Merlin

I

Introduction

Merlin, one of the major figures in Arthurian legend. Merlin is a magician who protects and counsels the young King Arthur.

II

Legend

Information about Merlin’s life varies widely from story to story in the body of Arthurian legend. In one version, he is conceived when his father, an incubus (male demon), lies with his mother, a nun at Carmarthen in southwestern Wales, while she is asleep. Some early tales portray Merlin as a warrior who goes insane after a battle, gains the gift of prophecy, and flees to spend his life in the Caledonian Forest in Scotland. Most later versions of Arthurian legend present Merlin as an aged magician whose life is marked by marvelous deeds and experiences.

According to tradition, Merlin arranges for the conception of Arthur when King Uther Pendragon of Britain falls in love with Ygraine, a married woman. Merlin transforms Uther into the likeness of Ygraine’s husband, so that he may lie with her. Arthur is then conceived. After Arthur is born, Merlin takes him and gives him to a man named Hector to be raised as a commoner. After Uther dies, Merlin notifies the barons of Britain that God has established a test to determine the successor to the throne. In front of a cathedral has appeared a large stone topped with an anvil, in which a sword is embedded. The rightful king will be able to withdraw the sword. Only Arthur can do so, and he becomes king. In several Arthurian tales, Merlin’s demise comes about when others use magic to entrap him.

III

Literary Treatment

The name Merlin or Merlinus first occurs in British legend in Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain, 1136?) by Welsh writer Geoffrey of Monmouth. Geoffrey includes a long series of prophecies supposedly uttered by Merlin; these are known as the Prophetiae Merlini. Anglo-Norman poet Wace translated Geoffrey’s text into French as Roman de Brut (Story of Brutus, 1155). Before the end of the 1100s, French writer Robert de Boron produced the poem Merlin. A prose version of Boron’s poem appeared during the early 1200s. This prose version and a lengthy sequel constitute the Estoire de Merlin (Story of Merlin) of the Vulgate Cycle, a series of tales written in French from 1215 to 1235. The prose version is also found in the 13th-century romance known as the Suite du Merlin.

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The Suite du Merlin served as one of the major sources for Le morte d’Arthur (The Death of Arthur, 1469-1470) by English writer Sir Thomas Malory. In Malory’s work, Merlin becomes infatuated with the enchantress Nimuë (known in some works as the Lady of the Lake), who buries him under a great rock from which he cannot escape. Another version of Merlin’s demise is that he becomes entangled in the branches of a thorn bush from which his voice may still occasionally be heard. This episode inspired Alfred, Lord Tennyson in his series of poems Idylls of the King (1859-1885). Merlin is the focus of the narrative poem Merlin (1917) by American writer Edwin Arlington Robinson. The magician also plays an important role in the series of books The Once and Future King (1938-1958) by English writer T. H. White, in which Merlin appears as Arthur’s tutor.

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