Alan became the Duke of Brittany in 939 when he expelled the Norsemen from the kingdom after an occupation of some thirty years. Nicknamed Wrybeard, Twistedbeard, or Crookedbeard, he was strong in body and courageous in the fray. In the forest, he did not care to kill wild boars and bears with an iron weapon, preferring instead a wooden staff that contributed to his legend and popularity among his Breton subjects. His ultimate victory at the Battle of Trans-la-Forêt was declared a national holiday by the duke – an opportunity for his people to eat, drink, and be merry. Places such as the port of Audierne feted Alan’s achievement less exuberantly.
The terminology of port is misleading: it was a village by the sea that scraped a living by sometimes catching fish and little else. If the catc
