Valley Without Return
Location: Val sans retour
Other Worlds, Curses / Cursed Places, Indigenous & World Mythologies
by @drferno
In Arthurian legend, the _Val sans retour_ (Valley Without Return) is an enchanted place created by King Arthur's fairy sister Morgan to imprison knights who are unfaithful to their ladies.
In the Lancelot-Grail, a compilation of Arthurian texts from the thirteenth century, the Val sans retour is created by Morgan after a brief love affair with the knight Guyomard. Guyomard is convinced by his aunt, Queen Guinevere, to end the affair, provoking a deep hatred from Morgan towards the queen and the Knights of the Round Table. This prompts Morgan to leave Arthur's court and seek out Merlin to learn magic. With her new knowledge of magic, Morgan creates the Val sans retour in the enchanted forest of Brocéliande. She casts a spell that traps any unfaithful lovers (whom she calls "false lovers") in the Val forever.
Morgan specifically creates the Val for Guyomard: upon surprising him in the embrace of another woman, she condemns him to never leave the Val again. This imprisonment is extended to any knight who enters after him who has been unfaithful, in thought or in deed, to his lover. At the entrance of the Val, Morgan places a sign explaining that only a completely faithful lover, capable of overcoming the trials in the Val, will be able to free the knights. These trials include the defeat of two guardian dragons, a wall of fire, and the crossing of a cliff-lined pool. The trial is attempted by many knights.
No one manages to break the enchantment and these men roam the Val, forever lost to the outside world. They remain free to see each other, to talk to each other, to play or to dance because Morgan provides for all their needs. Notable attempts to free the prisoners of the Val include the Duke of Clarence and the knight Yvain, Morgan's own son. The duke overcomes the dragons but is defeated at the pool. Yvain is similarly defeated in the trials and both are imprisoned. Finally, the knight Lancelot hears about the Val. He overcomes the many trials and eventually meets Morgan. It is ultimately Lancelot's absolute loyalty to Guinevere that allows Lancelot to lift the curse of the Val sans retour. In anger at the loss of her enchantment, Morgan traps him by putting a ring on his finger that puts him to sleep, and as such is able to imprison him for a time being.
Sources
Part of the legend: Forest of Brocéliande
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