Lyonesse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A mythical region said to have lain between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly before being swallowed by the sea, famous in Arthurian legend
2. The fabled country of Arthurian tradition, supposedly submerged beneath the waters off the southwestern tip of England
3. An imaginary land in medieval romance, believed to have sunk under the sea near Cornwall and home to many legendary knights

Etymology: Lyonesse is a legendary land said to have stretched between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly until the sea engulfed it. Its name most likely reached English through medieval French romances, which used forms such as "Liones" in their tales of Tristan and Arthur. The French writers were probably garbling a Cornish place name, possibly "Lethowsow," which is usually glossed as "grey lands." In the romances, Lyonesse was a kingdom ruled by Tristan's father, and Tristan himself was said to have been born there. Its drowning became the detail that made it memorable, giving later writers a submerged realm that could be placed just off a real coast. Alfred, Lord Tennyson drew on this tradition in his Arthurian poems, and many modern readers know the name from him.