Breton legends

The Camors Brittany,  is a region whose enigmatic landscapes are the stuff of legends. Here, we take a look at some of the most famous Breton legends. From the Breton Bluebeard to the famous King Arthur, the imagination is on alert for travellers arriving in this beautiful land. I invite you to take a break and let yourself be transported, for the duration of this reading, to the heart of Breton legends.

Légendes bretonnes - Comorre, the Bretons also have their Bluebeard!

There are several versions of this legend, so I'm going to tell you one of them here.
Let's go back in time to the 6th century and discover the legend of Comorre. The Count of Plusigner, Conomor meaning "the great chief", ruled tyrannically over the whole of Cornwall. He married a young woman, but soon learned from a soothsayer that he would one day die at the hands of one of his sons. A cruel and unmerciful man, he decided to kill his wife as soon as she became pregnant. Shortly afterwards, he beheaded his wife and his next five wives.

One day, on his way to the monastery of a holy man named Gildas, the future Saint Gildas, he meets the splendid Triphine, daughter of the Count of Vannes. He immediately fell under her spell. The Count, who knew of Conomor's reputation, was reluctant and asked Saint Gildas for advice. Saint Gildas asked Conomor to withdraw for a year to make up for past mistakes. Conomor agreed, out of a desire to marry Triphine.

He had been so pious and obedient for a year that Gildas, moved by this miraculous repentance, advised the Count to Valves to accept the union. The wedding was a grand affair and all went well for months. However, on his return from a long journey, Conomor caught his young wife busy embroidering newborn bonnets in the castle. Triphine was pregnant! Furious, he announced that he was going to kill her.

Triphine manages to escape, but her frantic flight into the woods speeds up childbirth and she gives birth to a son. Conomor sets off in pursuit with his soldiers. He catches up with her at the top of the mountain and cuts off her head with a sword! Triphine's father, Guerech, warns his friend Saint Gildas and together they go to the scene of the crime. The abbot said only one sentence, even though Triphine had been decapitated. She stood up, grabbed her head with one hand and held her child with the other. Then she followed the two riders towards Conomor's castle.

Arriving at the castle, St Gildas asked Conomor, the murderer, to come and greet his wife and child, but no one replied. Furious, he grabbed a handful of earth and threw it at the castle towers, which collapsed on Conomor and his soldiers. He then placed the child's head and his mother back on their shoulders and christened the child Trémeur.

Conomor managed to escape. Saint Gildas then travelled throughout Brittany to condemn the lord's actions. In 548, he successfully convened a civil and ecclesiastical committee and found him guilty. He was then excommunicated and stripped of all his possessions, and began wandering around Brittany. He killed his brother Iona, King of Domnonea, and married his widow. She had a son, Judual, the legitimate heir to the kingdom. His father-in-law stripped him of his lands and possessions, Judual fought Conomor in the Monts d'Arrée and in the third battle pierced him with a javelin.

Despite all the precautions taken by Conomor, the prophecy has come true!

Légendes bretonnes - The legend of Saint-Cado

In the 6th century, Saint Cado, a Welsh monk lived as a hermit on a small island off Belz in Brittany's Ria d'Étel. He wanted to link his island to the mainland by a bridge to facilitate access to his chapel. However, there was not enough money to build the bridge.

One day, the devil appeared to him and offered him a deal: he would build the bridge in a single night, but in exchange, he would ask for the soul and body of the first living creature to cross it. Saint Cado agreed, but he had a plan.

In the morning, the bridge was miraculously completed. Before blessing it, Saint Cado let a cat loose on the bridge. The devil, furious, threw a few rocks which became the neighbouring islets. So the bridge was built, but the devil was unable to claim any souls.

The Romanesque chapel of Saint Cado, located on the island, is now a place of pilgrimage and a popular tourist destination. It bears witness to the legend and wisdom of Saint Cado.