Groac'h

According to Philippe Le Stum, originally ' seems to have been the Breton word for fairies in general. It evolved to mean an old creature of deceptive beauty. It is often spelled "'", the final consonant being pronounced like the German ch. One of the possible plurals is '. Anatole Le Braz comments on this name that "' is used in good and bad senses by turns. It can mean an old witch or simply an old woman." == Characteristics ==

The ' are the fairies most often encountered in Brittany, they are essentially the fairies of Breton wells. Likewise, a certain number of "sea fairies" bear the name of ', sometimes interchangeably with those of "morgen" or "siren". speaks (1825) of a malicious creature that he was frightened of as a child, reputed to inhabit wells in which it drowned those children that fell in. It is possible that Souvestre drew the evil characteristics of "his" '''' from Mahé, Appearance . Because of their multiform character, the ' are hard to define. One of them is said to frequent the neighborhood of Kerodi, but the descriptions vary: an old woman bent and leaning on a crutch, or a richly dressed princess, accompanied by korrigans. She notes cases where the ' have exceptionally long "walrus" teeth, which may be the length of a finger or may even drag along the ground, though in other cases they have no such teeth, or at any rate nothing is said of them. Sometimes they are hunchbacked. For Morvan, the variety of these descriptions is a result of two phenomena. On the one hand, it is possible that these fairies change their appearance as they age, to become like warty frogs. On the other hand, a Russian tradition reported by Andrei Sinyavsky has the fairies go through cycles of rejuvenation and ageing according to the cycles of the moon: a similar tradition may have existed in Brittany. Richard Ely and Amélie Tsaag Valren to witches, Édouard Brasey describes it as a "lake fairy". Be that as it may, the ' is one of the most powerful fairies in Breton waters. In its aquatic habitat, as on land, it has power over the elements. Although it is mostly known by negative representations, the ' is not necessarily bad. It may politely receive humans in its lair and offer treasure, magical objects (most often in threes), and cures. Like many other fairies, it also takes care of laundry They are overbearing, but generally full of good intentions. Most often, the '''' are described as being solitary in their retreats under the sea, in a rock or in the sands, Sometimes they are accompanied by a green water horse and a pikeman. They are more inconstant and more sensitive than other Breton fairies, taking offence easily. == Stories and collected legends ==

Several collections report a ' in one or another place in Brittany. Souvestre evokes one of these fairies, likened to a naiad, in a well in Vannes: this legend seems to have been quite popular in its day, and could have the same sources as the tale of the fairy of the well. It belongs to the theme of "spinners by the fountain" in the Aarne-Thompson classification. A story collected by Anatole Le Braz makes one of these fairies the personification of the plague: an old man from Plestin finds a ' who asks for his help in crossing a river. He carries it, but it becomes more and more heavy, so that he sets it back down it where he found it, thereby preventing an epidemic of plague in the Lannion district. François-Marie Luzel also brings together several traditions around the '', that people would shun them as they would Ankou. Some are known to have the power of changing into foals, or again to haunt the forest of Coat-ann-noz'' (the wood of the night). The duke's pond in Vannes would house a '''', a former princess who threw herself into the water to flee a too importunate lover, and who would sometimes be seen combing her long blonde hair with a golden comb. ''La Groac'h de l'Île du Lok'' The most famous story evoking a is ''La Groac'h de l'Île du Lok, collected, written and arranged by Émile Souvestre for his book Le Foyer breton (1844). Houarn Pogamm and Bellah Postik, orphan cousins, grow up together in Lannilis and fall in love, but they are poor, so Houarn leaves to seek his fortune. Bellah gives him a little bell and a knife, but keeps a third magic object for herself, a wand. Houarn arrives at Pont-Aven and hears about the groac'h of , a fairy who inhabits a lake on the largest of the Glénan Islands, reputed to be as rich as all the kings on earth put together. Houarn goes to the island of Lok and gets into an enchanted boat in the shape of a swan, which takes him underwater to the home of the groac'h. This beautiful woman asks him what he wants, and Houarn replies that he is looking for the wherewithal to buy a little cow and a lean hog. The fairy offers him some enchanted wine to drink and asks him to marry her. He accepts, but when he sees the groac'h catch and fry fish which moan in the pan he begins to be afraid and regrets his decision. The groac'h'' gives him the dish of fried fish and goes away to look for wine. For the scholar Joseph Rio this tale is important documentary evidence on the character of the ''groac'h. Souvestre explained why he chose to place it on the island of Lok by the multiplicity of versions of the storytellers which do so. La Groac'h de l'île du Lok was even more of a success in Germany than it had been in Brittany. Heinrich Bode published it under the title of Die Wasserhexe in 1847, and it was republished in 1989 and 1993. The story was likewise translated into English (The Groac'h of the Isle) and published in The Lilac Fairy Book'' in 1910. Between 1880 and 1920 it served as study material for British students learning French. ''The Groac'h of the Spring'' This tale, collected by Joseph Frison around 1914, tells of a young girl who goes one night to a spring to help her mother. She discovers that a ' lives there. The fairy tells her never to come back by night, otherwise she will never see her mother again. The mother falls ill, and the girl returns to draw some water in the night in spite of the prohibition. The ' catches the girl and keeps her in its cave, which has every possible comfort. Although she is separated from her family the girl is happy there. A young ' comes to guard her while the ' of the spring is away visiting one of its sisters. She dies while with her sister, having first sent a message to the young ': the girl is free to leave if she wishes. Knowing that the home of the ' is much more comfortable than her own, the girl asks for a key so that she can enter or leave at her own convenience. The young ' has her wait for one month, while the elder sister dies. She then gives her two keys, with instructions never to stay outside after sunset. The little girl meets one of her family while out walking, but resolves to return early to keep her promise. Later she meets a very handsome young man, whom she leaves, promising to come back the next day. The ' advises her to marry him, assuring her that this will lift the prohibition on her returning after sunset. She follows this advice and lives happily ever after with her new husband. The Fairy of the Well / According to this recent story (collected by Théophile Le Graët in 1975), a widower with a daughter marries a black-skinned woman who has a daughter, also black. The new bride treats her stepdaughter very badly, and demands she spin all day long. One day, when near a well, the girl encounters an old walrus-toothed fairy who offers her new clothes, heals her fingers, goes to her place and offers to share its house with her. She eagerly moves in and is very happy there. When eventually she announces that she wants to leave, the fairy gives her a magic stone. She goes back to her stepmother's home where, with her new clothes, no-one recognizes her. With the fairy stone she can get everything she wants. The black girl becomes jealous and throws herself down the well in the hope of getting the same gifts, but the fairy only gives her a thistle. The black girl wishes for the greatest prince in the world to appear so that he can ask for her hand in marriage, but it is the Devil who appears and carries her away. In the end the good girl returns to her home in the well, and sometimes she can be heard singing. The Sea Fairies / '''' This tale takes place on the island of Groagez (the "island of women" or the "fairy island"), which Paul Sébillot describes as being the home of an old woman who is a spinner and a witch; it is in Trégor, one kilometer from Port-Blanc. lives in a hollow rock on the island. A woman happens to pass by, and comes across the old fairy spinning with her distaff. The '''' invites the woman to approach it and gives her its distaff, instructing her that it will bring her her fortune, but that she must tell no-one about it. The woman goes home and quickly becomes rich thanks to the distaff, the thread of which never runs out and is much finer in quality than all others. But the temptation to speak about it becomes too great for her. The moment she reveals that the distaff comes from a fairy all the money she has earned from it disappears. The Fairy / '''' This story was collected by Anatole Le Braz, who makes reference to the belief in fairies among people of his acquaintance living near his friend Walter Evans-Wentz. A ruined manor house called Lanascol Castle is said to have housed a fairy known as '. One day, the landowners put up for sale a part of the estate where they no longer live. A notary from Plouaret conducts the auction, during which prices go up very high. Suddenly, a gentle yet imperious female voice makes a bid raising the price by a thousand francs. All the attendants look to see who spoke, but there is no woman in the room. The notary then asks loudly who bid, and the female voice answers '. Everyone flees. Since then, according to Le Braz, the estate has never found a buyer. == Localities, place-names and religious practices ==

, called '''', at Locmariaquer Many place-names in Lower Brittany are attributed to a '. The Grand Menhir, called ', at Locmariaquer probably owes its name to an amalgamation of the Breton word for "cave", ', with the word '. Pierre Saintyves cites from the same commune a "table of the old woman", a dolmen called ''. At Maël-Pestivien three stones two meters high placed next to each other in the village of Kermorvan, are known by the name of Ty-ar-Groac'h'', or "the house of the fairy". In 1868, an eight-meter menhir called '''' was destroyed in Plourac'h. In Cavan, the tomb of the "groac'h Ahès", or "'", has become attributed not to the ' but to the giant . There is a Tombeau de la Groac'h Rouge (Tomb of the Red ') in Prat, attributed to a "red fairy" that brought the stones in her apron. This megalith is however almost destroyed. According to Souvestre and the Celtomaniac (1853), the island of Groix got its name (in Breton) from the ', described by them as "druidesses" now seen as old women or witches. For the writer Claire de Marnier this tradition, which makes the islanders sons of witches, is a "remarkable belief" peculiar to "the Breton soul". The rock of Croac'h Coz, or "the island of the old fairy", in the commune of Plougrescant, was the home of an old '''' who would engage in spinning from time to time. Sébillot relates that the fishermen of Loguivy (in Ploubazlanec) once feared to pass near the cave named Toul ar Groac'h, "fairy hole", and preferred to spend the night under their beached boats until the next tide, rather than risk angering the fairy. Similarly, Anatole Le Braz cites Barr-ann-Heol near Penvénan, as a dangerous place where a '''' keeps watch, ready to seize benighted travellers at a crossroads. In Ushant many place-names refer to it, including the Pointe de la Groac'h and the lighthouse of La Vieille, in reference, according to Georges Guénin, to "a kind of witch". Some traces of possible religious invocation of these fairies are known. says that the sick once came to rub the pre-Christian statue called Groac'h er goard (or Groac'h ar Goard ) so as to be healed. The seven-foot-tall granite statue known as the Venus of Quinipily represents a naked woman of "indecent form" and could be a remnant of the worship of Venus or Isis. == Analysis ==

" (here, a representation of Baba Yaga). According to Marc Gontard, the ' demonstrates the demonization of ancient goddesses under the influence of Christianity: it was changed to a witch just as other divinities became lost girls and mermaids. Its palace under the waves is a typical motif of fairy tales and folk-stories, which is also found in, for example, the texts of the Arthurian legend, Irish folklore and several Hispanic tales. Pierre Dubois likens the ' to many maleficent water-fairies, like Peg Powler, Jenny Greenteeth, the '''' and the green ogresses of Cosges, who drag people underwater to devour them. Joseph Rio included it in a global evolution of Breton fairies between 1820 and 1850, so that from small, dark-skinned, wrinkled creatures close to the korrigans, in the texts of the scholars of the time they more and more often become pretty women of normal size, probably to compete with the Germanic fairies. The ' has been likened to the enigmatic and archetypal character of "the Crone", studied by various folklorists. This name, in French ', is often applied to megaliths. Edain McCoy equates the ' with ', citing especially the regular translation of the word as "witch". She adds that several Breton tales present this creature in a negative way, while none draw a flattering portrait. == In literature ==

A '' appears in the novel La Pâleur et le Sang published by Nicolas Bréhal in 1983. This horrible witch, feared by the fishermen, lays a curse on the Bowley family. A "mystical and fantastic" novel, A also appears in Absinthes & Démons'', a collection of short stories by Amber Dubois published in 2012. In Jean Teulé's novel Fleur de tonnerre (2013), '''' is a nickname given to Hélène Jégado when she is a little girl, in Plouhinec. == References ==