' 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 Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

'' as the place where Robert Loxley is ambushed by the French. * In

Michael Swanwick Michael Swanwick (born November 18, 1950) is an American list of fantasy authors, fantasy and List of science-fiction authors, science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s. Writing career Swanwick's fiction writing began w ...

'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 Brocéliande. * Sarah Singleton's book ''The Poison Garden'' features a magic garden called Broceliande. * Cassandra Clare's series ''

The Mortal Instruments ''The Mortal Instruments'' is a series of six young adult fantasy novels written by American author Cassandra Clare, the last of which was published on May 27, 2014. ''The Mortal Instruments'' is chronologically the third series of a planned s ...

'' 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 Brokiloén in the Elven language. * It is also referenced in ''

Destiny 2 ''Destiny 2'' is a free-to-play online first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was originally released as a pay-to-play game in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. It became free-to-play, utilizing the games as a se ...

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''. * In

'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. * Brocéliande is invoked in the short story "Main Street: 1953" in

Joanna Russ Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as '' How to Suppress Women's Writing'', as ...

' '' 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.

Notes and references

Sources

* Eckhardt, Caroline D. (May 2009). "Reading Jaufré: Comedy and Interpretation in a Medieval Cliff-Hanger". '' The Comparatist'' 33: 40–62. * *

External links

Broceliande
at The Camelot Project
Encyclopédie de Brocéliande
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broceliande Fictional elements introduced in the 12th century Locations associated with Arthurian legend Mythological forests