The Real Merlin

Sketch by Gustave Doré (1832-1883, France).

Merlin is mostly regarded as a legendary figure associated with Welsh literature & King Arthur and the infamous round table. All of it relates to Arthurian legend, especially the part of him being a sorcerer. Though Merlin’s name has been around for almost nine-hundred years. He clearly was a real person, but who was he?

Merlin is first mentioned in Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain, written by Geoffrey of Monmouth, 1136) as “Myrddin”. His name was changed to the Latin “Merlinus” some years later to avoid confusion with the Anglo-Norman (later French) word for “shit”, merde. Thus, we now have the name Merlin.

Merlin is regarded as a man who gave wisdom to four successive British kings. According to Geoffrey, Merlin became a madman after witnessing the horrors of war, then escaped to the woods where he learned to speak to animals and became a Wild Man of the Woods. He was also described as the son of a mortal nun and a demon/incubus, making Merlin a paradox as he was the son of Satan and a servant of God. However, throughout any of Geoffrey’s writings involving Merlin, he is never mentioned as part of Arthur’s life.

So much is unknown about Merlin, and his ‘magic’ is certainly questioned. All we have today are many different stories and accounts that each describe a different side of Merlin, or perhaps completely different Merlins altogether. Though it is quite possible he was a real man and just a servant to a king during the British invading wars against Britons (before the year 1000), or he was just as fictional as Harry Potter.