Lore:Breton Holidays

Two Bretons dressed for the Day of Release in Daggerfall

The Bretons have been in Tamriel since before recorded history. Their holidays have remained almost unchanged since primitive times, though new holidays have been created to replace those which have lost popularity.

• Scour Day is celebrated by villages in High Rock on the 2nd of Morning Star, the day after New Life. It was once a day to clean up after New Life, but has changed into a party of its own.

• Waking Day was invented by the people of the Yeorth Burrowland in prehistoric times to wake the spirits of nature after a long and cold winter, but has evolved into a sort of orgiastic celebration of the end of winter. The Bretons of the Burrowlands share stories about the "Terrible Torchbug of Molag Bal" the night before Waking Day which vary but share the one consistent element of a fearsome, savage entity in the presence of blue torchbugs.

• Perserverance Day is celebrated in Ykalon, originally a solemn memorial to those killed in battle while resisting the Camoran Usurper but now a boisterous festival.

• Mad Pelagius is a newer festival held in mock honor of Pelagius Septim, the mad Emperor. Pelagius was the prince of Wayrest before he became King of Solitude and later Emperor, and Bretons jokingly boast that it was his time in High Rock that drove him mad.

• Day of Release celebrates Aiden Direnni's victory over the Alessians at the Battle of Glenumbria Moors. The most cheerful celebrants don festive garb just for the occasion. The day is spent drinking, dancing, and toasting.

• Flower Day is a lively, colorful and frivolous spring celebration observed all over High Rock which is just as old, if not older than Waking Day. Children pick new flowers, while older Bretons come out to welcome the season with dancing and singing. In Camlorn, a lavish parade called the March of Beauty precedes the Flower Festival, which occurs at dusk. During the march (which starts at the Temple of Sethiete and ends at the palace), prostitutes dance down the main street, dressed provocatively and in bright colors. A circle of twelve unlit torches and baskets full of flowers and vines are arranged around Cavilstyr Rock for the Festival. At sundown, the torches are lit, and the dancers from the parade (and soon after, the crowd) begin the event by pulling petals out of the baskets and filling the air with them. The spectacle is accompanied by music and dancing.

• The celebration of Gardtide hearkens back to the old cult of the flower, as the Bretons of Tamarilyn Point hold a festival to honor Druagaa, the old goddess of flowers. Worship of the goddess is all but dead, but the celebration is always lively.

• The Day of the Dead is celebrated in Daggerfall on the 13th of Rain's Hand. It is a remnant of ancestor worship, which was a hallmark of the ancient Breton religion. The superstitious say that the dead rise on this holiday to wreak vengeance on the living.

• Marukh's Day is only observed by certain communities in Skeffington Wood. Celebrants compare themselves to the prophet Marukh and pray for the strength to resist temptation.

• The Fire Festival in Northmoor is one of the most attended celebrations in High Rock. It began as a pompous display of magic and military strength in ancient days and has become quite a festival.

• Fishing Day is a boisterous celebration held by the usually modest Bretons who live off the bounty of the Iliac Bay.

• Dancing Day is celebrated in Daggerfall on the 23rd of Mid Year, and is a celebration of great pomp and merriment for all.

• Tibedetha (meaning "Tibers Day" in middle Tamrielic) is a great party held by the lorddom of Alcaire to commemorate Tiber Septim, who is perhaps the most famous person to come out of the region.

• The Bretons of the Wrothgarian Mountains celebrate Khurat as a day when the finest young scholars are accepted into priesthoods. Those lacking children of age pray for the wisdom and benevolence of the clergy on this holiday.

• Children's Day is a celebration of youth observed in Betony which began as a memorial to the dozens of children in Betony stolen from their homes by vampires one night, never to be seen again.

A Hollowjack Horse Rider

• In the 13th of Frost Fall, Bretons along with the rest of Tamriel celebrates the Witches Festival to defy their superstitious fears. Ghosts, demons, and evil spirits are mocked and celebrated by both occult occurrences and outrageous costumes. On this day, portals between Nirn and the Daedra Lord Hollowjack's demi-plane of Detritus are opened. At night, Jaque o' the Hollow is resurrected from his hidden hollow in Rivenspire, who then proceeds to curse riders all across Tamriel to ride headless throughout the night, clutching a carved pumpkin atop their mounts. This led to his legend spreading far east past High Rock.

• Broken Diamonds is observed in Glenpoint and the Glenumbra Moors on the 23rd of Frost Fall to remember the death of Kintyra Septim II, who died while imprisoned in Glenpoint's dungeons on the order of Cephorus I. The shame of Glenpoint is overwhelming; they feel the debt has not yet been repaid. The Sephavre, a song written in Old Bretic, is sung every Broken Diamonds.

• The Moon Festival is an older holiday celebrated by the Bretons of Glenumbra Moors to honor Secunda, goddess of the moon, just as the nights are growing longer. Though she has no active worshippers, the holiday is a time of feasting and merriment.

• Bretons celebrate Saturalia, a holiday that heralds the New Life Festival. Originally a holiday held to celebrate a forgotten god of debauchery, it has transformed into a day where gifts are given, parades are held, and feasts are had.

• Sovereignty Day celebrates High Rock's independence from the First Empire. Traditionally, Bretons have picnics on Sovereignty Day. Chefs and innkeepers in High Rock sell their own picnic collations for citizens to take on such picnics.

• Red Parade takes place in honor of Saint Pelin's sacrifice at the Bangkorai Garrison, an annual celebration is held where the priest's sacrifice is reenacted.

References

Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.