Ys
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{{This|the mythical city|Ys (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:FlightGradlon.jpg|thumb|right|260px|''Flight of King Gradlon'', by E. V. Luminais, 1884 (Musée des Beaux-Arts, [[Quimper, Finistère|Quimper]])]]
'''Ys''', also spelled '''Is''' or '''Ker-Is''' in [[Breton language|Breton]], and '''Ker-Ys''' in [[French language|French]] (''ker'' means ''city'' in Breton), is a [[mythical city]] that was built on the coast of [[Brittany]] and later swallowed by the ocean. Most versions of the legend place the city in the [[Douarnenez]] Bay.
==The legend==
=== Origins ===
According to some versions of the legend, Ys was built below [[sea level]] by [[Gradlon]] (Gralon in [[Breton language|Breton]]), King of [[Cornouaille]], upon the request of his daughter [[Dahut]] (also called Ahès), who loved the sea.
In others, Brittany sink slowly and 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 sea level had slowly "risen" to the point where Ys was under it at each high tide when Gradlon's reign began.
To protect Ys from inundation, a [[Dike (construction)|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, one could hear the waves 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". He 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, 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 (mythological creature)|morgen]].
Gradlon took refuge in [[Quimper]], which became his new capital. An equestrian statue of Gradlon was made and it is still today 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, in Breton, "similar to Ys" ).
This history is also sometimes viewed as the victory of [[Christianity]] (Gradlon was converted by Saint Winwaloe) over [[druidism]] (Dahut and most inhabitants of Ys were worshippers of [[Celtic mythology|Celtic gods]]). However, a 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.{{Fact|date=March 2007}}
==Later use of the legend==
The legend of Ys was confined to the folk of Brittany until 1839, when [[T. Hersart de la Villemarqué]] published a collection of popular songs collected from [[oral tradition]], the ''[[Barzaz Breizh]]''. The collection achieved a wide distribution and brought Breton folk culture into European awareness. One of the oldest of the collected songs was this tale. The medieval poet [[Marie de France]] also wrote poetry and stories based around the Ys legend.
=== Literature ===
* [[Alain Deschamps]] and [[Claude Auclair]] are the authors of a [[comic]] based on the legend of Ys, called [[Bran Ruz]] (''red crow'').
* Author [[Robert W. Chambers]] set the short story "The Demoiselle d'Ys" (from his fantasy collection ''[[The King in Yellow]]'', 1895) in medieval/contemporary Brittany.
* [[Poul Anderson]] and his wife [[Karen Kruse Anderson|Karen]] wrote a tetralogy of novels, ''[[Poul Anderson#King of Ys|The King of Ys]]'', set in Ys, in the 1980s. Prior to that series, fantasy writer [[A. Merritt]] in his novel ''Creep, Shadow!'' drew from the Ys legend.
* [[Jack Vance]] sited Ys as one of the cities in the kingdom of South Ulfland in his ''[[Lyonesse Trilogy]]''.
* [[Netherlands|Dutch]]-born writer Iman Wilkens claims, in his book ''[[Where Troy Once Stood]]'', that the [[Trojan War]] and other events in [[Homer]]'s epic poems the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]'' took place in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and the [[North Sea]]; he claims the city of [[Ismara|Ismarus]], sacked by [[Odysseus]]' men after leaving [[Troy]], was in fact Ys. Wilkens' suggestions have not attracted the attention of mainstream scholars.
* [[A. S. Byatt]]'s novel [[Possession: A Romance]], which won the [[Booker Prize]] in 1990, makes frequent reference to Breton myth and legend, including the story of Ys.
* [[Michael Scott Rohan]]'s fantasy trilogy 'The Winter of the World' Features Kerys as a initially semi legendary city which is later visited and does indeed sink beneath the sea.
=== Painting ===
* [[E. V. Luminais]]' painting scored a success at the [[Paris Salon|Salon]] of 1884, on [[May 7]], [[1888]], [[Édouard Lalo]]'s opera ''[[Le roi d'Ys]]'', based on this legend, premiered in Paris.
=== Music ===
* In [[Claude Debussy]]'s first book of ''[[Preludes (Debussy)|Preludes]]'' (published 1910), the evocative ''La Cathédrale engloutie'' recalls the drowned cathedral in the city of Ys, with the muffled and watery sonority of its spectral bells.
* The [[France|French]] [[composer]] [[Édouard Lalo]] wrote the [[opera]] ''[[Le roi d'Ys]]'', which was based on the [[Breton]] legend of Ys.
* Breton harpist [[Alan Stivell]] recorded an instrumental track called "Ys" on his 1972 album ''Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique''.
* Harpist/folk-singer [[Joanna Newsom]] released an album in 2006 called ''[[Ys (album)|Ys]]''.<ref>[http://www.dragcity.com/catalog/records/dc303.html DC303 - Joanna Newsom - Ys<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
* [[Progressive rock]] band [[Il Balletto di Bronzo]] also has a [[concept album]] called ''[[Ys (Il Balletto di Bronzo album)|Ys]]''.
* The heavy metal band [[Bal-Sagoth]] has included Ys in many of its stories/songs.
=== Video and board games ===
* The Japanese video game company [[Falcom]] created a video game series also named ''[[Ys (video game series)|Ys]]'' in 1987, and it has become very popular in both Japan and the United States.
* The American video game company [[Bungie Studios]] included a subtle reference Ys in their [[Myth (computer game series)|Myth]] series; the "Drowned Kingdom of Yer-Ks" is visible at the far northeastern corner of the world map.<ref>[http://myth.bungie.org/legends/encyclopedia/where.html Myth@Bungie.org -> Legends and Lore -> Encyclopedia -> Where<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
* The American board game company [[Rio Grande Games]] has published ''[[Ys]]''--a board game based on the legend.
== Notes and references ==
{{reflist}}
==Externals links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|Ys_spoken.ogg|2006-07-22}}
*[http://www.gralon.net/gralon.htm Gralon.net]
*[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ys Ys on French Wikipedia]
*[http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/mike.scott.rohan/first_page.htm]
[[Category:Breton mythology and folklore]]
[[Category:Locations in Celtic mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological places]]
[[Category:Fictional lost cities and towns]]
[[br:Kêr-Is]]
[[cy:Kêr-Ys]]
[[de:Ys]]
[[es:Ys (ciudad)]]
[[eo:Ys]]
[[fr:Ys]]
[[ga:Ys]]
[[ko:이스 (신화)]]
[[it:Ys]]
[[ja:イス (伝説都市)]]
[[ru:Каер-Ис]]