Biography of merlin the magician

Who was the historical Merlin?

Merlin the Magician has remained an enthralling and curious individual since he was first introduced in the twelfth century though the pages of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae.  But although the Merlin of literature and Arthurian myth is well known, Merlin the "historical" figure and his relation to medieval magic are less familiar. In this book Anne Lawrence-Mathers explores just who he was and what he has meant to Britain.

The historical Merlin was no rough magician: he was a learned figure from the cutting edge of medieval science and adept in astrology, cosmology, prophecy, and natural magic, as well as being a seer and a proto-alchemist. His powers were convincingly real—and useful, for they helped to add credibility to the "long-lost" history of Britain which first revealed them to a European public. Merlin’s prophecies reassuringly foretold Britain’s path, establishing an ancient ancestral line and linking biblical prophecy with more recent times. Merlin helped to put British history into world history.

Lawrence-Mathers also explores the meaning of Merlin’s magic across the centuries, arguing that he embodied ancient Christian and pagan magical traditions, recreated for a medieval court and shaped to fit a new moral framework. Linking Merlin’s reality and power with the culture of the Middle Ages, this remarkable book reveals the true impact of the most famous magician of all time.

Merlin, also known as Myrddin Wyllt, Merlin Caledonensis, or Merlin Sylvestrus lived from about 540 to August 584. He is a figure from Welsh legend who served as a bard before ending his days as a madman, prophet and mystic in the forests of Tweeddale in the Scottish Borders. The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set out in our Historical Timeline.

Merlin is, of course, best known from his role in the Arthurian Legends. These started with Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae or "History of the Kings of Britain", completed in 1138. They have since taken such a hold on popular imagination that separating the fragments of history from the many layers of legend is no easy task. What seems clear, however, is that King Arthur's Merlin as described by Geoffrey of Monmouth was a combination of two separate historical characters. One was our Myrddin Wyllt, and the second was Ambrosius Aurelianus, a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 400s. The result of this merger was the wizard "Merlin Ambrosius".

The real Merlin, Myrddin Wyllt, was born in about 540 and had a twin sister called Gwendydd. He served as a bard to Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio, a Brythonic or British king who ruled Arfderydd, a kingdom including parts of what are now Scotland and England in the area around Carlisle. Gwenddoleu was killed in the Battle of Arfderydd, near modern Longtown, in 573 during a defeat by King Rhydderch Hael of Strathclyde. An alternative legend places the death of Gwenddoleu at the Battle of Arderyth, or the Battle of Airdrie, in 577. In this version Merlin was awarded a golden torc for his recording of the battle, possibly by King Rhydderch Hael, and he then spent time at the king's fortress at Dumbarton Castle. It is said that

Who was the historical Merlin?

The historical Merlin was no rough magician: he was a learned figure from the cutting edge of medieval science and adept in astrology, cosmology, prophecy, and natural magic, as well as being a seer and a proto-alchemist. His powers were convincingly real--and useful, for they helped to add credibility to the "long-lost" history of Britain which first revealed them to a European public. Merlin's prophecies reassuringly foretold Britain's path, establishing an ancient ancestral line and linking biblical prophecy with more recent times. Merlin helped to put British history into world history.

Lawrence-Mathers also explores the meaning of Merlin's magic across the centuries, arguing that he embodied ancient Christian and pagan magical traditions, recreated for a medieval court and shaped to fit a new moral framework. Linking Merlin's reality and power with the culture of the Middle Ages, this remarkable book reveals the true impact of the most famous magician of all time.

Legendary Welsh wizard

For the bird species, see Merlin (bird). For other uses, see Merlin (disambiguation).

"Merlyn" redirects here. For other uses, see Merlyn (disambiguation).

Fictional character

Merlin (Welsh: Myrddin, Cornish: Merdhyn, Breton: Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a magician, with several other main roles. The familiar depiction of Merlin, based on an amalgamation of historical and legendary figures, was introduced by the 12th-century Catholic cleric 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 Ambrosius, two legendary Briton prophets with no connection to Arthur, to form the composite figure that he called Merlinus Ambrosius. His rendering of the character became immediately popular, especially in Wales. 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. His most notable abilities co