Abstract
Geoheritage research suggests a connection between oral traditions and the transmission of memories over time. Brittany has many such myths and legends about submergence and silting along the coast. Studying the link between these stories and the environment to determine if they can be traced back to real events is highly relevant for mitigating current sea-level rise in the area and developing the necessary adaptation processes. This paper highlights how the Brittany coastline provides a wealth of resources for this research and presents the Géomyth’Ys project that focuses on this topic. It will outline a first attempt to map such stories, confirming both the potential benefits of a story-field survey connection and the challenges and stakes involved. Géomyth’Ys is a multi-disciplinary project associating literature, toponymy, history, geomorphology, and archaeology, and is well suited for moving from story to field survey. Simultaneously examining intangible and tangible elements takes into account the inherent ambiguities of folkloric material and enables the reconstruction of palaeo-environmental changes and human settlement to help ascertain whether these stories are based on real events.