"A three-hundred-year-old link to Arthurian legend, felled by storm in 2023"
Hêtre de Ponthus
Concoret, Bretagne, France
For three centuries, the Hetre de Ponthus stood near the Fountain of Barenton in Broceliande forest, the only remarkable tree in the legendary wood directly connected to Arthurian romance. Its tentacular branches marked the site where a knight of the Round Table was said to have held his tournaments before divine punishment destroyed his castle. In November 2023, Storm Ciaran uprooted this ancient witness. Visitors now encounter absence where presence once stood.
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Quick Facts
Location
Concoret, Bretagne, France
Tradition
Site Type
Coordinates
48.0350, -2.2500
Last Updated
Jan 19, 2026
The Hetre de Ponthus grew for approximately three hundred years in Broceliande forest, associated with the legend of a Round Table knight whose castle God destroyed in retribution for blasphemy. The tree was felled by Storm Ciaran in November 2023.
Origin Story
According to tradition, Ponthus was a knight of the Round Table who lived in a castle at this site around the tenth century. Despairing of ever having a child, he blasphemed against God. In retribution, God destroyed his castle in a terrible storm. The beech tree grew from the ruins, marking the place where divine judgment had fallen.
An alternative version connects the site to the destruction of the castle by the military commander du Guesclin in 1372. In this account, the stones at the tree's foot are genuine architectural remains, and the tree grew not from divine intervention but from the gradual reclamation of ruined structures by forest.
Both versions share the essential element: the tree marked a place of destruction, growing from ruins to become a living monument to what was lost.
Key Figures
Ponthus
legendary
A knight of the Round Table associated with this site through local Breton tradition. His story—childlessness, blasphemy, divine punishment—frames the tree's legendary significance. Whether Ponthus was a historical figure cannot be determined.
Spiritual Lineage
The tree participated in Broceliande's legendary lineage without formal institutional connection. No religious order maintained it; no church claimed it. Its significance developed organically, as visitors incorporated it into their understanding of the forest's Arthurian landscape. The 2023 destruction ended this lineage in its previous form. What continues is memory, documentation, and the practice of visiting the site to contemplate what was. Whether a new monument will grow from these remains—physical or metaphorical—remains to be seen.
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