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zondag 18 september 2011

fantasybeest



nog eens een klassiek fantasybeest

Idun


Dahud an Ys

Dahud van Ys is een Keltisch personage dat mij intigeert sinds  wij vorig jaar naar Bretagne op reis geweest zijn. Dit is wat Wikipedia over haar verteld. Mijn tekening geeft haar weer vlak na het verzinken van  de stad Ys.

Dahut's birth

The king of Cornouaille, Gradlon, had many ships which he used to wage war against the far away countries of the North. An outstanding strategist, he won most of the battles and pillaged the vanquished, thereby amassing great wealth.
But one day, his sailors tired of all this fighting, and refused to continue to lay siege to a particular castle. The king left Cornouaille, exiling himself to the North. Once while walking alone, he saw a red-headed woman: Malgven, Queen of the North, was standing in front of him. She told him: "I know you; you are courageous and skillful in fighting. My husband is old, his sword was rusted. You and I are going to kill him. Then we shall return to your country of Cornouaille." They killed the king of the North and rode on Morvarc'h ("sea horse" in Breton), the Malgven magical horse. It was black, spit fire from its nostrils and was able to gallop on the sea. They catch up with Gradlon's vessels Gradlon but the run-up of Morvarc'h move away the rest of the fleet the ship where it stopped.
Gradlon and Malgven remained long at sea, so Malgven gave birth to a daughter, Dahut. According to some versions of the story, it killed the queen. According to other versions, she did not die, but some time after the birth of Dahut, she asked Gradlon what he thought about Dahut. He responded, "I already cherish her as I cherish you."
Malgven announced him that the face of Dahut keep the look of hers as to not be forgotten because it was time for her to return to her world, and then added that they would see an island shortly after, and he should let go there.

The legend of Ys

Origins

According to some versions of the legend, Ys was built below sea level by Gradlon (Gralon in Breton), King of Cornouaille (Kerne in Breton), upon the request of his daughter Dahut (also called Ahes), who loved the sea.
In others, Ys was founded more than 2000 years before Gradlon's reign in a then-dry location off the current coast of the Bay of Douarnenez, but the Breton coast had slowly given way to the sea so that Ys was under it at each high tide when Gradlon's reign began.
To protect Ys from inundation, a dike was built with a gate that was opened for ships during low tide. The one key that opened the gate was held by the king.

Fall

Ys was the most beautiful and impressive city in the world, but quickly became a city of sin under the influence of Dahut. She organized orgies and had the habit of killing her lovers when morning broke. Saint Winwaloe decried the corruption of Ys and warned of God's wrath and punishment, but was ignored by Dahut and the populace.
One day, a knight dressed in red came to Ys. Dahut asked him to come with her, and one night, he agreed. A storm broke out in the middle of the night and the waves could be heard smashing against the gate and the bronze walls. Dahut said to the knight: "Let the storm rage. The gates of the city are strong, and it is King Gradlon, my father, who owns the only key, attached to his neck." The knight replied: "Your father the king sleeps. You can now easily take his key." Dahut stole the key from her father and gave it to the knight, who was none other than the devil. The devil, or, in another version of the story, a wine-besotted Dahut herself, then opened the gate.
Because the gate was open during storm and at high tide, a wave as high as a mountain collapsed on Ys. King Gradlon and his daughter climbed on Morvarc'h, his magical horse. Saint Winwaloe approached them and told Gradlon: "Push back the demon sitting behind you!" Gradlon initially refused, but he finally gave in and pushed his daughter into the sea. The sea swallowed Dahut, who became a mermaid or morgen.
Gradlon took refuge in Quimper, which became his new capital. An equestrian statue of Gradlon still stands between the spires of the Cathedral of Saint Corentin in Quimper. It is said that the bells of the churches of Ys can still be heard in the sea calm. A legend says that when Paris will be swallowed, the city of Ys will rise up from under the waves: Pa vo beuzet Paris, Ec'h adsavo Ker Is (Par-Is meaning "similar to Ys" in Breton[citation needed]).
This history is also sometimes viewed as the victory of Christianity over druidism, as Gradlon was converted by Saint Winwaloe. Dahut and most inhabitants of Ys were worshippers of Celtic gods. However, another 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.[citation needed]

Other legends

The dahu

In a legend of the modern folklore, Dahut was punished by God, who transformed her into a strange animal : the dahu.

Mark of Cornwall

In a Breton legend, Mark of Cornwall is also the king of Cornouaille, where, one day, he hunted a doe before discovering she was, actually, the princess Dahut. Dahut, under her human appearance, condemned him to have the ears and the mane of his horse Morvarc'h.

Carhaix

According to a legend, the city of Carhaix was founded by Dahut, a reference to a supposed Breton language etymology "Ker Ahes" (city of Ahes).



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