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The end of the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth were remarkable for the invasions of the Northmen. On several occasions they were driven back—by Salomon (d. 874), by Alain, Count of Vannes (d. 907)—but it was Alain Barbe-torte, ‘Alain of the Twisted Beard,’ or ‘Alain the Fox’ (d. 952), who gained the decisive victory over them, and concerning him an ancient ballad has much to say. It was taken down by Villemarqué from the lips of a peasant, an old soldier of the Chouan leader Georges Cadoudal.

In his youth Alain was a mighty hunter of the bear and the boar in the forests of his native Brittany, and 26 the courage gained in this manly sport stood him in good stead when he came to employ it against the enemies of his country, the hated Northmen. Rallying the Bretons who lurked in the forests or hid in the mountain fastnesses, he led them against the enemy, whom he surprised near Dol in the middle of the night, making a great carnage among them. After this battle the Scandinavian invaders were finally expelled from the Breton land and Alain was crowned King or Arch-chief in 937.

A free translation of this ballad might run as follows:

Lurks the Fox within the wood,

His teeth and claws are red with blood.

Within his leafy, dark retreat

He chews the cud of vengeance sweet.

Oh, trenchant his avenging sword!

It falls not on the rock or sward,

But on the mail of Saxon foe:

Swift as the lightning falls the blow.

I’ve seen the Bretons wield the flail,

Scattering the bearded chaff like hail:

But iron is the flail they wield

Against the churlish Saxon’s shield.

I heard the call of victory

From Michael’s Mount to Élorn fly,

And Alain’s glory flies as fast

From Gildas’ church to every coast.

Ah, may his splendour never die,

May it live on eternally!

But woe that I may nevermore

Declaim this lay on Armor’s shore,

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For the base Saxon hand has torn

My tongue from out my mouth forlorn.

But if my lips no longer frame

The glories of our Alain’s name,

My heart shall ever sing his praise,

Who won the fight and wears the bays![4]

The Saxons of this lay are, of course, the Norsemen, who, speaking a Teutonic tongue, would seem to the Celtic-speaking Bretons to be allied to the Teuton Franks.