Search Wikipedia

Merlin
Article Talk

For the bird species, see Merlin (bird). For other uses, see Merlin (disambiguation).
"Merlyn" redirects here. For other uses, see Merlyn (disambiguation).

Merlin (Welsh: Myrddin, Cornish: Merdhyn, Breton: Merzhin)[note 2] is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend
of King Arthur and best known as a magician, with several other main roles.[note 3] The familiar depiction of Merlin, based
on an amalgamation of historical and legendary figures, was introduced by the 12th-century British pseudo-historical
author Geoffrey of Monmouth and then built on by the French poet Robert de Boron and prose successors in the 13th
century.

Geoffrey seems to have combined earlier Welsh tales of Myrddin and Merlin
Ambrosius, two legendary Briton prophets with no connection to Arthur, to
Matter of Britain character
form the composite figure that he called Merlinus Ambrosius. His rendering
of the character became immediately popular, especially in Wales.[6] Later
chronicle and romance writers in France and elsewhere expanded the
account to produce a more full, multifaceted character, creating one of the
most important figures in the imagination and literature of the Middle Ages.

Merlin's traditional biography casts him as an often-mad cambion, born of a

mortal woman and an incubus, from whom he inherits his supernatural
powers and abilities.[7] His most notable abilities commonly include prophecy
and shapeshifting. Merlin matures to an ascendant sagehood and engineers
the birth of Arthur through magic and intrigue.[8] Later stories have Merlin as The Enchanter Merlin, Howard Pyle's
an advisor and mentor to the young king until he disappears from the tale, illustration for The Story of King Arthur
leaving behind a series of prophecies foretelling events to come. A popular and His Knights (1903)

version from the French prose cycles tells of Merlin being bewitched and First appearance Prophetiae Merlini
forever sealed up or killed by his student, the Lady of the Lake after he fell in
Created by Geoffrey of
love with her. Other texts variously describe his retirement, at times
Monmouth
supernatural, or death.
Based on Myrddin Wyllt and
Ambrosius
Contents Aurelianus

In-universe information
Name Species Cambion

The name Merlin is derived from the Brythonic name Occupation Prophet, magician,
bard, advisor,
of the legendary bard Myrddin that Geoffrey of
warrior, others
Monmouth Latinised to Merlinus in his works.
(depending on the
Medievalist Gaston Paris suggests that Geoffrey source)[note 1]
chose the form Merlinus rather than the expected
Spouse Gwendolen
*Merdinus to avoid a resemblance to the Anglo-
Norman word merde (from Latin merda) for feces.[9] Significant other Lady of the Lake,
Merlinus (Merlin) in the Morgan le Fay,
'Merlin' may also be an adjective, in which case he
Nuremberg Chronicle Sebile (romance
(1493) should be called "The Merlin", from the French merle
tradition)
[10]: 79
meaning blackbird. According to Martin Aurell,
Relatives Ganieda
the Latin form Merlinus is a euphony of the Celtic form Myrddin to bring him
closer to the blackbird (Latin merula) into which he could metamorphose Home "Esplumoir Merlin",
through his shamanic powers, as was notably the case for Merlin's Irish British woods

counterpart.[11]

Myrddin may be a combination of *mer (mad) and the Welsh dyn (man), to mean 'madman'.[12] It may also mean '[of] many
names' if it was derived from the Welsh myrdd, myriad.[13][14] In his Myrdhinn, ou l'Enchanteur Merlin (1862), La
Villemarqué derived Marz[h]in, which he considered the original form of Merlin's name, from the Breton word marz
(wonder) to mean 'wonder man'.[15] Clas Myrddin or Merlin's Enclosure is an early name for Great Britain as stated in the
third series of Welsh Triads.[16]

Celticist Alfred Owen Hughes Jarman suggested that the Welsh name Myrddin (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈmǝrðin]) was derived
from the toponym Caerfyrddin, the Welsh name for the town known in English as Carmarthen.[17] This contrasts with the
popular folk etymology that the town was named after the bard. The name Carmarthen is derived from the town's previous
Roman name Moridunum,[9][17] in turn, derived from the Celtic Brittonic moridunon, 'sea fort[ress]'.[18] Eric P. Hamp
proposed a similar etymology: Morij:n, 'the maritime' or 'born of the sea'. There is no obvious connection between Merlin
and the sea in the texts about him, but Claude Sterckx has suggested that Merlin's father in the Welsh texts, Morfryn,
might have been a sea spirit.[19] Philippe Walter connected it with the figure of the insular Celtic sea god Manannán.[20]

Folklorist Jean Markale proposed that the name of Merlin is of French origin and means 'little blackbird', an allusion to the
mocking and provocative personality usually attributed to him in medieval stories.[21] The Welsh Myrddin could be also
phonetically connected to the name Martin[22] and some of the powers and other attributes of the 4th-century French
Saint Martin of Tours (and his disciple Saint Hilaire) in hagiography and folklore are similar to these of Merlin. If a
relationship between the two figures does exist, however, it may rather be a reverse one in which the Merlin tradition
inspired the later accounts of the saint's miracles and life.[23]

Legend

Stories and earliest known sources

Selected Merlin episodes Earliest known sources

Historia Regum Britanniae

Birth from a virgin and a demon
(c. 1136)

Blaise's intervention redeems Merlin from his intended role of the Antichrist Verse Merlin (c. 1200)

Vortigern seeks a "fatherless child" for a blood sacrifice to strengthen his castle's tower Historia Brittonum (c. 828)

Construction of Stonehenge Historia Regum Britanniae

Uther Pendragon takes on the appearance of the Duke of Cornwall though a spell by Merlin and
Historia Regum Britanniae
conceives Arthur with Igraine

Merlin chooses the fifty original knights of Uther's Round Table Prose Merlin (after 1200)

Excalibur pulling contest to prove the young Arthur's divine right to the throne of King of the
Prose Merlin
Britons

Post-Vulgate Cycle (c.

Arthur is warned of Mordred's birth and the coming fall of his kingdom
1235)

Prose Perceval [fr] (after

Merlin sets up the search for the Holy Grail by Arthur's Knights of the Round Table
1200)

Blaise writes down the story of Merlin Prose Merlin

Lancelot-Grail (before
Entrapment of Merlin by the fairy Viviane
1235)

Geoffrey and his sources

See also: Historicity of King Arthur

Geoffrey's composite Merlin is based mostly on the North Brythonic poet and seer Myrddin
Wyllt, that is Myrddin the Wild (known as Merlinus Caledonensis or Merlin Sylvestris in later
texts influenced by Geoffrey). Myrddin's legend has parallels with a northern Welsh and
southern Scottish story of the mad prophet Lailoken (Laleocen), probably the same as Myrddin
son of Morfryn (Myrddin map Morfryn) mentioned in the Welsh Triads,[24] and with Buile
Shuibhne, an Irish tale of the wandering insane king Suibihne mac Colmáin (often Anglicised to
Sweeney).[10]: 58

In Welsh poetry, Myrddin was a bard who was driven mad after witnessing the horrors of war and The young Merlin reading
subsequently fled civilization to become a wild man of the wood in the 6th century.[13] He his prophecies to King
Vortigern in an illustration
roamed the Caledonian Forest until he was cured of his madness by Kentigern, also known as for Geoffrey of
Saint Mungo. Geoffrey had Myrddin in mind when he wrote his earliest surviving work, the Monmouth's Prophetiae
Merlini (British Library MS
Prophetiae Merlini ("Prophecies of Merlin", c. 1130), which he claimed were the actual words of
Cotton Claudius B VII
the legendary poet (including some distinctively apocalyptic[25] prophecies for Geoffrey's f.224, c. 1250)
contemporary 12th century); however, the work reveals little about Merlin's background.

Geoffrey was further inspired by Emrys (Old Welsh: Embreis), a character based in part on the
5th-century historical figure of the Romano-British war leader Ambrosius Aurelianus (Welsh
name Emrys Wledig, also known as Myrddin Emrys).[26] When Geoffrey included Merlin in his
next work, Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136), he supplemented his characterisation of Merlin
by attributing stories of Ambrosius to Merlin. These stories were taken from one of Geoffrey's
primary sources, the early 9th-century Historia Brittonum attributed to Nennius. In this source,
Ambrosius was discovered when the King of the Britons, Vortigern, attempted to erect a tower at
An older Merlin as
Dinas Emrys (City of Emrys). More than once, the tower collapsed before completion. Vortigen's
portrayed in Alfonso the
wise men advised him that the only solution was to sprinkle the foundation with the blood of a Wise's compilation of texts
child born without a father. Ambrosius was rumoured to be such a child. When he was brought of astronomy (c. 1400)

before the king, Ambrosius revealed that below the foundation of the tower was a lake
containing two dragons battling into each other, representing the struggle between the invading Saxons (the white dragon)
and the native Celtic Britons (the red dragon). Geoffrey retold the story in his Historia Regum Britanniæ, adding new
episodes that tie Merlin with King Arthur and his predecessors. Geoffrey stated that this Ambrosius was also called
"Merlin", hence Ambrosius Merlinus.

Geoffrey's account of Merlin's early life is based on the story from the Historia Brittonum. At the
same time, however, Geoffrey also turned Ambrosius Aurelianus into the separate character of
Uther Pendragon's brother Aurelius Ambrosius. Geoffrey added his own embellishments to the
tale, which he set in Carmarthen, Wales (Welsh: Caerfyrddin). While Nennius' "fatherless"
Ambrosius eventually reveals himself to be the son of a Roman consul, Geoffrey's Merlin is
fathered by an incubus demon through a nun, daughter of the King of Dyfed (Demetae, today's
South West Wales). Usually, the name of Merlin's mother is not stated, but it is given as Adhan in
Giants help the young
Merlin build Stonehenge the oldest version of the Prose Brut,[27] the text also naming his grandfather as King Conaan.[28]
in an illustration for a
circa 1325—1350 Merlin is born all hairy and already able to speak like an adult, as well as possessing supernatural
manuscript of Wace's
knowledge that he uses to save his mother. The story of Vortigern's tower is the same; the
Roman de Brut, an
expanded adaptation of underground dragons, one white and one red, represent the Saxons and the Britons, and their final
Geoffrey's Historia battle is a portent of things to come. At this point Geoffrey inserted a long section of Merlin's
Regum Britanniae
prophecies, taken from his earlier Prophetiae Merlini. Geoffrey also told two further tales of the
character. In the first, Merlin creates Stonehenge as a burial place for Aurelius Ambrosius, bringing the stones from
Ireland.[note 4] In the second, Merlin's magic enables the new British king, Uther Pendragon, to enter into Tintagel Castle in
disguise and to father Arthur with his enemy's wife, Igerna (Igraine). These episodes appear in many later adaptations of
Geoffrey's account. As Lewis Thorpe notes, Merlin subsequently disappears from the narrative. He does not tutor or
advise Arthur as in later versions.[8]

Geoffrey dealt with Merlin again in his third work, Vita Merlini (1150). He based it on stories of the original 6th-century
Myrddin, set long after his time frame for the life of Merlin Ambrosius. Nevertheless, Geoffrey asserts that the characters
and events of Vita Merlini are the same as told in the Historia Regum Britanniae. Here, Merlin survives the reign of Arthur,
whose fall he is told about by Taliesin. Merlin spends a part of his life as a madman in the woods and marries a woman
named Guendoloena (a character inspired by the historic king Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio).[8]: 44 He eventually retires to
observing stars from his house with seventy windows in the remote woods of Rhydderch. There, he is often visited by
Taliesin and by his own sister Ganieda (a Latinized name of Myrddin's sister Gwenddydd[31]), who has become queen of
the Cumbrians and is also endowed with prophetic powers. Compared to Geoffrey's Historia, his Vita seems to have little
influence on the later portrayals of Merlin.[32]

Mark Chorvinsky hypothesized that Merlin is based on a historical person, probably a 5th and/or 6th-
century druid living in southern Scotland.[34] Nikolai Tolstoy makes a similar argument based on the
fact that early references to Merlin describe him as possessing characteristics which modern
scholarship would recognize as druidical (but that sources of the time would not have recognized),
the inference being that those characteristics were not invented by the early chroniclers but
belonged to a real person.[35][36] If so, the hypothetical proto-Merlin would have lived about a
century after the hypothetical historical Arthur.

A late version of the Annales Cambriae (dubbed the "B-text", written at the end of the 13th century)
An illustration of Merlin
and influenced by Geoffrey,[37] records that in the year 573 after "the battle of Arfderydd, between
as a druid in The Rose
the sons of Eliffer and Gwenddolau son of Ceidio; in which battle Gwenddolau fell; Myrddin went (1848)[33]
mad." The earliest version of the same entry in Annales Cambriae (in the "A-text", written c. 1100), as
well as a later copy (the "C-text", written towards the end of the 13th century) do not mention Myrddin.[38] Myrddin
furthermore shares similarities with the shamanic bard figure of Taliesin, alongside whom he appears in the Welsh Triads
and in Vita Merlini, as well as in the poem "Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin" ("The Conversation between Myrddin and
Taliesin") from The Black Book of Carmarthen, which was dated by Rachel Bromwich as "certainly" before 1100, that is
predating Vita Merlini by at least half century while telling a different version of the same story.[39] According to
Villemarqué, the origin of the legend of Merlin lies with the Roman story of Marsus, a son of Circe, which eventually
influenced the Breton and Welsh tales of a supernaturally-born bard or enchanter named Marzin or Marddin.[40]

Romance reimagination

Around the turn of the 13th century, Robert de Boron retold and expanded on this
material in Merlin, an Old French epic poem inspired by Wace's Roman de Brut, an
Anglo-Norman creative adaptation of Geoffrey's Historia. The work presents itself as
the story of Merlin's life as told by Merlin himself to be written down by the "real"
author while the actual author claimed merely to translate the story into French. Only a
few lines of what is believed to be the original text have survived, but a more popular
Jean Colombe's circa 1480 prose version had a great influence on the emerging genre of Arthurian-themed
illumination of the story of Merlin's
chivalric romance.
unholy birth as told in the Prose
Merlin, elaborating on the brief
mention by Geoffrey. This was the As in Geoffrey's Historia, Merlin is created as a demon spawn, but in Robert's account
first popular account of demonic he is explicitly to become the Antichrist intended to reverse the effect of the Harrowing
parentage motif in Western Christian
of Hell. The infernal plot is thwarted when a priest named Blaise [fr] (the story's narrator
literature[41]
and perhaps Merlin's divine twin in a hypothetical now-lost oral tradition[note 6]) is
contacted by the child's mother; Blaise immediately baptizes the boy at birth, thus
freeing him from the power of Satan and his intended destiny.[48] The demonic legacy
invests Merlin (already able to speak fluently even as a newborn) with a preternatural
knowledge of the past and present, which is supplemented by God, who gives the boy
prophetic knowledge of the future. The text lays great emphasis on Merlin's power to
shapeshift,[note 7] his joking personality, and his connection to the Holy Grail, the quest
Emil Johann Lauffer's painting of
for which he later foretells.
Merlin taking the newborn Arthur to
be secretly raised by Ector. Merlin is
often linked to stag themes in the Merlin was originally part of a cycle of Robert's poems telling the story of the Grail over
legend by either riding on it or the centuries. The narrative of Merlin is largely based on Geoffrey's familiar tale of
transforming himself into one in an
Vortigern's Tower, Uther's war against the Saxons, and Arthur's conception. New in this
apparent association with old Celtic
pagan beliefs and their retelling is the episode of young Arthur (who had been secreted away by Merlin)
Christianisation[note 5] drawing the sword from the stone,[50] an event orchestrated by Merlin in the role of
kingmaker. Earlier, Merlin also instructs Uther to establish the original order of the
Round Table for fifty members, following his own act of creating the table itself.[note 8] The text ends with the coronation of
Arthur. The prose version of Robert's poem was then continued in the 13th-century Merlin Continuation, telling of King
Arthur's early wars and Merlin's role in them.[52] In this text, also known as the Suite du Merlin, the mage both predicts
and, wielding elemental magic,[25] influences the course of battles,[note 9] in addition to helping the young Arthur in other
ways. Eventually, he arranges the reconciliation between Arthur and his rivals, and the surrender of the defeated Saxons
and their departure from Britain.

The extended prose rendering of Merlin was incorporated as a foundation of the Lancelot-Grail,
a vast cyclical series of Old French prose works also known as the Vulgate Cycle, in the form of
the Estoire de Merlin (Story of Merlin), also known as the Vulgate Merlin or the Prose Merlin.
There, while not identifying his mother, it is stated that Merlin was named after his grandfather
on her side. The Vulgate's Prose Lancelot further relates that after growing up in the
borderlands between 'Scotland' (i.e. Pictish lands) and 'Ireland' (i.e. Argyll), Merlin "possessed
all the wisdom that can come from demons, which is why he was so feared by the Bretons and so
revered that everyone called him a holy prophet and the ordinary people all called him their god."
[56] The conception of Merlin
In the Vulgate Cycle's version of Merlin, his acts include arranging the consummation of
as depicted in a circa 1494
Arthur's desire for "the most beautiful maiden ever born," Lady Lisanor of Cardigan, resulting in manuscript of the Prose
the birth of Arthur's illegitimate son Lohot from before the marriage to Guinevere.[57][58] Lancelot[note 10]

A further reworking and an alternative continuation of the Prose Merlin were included within the
subsequent Post-Vulgate Cycle as the Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin or the Huth Merlin, the so-
called "romantic" rewrite (as opposed to the so-called "historical" original of the Vulgate). It
added some content such as Merlin providing Arthur with the sword Excalibur through a Lady of
the Lake, while either removing or altering many other episodes. Merlin's magical interventions
in the Post-Vulgate versions of his story are relatively limited and markedly less spectacular,
"Merlin", an illustration in
even compared to the magical feats of his own students, and his character becomes less moral.
the 1894 Dent edition of
In addition, Merlin's prophecies also include sets of alternative possibilities (meaning future can Thomas Malory's Le Morte
be changed) instead of only certain outcomes.[25] The Post-Vulgate Cycle has Merlin warn d'Arthur

Arthur of how the birth of his other son will bring great misfortune and ruin to his kingdom,
which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Eventually, long after Merlin is gone, his advice to dispose of the baby
Mordred through an event evoking the Biblical Massacre of the Innocents leads to the deaths of many, among them Arthur.

Both Merlin and its continuations have been adapted in verse and prose, translated into several languages, and further
modified to various degrees by other authors. Notably, the Post-Vulgate Suite (along with an earlier version of the Prose
Merlin) was the main source for the opening section of Thomas Malory's English-language compilation work Le Morte
d'Arthur which formed a now-iconic version of the legend. Compared to some of his French sources (such as the Vulgate
Lancelot which described Merlin as "treacherous and disloyal by nature, like his [demon] father before him"[59]), Malory
limited the extent of the negative association of Merlin and his powers. He is relatively rarely condemned as demonic by
other characters such as King Lot,[60] instead he is presented as an ambiguous trickster.[61] Conversely, Merlin seems to
be inherently evil in the so-called non-cyclic Lancelot, where he was born as the "fatherless child" from not a supernatural
rape of a virgin but a consensual union between a lustful demon and an unmarried beautiful young lady and was never
baptized.[62][63]

Later developments

As the Arthurian myths were retold, Merlin's prophetic "seer" aspects were sometimes de-
emphasized (or even seemingly vanish entirely, as in the fragmentary and more fantastical Livre
d'Artus[25]) in favor of portraying him as a wizard and an advisor to the young Arthur, sometimes in
the struggle between good and evil sides of his character, and living in deep forests connected
with nature. Through his ability to change his shape, he may appear as a "wild man" figure,
evoking his prototype Myrddin Wyllt,[64] as a civilized man of any age (including as a very young
child), or even as a talking animal.[65] His guises can be highly deformed and animalistic even
when Merlin is presenting as a human or humanoid being.[25][note 11] In the Perceval en prose (also
known as the Didot Perceval and usually also attributed to Robert), where Merlin is the initiator of
the Grail Quest and cannot die until the end of days, he eventually retires after Arthur's downfall

Merlin, the Enchanter by by turning himself into a bird and entering the mysterious esplumoir, never to be seen again.[66]
Louis Rhead (1923)
Among other medieval works dealing with the Merlin legend is the 13th-century Le Roman de
Silence.[67] The Prophéties de Merlin (c. 1276) contains long prophecies of Merlin (mostly concerned with 11th to 13th-
century Italian history and contemporary politics), some by his ghost after his death, interspersed with episodes relating
Merlin's deeds and with assorted Arthurian adventures in which Merlin does not appear at all. It pictures Merlin as a
righteous seer chastising people for their sins, as does the 13th-14th Italian story collection Il Novellino which draws
heavily from it.[68] An even more political Italian text was Joachim of Fiore's Expositio Sybillae et Merlini, directed against
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor whom the author regarded as the Antichrist. The Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland, which
sympathizes with Mordred as usual in Scottish chronicle tradition, particularly attributes Merlin's supernatural evil
influence on Arthur to its very negative portrayal of his rule.[69]

The earliest Merlin text written in Germany was Caesarius of Heisterbach's Latin Dialogus Miraculorum (1220). Ulrich
Füetrer's 15th-century Buch der Abenteuer, in the section based on Albrecht von Scharfenberg's lost Merlin,[70] presents
Merlin as Uter's father, effectively making Merlin's grandson Arthur a part-devil too. Bauduin (Baudouin) Butor's 1294
romance known as either Les Fils du Roi Constant or Pandragus et Libanor names Merlin's usually unspecified mother as
Optima, daughter of King Melias of Demetia (Dyfed), while Paolino Pieri's 14th-century Italian La Storia di Merlino calls her
Marinaia. In the Second Continuation of Perceval, the Story of the Grail, a young daughter of Merlin himself, called the Lady
of the High Peak of Mont Dolorous, appears to guide Perceval towards the Grail Castle.[71][72]

The earliest English verse romance concerning Merlin is Of Arthour and of Merlin of the late 13th century, which drew from
the chronicles and the Vulgate Cycle. In English-language medieval texts that conflate Britain with the Kingdom of
England, the Anglo-Saxon enemies against whom Merlin aids first Uther and then Arthur tend to be replaced by the
Saracens[73] or simply just invading pagans. The 15th-century English poem Sir Gowther presents the titular redeemed
half-demon as Merlin's half-brother. In Britain, Merlin remained as much as a prophet as a magician up to and including the
16th century, when political content in the style of Agrippa d'Aubigné continued to be written using Merlin's name to
guarantee their authenticity.[25]

During the 15th century, Welsh works predicting the Celtic revenge and victory over the Saxons were recast as Merlin's
(Myrddin's) prophecies and used along with Geoffrey by the propaganda of the Welsh-descended Henry VII of England
(who fought under the red dragon banner) of the House of Tudor, which traced its lineage directly to Arthur. Later, the
Tudors' Welsh supporters, including bards, interpreted the prophecy of King Arthur's return as having been fulfilled after
their ascent to the throne of England that they sought to legitimize following the Wars of the Roses.[74][75][76] Prophecies
attributed to Merlin were also used by the 14th-century Welsh hero Owain Glyndŵr in his fight against the English rule.[77]
The vagueness of Merlin's prophecies enabled British monarchs and historians to continue using them even in the early
modern period. Notably, the King of Scotland and later also of England and Ireland, James VI and I, claimed his 1603
unification of Britain into the United Kingdom had been foretold by Merlin.[78]

Merlin's apprentice in chivalric romances is often Arthur's half-sister, Morgan le Fay, who is sometimes depicted as
Merlin's lover[79] and sometimes as just his unrequited love interest.[note 12] In the Prophéties de Merlin, he also tutors
Sebile, two other witch queens, and the Lady of the Isle of Avalon (Dama di Isola do Vallone). Others who have learned
sorcery from Merlin include the Wise Damsel in the Italian Historia di Merlino,[note 13] and the male wizard Mabon in the
Post-Vulgate Merlin Continuation and the Prose Tristan. His various apprentices gain or expand their magical powers
through Merlin, however his prophetic powers cannot be passed on.

Tales of Merlin's end

See also: Lady of the Lake

In the prose chivalric romance tradition, Merlin has a major weakness that leads him to his relatively
early doom: young beautiful women of femme fatale archetype.[81] Contrary to many modern works
in which they are archenemies, Merlin and Morgan are never opposed to each other in any medieval
tradition, other than Morgan forcibly rejecting him in some texts. In fact, his love for Morgan is so
great that he even lies to the king to save her in the Huth Merlin, which is the only instance of him
ever intentionally misleading Arthur.[82][note 14]

Instead, Merlin's eventual undoing comes from his lusting after another of his female students: the
one often named Viviane, among various other names and spellings (including Malory's own Nyneve
that his editor William Caxton changed to Nymue which in turn eventually became the now-popular
Nimue). She is also called a fairy (French fee) like Morgan and described as a Lady of the Lake, or the
"chief Lady of the Lake" in the case of Malory's Nimue. In Perceforest, the ancestry of both Merlin The Beguiling of Merlin
and the Lady of the Lake is descended from the ancient fairy Morgane (unrelated to Arthur's sister), by Edward Burne-Jones
(1874). The depicted
who cursed their bloodline when she wrongly believed that her daughter was raped by her
episode in its various
daughter's human lover.[83] tellings became a major
inspiration for Romantic
Viviane's character in relation to Merlin is first found in the Lancelot-Grail authors and artists of the
late 19th century
cycle, after having been inserted into the legend of Merlin by either de
Boron or his continuator. There are many different versions of their story. Common themes in
most of them include Merlin actually having the prior prophetic knowledge of her plot against
him (one exception is the Spanish Post-Vulgate Baladro where his foresight ability is explicitly
dampened by sexual desire[81]) but lacking either ability or will to counteract it in any way, along
with her using one of his own spells to get rid of him. Usually (including in Le Morte d'Arthur),
having learned everything she could from him, Viviane will then also replace the eliminated
Edward Burne-Jones' 1861 Merlin within the story, taking up his role as Arthur's adviser and court mage.[84]
Merlin and Nimue, the title
using the Lady's name However, Merlin's fate of either demise or eternal imprisonment, along with his destroyer or
popularized by Caxton
captor's motivation (from her fear of Merlin and protecting her own virginity, to her jealousy of
his relationship with Morgan), is recounted differently in variants of this motif. The exact form of
his prison or grave can be also variably a cave, a tree, or hole either within or under a large rock
(according to Le Morte d'Arthur, this happens somewhere in Benwick, the kingdom of Lancelot's
father[85]), or an invisible tower made of magic with no physical walls.[49][86] The scene is often
placed in the enchanted forest of Brocéliande, a legendary location today identified with the
real-life Paimpont forest in Brittany.[87] A Breton tradition cited by Roger Sherman Loomis in
Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance (where he also asserts that it "seems almost certain that
Morgan le Fay and the Lady of the Lake were originally the same person" in the legend) has
Arthur Rackham's
Merlin trapped by his mistress inside a tree on the Île de Sein.
illustration for Romance of
King Arthur (1917)
abridged from Le Morte
Niniane, as the Lady of the Lake student of Merlin is known in the Livre d'Artus continuation of
d'Arthur by Alfred W. Merlin, is mentioned as having broken his heart before his later second relationship with Morgan,
Pollard:
but here the text does not tell how exactly Merlin did vanish, other than relating his farewell
"How by her subtle working she
made Merlin to go under the meeting with Blaise. In the Vulgate Lancelot, which predates the later Vulgate Merlin, she (aged
stone to let wit of the marvels just 12 at the time) makes Merlin sleep forever in a pit in the forest of Darnantes, "and that is
there and she wrought so there
for him that he came never out
where he remained, for never again did anyone see or hear of him or have news to tell of him."
[88]
for all the craft he could do." In the Post-Vulgate Suite de Merlin, the young King Bagdemagus (one of the early Knights of
the Round Table) manages to find the rock under which Merlin is entombed alive by Niviene, as
she is named there.[note 15] He communicates with Merlin, but is unable to lift the stone; what follows next is supposedly
narrated in the mysterious text Conte del Brait (Tale of the Cry).[note 16] In Prophéties de Merlin, his tomb is unsuccessfully
searched for by various parties, including Morgan and her enchantresses, but the tomb cannot be accessed due to the
deadly magic traps around it,[91] while the Lady of the Lake comes to taunt Merlin, asking if he has rotted yet.[89]

One notably alternate version that has a happier ending for Merlin is the Premiers Faits section of the Livre du Graal, where
Niniane peacefully confines him in Brocéliande with walls of air, visible only as a mist to others but as a beautiful yet
unbreakable crystal tower to him (only Merlin's disembodied voice can escape his prison one last time when he speaks to
Gawain[89] on the knight's quest to find him), where they then spend almost every night together as lovers.[92] Besides
evoking the final scenes from Vita Merlini, this particular variant of their story also mirrors episodes found in some other
texts, wherein Merlin either is an object of one-sided desire by a different amorous sorceress who too (unsuccessfully)
plots to trap him or it is Merlin himself who traps an unwilling lover with his magic.[note 17]

Unrelated to the legend of the Lady of the Lake, other purported sites of Merlin's burial include a
cave deep inside Merlin's Hill (Welsh: Bryn Myrddin), outside Carmarthen. Carmarthen is also
associated with Merlin more generally, including through the 13th-century manuscript known as the
Black Book and the local lore of Merlin's Oak. In North Welsh tradition, Merlin retires to Bardsey
Island (Welsh: Ynys Enlli), where he lives in a house of glass (Welsh: Tŷ Gwydr) with the Thirteen
Treasures of the Island of Britain (Welsh: Tri Thlws ar Ddeg Ynys Prydain).[94]: 200 One site of his
tomb is said to be Marlborough Mound in Wiltshire,[95] known in medieval times as Merlebergia (the
Abbot of Cirencester wrote in 1215: "Merlin's tumulus gave you your name, Merlebergia"[94]: 93 ).

Another site associated with Merlin's burial, in his 'Merlin Silvestris' aspect, is the confluence of the Bradamante at Merlin's
Tomb by
Pausalyl Burn and River Tweed in Drumelzier, Scotland. The 15th-century Scotichronicon tells that Alexandre-Évariste
Merlin himself underwent a triple-death, at the hands of some shepherds of the under-king Meldred: Fragonard (1820)

stoned and beaten by the shepherds, he falls over a cliff and is impaled on a stake, his head falls
forward into the water, and he drowns.[note 18] The fulfillment of another prophecy, ascribed to Thomas the Rhymer, came
about when a spate of the Tweed and Pausayl occurred during the reign of the Scottish James VI and I on the English
throne: "When Tweed and Pausayl meet at Merlin's grave, / Scotland and England one king shall have."[13]: 62

Modern culture

Further information: Fiction featuring Merlin and Merlin in comics

Merlin and stories involving him have continued to be popular from the Renaissance to the present day, especially since
the renewed interest in the legend of Arthur in modern times. As noted by Arthurian scholar Alan Lupack, "numerous
novels, poems and plays center around Merlin. In American literature and popular culture, Merlin is perhaps the most
frequently portrayed Arthurian character."[96] According to Stephen Thomas Knight, Merlin embodies a conflict between
knowledge and power: beginning as a symbol of wisdom in the first Welsh stories, he became an advisor to kings in the
Middle Ages, and eventually a mentor and teacher to Arthur and others in the works around the world since the 19th
century.[97]

While some modern authors write about Merlin positively through an explicitly Christian world-view,[98] some New Age
movements instead see Merlin as a druid who accesses all the mysteries of the world.[99] Francophone artistic productions
since the end of the 20th century have tended to avoid the Christian aspects of the character in favor of the pagan aspects
and the tradition sylvestre (attributing positive values to one's links to forest and wild animals), thus "dechristianizing"
Merlin to present him as a champion for the idea of return to nature.[100] Diverging from his traditional role in medieval
romances, Merlin is also sometimes portrayed as a villain.[96] As Peter H. Goodrich wrote in Merlin: A Casebook:

Merlin's primary characteristics continue to be recalled, refined, and expanded today, continually encompassing new
ideas and technologies as well as old ones. The ability of this complex figure to endure for more than fourteen centuries
results not only from his manifold roles and their imaginative appeal, but also from significant, often irresolvable
tensions or polarities [...] between beast and human (Wild Man), natural and supernatural (Wonder Child), physical and
metaphysical (Poet), secular and sacred (Prophet), active and passive (Counselor), magic and science (Wizard), and male
and female (Lover). Interwoven with these primary tensions are additional polarities that apply to all of Merlin's roles,
such as those between madness and sanity, pagan and Christian, demonic and heavenly, mortality and immortality, and
impotency and potency.[5]

Since the Romantic period, Merlin has been typically depicted as a wise old man with a long
white beard, creating a modern wizard archetype reflected in many fantasy characters,[101]
such as J. R. R. Tolkien's Gandalf[25] or J. K. Rowling's Dumbledore,[102] who also use some of
his other traits. Things named in honour of the legendary figure have included asteroid 2598
Merlin, the British company Merlin Entertainments, the handheld console Merlin, the literary
magazine Merlin, the metal band Merlin, and more than a dozen different British warships each
called HMS Merlin. He was one of eight British magical figures who were commemorated on a HMS Merlin (1796) on a 1948
stamp for the 150th anniversary
[103]
series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail in 2011, and one of the three of the victorious Battle of St.
Arthurian figures (along with Arthur and Morgan) commemorated on the gold and silver British George's Caye

pound coins issued by the Royal Mint in 2023.[104] Merlinia, the Ordovician trilobite, is also
named after Merlin; the name is given in memory of a Welsh legend in which the broken tail parts of trilobites were
identified as butterflies turned to stone by Merlin.[105][106]

See also

Garab Dorje, also said to have been conceived by a nun without a human father
Mythology portal

Merlin's Cave, a location under Tintagel Castle

Notes

1. ^ As noted by Alan Lupack, "Merlin plays many roles in Arthurian 11. ^ In the Livre d'Artus, for instance, Merlin enters Rome in the
literature, including bard, prophet, magician, advisor, and form of a huge stag with a white fore-foot. He bursts into the
warrior. Though usually a figure who supports Arthur and his presence of Julius Caesar (here Arthur's contemporary) and
vision of Camelot, Merlin is, because of the stories in which he is tells the emperor that only the wild man of the woods can
said to be the son of a devil, sometimes presented as a villain."[1] interpret the dream that has been troubling him. Later, he
returns in the form of a black, shaggy man, barefoot, with a torn
2. ^ Alternate forms of Merlin's name include the English Merlyn,[2]
coat. In another episode, he decides to do something that will be
the Welsh Merddyn and Myrdin, and the Breton Marzin.[3]
spoken of forever. Going into the forest of Brocéliande, he
Thomas Malory's Winchester Manuscript of Le Morte d'Arthur
transforms himself into a herdsman carrying a club and wearing
used, in addition to Merlyn, also the forms Merlyon and Marylon.
[4] a wolf-skin and leggings. He is large, bent, black, lean, hairy and
old, and his ears hang down to his waist. His head is as big as a
3. ^ Peter H. Goodrich wrote, "According to authorial and cultural buffalo's, his hair is down to his waist, he has a hump on his
interests, [Merlin] assumes seven primary roles: Wild Man, back, his feet and hands are backwards, he is hideous, and is
Wonder Child, Prophet, Poet, Counselor, Wizard, and Lover. over 18 feet tall. By his arts, he calls a herd of deer to come and
Most literature about the mage is selective, emphasizing and graze around him.[49]
elaborating on one or more of these features and de-
12. ^ As summarized by Anne Berthelot, depending on the version
emphasizing or eliminating others. Merlin was not always all of
of the narrative, "it may be that a lustful Merlin seduces an
these things. Instead, his figure developed by gradually
(almost) innocent Morgue [Morgan], thus pushing her to her
accreting varied capabilities, each suggesting further
déchéance (downfall). Or Morgue may appear as an ambitious
capabilities and roles."[5]
and unscrupulous xxxxx ready to seduce an old tottering Merlin
4. ^ The stones, in actuality, came from the Preseli Hills in south- in order to gain the wisdom he alone can dispense."[80]
west Wales.[29] Unlike in the later accounts since Layamon's
13. ^ The Italian Tristan tradition identifies the Wise Damsel (Savia
Brut,[30] Geoffrey's Merlin actually does not use magic in this
Donzella / Savia Damigella) as the usually unnamed fairy
episode.
enchantress who abducted Tristan's father Meliodas to be her
5. ^ Merlin's connections with stags within his stories may be a lover. In some versions, including the Tavola Ritonda, Merlin
shadow of the belief in avatars of the Celtic "horned god", (Merlino) first appears as a knight to foretell the death of
Cernunnos.[42][43] As the Celtic Otherworld-associated Meliodas' wife Eliabella, who will search for her husband without
"enchanted white stag" motif become increasingly success while pregnant with Tristan. He then gathers and leads
Christianised,[44][45] monastic writers of Arthurian prose a group of the knights of the realm Leonis to the Wise Damsel's
romances would even directly equate it with the Christ himself. magically hidden and otherwise unnaccessible tower or castle
[46]
deep in the wilderness of the forest Dirlantes (the same
Darnantes that Merlin sometimes meets his end) so they can kill
6. ^ Blaise also figures within the text as its supposed original
her, which Merlin explicitly orders them to do, and free Meliodas.
author, decades later writing down Merlin's own words in a
Years later, Tristan and Iseult will take refuge in her now
third-person narration. According to Philippe Walter, Blaise,
abandoned but still enchanted castle while hiding from King
whose name resembles bleiz, the Old Breton word for wolf, may
Mark.
have originally been a wolf-man double figure of Merlin in
pagan-influenced tales before he was thoroughly Christianized 14. ^ Merlin also otherwise protects Morgan and continues to aid
and turned into Merlin's scribe and confidant. This association her when she requests help in some other texts. The Prophéties
would explain Merlin's animal-like appearance at birth and the de Merlin tells of Morgan's reaction to the news of his
name Lailoken, 'the twin'.[47] entombment by the Lady of the Lake, saying she was "at the
same time glad and sorry" and "sorry and worried, because if
7. ^ Merlin appears as a woodcutter with an axe about his neck, big
she were to have need of Merlin, she would be ruined for want of
shoes, a torn coat, bristly hair, and a large beard. He is later
him."[55]
found in the forest of Northumberland by a follower of Uther
disguised as an ugly man and tending a great herd of beasts. He 15. ^ In the Post-Vulgate Suite, Viviane (Niviene) is introduced as a
then appears first as a handsome man and then as a beautiful young teenage princess. She is about to depart from Arthur's
boy. Years later, he approaches Arthur disguised as a peasant court following her initial episode but, with some
wearing leather boots, a wool coat, a hood, and a belt of knotted encouragement from Merlin, Arthur asks her to stay in his castle
sheepskin. He is described as tall, black and bristly, and as with the queen. During her stay, Merlin falls in love with her and
seeming cruel and fierce. Finally, he appears as an old man with desires her. Viviane, frightened that Merlin might take advantage
a long beard, short and hunchbacked, in an old torn woolen coat, of her with his spells, swears that she will never love him unless
who carries a club and drives a multitude of beasts before him. he swears to teach her all of his magic. Merlin consents,
[49]
unaware that throughout the course of her lessons, Viviane will
use Merlin's own powers against him, forcing him to do her
8. ^ Merlin's apparently own creation of the Round Table as
bidding. When Viviane finally goes back to her country, Merlin
described in the Prose Merlin (it is not included in the surviving
escorts her. However, along the way, Merlin receives a vision
fragment of the poem), absent of any Biblical connections,
that Arthur is in need of assistance. Viviane and Merlin rush
contradicts the plot and themes of Joseph d'Arathmetia, a
back to Arthur's castle, but have to stop for the night in a stone
related work also attributed to Robert de Boron. This may be
chamber once inhabited by two lovers (a king's son Anasteu and
thus an invention of the prose author. Furthermore, the Modena
a peasant woman in their forbidden affair). Merlin relates that
manuscript of the Didot-Perceval continuation of Merlin,
when the lovers died, they were placed in a magic tomb within a
sometimes also attributed to Robert, features only 13 seats at
room in the chamber. That night, while Merlin is asleep, Viviane,
the Round Table instead of 50.[51]
still disgusted with Merlin's desire for her, as well as his demonic
9. ^ In one example of Merlin's interventions, the Vulgate version heritage, casts a spell over him and places him in the magic
has him conjure a magical mist that causes the forces of tomb so that he can never escape, thus causing his slow death.
Arthur's enemy King Amant to clash with the Saxon army at
16. ^ The Conte referred to in the story is an unknown, supposedly
Carmelide. On another occasion, Merlin comes to aid Arthur a
separate text that might have been just fictitious.[89] However,
dragon banner that comes to life and throws fire and flames out
the Spanish Post-Vulgate manuscript known as the Baladro del
of its mouth. Merlin's part in these wars is depicted in more
sabio Merlin (The Shriek of the Sage Merlin), does describe what
detail in the recently-found Bristol Merlin fragment.[53]
happened next. Merlin informs Bagdemagus that only Tristan
10. ^ As noted by Miranda Griffin, "while demons are often could have opened the iron door sealing the cave in which Merlin
portrayed with quite extraordinary bodies in illuminations in is trapped in, but Tristan is by that time still just a baby. Merlin
manuscripts of the Merlin," actual descriptions of Merlin's father than gives the story's eponymous great cry in a demonic voice,
tend to talk of an airborne spirit, sometimes taking material calling for his father to come and take him, and dies amidst a
[54]
shape of a handsome man. One version of the Prose Tristan terrific supernatural event.[90]
also makes Merlin essentially a "half-brother" of the monster
17. ^ In the Italian romance Tavola Ritonda, a fairy enchantress
known as the Questing Beast.[55]
named Escorducarla, the mother of the evil Elergia, falls in love
with Merlin and plans to trap him for herself in her purpose-built
Palace of Great Desire, but Merlin foils this plot and banishes her
to Avalon. Conversely, Gaucher de Dourdan's continuation of
Perceval, the Story of the Grail has Merlin magically abducting a
maiden who did not want to love him and then building a house
for them to live in together.[93]

18. ^ Merlin is credited with predicting this: "Today I will perish,

overwhelmed by stones and cudgels. / Today by body will be
pierced through by a sharp stake / of wood, and so my life will
expire. / Today I shall end my present life engulfed in the waves."
[13]: 67

References

1. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about the Arthurian Legends | 55. ^ a b Berthelot, Anne (2000). "Merlin and the Ladies of the
Robbins Library Digital Projects" . d.lib.rochester.edu. Lake". Arthuriana. 10 (1): 55–81. doi:10.1353/art.2000.0029 .
Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved JSTOR 27869521 . S2CID 161777117 .
27 June 2019.
56. ^ Lacy, Norris J. (2010). Lancelot-Grail: Lancelot, pt. I . Boydell
2. ^ Goodrich, Peter H. (15 June 2004). Merlin: A Casebook . & Brewer. ISBN 9781843842262.
Routledge. ISBN 9781135583408. Archived from the original
57. ^ Guerin, M. Victoria (1995). The Fall of Kings and Princes:
on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023 – via Google Books.
Structure and Destruction in Arthurian Tragedy . Stanford
3. ^ "The Dublin University Magazine: A Literary and Political University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-2290-2.
Journal" . W. Curry, jun., and Company. 15 March 1864.
58. ^ Lacy, Norris J. (2010). Lancelot-Grail: The Story of Merlin .
Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved
Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84384-234-7.
15 March 2023 – via Google Books.
 59. ^ The Holy Grail: History, Legend, and Symbolism . Courier
4. ^ Whetter, Kevin Sean (2017). The Manuscript and Meaning of
Corporation. January 2006. ISBN 9780486452791. Archived
Malory's Morte Darthur: Rubrication, Commemoration,
from the original on 2023-11-05. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
Memorialization . Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 978-1-84384-453-2.
Archived from the original on 2024-04-04. Retrieved 60. ^ Saunders, Corinne (9 November 2018). "Lifting the Veil:
2024-04-04. Voices, Visions, and Destiny in Malory's Morte Darthur". In
Archibald, Elizabeth; Leitch, Megan; Saunders, Corinne (eds.).
5. ^ a b Goodrich, Peter H. (June 2004). Merlin: A Casebook .
Romance Rewritten: The Evolution of Middle English Romance. A
Routledge. ISBN 9781135583408.
Tribute to Helen Cooper . Wellcome Trust–Funded Monographs
6. ^ Lloyd-Morgan, Ceridwen. "Narratives and Non-Narrtives: and Book Chapters. Boydell & Brewer. PMID 30620517 – via
Aspects of Welsh Arthurian Tradition." Arthurian Literature. 21. PubMed.
(2004): 115–136.
61. ^ Greene, Wendy Tibbetts (1987). "Malory's Merlin: An
7. ^ Katharine Mary Briggs (1976). An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Ambiguous Magician?" . Arthurian Interpretations. 1 (2): 56–
Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural 63. JSTOR 27868621 . Archived from the original on 2023-
Creatures, p.440. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394- 03-28. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
73467-X
62. ^ Dover, Carol (2003). A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail
8. ^ a b c Geoffrey of Monmouth (1977). Lewis Thorpe (ed.). The Cycle . DS Brewer. ISBN 978-0-85991-783-4.
History of the Kings of Britain. Penguin Classics. Penguin Books.
63. ^ Cartlidge, Neil (2012). Heroes and Anti-heroes in Medieval
ISBN 978-0-14-044170-3.
Romance . DS Brewer. ISBN 978-1-84384-304-7.
9. ^ a b "Merlin" . Oxford English Dictionary. 2008. Archived
64. ^ Koch, Celtic Culture, p. 1325.
from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
65. ^ Griffin, Miranda (2011). "The Space of Transformation: Merlin
10. ^ a b Markale, J (1995). Belle N. Burke (trans) Merlin: Priest of
Between Two Deaths". Medium Ævum. 80 (1): 85–103.
Nature. Inner Traditions. ISBN 978-0-89281-517-3. (Originally
doi:10.2307/43632466 . JSTOR 43632466 .
Merlin L'Enchanteur, 1981.l)
66. ^ Le Saint Graal, ou le Joseph d'Arimathie, première branche des
11. ^ "Excalibur et les mystères de la table ronde" . Europe 1. 6
romans de la Table ronde. T1 / Publié d'après des textes et des
April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023.
documents inédits par Eugène Hucher . Archived from the
Retrieved 2 June 2023.
original on 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
12. ^ Brian Frykenberg (2006). "Myrddin". In John T. Koch (ed.).
67. ^ Sauer, Michelle M. (24 September 2015). Gender in Medieval
Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-
Culture . Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4411-8694-2.
Clio. p. 1326.
68. ^ Consoli, Joseph P. (4 July 2013). The Novellino or One
13. ^ a b c d Dames, Michael. Merlin and Wales: A Magician's
Hundred Ancient Tales: An Edition and Translation based on the
Landscape, 2004. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28496-2
1525 Gualteruzzi editio princeps . Routledge.
14. ^ Welsh Dictionary. Collins Gem. HarperCollins. 2009. ISBN 9781136511059 – via Google Books.
ISBN 978-0-00-728959-2.
69. ^ Martin, Joanna; Wingfield, Emily (16 June 2017). Premodern
15. ^ Weiss, Adelaide Marie (16 March 1970). Merlin in German Scotland: Literature and Governance 1420-1587 . Oxford
Literature: A Study of the Merlin Legend in German Literature University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-109148-3. Archived from the
from Medieval Beginnings to the End of Romanticism . AMS original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
Press. ISBN 9780404502232. Archived from the original on 16
70. ^ Boyd, James (15 April 1936). "Ulrich Füetrer's Parzival:
March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023 – via Google Books.
Material and Sources" . Society for the study of mediæval
16. ^ Rhys, John. Hibbert Lectures. p. 168. languages and literature – via Google Books.

17. ^ a b Koch, Celtic Culture, p. 321. 71. ^ Nutt, Alfred (13 February 2019). Studies on the Legend of the
Holy Grail . The Folk-Lore Society. ISBN 9783749406272.
18. ^ Delamarre, Xavier (2021), Noms de lieux celtiques de l'Europe
Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June
ancienne, Errance, Paris (in French).
2023 – via Project Gutenberg.
19. ^ Claude Sterckx, Dieux d'eau : Apollons celtes et gaulois.
72. ^ Bryant, Nigel (2004). The Legend of the Grail . Boydell &
Bruxelles, Société belge d'études celtiques, 1996 (ISBN 2-
Brewer. ISBN 9781843840060. Archived from the original on
87285-050-3), p. 44.
2023-11-05. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
20. ^ Walter, Philippe (1 January 2015). Dictionnaire de mythologie
73. ^ Calkin, Siobhain Bly (2013). Saracens and the Making of
arthurienne . Editions Imago. ISBN 9782849528501.
English Identity: The Auchinleck Manuscript . Routledge.
Archived from the original on 5 November 2023. Retrieved
ISBN 978-1-135-47171-2.
8 June 2023 – via Google Books.
74. ^ Brinkley, Roberta Florence (13 August 2014). Arthurian
21. ^ Markale, Jean (1 January 1985). Lancelot et la chevalerie
Legend in the Seventeenth Century . Routledge.
arthurienne . Editions Imago. ISBN 9782849522790.
ISBN 9781317656890 – via Google Books.
Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June
2023 – via Google Books. 75. ^ Thornton, T. (2006). Prophecy, Politics and the People in Early
Modern England . Boydell. ISBN 978-1-84383-259-1.
22. ^ Berthet, Jean-Charles (1999). Le devin maudit: Merlin,
Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June
Lailoken, Suibhne : Textes et étude . ELLUG. ISBN 978-2-
2023.
84310-018-5. Archived from the original on 2024-04-04.
Retrieved 2024-04-04. 76. ^ Cooper, John P. D. (8 June 2003). Propaganda and the Tudor
State: Political Culture in the Westcountry . Clarendon Press.
23. ^ Jean-Charles Berthet, "Merlin et saint Martin ou les chemins
ISBN 978-0-19-926387-5. Archived from the original on 3
qui ne mènent pas à Rome". Mémoire de maîtrise de littérature
June 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023 – via Google Books.
du Moyen Âge sous la direction de Philippe Walter, Université
Stendhal, Bibliothèque de Lettres, 1992. 77. ^ Davies, Jonathan Ceredig (8 June 1911). "Folk-lore of West
and Mid-Wales" . Printed at the "Welsh gazette" offices.
24. ^ Phillips, Graham (12 October 2005). Merlin and the Discovery
Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 3 June
of Avalon in the New World . Simon and Schuster.
2023 – via Google Books.
ISBN 9781591439011. Archived from the original on 16 March
2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023 – via Google Books. 78. ^ "What are Merlin's Prophecies?" . 9 June 2021. Archived
from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 17 September
25. ^ a b c d e f g Berthelot, Anne (17 January 2014). "Merlin
2023.
magicien ?". Magie et illusion au Moyen Âge . Senefiance.
Presses universitaires de Provence. pp. 51–64. 79. ^ "Arthur and Gawain - Robbins Library Digital Projects" .
ISBN 9782821836143. Archived from the original on 2 June rochester.edu. Archived from the original on 19 November
2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via OpenEdition Books. 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.

26. ^ Ashe, Geoffrey. The Discovery of Arthur, Owl Books, 1987. 80. ^ Berthelot, Anne (2000). "Merlin and the Ladies of the Lake".
Arthuriana. 10 (1): 55–81. ISSN 1078-6279 .
27. ^ Bibliographical Bulletin of the Arthurian Society Vol. LIX
JSTOR 27869521 .
(2007). Page 108, item 302.
81. ^ a b Miller, Barbara D. (2000). "The Spanish 'Viviens' of "El
28. ^ Goodrich, Peter H. (June 2004). Merlin: A Casebook .
baladro del sabio Merlín" and "Benjamín Jarnés's Viviana y
Routledge. ISBN 1135583390.
Merlín": From Femme Fatale to Femme Vitale". Arthuriana. 10
29. ^ "Building Stonehenge" . English Heritage. Archived from (1): 82–93. doi:10.1353/art.2000.0035 . JSTOR 27869522 .
the original on 2020-03-31. Retrieved 2020-01-12. S2CID 162352301 .

30. ^ Young, Francis (3 March 2022). Magic in Merlin's Realm: A 82. ^ Goodrich, Merlin: A Casebook, p. 149–150.
History of Occult Politics in Britain . Cambridge University
83. ^ Roussineau, Gilles (15 March 1987). Le roman de
Press. ISBN 9781316512401.
Perceforest . Librairie Droz. ISBN 9782600026116. Archived
31. ^ The Arthur of the Welsh: The Arthurian Legend in Medieval from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023 –
Welsh Literature . University of Wales Press. 15 October 2020. via Google Books.
ISBN 9781786837349. Archived from the original on 16 March
84. ^ Mangle, Josh (1 May 2018). "Echoes of Legend: Magic as the
2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023 – via Google Books.
Bridge Between a Pagan Past and a Christian Future in Sir
32. ^ Goodrich, Peter H. (June 2004). Merlin: A Casebook . Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur" . Graduate Theses.
Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-58340-8. Archived from the Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved
original on 2023-07-07. Retrieved 2023-07-07. 15 May 2019.

33. ^ Marshall, Emily (1848). The Rose, or Affection's Gift . Boston 85. ^ Haight, Gordon S. (18 June 1992). George Eliot's Originals and
Public Library. New York, N.Y. : D. Appleton & Co. Contemporaries: Essays in Victorian Literary History and
Biography . Springer. ISBN 9781349126507. Archived from
34. ^ "WHEN I INTERVIEWED MARK CHORVINSKY - REMEMBERING
the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023 – via
A MUCH-MISSED FORTEAN AND FRIEND" . 17 October 2020.
Google Books.
Archived from the original on 2023-11-05. Retrieved
2023-10-11. 86. ^ University of California, Los Angeles (15 March 1970). Viator.
Medieval and Renaissance Studies . University of California
35. ^ Lloyd-Morgan, Ceridwen; Poppe, Erich (2019). Arthur in the
Press. ISBN 9780520031364. Archived from the original on 15
Celtic Languages: The Arthurian Legend in Celtic Literatures
March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023 – via Google Books.
and Traditions . University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-1-78683-
344-0. 87. ^ "The enchanted wood" . Sydney Morning Herald. 26 March
2005. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012.
36. ^ Tolstoy, Nikolai (1985). The Quest for Merlin. Hamish
Retrieved 7 July 2018.
Hamilton. ISBN 0-241-11356-3.[page needed]
88. ^ Lacy, Norris J. (2010). Lancelot-Grail: Lancelot, pt. I . Boydell
37. ^ Curley, Michael, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Cengage Gale, 1994,
& Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84384-226-2.
p. 115.
89. ^ a b c Griffin, Miranda (2015). Transforming Tales: Rewriting
38. ^ Gough-Cooper, Henry (2012). "Annales Cambriae, from Saint
Metamorphosis in Medieval French Literature . Oxford
Patrick to AD 682: Texts A, B & C in Parallel Archived 2013-
University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-968698-8.
05-15 at the Wayback Machine". The Heroic Age, Issue 15
(October 2012). 90. ^ Bogdanow, Fanni (1966). The Romance of the Grail: A Study of
the Structure and Genesis of a Thirteenth-century Arthurian
39. ^ Bromwich, Rachel (15 November 2014). Trioedd Ynys Prydein:
Prose Romance . Manchester University Press. p. 54 .
The Triads of the Island of Britain . University of Wales Press.
ISBN 9781783161461 – via Google Books. 91. ^ Larrington, Carolyne. "The Enchantress, the Knight and the
Cleric: Authorial Surrogates in Arthurian Romance' " .
40. ^ Wheatley, Henry Benjamin (15 March 1865). "Merlin; Or, The
Archived from the original on 2021-08-13. Retrieved
Early History of King Arthur: A Prose Romance (about 1450-
2018-07-03. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires
1460 A.D.)" . Early English Text Society. Archived from the
|journal= (help)
original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023 – via
Google Books. 92. ^ Goodrich, Merlin: A Casebook, p. 168.

41. ^ Lawrence-Mathers, A. (2020) [2012]. "Chapter 6: A Demonic 93. ^ Paton, Lucy Allen (9 November 1903). "Studies in the fairy
Heritage". The True History of Merlin the Magician. Yale mythology of Arthurian romance" . Boston, Ginn & Co. – via
University Press. ISBN 978-0300253085. Internet Archive.

42. ^ Goodrich, Peter H. (22 June 2004). Merlin: A Casebook . 94. ^ a b Ashe, Geoffrey (2008). Merlin, the Prophet and his History.
Routledge. ISBN 9781135583408. Archived from the original Sutton. ISBN 978-0-7509-4149-5.
on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023 – via Google Books.
95. ^ "Merlin's Mount, Marlborough, Wiltshire" . The Northern
43. ^ Markale, Jean (1 June 1995). Merlin: Priest of Nature . Simon Antiquarian. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1
and Schuster. ISBN 9781620554500. Archived from the March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023 – via Google
96. ^ a b "Merlin | Robbins Library Digital Projects" .
Books.
d.lib.rochester.edu. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019.
44. ^ Johnson, F.F. (2012). Origins of Arthurian Romances: Early Retrieved 4 July 2019.
Sources for the Legends of Tristan, the Grail and the Abduction
97. ^ Merlin: Knowledge and Power through the Ages - Stephen
of the Queen . McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 96.
Knight - Google Books . Cornell University Press. 18 October
ISBN 978-0-7864-9234-3. Archived from the original on
2018. ISBN 9781501732928. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
2023-06-04. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
98. ^ Doherty, John J. (1999). " 'A land shining with goodness':
45. ^ Koch, J.T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A-Celti . Celtic Culture: A
Magic and Religion in Stephen R. Lawhead's "Taliesin, Merlin,
Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-85109-
and Arthur" " . Arthuriana. 9 (1): 57–66.
440-0. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved
doi:10.1353/art.1999.0063 . JSTOR 27869422 .
5 June 2023.
S2CID 161452366 . Archived from the original on 2023-06-
46. ^ "Vision de Galaad, Perceval et Bohort" . BnF Essentiels (in 05. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
French). Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved
99. ^ Goodrich, Peter (1992). "The New Age Mage: Merlin as
5 June 2023.
Contemporary Occult Icon" . Journal of the Fantastic in the
47. ^ Philippe Walter, "Merlin, le loup et saint Blaise". Mediaevistik Arts. 5 (1 (17)): 42–73. JSTOR 43308138 . Archived from the
11 (1998). original on 2023-06-02. Retrieved 2023-06-02.

48. ^ "The Birth of Merlin" . University of Rochester Robbins 100. ^ Zussa, Gaëlle (1 June 2009). "Gaëlle Zussa, Merlin.
Library Digital Projects. Archived from the original on 19 June Rémanences contemporaines d'un personnage littéraire
2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019. médiéval dans la production culturelle francophone (fin xxe
siècle et début xxie siècle) : origines et pouvoirs" .
49. ^ a b c Loomis, Roger Sherman (1927). Celtic Myth and Arthurian
Perspectives médiévales. Revue d'épistémologie des langues et
Romance . Columbia University Press.
littératures du Moyen Âge (33). doi:10.4000/peme.2803 .
50. ^ "Arthur and the Sword in the Stone" . University of Rochester Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June
Robbins Library Digital Projects. Archived from the original on 2023 – via journals.openedition.org.
19 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
[dead link]
101. ^ [1]
51. ^ The Arthur of the French: The Arthurian Legend in Medieval
102. ^ "The Story of Merlin and the Demons who made him" . 4
French and Occitan Literature . University of Wales Press.
October 2020. Archived from the original on 23 September
2020. ISBN 978-1-78683-743-1.
2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
52. ^ "Prose Merlin" . University of Rochester Robbins Library
103. ^ "Gallery: Royal Mail: Stamps from magical realms" . The
Digital Projects. Archived from the original on 19 June 2019.
Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018.
Retrieved 19 June 2019.
Retrieved 22 September 2022.
53. ^ "September: Bristol Merlin update | News and features |
104. ^ "United Kingdom: Last gold and silver Proof coins in "Mythical
University of Bristol" . Archived from the original on 2021-
Legends" series concludes with sorceress Morgan le Fay | Coin
09-10. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
Update" . Archived from the original on 2023-09-27.
54. ^ Griffin, M. (2015). Transforming Tales: Rewriting Retrieved 2023-09-27.
Metamorphosis in Medieval French Literature . Oxford
105. ^ "Trilobites" . Archived from the original on 2023-12-21.
University Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-19-968698-8. Archived
Retrieved 2023-10-22.
from the original on 2023-06-05. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
106. ^ "How trilobites conquered prehistoric oceans" . National
History Museum cite. Archived from the original on 13 October
2023.
ab

Bibliography
Goodrich, Peter H. (2004). Merlin: A Casebook. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-58340-8.

Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0.

External links

Merlin: Texts, Images, Basic Information Archived 2010-08-27 at the Wayback Machine, Wikiquote has
Camelot Project at the University of Rochester. Numerous texts and art concerning Merlin quotations related to
Merlin.
Timeless Myths: The Many Faces of Merlin Archived 2011-01-09 at the Wayback Machine
Wikimedia Commons
has media related to
BBC audio file Archived 2018-11-09 at the Wayback Machine of the "Merlin" episode of In Merlin (legendary
Our Time figure).

Merlin — The Legend Archived 2023-05-20 at the Wayback Machine, a Chronicle Wikisource has original
text related to this
documentary on YouTube article:
Merlin
Prose Merlin, Introduction Archived 2004-03-04 at the Wayback Machine and Text
Archived 2004-04-06 at the Wayback Machine (the University of Rochester TEAMS Middle English text series) edited by
John Conlea, 1998. A selection of many passages of the prose Middle English translation of the Vulgate Merlin with connecting
summary. The sections from "The Birth of Merlin to "Arthur and the Sword in the Stone" cover Robert de Boron's Merlin

Of Arthour and of Merlin Archived 2021-11-06 at the Wayback Machine translated and retold in modern English prose, the
story from Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland MS Advocates 19.2.1 (the Auchinleck MS) (from the Middle English of the
Early English Text Society edition: O D McCrae-Gibson, 1973, Of Arthour and of Merlin, 2 vols, EETS and Oxford University
Press)

Phillip Walter (ed.), LE DEVIN MAUDIT Merlin, Lailoken, Suibhne — Textes et études Archived 2023-10-07 at the Wayback
Machine by Philippe Walter, Christine Bord, Jean-Charles Berthet and Nathalie Stalmans. Moyen Âge européen, 1999. Earliest
Merlin texts and studies on them, available to read for free at OpenEdition Books (in French)

Last edited 7 days ago by Sumanuil

RELATED ARTICLES

Myrddin Wyllt
Welsh poet and astrologer (b. 540 CE)

Lancelot-Grail
13th-century French Arthurian literary cycle

Merlin (Robert de Boron poem)

French epic poem

Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted.

Terms of Use • Privacy policy • Desktop