Morvarc'h
The legend of Morvarc'h being from Cornouaille in Brittany, it is the subject of equestrian statues in the town of Argol and in Saint Corentin's Cathedral in Quimper.
[3] The horse Morvarc'h appears in two Breton legends reworked in the 19th and 20th centuries: that of the city of Ys with Malgven and Gradlon, and that of Marc'h, King of Cornouaille.
This horse is a warrior symbol, as evidenced by the bard Gwenc'hlan in his prophecy likening it to the king:[5] "Morvark, this is the master I have chosen.
No peace might he find but ever pawed he with his hoofs upon the ground, and neighed so loudly that the noise went through all the country round about.The Lay of Graelent, translated by Eugene Mason[9]This poem, presented by La Villemarqué as a medieval lai by Marie de France, is better categorized as an Arthurian tale of courtly love.
[8] Contrary to popular belief, our detailed picture of Morvarc'h (here named "Morvark") comes mostly from a modern reworking of the legend, written by Charles Guyot in 1926, which is clearly influenced by the Romantics of 19th century.
According to the Celticists Françoise Le Roux and Christian-Joseph Guyonvarc'h this constitutes a "catastrophe for legend" and seriously complicates the search for elements deriving from Celtic sources.
[11][Note 1] In the version of Guyot's The Legend of the City of Ys published in 1926 by H. Piazza, this horse is "a supernatural mount worthy of a god, born of a siren and an undine, offered by the genii of the sea to King Harold, ageing husband of Malgven".
The noble animal strikes the sea with its powerful hooves; his chest boldly divides the swell, like the bow of a ship under the steady pull of the oars; it neighs with pride and rage, and raising its double burden, shakes its wet mane.
[20] In a tale collected in the valley of the Aulne by Yann ar Floc'h in 1905,[21][22] Morvarc'h is also the name of the fabulous horse that belongs to another king, Marc'h de Poulmarc'h[23] (or Portzmarc'h, Plomarc'h), near Douarnenez.
The barber cannot hold his peace any longer, and divulges to a handful of reeds that "King Marc'h has the ears of the horse Morvarc'h".
[26] Yann Brékilien adds that this horse is "silver shoed", and runs so lightly "that his feet do not leave marks on the moor".
[30] The storyteller Yann Brekilien identifies the horse of Gradlon with that of King Marc'h, and describes it as having a black mane and as "galloping as well on water as on land".
[33] Morvarc'h supposedly left a hoofprint in the municipality of Pouldreuzic, according to Pierre-Jakez Hélias; the horse would have stepped on shore coming out of the water with Gradlon on his back, after the drowning of the city of Ys.
[34] The first possible representations of Morvarc'h are ancient, there having been a lead statue from the 15th century of Gradlon on his horse between the two spires of Saint Corentin Cathedral in Quimper.
Dan Ar Braz gave the title Morvac'h (cheval de la mer) to the sixth track of his 1977 album Douar Nevez.
[41][42] It is mentioned in Gordon Zola's [fr] parody, La Dérive des incontinents: "Having no boat at their disposal, Grallon the Breton and Malgven stole and rode off on Morvarc'h, the magic horse of the queen – Morvarc'h, which is to the sea what the morbac'h is to fleece, means "sea horse" – It was a beautiful marine steed – as black as the bottom of a moonless night and endowed with nostrils that spit fire.
[43] It is found in Ce soir à Cornebise, a novel by Suzanne Salmon [fr] where six holidaymakers practise spiritualism and contact the spirit of Dahut, one of them being a reincarnation of King Gradlon.
