As you may know, behind Aeternum is a small business based in Brittany (in the south of Finistère to be precise). And it is well known that this region lives to the rhythm of legends, myths, and magical practices more or less known (Brocéliande, Merlin, the Fairy Viviane, the Alignments, and many others). Thus, to highlight our beautiful region, we will regularly publish little-known legends from Breton history.
This week, we head north of Brittany, to the town of Tréguier to discover the legend of the Serpent King. This legend is based on the collection Fifth Report on a Mission in Lower Brittany. A small clarification: Lower Brittany includes the entire western part of Brittany (Côtes-d'Armor, Finistère, Morbihan) while Upper Brittany covers the entire eastern part, when the map of territories was very different from today.
Long ago, a prince of Tréguier had an only son. Tired of living with his father, the son wanted to travel throughout the Breton country. The old king gave him a large sum of money, but the son quickly spent it on games and pleasures, ending up penniless and helpless. After a long walk, exhausted and hungry, he reached an isolated cottage. The owner, a rather poor tailor, offered him hospitality and new clothes. Rejuvenated, the young man continued his journey and arrived at an old castle in the heart of a forest. He entered and met an old woman leaning on a stick, who also offered him shelter for the night. Before leaving, she warned him not to open one of the doors in the castle, assuring him he would find something frightening there.
Driven by curiosity, the prince could not sleep and got up to open the forbidden door. There he discovered a huge coiled serpent. It spoke to him, promising that he would be rewarded. The prince agreed.
“Go quickly into the forest, cut a sturdy stick, and come back here. I will tell you what to do next.” The prince quietly went into the nearby woods, cut a hazel stick, and returned to the serpent.
“Put this stick in my mouth and carry me silently on your back while the old woman sleeps. Walk straight ahead until you find another castle. If you feel tired, hungry, or thirsty, lick my mouth to regain your strength.”
The prince followed the serpent’s instructions to the letter and left the castle, carrying the serpent on his back. He walked for a long, very long time, and whenever he felt exhausted, he licked the serpent’s mouth, full of foam, with some apprehension, but he regained his strength. Finally, he saw a castle surrounded by high walls in the distance. “There it is!” said the serpent, “Be brave!”
Upon arriving in the courtyard, the serpent asked the prince to put him down and carefully remove the stick. As soon as the prince did, the serpent transformed into an elderly man, but not just any man: a king! In this castle, his three daughters, enchanted for five centuries, were waiting for him. At the sight of their father, they cried out joyfully and quickly came down to kiss him.
The king then introduced the prince of Tréguier to his daughters, expressing the wish that one of them marry him to thank him for his bravery. The two eldest rejected the idea without even thinking, but the youngest gladly accepted, grateful that he had freed their father. Her sisters, angry at the youngest’s decision, insisted that the prince prove his worth, which the old king approved.
The king gave the prince an enchanted sword and a beautiful white horse: “Go to Russia with these two companions. The horse will carry you, and as long as you hold the sword, you will have nothing to fear. You will arrive in the middle of a battle. Then charge into the thick of the fight, brandish the sword wishing death upon the enemies of the emperor of Russia, and all who see it will fall dead. The emperor, grateful, will offer you the hand of his only daughter.”
The king warned him: “But she will betray you with one of her father’s generals, her lover. Do not despair, for you will one day marry my daughter. When you are married, the daughter of the emperor of Russia will steal your sword, and you will be put to death by her and her lover. Before dying, ask that your remains be placed in a sack, loaded onto your horse, and released. The horse will return here, and I will bring you back to life with my miraculous water.”
The prince left for Russia, accompanied by his magical sword and faithful horse, and everything happened as the Serpent King had predicted. He won victory against the emperor’s enemies and married his daughter. He revealed the secret of his sword to his wife, who stole it with the help of her lover. The prince was put to death and his remains, according to his last wish, were placed in a sack that his horse brought back to the Serpent King. The latter used his water of life to resurrect the prince.
Three days later, the Serpent King told the prince he had to return to Russia, this time in the form of a horse. “I will place a vial of my water of life in your left ear. When you arrive at the emperor’s court, go straight to the stable. A young girl named Souillon, mistreated but of noble birth, will help you. She will say to your former wife, now remarried: ‘Madam, look at the beautiful horse that has just arrived!’
Your wife will order you to be killed and your remains thrown into a furnace. Souillon will protest, stroke your ear, and gently ask her to take the vial from your left ear. She will know what to do with it.”
The prince of Tréguier returned to the emperor of Russia’s court, transformed into a magnificent horse. At the sight of him, his former wife ordered him to be killed, chopped up, and his remains thrown into a blazing furnace. But Souillon, having already taken the vial of water of life from the horse’s ear, collected some of his congealed blood and placed it on a stone in the sun under the princess’s window. She sprinkled it with a few drops of the miraculous water, causing a cherry tree with beautiful red cherries to appear. The princess, believing it was a sign from her first husband, ordered the tree to be cut down and burned. However, Souillon had kept a cherry which she placed on a stone, watering it again with the water of life. A beautiful blue bird appeared and flew away chirping. The princess and her husband tried to catch it, putting the sword on the ground. The bird then landed on the sword, taking back its human form: it was the prince of Tréguier!
He grabbed the sword and exclaimed: “All is well!” then he beheaded his wife and her lover. The prince then returned to the Serpent King, accompanied by Souillon, who turned out to be the youngest of the three daughters who was serving the emperor under the powerful spell that had transformed her father into a serpent.
Thanks to the prince’s bravery, the king and his daughters were freed from the magician’s spell that had enchanted them for five centuries. The prince married the youngest princess, celebrating their wedding with splendid festivities.
And so ends this week’s legend. See you next week!
[bloctwist]
