The Wizard Merlin: description, history, legend and interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The Wizard Merlin belongs to the British legend cycle. He is known as the mentor of King Arthur, and before that his father, King Uther. According to one legend, after the death of Arthur, the Saxons captured Britain. The wizard cursed them, prophesying the fall of the White Dragon (the symbol of the conquerors). In history, this happened when William the Conqueror killed the last king of the Saxons, Harold, at the Battle of Hastings. Later, the descendants of the Celts, the Welsh, were able to regain royal power in the person of the Tudors. Thus, the curse of Merlin, which will be discussed in the article, was fulfilled.

Meaning of name

Researchers identify two main directions regarding the name that the wizard wore. Merlin in Welsh means the name of the fortress, which was called Carmarthen, or from the British Moridanon, that is, "sea fortress".

BIn Latin, the name Merlin referred to the name of birds that belong to the order of falcons. In Celtic legends, he was identified with the patron of the forest, and it was believed that he could command forest animals and take on their appearance.

Origin

The life and birth of a wizard are shrouded in myths. There is a legend according to which the future wizard was the illegitimate son of a king and a witch. According to this version, he was Morgana's older brother.

According to a similar legend, he was the son of an ordinary woman and a wizard. From childhood, he mastered magical abilities and could obey birds and animals. Everyone learned about his abilities as a wizard after he pacified two dragons at the request of King Vortigern.

According to one of the legends of Christian times, his mother was a very pure and kind girl, in whose soul there was no place for evil. The devil wanted to take possession of her, but could not find a way until one day the girl was angry with her sister, who had a bad temper. At that moment, the girl opened her soul to darkness, and the devil was able to take possession of her. During pregnancy, the girl prayed for her child, and immediately after his birth she christened the child with the priest Blaise. This destroyed all the evil in the boy, but retained extraordinary abilities in him. This is how the wizard Merlin was born.

Connecting with Arthur

From the collected works about Merlin it is known that the wizard was the mentor of Arthur, the future king of Britain. The boy was the son of King Uther and Lady Igraine. The wizard Merlin helped Uther to trick Igraine into taking possession of the newborn Arthur.

When the young man was sixteen years old, the mentor advised Arthur to take part in the competition to extract the sword from the stone. Tradition said that whoever drew the sword could unite Britain. Arthur succeeded. A little later, the Lady of the Lake, who was summoned by the wizard, gave Arthur a special sword - Excalibur.

Death of a wizard

Not only the birth, but also the death of a wizard is shrouded in myths. One of the legends tells that the wizard Merlin, whose story is described, was immersed in eternal sleep by the spell of the evil sorceress Morgana. However, he can still wake up someday. According to another version, the same Morgan imprisoned the wizard in an oak tree, where his death came.

There is a legend that Merlin was tricked by the Lady of the Lake and imprisoned in a magical column of air.

First mention of the wizard

In today's culture, few people don't know who Merlin is. The wizard, whose films are broadcast all over the world, is first mentioned as Merlin Ambrosius in Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain. The work was created in the twelfth century and became the main source for the formation of the mythological cycle of Britain.

There is an image of a magician in the Italian Novellinos of the thirteenth century. But he is more fully described in the work "The Death of Arthur" by Sir Thomas Malory of the second half of the fifteenth century.

Cinema look

The image of a wizard from Britainmentioned since the Middle Ages. He has retained his popularity in modern science fiction, including cinema. In some stories, Merlin is presented as a wise old man, in others they make a comical character out of him. What movie about the wizard Merlin is worth watching?

List of the best films:

• The 1953 Knights of the Round Table is based on popular legends about King Arthur and his knights. Merlin is played by Felix Aylmer. In 1954, the picture was nominated for the Grand Prix of the Cannes Film Festival.
• "The Great Merlin" 1998. In the television mini-series, the role of the wizard is the main one, played by Sam Neill. According to the plot, Merlin fights with the mistress of all magical Mab, who raised him as a strong leader. She hoped that he would bring people back to paganism. But the wizard directed all his knowledge and strength to fight Mab.
• 2004's King Arthur features Merlin (played by Stephen Dillane) as a druid and leader of the Picts. He leads the Roman general Lucius Artorius Castos to the idea that he should defend his second homeland (by mother) from the Saxons.
• The Last Legion 2007 tells the story of the last days of the Roman Empire. By the end of the film, it turns out that the last emperor, Romulus, turns out to be Arthur's father, and Ambrose, played by Ben Kingsley, is Merlin.
• 2008's Merlin and the Last Dragon tells of the time when the Roman Empire leaves the British provinces and internecine wars begin. There are times of violence, mythical creatures and the wizard Merlin, whose role was played bySimon Lloyd Roberts.

• The television series "Merlin" 2008-2012 tells the story of Merlin's life and his relationship with Arthur. The project was created by the famous British channel BBC. The main role went to Colin Morgan. The series was such a big success that it ran for five seasons.
• The 2011 television series Camelot, consisting of a pilot episode and one season, tells the story of Merlin's attempt to save Camelot after the death of Uther and his struggle with his half-sister Morgana. Merlin was played by Joseph Fiennes.

In addition to these pictures, there are many works in which Merlin the Magician is present: the Once Upon a Time series, the Transformers animated series and many others. Movies about Merlin are designed for viewers of different ages.