Broceliande

A forest in Brittany that often appears in Arthurian romance, after Wace described its marvels (including an enchanted fountain) in his Roman de Rou. It was the location of the fountain where Yvain defeated Esclados the Red in Chrétien’s Yvain and its adaptations. The forest contained the strongholds of New Castle and Lindesores. It was the site of important meetings and troop movements during the early rebellions against Arthur, and during the Saxon wars. In the Vulgate Merlin and Tennyson’s Idylls, it served as the place of Merlin’s imprisonment by the Lady of the Lake. French romance seems to be largely unaware, however, that a channel separates Broceliande from the rest of Britain. German romance, which calls it Briziljan, places it in the country of Löver near Dinazarun.