Merlin Reads., (Duncan, 2019).
Merlin has always held a central position in the wizard tradition and has had countless differing versions: Wildman, Wonder Child, Prophet, Poet, Counsellor, Wizard and Lover. In his various versions, he often represents vastly different religious, political and philosophical beliefs. Merlin emerged from the merging of traditions and cultures to denote the prototype of the wise man and prophet. He is also a tutor and counsellor to kings such as King Arthur (Riga, 2008). However, he has also always been an ambiguous character, never quite good or evil.
Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote some of the most influential works of Merlin in the twelfth century: The Prophecies of Merlin (1135), The History of the Kings of Britain (1135-8) and the Vita Merlini (1150). Merlin was inspired by the Welsh folk legends of Myrrdin, a Welsh King who becomes insane after a battle (Riga, 2008). He is a powerful divinator and becomes the counsellor to Aurelius and Uther Pendragon. He brings Stonehenge from Ireland and disguises Uther with his magic as the husband of Igerne to allow the birth of Arthur. In the Vita Merlini, Merlin is king himself but becomes mad and hides in the forest after which he gradually regains his sanity and studies astrology and makes prophecies (Riga, 2008). Geoffrey introduces many themes that stick with Merlin’s subsequent versions: that he is the son of a demon, him being a child prodigy, his powers to prophesize, and his role as a powerful counsellor. Merlin’s tales were later popularised in the French Romance tradition where Robert de Boron wrote another influential work simply titled Merlin in which the wizard can shapeshift and is incorporated into the Christian tradition as an envoy of God (Riga, 2008). Merlin now has a pious mother who baptises him, giving him the powers of both demons and God to see the future and the past. Merlin is the one who begins to build the Round Table and who chooses the knights of the Grail. He also puts the sword in the stone.
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