Flight of King Gradlon, by E. V. Luminais, 1884 (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper)

Ys (also spelled Is or Ker-Ys in Breton) is a mythical city built in the Douarnenez bay in Brittany by Gradlon, King of Cornouaille, for his daughter Dahut. Flight of King Gradlon (La fuite du Roi Gradlon), by E. V. Luminais, exhibited at the Salon of 1884 - (Musée des Beaux Arts, Quimper) documentary photo of 19th century painting of 1884 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired... Flight of King Gradlon (La fuite du Roi Gradlon), by E. V. Luminais, exhibited at the Salon of 1884 - (Musée des Beaux Arts, Quimper) documentary photo of 19th century painting of 1884 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired... Quimper (Kemper in Breton, Corspotium in Latin) is a commune of Brittany in northwestern France. ... Breton (Breton: Brezhoneg) is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany (Breizh) and Loire-Atlantique (historically part of Brittany) in France. ... A mythical place is a place that does not really exist but is accepted folk lore or speculation that it might exist or might have existed in earlier times but its actual location is now lost. ... Douarnenez is a fishing-port of western France, in the department of Finistère, at the mouth of the Pouldavid Estuary on the southern shore of Douarnenez Bay of the Atlantic Ocean, 15 mi. ... Traditional coat of arms Modern flag (Gwenn-ha-du) Historical province of Brittany région of Bretagne, see Bretagne. ... Cornouaille is an historic region in Brittany, in northwest France. ...

The story

According to the legend, Ys was built below sea level, protected from inundation by a dam. The only keys of the gate in the dam were held by Gradlon, but Satan made Dahut steal them and give them to him. He then opened the gate and Ys was flooded. In some versions of the story, Satan was sent by God to punish the city, whose inhabitants were becoming decadent. Other versions of the story tell that Dahut stole the keys either at her lover's request or in order to open the gates of the city to let her lover in. The only survivors were the King Gradlon, who was advised to abandon his daughter and Saint Winwaloe by Saint Winwaloe himself. Gradlon then founded Quimper and on his death, a statue representing him on horseback looking in the direction of Ys was erected on the Saint Corentin Cathedral and still stands there. Bretons said that Ys was the most wonderful city in the world, and that Lutèce was renamed Paris after Ys was destroyed, because "Par-Is" in Breton means "Similar to Ys". For considerations of sea level change, in particular rise associated with possible global warming, see sea level rise. ... Scrivener Dam, in Canberra, Australia, was engineered to withstand a once-in-5000-years flood A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment. ... Gustave Dorés depiction of Satan from John Miltons Paradise Lost Satan, from the Hebrew word for accuser (Standard Hebrew: , Satan Tiberian Hebrew ; Koine Greek: , Satanás; Aramaic: , ; Arabic: , , Geez: Sāyṭān), is a term with its origins in the Abrahamic faiths which is traditionally applied to... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Saint Winwaloe (or, in French, Saint Guénolé or Guennolé) (d. ... Quimper (Kemper in Breton, Corspotium in Latin) is a commune of Brittany in northwestern France. ... The Bretons are a distinct celtic ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. ... Lutetia (sometimes Lutetia Parisiorum or Lucotecia, in French Lutèce) was a town in pre-Roman and Roman Gaul. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Région ÃŽle-de-France Département Paris (75) Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Mayor Bertrand Delanoë  (PS) (since 2001) City Statistics Land...

This deluge legend differs from others because the location of Ys is well defined: the statue of Gradlon looks at it, most of the localities mentioned exist, several Roman roads actually lead into the sea (and are meant to lead to Ys), and this myth could in fact depict the engulfment of a real city during the 5th century. This history is also sometimes viewed as the victory of Christianity (Gradlon was converted by Saint Winwaloe) over druidism (Dahut and most inhabitants of Ys were worshippers of Celtic gods). However, a Breton folktale asserts that Gradlon met, spoke with and consoled the last Druid in Brittany, and oversaw his pagan burial, before building a chapel in his sacred grove. Europe in 450 The 5th century is the period from 401 - 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Druidry or Druidism was the religion of the ancient druids, the priestly class in ancient Celtic and Gallic societies through much of Western Europe north of the Alps and in the British Isles. ... Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. ... Two druids, from an 1845 publication, based on a bas-relief found at Autun, France. ... Traditional coat of arms Modern flag (Gwenn-ha-du) Historical province of Brittany région of Bretagne, see Bretagne. ...

Later use of the legend

The legend of Ys was confined to the folk of Brittany until 1839, when T. Hersart de la Villemarqué published a collection of popular songs collected from oral tradition, the Barzaz Breizh. The collection achieved a wide distribution and brought Breton folk culture into European awareness. One of the oldest of the collected songs was this tale. The medieval poet Marie de France also wrote poetry and stories based around the Ys legend. Four years after Luminais' painting scored a success at the Salon of 1884, on May 7, 1888, Édouard Lalo's opera Le Roi d'Ys, based on this legend, premiered in Paris. In Claude Debussy's first book of Preludes (published 1910), the evocative La Cathédrale engloutie recalls the drowned cathedral in the city of Ys, with the muffled and watery sonority of its spectral bells. 1839 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Oral tradition or oral culture is a way of transmitting history, literature or law from one generation to the next in a civilization without a writing system. ... The Barzaz Breizh (The Plaints of Brittany) is the collection of Breton folk tales, legends and music collected by Th odore Hersart de la Villemarqu and published in 1839. ... Marie de France (Mary of France) was a poet evidently born in France and living in England during the late 12th century. ... Flight of King Gradlon, by E. V. Luminais, 1884 (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper) E. V. Luminais was a French painter who scored a success at the Salon of 1884 with the painting Flight of King Gradlon. ... Honoré Daumier satirized the bourgeoises scandalized by the Salons Venuses, 1864 The Paris Salon (French: Salon de Paris) is the official art exhibition of the Académie des beaux-arts in Paris, France. ... 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... Édouard (Victor Antoine) Lalo (January 27, 1823 - April 22, 1892) was a French composer of Spanish descent. ... Claude Debussy, ca. ... Claude Debussys Préludes are two sets of pieces for solo piano. ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ...

Poul Anderson and his wife Karen wrote a tetralogy of novels about Ys in the 1980s. Prior to that series, fantasy writer A. Merritt in his novel Creep, Shadow! drew from the Ys legend. Author Robert W. Chambers set the short story "The Demoiselle D'Ys" (from his fantasy collection The King In Yellow, 1895)in medieval/contemporary Brittany. Dutch-born writer Iman Wilkens wrote the book Where Troy Once Stood, in which he claims the Trojan War and other events in Homer's epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey took place in the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea; he claims the city of Ismarus, sacked by Odysseus' men after leaving Troy, was in fact Ys. Wilkens' suggestions have not attracted the attention of mainstream scholars. Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was a prolific science fiction author of the genres Golden Age; some of his short stories were first published using the pseudonyms A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, and Winston P. Sanders. Poul Anderson also wrote fantasy such as the King... Widow and sometimes co-author of Poul Anderson. ... The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ... Abraham Merritt (January 20, 1884-August 21, 1943) was an American editor and author of works of fantastic fiction. ... Where Troy Once Stood is a book by Iman Wilkens that deals with basic belief in Classical History: the assumption that Troy was in Turkey and that the Iliad and Odyssey are of Greek origin. ... The fall of Troy by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713–1769) From the collections of the granddukes of Baden, Karlsruhe The Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), by the armies of the Achaeans, after Paris of Troy... Homer (Greek Hómēros) was a legendary early Greek poet and aoidos (singer) traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey. ... This is about the eBook reader. ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek: , Odusseia) is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the poet Homer. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... Ismara (or Ismaros) was an ancient Ciconian town on the Aegean coast of Thrace. ... Head of Odysseus from a Greek 2nd century BC marble group representing Odysseus blinding Polyphemus, found at the villa of Tiberius at Sperlonga Odysseus (Greek Odusseus), pronounced ō-díss-ee-uhs, is the main hero in Homers epic poem, the Odyssey and plays a key role in Homers... Walls of the excavated city of Troy Troy (Greek: Τροία [Troia], also Ίλιον [Ilion], Latin: Troia, Ilium) is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle, and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer. ...

Harpist/folk-singer Joanna Newsom released an album in 2006 called Ys. Joanna Newsom at Roskilde Festival, 2005 Joanna Newsom (born 1982 in Nevada City, California) is a San Francisco harpist, pianist, harpsichordist, singer and songwriter. ... Ys (IPA pronunciation: ) is the second album by Joanna Newsom. ...

Bal-Sagoth have included Ys in many of their storys/songs. Bal-Sagoth are a battle metal band from Yorkshire, England. ...

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