No. 213

Ys

Legend Legends

La Fuite de Roi Gradlon; his daughter Dahut was possessed by a half-fairy, half-woman who he had rejected and became the most evil woman in Brittany; stole keys to sluice gate and the seas invaded the city of Caer Ys; tr — Évariste-Vital Luminais, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Travel there with Lyra

Where: Bay of Douarnenez, France
Type: Legend
First told: Breton folklore
Behind it: A drowned-city tale like many along Europe's sinking coasts.
The truth: No lost city has ever been found.

Kerlaz : église paroissiale Saint-Germain, vitrail de Gabriel Léglise représentant <<Saint Guénolé, abbé de Landévennec, sauvant le roi Gradlon lors de la submersion de la ville d'Ys>>. — Moreau.henri, CC BY-SA 4.0

page de titre — Albert Le Grand, Public domain

Poster for the première performance of Édouard Lalo's Le roi d'Ys. Lithograph on buff paper, 80 x 58 cm. Printed by Simonet & Le Bourg, imp. 45,47, rue des Cloys, Paris. — Auguste François-Marie Gorguet, Public domain

Lyra Kael can take you here on the globe, tell you the story out loud and answer your questions. Start the time jump.

Background

Ys (pronounced EESS), also spelled Is or Kêr-Is in Breton, and Ville d'Ys ("City of Ys") in French, is a mythical city on the coast of Brittany that was swallowed up by the ocean. Most versions of the legend place the city in the Baie de Douarnenez.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.