The DunBroch, MacGuffin, Macintosh, and Dingwall clans were once enemies locked in constant war, but when Vikings, Romans and Northern invaders threatened them from the seas the 4 clans joined together under the sword of Fergus to defend their lands. Eventually, the the clans succeeded in protecting their lands from the invaders and formed the Kingdom of DunBroch and made the clan leaders Macintosh, MacGuffin and Dingwall their lords of the kingdom then crowned Fergus their king and Elinor their queen.
The Castle Green: Where the Highland Games are held and where Merida and her family often go to do their outings. It is connected to the island on which the castle stands by a single stone bridge.
The Harbor: Where boats come and go in the Kingdom and where Merida, Elinor, and Fergus say goodbye to the Lords and their sons. It appears to be located to the left of the castle. It features two docks, a collection of buildings, and a pair of square stone turret-like buildings.
The Forest: Where Merida enjoys riding through and shooting her arrows on targets she set up and explores.
Crone's Tooth: The tall sheer vertical stone Merida climbs up.[1]
The Fire Falls: The waterfall by the Crone's Tooth, presumably named for the way the sunlight reflecting on the water makes it resemble the color of fire. According to Fergus, only the ancient kings were brave enough to drink from it.[1]
The Ring of Stones: A circle of large tall stones where Merida encounters will o' the wisps and where the final showdown between Elinor and Mor'du takes place.
The Witch's Cottage: The cottage where the Witch grants Merida a spell that she hoped would change her fate.
The symbol of the kingdom of DunBroch as a whole, as seen on Merida's Pendant and engraved on the wall behind the DunBroch castle thrones, are three intertwined bears.
Mor'du himself was known to wield a pair of double-edged axes.[3]
Individual Clans[]
The DunBroch Clan's Symbol is the sword: The mighty sword[4] represents bravery and the protection of the kingdom.
The MacGuffin Clan's Symbol is the cauldron: With one moldy potato the magical cauldron fed the entire clan, giving them the strength to slay 10,000 Macintosh's in battle.[5]
The Macintosh Clan's Symbol is the lyre: The lyre slayed 1,000 Dingwall's by playing a magical tune.[5]
The Dingwall Clan's Symbol is a rock: An ancient relic held by the clan.[5]
In Scottish Gaelic, the words Dun and Broch can be roughly translated to mean "Fort" and "Brown" respectively.
According to story artist Louis Gonzales, for the DunBroch castle, the production team didn't want a Germanic Cinderella-like castle, but an "earthy" castle, grittier than the pristine ones often seen in animated films. For inspiration, they visited the Eilean Donan and Dunnottar Castles.
At the beginning of the film during Merida's narration, in the establishing shot of DunBroch Castle from the direction of the sea, the harbor can be seen on the shoreline on the castle's left (right-hand) side, but the docks seen at the end of the film are missing. It can still be identified as the harbor by the collection of buildings and a distinct pair of layered square stone turret-like buildings set against the cliffside.
The setting is in Medieval Scotland. According to the map Elinor shows Merida during their lessons near the beginning of the film:
All four clans of the DunBrock kingdom are located in the northern region (the Highlands) of the Scottish mainland, primarily within the Ross-shire and Iverness-shire counties.
Clan DunBroch itself is the northernmost of the four, to the east side of the region. It is approximately located near either Cromarty Firth or Dornoch Firth, which is likely the water over which the castle sits.
Clan Macintosh is the second northernmost clan just underneath Clan DunBroch, to the west side of the region. It is located on the mainland next to the Isle of Skye (referred to simple as "Skye" on the map), approximately within the region of Loch Duich, Loch Long,, Loch Carron or Upper Loch Torridon.
Clan Dingwall is the second southernmost clan just underneath Clan Macintosh, to the east side of the region.
Ironically, in reality, Dingwall is the county town of Ross-shire, and is located at the head of Cromarty Firth.
Clan MacGuffin is the southernmost clan just underneath Clan Dingwall, to the west side of the region. It is approximately located near the end of Loch Linnhe in the Lochaber region, within Iverness-shire.
The sea to the lower west side of the region, underneath Skye, is the Celtic Sea (referred to as the "Sea of Celts").
Everyone in Kingdom DunBroch is descended from Celts (Celts were ancestors of the Scottish and Irish clans).
Both Gaelic and Pictish culture is shown in the movie.
References[]
↑ 1.01.1Merida: "I climbed the Crone's Tooth, and drank from the Fire Falls."
King Fergus: "Fire Falls? They say only the ancient kings were brave enough to drink the fire." (Brave)
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