Gwilherm Berthou (10 May 1908,

Paimpol Paimpol (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwest France. It is a tourist destination, especially during the summer months when people are attracted by its port and beaches. Geography The town is located in t ...

– 14 March 1951,

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

) was a

Breton nationalist Breton nationalism (, ) is the nationalism of the historical province of Brittany, France. Brittany is considered to be one of the six Celtic nations (along with Cornwall, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales). Breton ''nationalism'' wa ...

and neo-Druidic bardic poet. He was a member of the Breton artistic movement

Seiz Breur Seiz Breur was an artistic movement founded in 1923 in Brittany. Although it adopted the symbolic name ''seiz breur'', meaning ''seven brothers'' in the Breton language, this did not refer to the number of members, but to the title of a folk-story. ...

Terrorism

Berthou was born in

Côtes-d'Armor The Côtes-d'Armor ( , ; ; , ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord until 1990 (, ), is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.Célestin Lainé Célestin Lainé (25 October 1908 – 7 October 1983) was a Breton nationalist and collaborator during the Second World War who led the SS affiliated Bezen Perrot militia. His Breton language name is Neven Hénaff. He was a chemical engin ...

that a militant group dedicated to

direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...

against the French state and its symbols should be formed. This was to be called ''Kentoc'h Mervel'' (Rather Death). As Lainé sought his own recruits, Berthou brought the staff of the nationalist journal Breiz da Zont to join ''en masse''. When Lainé discovered this he distanced himself from Berthou, believing that a public journal could not create an effective support for a secret organization, as it would be too easily infiltrated. Lainé went on to form the terrorist faction '' Gwenn ha du''. Lainé later wrote "I don't know what became of Kentoc'h Mervel after that, except that it never grew beyond fancy words." However, when ''Gwenn ha du'' launched their first attack in 1932, bombing a sculpture, four informants claimed that Berthou had provided the

nitroglycerin Nitroglycerin (NG) (alternative spelling nitroglycerine), also known as trinitroglycerol (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless or pale yellow, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by ...

.Ronan Carléon, ''Gwenn ha Du'', 1938.

Neo-Druidism

Berthou became closely associated with

neo-Druid Druidry, sometimes termed Druidism, is a modern spiritual or religious movement that promotes the cultivation of honorable relationships with the physical landscapes, flora, fauna, and diverse peoples of the world, as well as with nature de ...

ic and

Celticist Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art history ...

movements, writing poetry in the

Breton language Breton (, , ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic languages, Celtic language group spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albei ...

. As part of the Aryanist ideologies of the era, he studied the links between ancient Celtic (Brythonic and Gaelic) culture and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. His esoterism linked him with various Masonic and Aryanist groups. Along with

Morvan Marchal Morvan Marchal (; 31 July 1900, Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine – 13 August 1963, Paris; also known as Maurice Marchal) was an architect and a prominent member of the Breton national movement. He is best known for having designed the national fla ...

and others he participated in the

Kredenn Geltiek Kredenn Geltiek (Celtic Creed) is a neo-Pagan Druidic group founded in Brittany in 1936. It was later known as Kredenn Geltiek Hollvedel (Celtic Creed of the World). It now exists under the name Kevanvod Tud Donn (Parliament of people of Dêua Ana) ...

(Celtic Creed) Druidic group, adopting the bardic name Kerverziou, though also using the pseudonym "Iaktimagos Vissurix". He contributed to the Celticist journals ''

Gwalarn Gwalarn ("Northwesterly") was a Breton language literary journal. By extension, the term refers to the style of literature that it encouraged. 166 issues (numbered from 0 to 165) appeared between 1925 and May 1944. The journal was founded by Ropar ...

'' and ''Kad''. He also founded the periodical ''Ogam'' and was president of ''Les Amis de la Tradition Celtique'' (Friends of the Celtic Tradition). In his metaphysical poetry written in "ancient Gallic", he predicted the end of the "white race" in the year 2018, a date which corresponded to 3888 in his own personal calendar, which he created based on the cycles of the moon and sun, starting with the supposed date of the legendary Irish Battle of Mag Tuired.

Collaborationism

Berthou's mystical Aryanist ideas were closely linked to aspects of Nazi ideology. He contributed to the openly pro-Nazi review ''Stur'', edited by

Olier Mordrel Olier Mordrel (29 April 1901 – 25 October 1985) is the Breton language version of Olivier Mordrelle, a Breton nationalist and wartime collaborator with the Third Reich who founded the separatist Breton National Party. Before the war, he worked ...

, and also contributed to other pro-Nazi periodicals. During the war he was involved with the ''Institut Celtique'', created by the Occupation government. Nevertheless, Berthou's involvement remained purely literary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berthou, Gwilherm 1908 births 1951 deaths People from Paimpol Modern pagan religious leaders Far-right modern pagans French modern pagans Breton collaborators with Nazi Germany Neo-druids Modern pagan poets