Tradition: French Mythology
Alternative Names: Malgwen, Malgwenn
Category: Fairy
The Myth
Malgven was the beautiful and formidable Queen of the North, portrayed as a warrior woman wearing shining armor and a steel chainmail corset, with a golden diadem and long flowing hair. Her hair is described as either golden or red, while her eyes were deep blue and possessed an enchanting quality. In the best-known version of her story, she was the wife of the aging King Harold and ruled a northern kingdom associated variously with Ireland, Norway, or Denmark. She was also portrayed as a Valkyrie or fairy of the North, combining supernatural beauty with the character of a powerful warrior queen.
Malgven encountered King Gradlon while he was raiding her kingdom and fell in love with him. She persuaded him to kill her husband, King Harold, and flee with her. The two escaped together on Malgven’s magical horse, Morvarc’h, riding toward Gradlon’s lands in Brittany. Their journey lasted an entire year, and during it Malgven became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Dahut. Malgven did not survive the birth and died, leaving Gradlon to return to Brittany with their daughter.
Malgven’s story provides the supernatural origin of Dahut in the later form of the legend of Ys. She is therefore remembered as the mysterious northern mother of the princess who would become central to the fate of the drowned city. The surviving tradition presents Malgven as a powerful otherworldly woman whose arrival brings a magical and tragic element to Gradlon’s story, joining the king of Brittany to a supernatural queen from the distant North.
Sources
“Malgven.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 5, 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malgven