The Story of Lethowsow or Cornish Atlantis
The tale of Lethowsow or Lyonesse is the tale of a land lost beneath the waves. It‘s reminiscent of the lost city of Atlantis from Greek texts, but with a Celtic spin.
Lyonesse was said to be a land off the coast of Cornwall—a once great city with no less than 140 churches and fertile low-lying plains, disappearing beneath the waves after a catastrophic storm. According to legend, all that remains today are the Scilly Islands and the Seven Stones Reef—a shell of what the islands once were.
There are many references to the island of Lyonesse throughout history and even across cultures. Tracing back the stories that have come to us from the past shed even more light onto the mythology of Lethowsow. They call us to question: are these more than stories? Is it all fiction, or is there some truth behind the tales?
The Tale of Lyonesse
The tale passed down to us today records a simple history of the island and an account of the legendary sinking. There is no one version of the story, but rather, a collection of fragmented stories transcribed over time that form the story we now know today.
“The story goes that there was once a land called Lyonesse or Lethowsow off the coast of Cornwall. The island had fertile and rich soil, with over 140 churches spread across the land. The crowning glory of the island was the cathedral, said to have been where the Seven Stones reef lies today. The inhabitants lived happily on the island until one night, when the storm came. A vicious storm raged across the sea, sending waves that would drown the people of Lyonesse. Some say you can still hear the bells of the cathedral to this day.”
There are certain parallels with Plato‘s description of Atlantis, and other Celtic tales like the Breton story of Kêr Ys or the Welsh tale of Cantre'r Gwaelod. In the story of Lyonesse, there‘s also the tale of a survivor, that is also mentioned in Arthurian legend.
Lyonesse in Arthurian legend
The story of Lyonesse can be found in both historical accounts and medieval literature. The most famous references to the island actually come from Arthurian legend. The references are so pervasive and are rarely explained in detail, meaning that the story itself must survive from an older, oral tradition.
Arguably the most famous mention of Lyonesse comes from the poetry tale of King Arthur, Le Morte D‘Arthur written by Sir Thomas Malroy in the 15th-century and then later popularized by Lord Tennyson in the Victorian Era.
Malory references the hero, Tristan or Tristram in some versions, the prince of Lyonesse, displaced and living in Cornwall with his uncle after the island sunk. This tale, the story of Tristan and Isolde, is one of the oldest Arthurian tales and is even thought by some scholars to have influenced the Arthurian love triangle between King Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere.
Tristan and Isolde crops up in France, influenced by the notions of courtly love, written by the Norman poet Béroul in the 12th century. Although this tale is indeed old, an older version of the tale exists in German written by Eilhart von Oberge.
Eilhart‘s version was called Tristrant and it is the oldest known complete version of Tristan and Iseult in any language. Later, the German poet Gottfried von Strassburg popularized the tale for the German royal courts around the early 13th century. Knowing this, it is more likely that the tale indeed comes from a rich oral history that was written down in the early medieval period.
All versions of the tale refer to Lyonesse, but only in passing. It‘s as if the rich oral tradition of the tale doesn‘t need to be explained to the medieval audience.
In the first part of the story, Tristan has something of a flashback where he weeps, remembering the land of Lyonesse and how it fell beneath the waves.
“Painfully he climbed the cliff and saw, beyond, a lonely rolling heath and a forest stretching out and endless. And he wept, remembering Gorvenal, his father, and the land of Lyonesse.”
The ballad describes a land of rolling hills and forests stretching out as far as the eye can see. The place Malroy describes is not of medieval farming lands, but of a wild past.
What we know about the kingdom of lyonesse
What we know today of Lyonesse comes mainly from Tristan and Isolde, but there is more we can learn directly from chroniclers of the past.
The very first reference to Lyonesse comes from Geoffrey Gaimar, an Anglo-Saxon chronicler. He wrote Estorie des Engleis around 1130 AD. When Geoffrey of Monmouth came along to write his own chronicle in 1155, he translated the name as Loudonesia or Loeneis.
In 1602, William of Worcester in his Survey of Cornwall retells the stories of fishermen in the area,
“Fishermen casting their hooks thereabouts have drawn up pieces of doors and windows.”
In 1586, William Camden wrote Britannica, detailed an early reference to the island,
“This Promontorie heeretofore ran further into the Sea, and by the rubbish which is drawen out from thence the Mariners affirme the same, yea and the neighbor Inhabitants avouch out of I wote not what fable, that the earth now covered there all over with the in-breaking of the sea was called Lionesse.”
Later on in 1602, Richard Carew, a Cornish antiquary, wrote down the complete tale of Lyonesse or Lethowsow that we know today. It‘s apparent that he knew of the story from oral tradition since he is our only surviving source for the full tale.
“The space between the land’s end and the Isles of Scilly, being about thirty miles, to this day retaineth the name, in Cornish Lethowsow, and carrieth continually an equal depth of forty or sixty fathom (a thing not unusual in the sea’s proper dominion) save that about the midway there leith a rock which at low water discovereth his head...Fishermen also casting their hooks thereabouts have drawn up pieces of doors and windows. Moreover, the ancient name of St Michaels’s Mount was Cara clowse in Cowse, in English, The Hoare Rocke in the Wood, which now is at every flood encompassed by the sea, and yet at some low ebbs roots of mighty trees are described in the sands about it.”
Scholars agree that much of the tale is based on clear repetition. All authors through history seem to be recording details from one another, each time with slightly more detail from folklore.
So the question arises—what about the folklore? Are there any transcriptions of the oral tradition? The most detail we have today about Lionesse comes from a noble Cornish family.
The Vyvyan family
The Vyvyans are a prominent Cornish family who were prestigious members of parliament, barons, and landowners from around the 15th century. Although their legendary ancient origins are disputed, they do have a treasure trove of folklore about the mysterious isle of Lyonesse.
According to legend, the Vyvyans claim to be direct descendants of Trevelyan, who was the last governor of the lost kingdom before Lyonesse was swallowed by the sea.
“Trevelyan, the last governor of Lyonesse, had been out hunting all day and fell asleep under a tree. He awoke suddenly by a horrible noise and raced across the land. Trevelyan managed to mount his white stead, galloping towards Cornwall. He only just escaped, with his horse losing one of its shoes. He made it to Land‘s Edge, Cornwall, and became the forefather of all Vyvyans to this day.”
The similarities to the Arthurian tale of Tristan are clear—the naming similarity between Tristan, Tristram, and Trevelyan is strikingly similar, both characters are esteemed in their societies (the Vyvyans claim he was a governor, and Malory calls him a prince), and both escape the flood by horse.
In Cornish the word ‘vyvyan’ means "to flee" or "escape" which is interesting in the context of Lyonesse, an island that sunk below the waves.
During Richard Carew‘s travels, he came across accounts from local Cornish people that told him stories about the Vyvyan family,
“The Vyvyans anciently bore argent, a lion rampant, gules, standing on the waves of the sea.”
This matches up with accounts from Camden, that record the island‘s name as Lionesse. The local Cornish people at the time also claimed that the Seven Stones Reef was called The City of Lions before the island sunk.
The recurring motif through the ages of lions, raging waves, and storms solidifies Lyonesse as an island ruined by the sea. It connects to the ancient, primordial tales of Atlantis and other deluge myths.
In the next post in this series, I‘ll dive into the archaeology that is known about Lyonesse. These historical facts shed more light onto what life on the island was like, and provide more evidence for a real, ancient city on the island lost to time.
Read more about atlantis
What historical and archaeological evidence do we have for the legendary city of Lyonesse? I delve into recent archaeological findings that place the sinking of the city at the time of the last ice age.