French mythology
Encyclopedia
The mythologies in present-day France encompass the mythology
of the Gaul
s, Franks
, Normans
, Breton
s, and other peoples living in France
, those ancient stories about divine
or heroic beings that these particular cultures believed to be true and that often use supernatural events or characters to explain the nature of the universe and humanity. French mythology is listed for each culture.
s were another subset of Celtic people. Celtic cosmology predominates their mythology:
Category: Deities of Gaul category
mythology and legends revolve around Charlemagne
as champion of Christianity
and mythological king
to France. A Christian cosmology and epic stories predominate. While not entirely about mythology, these legendary histories of France contain some mythological epic qualities:
have Norse mythology
in their Viking heritage, however, they were known to readily assimilate into other cultures. After a generation or two, the Normans were generally indistinguishable from their French neighbours.
s in French narratives of the Middle Ages have mythological roots. While many of the original myths were replaced by Christianity, these mythological creatures remained a part of the cultural folklore, legend, epics and fairy tales as part of deeply embedded spiritual allegories and mythological archetypes:
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
of the Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
s, Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
, Breton
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
s, and other peoples living in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, those ancient stories about divine
Divinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
or heroic beings that these particular cultures believed to be true and that often use supernatural events or characters to explain the nature of the universe and humanity. French mythology is listed for each culture.
Breton
Bretons are a subset of Celtic people that adopted Christianity. Celtic cosmology predominates their mythology:- AnkouAnkouAnkou is a personification of death in Breton mythology as well as in Cornish and Norman French folklore.Ankou is also known as "Aräwn".-Background:This character is reported by Anatole Le Braz, writer and legends collector of the 19th century...
- Bugul NozBugul NozIn Breton beliefs, the Bugul Noz is a fairy spirit who lives in the woodlands of Brittany. He is the last of his kind and is said to be incredibly ugly, a fact which causes him distress. His appearance is so awful that even woodland animals avoid him, and he sometimes cries out to warn humans of...
- CammaCammaIn Plutarch's On the Bravery of Women, Camma was a Galatian princess and priestess of Artemis. She was wedded to the tetrarch Sinatus, and became known and admired for her virtue and beauty. Sinatus' rival, another tetrarch named Sinorix, murdered Sinatus and proceeded to woo Camma herself...
- KorriganKorriganIn Breton folklore, a Korrigan is a fairy or dwarf-like spirit. The word means "small-dwarf". Their name change according to the place...
- Les LavandièresLes LavandièresFrom Celtic mythology, Les Lavandières, also known as the cannard noz in Brittany, the Bean Nighe , or the Midnight Washerwomen in English, are three old washerwomen...
- MorgensMorgensMorgens, Morgans or Mari-Morgans are Welsh and Breton water spirits that drown men. They may lure men to their death by their own sylphic beauty, or with glimpses of underwater gardens with buildings of gold or crystal. They are also blamed for heavy flooding that destroys crops or villages...
- YsYsYs , also spelled Is or Kêr-Is in Breton, and Ker-Ys in French , is a mythical city that was built on the coast of Brittany and later swallowed by the ocean...
Gaul (Celtic)
GaulGaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
s were another subset of Celtic people. Celtic cosmology predominates their mythology:
- BelenusBelenusIn Celtic mythology, Bel, Belenos was a deity worshipped in Gaul, Cisalpine Gaul, and Celtic areas of Austria, Britain and Spain. He is particularly associated with Cornwall, West Cornwall being anciently called Belerion, the place of Bel...
- CernunnosCernunnosCernunnos is the conventional name given in Celtic studies to depictions of the horned god of Celtic polytheism. The name itself is only attested once, on the 1st-century Pillar of the Boatmen, but depictions of a horned or antlered figure, often seated in a "lotus position" and often associated...
- Dea MatronaDea MatronaIn Celtic mythology, Dea Matrona was the goddess of the river Marne in Gaul.In many areas she was worshipped as a triple goddess, and known as Deae Matres , with a wider sphere of believed influence...
- Dis PaterDis PaterDis Pater, or Dispater was a Roman god of the underworld, later subsumed by Pluto or Hades. Originally a chthonic god of riches, fertile agricultural land, and underground mineral wealth, he was later commonly equated with the Roman deities Pluto and Orcus, becoming an underworld deity.Dis Pater...
or DyeusDyeus*Dyēus is the reconstructed chief deity of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon. He was the god of the daylight sky, and his position may have mirrored the position of the patriarch or monarch in society.... - MaponosMaponosIn ancient Celtic religion, Maponos or Maponus is a god of youth known mainly in northern Britain but also in Gaul. In Roman times he was equated with Apollo....
- MatresMatresThe Matres and Matrones were female deities venerated in North-West Europe from the 1st to the 5th century AD...
- OgmiosOgmiosOgmios was the Celtic deity of eloquence. He looked like an older version of Heracles. He was also a binding god who would use his powers of persuasion to bind men onto himself and then lead them into the underworld....
- TaranisTaranisIn Celtic mythology Taranis was the god of thunder worshipped essentially in Gaul, the British Isles, but also in the Rhineland and Danube regions amongst others, and mentioned, along with Esus and Toutatis as part of a sacred triad, by the Roman poet Lucan in his epic poem Pharsalia as a Celtic...
- WoodwoseWoodwoseThe wild man is a mythical figure that appears in the artwork and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to Silvanus, the Roman god of the woodlands.The defining characteristic of the figure is its "wildness"; from the 12th century...
Category: Deities of Gaul category
Franks
FrankishFranks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
mythology and legends revolve around Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
as champion of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and mythological king
Mythological king
A mythological king is an archetype in mythology. A king is considered a "mythological king" if he is included and described in the culture's mythology. Unlike a fictional king, aspects of their lives may have been real and legendary, or that the culture believed to be real...
to France. A Christian cosmology and epic stories predominate. While not entirely about mythology, these legendary histories of France contain some mythological epic qualities:
- Matter of FranceMatter of FranceThe Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and his associates. The cycle springs from the Old French chansons de geste, and was later adapted into a variety of...
- Chanson de gesteChanson de gesteThe chansons de geste, Old French for "songs of heroic deeds", are the epic poems that appear at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known examples date from the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, nearly a hundred years before the emergence of the lyric poetry of the trouvères and...
("Songs of Heroic Deeds") - The Charlemagne Cycle epics, particularly the first known as Geste du Roi ("Songs of the King"). It concerns a King's role as champion of Christianity.
Normans
The NormansNormans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
have Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
in their Viking heritage, however, they were known to readily assimilate into other cultures. After a generation or two, the Normans were generally indistinguishable from their French neighbours.
Medieval France
The following magical and legendary creatureLegendary creature
A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature.-Origin:Some mythical creatures have their origin in traditional mythology and have been believed to be real creatures, for example the dragon, the unicorn, and griffin...
s in French narratives of the Middle Ages have mythological roots. While many of the original myths were replaced by Christianity, these mythological creatures remained a part of the cultural folklore, legend, epics and fairy tales as part of deeply embedded spiritual allegories and mythological archetypes:
- European dragonEuropean dragonEuropean dragons are legendary creatures in folklore and mythology among the overlapping cultures of Europe.In European folklore, a dragon is a serpentine legendary creature. The Latin word draco, as in constellation Draco, comes directly from Greek δράκων,...
- Dragons from Norse mythologyNorse mythologyNorse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, Germanic mythologyGermanic mythologyGermanic mythology is a comprehensive term for myths associated with historical Germanic paganism, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, Continental Germanic mythology, and other versions of the mythologies of the Germanic peoples...
and Greek MythologyGreek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
were often woven into folklore and myths as the greatest opponents of the feudal knights and kings.
- Fee - Fairies and Elves (See etymologyEtymologyEtymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
of "Fairy") - The word Fairy comes from the French name of the FatesMoiraeThe Moirae, Moerae or Moirai , in Greek mythology, were the white-robed incarnations of destiny . Their number became fixed at three...
in Greek mythology, but they had morphed into strange, fantastic, magical beings.
- Dames BlanchesDames Blanches (folklore)In French mythology or folklore, Dames Blanches were female spirits or supenatural beings, comparable to the White Women of both Dutch and Germanic mythology. The Dames Blanches were reported in the region of Lorraine and Normandy...
- were female spirits, who may come from the mythology of the MatresMatresThe Matres and Matrones were female deities venerated in North-West Europe from the 1st to the 5th century AD...
guardian goddesses.
See also
- Allegory in the Middle AgesAllegory in the Middle AgesAllegory in the Middle Ages was a vital element in the synthesis of Biblical and Classical traditions into what would become recognizable as Medieval culture...
- Allegory was a prime mover for the synthesis and transformation between the ancient world mythology (for example of the Bretons and Gauls) and the "new" Christian world mythology that spread through France, for example with the Franks.