Merlin the Magician
...he different stories. Although, some have been given to us in the same manner over and over. For instance, Merlin’s birth, usually takes the same form to a degree. Merlin was said to be the illegitimate son of a royal princess. Merlin’s father was an angel who had visited the princess and left her with a child. “According to legend, Merlin was begotten by an incubus, an evil spirit that has intercourse with sleeping women” (angelfire 4). Merlin was supposed to be evil, but was baptized at an early age to prevent this from happening (angelfire 4). Even as an infant Merlin showed signs of having an evil spirit within. He saved the life of his mother from her enemies, and displayed his prophetic gifts by proclaiming the dark family secrets of those who accused his mother of sorcery. At this time Vortigen was king of Britain. The king was having difficulty trying to build a stone tower on some ground surrounded by a lake that was going to be the tower’s defensive moat. Every night the tower would shake and cast down all the stones that had been placed the day before. Vortigen talked with his advisors. They told him that it would be necessary to bathe the foundation of the tower in the freshly spilled blood of a child that never had a father. Vortigen’s men then went out in search of a child fitting this description. The men discovered Merlin as he was being laughed at by another group of boys. These boys would not play with Merlin because he did not have a father. This was perfect timing to say the least. The men took this as a sign that they had found the boy they were looking for. Merlin used his powers to tell Vortigen the problem was in a pool where a red and white dragon lived. The red dragon represented the Britons, and the white dragons represented the Saxons. The dragons fought and the white dragon won at first, but then the red dragons drove the white ones back. Merlin used his powers of prophecy to determine that this meant Vortigen would be killed and followed on the throne by Ambrosius Aurelianus, then Uther, and then even a greater leader, King Arthur. As Merlin predicted Vortigen was killed and Ambrosius took the throne. Later, 460 British nobles were killed at a peace conference, as a result of Saxon trickery. Ambrosias consulted Merlin about erecting a suitable memorial to them. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Merlin, along with Uther, led an expedition to Ireland to retrieve the stones of the Giant’s Ring. Merlin used his powers to bring the stones back to a sight, and re-erected them around the mass grave of the British nobles. (142-143) We now call this place Stonehenge. This tale indicates how highly Merlin was regarded as a worker of magic. Uther then fell in love with Ygerna, the beautiful wife of the Duke of Cornwall. Uther had Merlin change his appearance to resemble the duke. He then made love to Ygerna. On the same night the duke died, and Arthur was conceived. At birth the baby was given to Merlin, who put him in a foster home. After Arthur proved his royal blood by drawing the sword from the stone, Merlin informed Arthur of his royal origins and helped him attain the throne. For years Merlin continued to act as an advisor to Arthur, as he had done for Uther. Merlin quickly vanished from Camelot and was never again seen. There are various accounts of what happened. The most popular states that Merlin was seduced and betrayed by a beautiful Lady of the Lake. She first tricked Merlin into teaching her magic, then cast him into a...