Travelers' photos
The Fountain of Eternal Youth
Near Merlin’s tomb, the legend of the fountain of youth remains to be explored. For the fountain of youth of Broceliande is not that of the Greek myth, and nothing is truly known of its history. Its origin has only one explanation, dated and not very convincing: “On June 21, the day of the summer solstice, the children born in the year were presented to the high priests so that they could be washed in the spring and registered on the “Marith”, the register… Children born after the summer solstice, therefore after this ceremony, awaited the new summer solstice… This could explain the name and the properties that were given to this source: the fountain of youth. The smile is allowed… Because the druids did not write on a register, like the secretaries of the town hall. And the summer solstice was not a Druidic festival.
But like the piles of stones that have occupied the old quarry nearby for some time now, new surprises are always appearing in these enchanted woods!
Text written by Claudine GLOT, Centre de l’imaginaire Arthurien (CIA)
Fontaine De Jouvence Paimpont , Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne.
