Paimpont forest, sometimes said to be the Arthurian Brocéliande, is in the French commune of Paimpont, near the city of Rennes in Brittany. As Brocéliande it had a reputation in the Medieval imagination as a place of magic and mystery. It is the setting of a number of adventures in Arthurian legend, notably Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, and locals^{[citation needed]} claim the tree in which the Lady of the Lake supposedly imprisoned Merlin can still be seen today. Other recent legendary (from the 19th century) places said to lie within the forest include the Val sans Retour, the tomb of Merlin, the Fountain of Youth, and Hotié de Vivianne (castle of the Lady of the Lake). The medieval chronicler Wace visited the forest of Brocéliande (but is it really Paimpont) but left disappointed:

For those living close to Paimpont, the Arthurian legend is very strong^{[citation needed]}. Many names in the legend can be translated into Breton or French, for example the name Lancelot translates as "wanderer" or "vagabond" in Breton^{[citation needed]}. There is also a strong influence from the Druids^{[citation needed]}, and all around Brittany are standing stones or alignments, the most famous of which are nearby at Carnac; a group of the alignments at Kerlescan are nicknamed "the soldiers of Arthur."^{[citation needed]}