Magic in 9th Century Brittany [Fantasy]

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Good point. However the Vikings tended to hit (hard) and run (home with the loot). So cultural exchange would be stressed.

Norse forces allied with the Bretons against the Franks. Later, the Norse occupied Brittany for about two decades. Their association was more than just hit and run.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

If you can't discover details about the Bretons' beliefs in magic, neither can your players, so you're free to do whatever you like. It sounds to me like something cosmopolitan would be in order.

Your first point iis unarguable true but as to your second I think the opposite of "cosmopolitan" is more likely. The "universal city" at this time is Constantinople and that's a long way from Brittany. I would expect a locally-based tradition to be not very deep and idiosyncratic.

When you're on the receiving end of an oral tradition you can't start out with any more than your master had time and ability to teach you. You're going to have to learn a lot for yourself.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I think the opposite of "cosmopolitan" is more likely. The "universal city" at this time is Constantinople and that's a long way from Brittany.

Cosmopolitan means having elements from all over mixed freely. People in this thread have seriously suggested Pagan Celts, Christian Celts, and the Norse as influencers of the magic traditions of Brittany. They later came under the rule of the Franks. That's a more cosmopolitan mix than usual. It gives the GM a free hand to bring in disparate elements for magic.

[Inky]

As AlexanderHowl said the Bretons were closer to the Welsh than to the Scottish and Irish.
When I think of ancient Welsh magic I think of the legendary bards of Wales in Celtic times (who were believed by their fellow tribesmen to have magical powers), so that backs up the idea of singing magic as one possibility.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Your first point iis unarguable true but as to your second I think the opposite of "cosmopolitan" is more likely. The "universal city" at this time is Constantinople and that's a long way from Brittany. I would expect a locally-based tradition to be not very deep and idiosyncratic.

When you're on the receiving end of an oral tradition you can't start out with any more than your master had time and ability to teach you. You're going to have to learn a lot for yourself.

Brittany was an extremely maritime society. Also, unlike the Irish or the Welsh of the 9th century, they were more urbanized than the European norm of their time. They would be likely to be more cosmopolitan than the majority of the people of the Atlantic coast of northwestern Europe.

[AlexanderHowl]

Another interesting thing to note is that the Paimpont Forest in Brittany is though to be the inspiration for the legendary forest of Brocéliande, where most of the magic of Arthurian legends is thought to have been located. It was supposed to be the home of the Lady of the Lake, Merlin, and Morgan Le Fey, and would be the resting place of Excalibur. It is also host to a number of lesser legends, including a number of gateways to Faerie (long before anyone thought that the Fair Folk had any particular issues with cold iron).

In any case, the existence of Brocéliande would offer its own form of magic and might offer refuge to circles of druids and covens witches. The nobility of the Fair Folk might leave Faerie to hunt mortal prey during the night of the Full Moon, though they would spare any mortal who treated them with courtesy and respect, even gifting them with baubles from Faerie. On occasion, they might even lay with an attractive mortal and, nine months later, a mortal woman might give birth to a beautiful child or a mortal man might find a beautiful child on their doorstep, with the local community receiving an explicit warning that the other parent would take any harm to their mortal lover or their half-mortal child unkindly.