| Aulne | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Brittany |
| Mouth | Atlantic Ocean |
| Basin countries | France |
| Length | 140 km |
The Aulne is a 140 km long river of Brittany in north-western France, flowing down the hills and emptying into the roadstead of Brest, one of the many fjord-like bays just south of Brest. The river is part of the Canal de Nantes à Brest, the navigation canal that once connected the city of Nantes on the Loire River with the port town of Brest on the Atlantic coast. This canal is still navigable over part of its length, but sea-going traffic is interrupted by the hydro-electric dam of Guerledan, which submerged a number of the original locks of the canal. The Aulne river flows through Châteaulin.
Aulne in Breton means "alder" (genus Alnus). Some alders, like willows, prefer wet habitats, so they typically grow along rivers like the Aulne or in marshy areas. Whether due to a mistranslation of "Erlkonig" or not, the word "Erlkönig" (as in Goethe's poem Der Erlkönig) is rendered in French (as in the title of Michel Tournier's eponymous 1970 novel) Le Roi des aulnes i.e., the Alder King.