Morvarc'h (Breton for "sea horse") is the name of a fabulous horse of Breton legend found in two folktales reworked in the 19th and 20th centuries. Though its name appears in older sources, it was invented or reinterpreted by Charles Guyot, who named it Morvark in his version of the legend of the city of Ys in 1926. It belongs to the "Queen of the North" Malgven, who gives it to her husband King Gradlon. Endowed with the ability to gallop on the waves, Morvarc'h is described as having a black coat and as breathing flames through its nostrils. It also appears in a Breton folktale about King Marc'h of Cornouaille. In the course of a deer hunt it is killed by its own rider's arrow, which has been turned around by the spell of Dahud, the daughter of Malgven. She then puts the ears of the horse Morvarc'h on the head of King Marc'h, who seeks in vain to hide them.
The legend of Morvarc'h being from Cornouaille in Brittany, it is the subject of equestrian statues in the town of Argol and in Saint Corentin's Cathedral in Quimper. Folklore connects it with the village of Pouldreuzic. Linked to the water like many Celtic horses, Morvarc'h reappears in more recent works composed around the legend of the drowned city of Ys, among which are novels by , André Le Ruyet and , and a song by Dan Ar Braz.
Etymology
The name Morvarc'h means "sea horse" or "marine horse" in Breton. It appears in dictionary, published in 1732. This name causes confusion in the Breton language, because depending on the case, it can also mean "walrus" or "whale": and Christian Guyonvarc'h translate the Morvarc'h of Charles Guyot as "morse" ("walrus"), a name they find "incongruous to designate a fiery stallion".
In Breton legends
The horse Morvarc'h appears in two Breton legends reworked in the 19th and 20th centuries: that of the city of Ys with Malgven and Gradlon, and that of Marc'h, King of Cornouaille. This name is also mentioned in Barzaz Breiz, without any apparent link to the other two stories.
Barzaz Breiz
Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué mentions a "sea horse" (morvarc'h) in the Barzaz Breiz (1840). This horse is a warrior symbol, as evidenced by the bard Gwenc'hlan in his prophecy likening it to the king:
The City of Ys
Morvarc'h also figures in recent versions of the legend of the city of Ys, featuring King Gradlon, his wife Queen Malgven, their daughter Dahut and the evangelist Saint Guénolé, who is trying to persuade Gradlon to put an end to the pagan machinations of his daughter.
Lai wrongly attributed to Marie de France
There is a possible mention of Morvar'ch, not named, in a poem which Théodore Hersart de La Villemarqué presents as dating from the 13th century. Without having a specific name, the mount of King Grallon loses its master during an attempt to escape by swimming; the master drowns, and the horse runs wild:
His destrier, when he escaped him from the perilous river, grieved greatly for his master's loss. He sought again the mighty forest, yet never was at rest by night or day. No peace might he find but ever pawed he with his hoofs upon the ground, and neighed so loudly that the noise went through all the country round about.The Lay of Graelent, translated by Eugene Mason
This poem, presented by La Villemarqué as a medieval lai by Marie de France, is better categorized as an Arthurian tale of courtly love.
Morvark in Charles Guyot's text
Contrary to popular belief, our detailed picture of Morvarc'h (here named "Morvark") comes mostly from a modern reworking of the legend, written by Charles Guyot in 1926, which is clearly influenced by the Romantics of 19th century. The legend is not fixed, and many hagiographized and folklorized versions circulate. According to the Celticists Françoise Le Roux and Christian-Joseph Guyonvarc'h this constitutes a "catastrophe for legend" and seriously complicates the search for elements deriving from Celtic sources. Indeed, according to , this horse is an invention of Charles Guyot.
In the version of Guyot's The Legend of the City of Ys published in 1926 by H. Piazza, this horse is "a supernatural mount worthy of a god, born of a siren and an undine, offered by the genii of the sea to King Harold, ageing husband of Malgven". However, only Queen Malgven can tame it. It is described as black, crosses the ramparts without reins or bridle "as easily as the hedge of an orchard", and "flies over the frothy sea". Malgven calls him the "horse of the night".