MERLIN
MERLIN was the son of no mortal father, but of an Incubus, one of a
class of beings not absolutely wicked, but far from good, who inhabit
the regions of the air. Merlin’s mother was a virtuous young woman, who,
on the birth of her son, intrusted him to a priest, who hurried him to
the baptismal fount, and so saved him from sharing the lot of his
father, though he retained many marks of his unearthly origin.
At this time Vortigern reigned in Britain. He was a usurper, who had
caused the death of his sovereign, Moines, and driven the two brothers
of the late king, whose names were Uther and Pendragon, into banishment.
Vortigern, who lived in constant fear of the return of the rightful
heirs of the kingdom, began to erect a strong tower for defence. The
edifice, when brought by the workmen to a certain height, three times
fell to the ground, without any apparent cause. The king consulted his
astrologers on this wonderful event, and learned from them that it would
be necessary to bathe the corner-stone of the foundation with the blood
of a child born without a mortal father.
In search of such an infant, Vortigern sent his messengers all over the
kingdom, and they by accident discovered Merlin, whose lineage seemed to
point him out as the individual wanted. They took him to the king; but
Merlin, young as he was, explained to the king the absurdity of
attempting to rescue the fabric by such means, for he told him the true
cause of the instability of the tower was its being placed over the den
of two immense dragons, whose combats shook the earth above them. The
king ordered his workmen to dig beneath the tower, and when they had
done so they discovered two enormous serpents, the one white as milk,
the other red as fire. The multitude looked on with amazement, till the
serpents, slowly rising from their den, and expanding their enormous
folds, began the combat, when every one fled in terror, except Merlin,
who stood by clapping his hands and cheering on the conflict. The red
dragon was slain, and the white one, gliding through a cleft in the
rock, disappeared.
These animals typified, as Merlin afterwards explained, the invasion of
Uther and Pendragon, the rightful princes, who soon after landed with a
great army. Vortigern was defeated, and afterwards burned alive in the
castle he had taken such pains to construct. On the death of Vortigern,
Pendragon ascended the throne. Merlin became his chief adviser, and
often assisted the king by his magical arts.
“Merlin, who knew the range of all their arts,
Had built the King his havens, ships and halls.”
—_Vivian._
Among other endowments, he had the power of transforming himself into
any shape he pleased. At one time he appeared as a dwarf, at others as a
damsel, a page, or even a greyhound or a stag. This faculty he often
employed for the service of the king, and sometimes also for the
diversion of the court and the sovereign.
Merlin continued to be a favorite counsellor through the reigns of
Pendragon, Uther, and Arthur, and at last disappeared from view, and was
no more found among men, through the treachery of his mistress, Viviane,
the Fairy, which happened in this wise.
Merlin, having become enamoured of the fair Viviane, the Lady of the
Lake, was weak enough to impart to her various important secrets of his
art, being impelled by fatal destiny, of which he was at the same time
fully aware. The lady, however, was not content with his devotion,
unbounded as it seems to have been, but “cast about,” the Romance tells
us, how she might “detain him for evermore,” and one day addressed him
in these terms: “Sir, I would that we should make a fair place and a
suitable, so contrived by art and by cunning that it might never be
undone, and that you and I should be there in joy and solace.” “My
lady,” said Merlin, “I will do all this.” “Sir,” said she, “I would not
have you do it, but you shall teach me, and I will do it, and then it
will be more to my mind.” “I grant you this,” said Merlin. Then he began
to devise, and the damsel put it all in writing. And when he had devised
the whole, then had the damsel full great joy, and showed him greater
semblance of love than she had ever before made, and they sojourned
together a long while. At length it fell out that, as they were going
one day hand in hand through the forest of Brécéliande, they found a
bush of white-thorn, which was laden with flowers; and they seated
themselves under the shade of this white-thorn, upon the green grass,
and Merlin laid his head upon the damsel’s lap, and fell asleep. Then
the damsel rose, and made a ring with her wimple round the bush, and
round Merlin, and began her enchantments, such as he himself had taught
her; and nine times she made the ring, and nine times she made the
enchantment, and then she went and sat down by him, and placed his head
again upon her lap.
“And a sleep
Fell upon Merlin more like death, so deep
Her finger on her lips; then Vivian rose,
And from her brown-locked head the wimple throws,
And takes it in her hand and waves it over
The blossomed thorn tree and her sleeping lover.
Nine times she waved the fluttering wimple round,
And made a little plot of magic ground.”
—_Matthew Arnold._
And when he awoke, and looked round him, it seemed to him that he was
enclosed in the strongest tower in the world, and laid upon a fair bed.
Then said he to the dame: “My lady, you have deceived me, unless you
abide with me, for no one hath power to unmake this tower but you
alone.” She then promised she would be often there, and in this she held
her covenant with him. And Merlin never went out of that tower where his
Mistress Viviane had enclosed him; but she entered and went out again
when she listed.
After this event Merlin was never more known to hold converse with any
mortal but Viviane, except on one occasion. Arthur, having for some time
missed him from his court, sent several of his knights in search of him,
and, among the number, Sir Gawain, who met with a very unpleasant
adventure while engaged in this quest. Happening to pass a damsel on his
road, and neglecting to salute her, she revenged herself for his
incivility by transforming him into a hideous dwarf. He was bewailing
aloud his evil fortune as he went through the forest of Brécéliande,
when suddenly he heard the voice of one groaning on his right hand; and,
looking that way, he could see nothing save a kind of smoke, which
seemed like air, and through which he could not pass. Merlin then
addressed him from out the smoke, and told him by what misadventure he
was imprisoned there. “Ah, sir!” he added, “you will never see me more,
and that grieves me, but I cannot remedy it; I shall never more speak to
you, nor to any other person, save only my mistress. But do thou hasten
to King Arthur, and charge him from me to undertake, without delay, the
quest of the Sacred Graal. The knight is already born, and has received
knighthood at his hands, who is destined to accomplish this quest.” And
after this he comforted Gawain under his transformation, assuring him
that he should speedily be disenchanted; and he predicted to him that he
should find the king at Carduel, in Wales, on his return, and that all
the other knights who had been on like quest would arrive there the same
day as himself. And all this came to pass as Merlin had said.
Merlin is frequently introduced in the tales of chivalry, but it is
chiefly on great occasions, and at a period subsequent to his death, or
magical disappearance. In the romantic poems of Italy, and in Spenser,
Merlin is chiefly represented as a magical artist. Spenser represents
him as the artificer of the impenetrable shield and other armor of
Prince Arthur (“Faery Queene,” Book I., Canto vii.), and of a mirror, in
which a damsel viewed her lover’s shade. The Fountain of Love, in the
“Orlando Innamorata,” is described as his work; and in the poem of
“Ariosto” we are told of a hall adorned with prophetic paintings, which
demons had executed in a single night, under the direction of Merlin.
The following legend is from Spenser’s “Faery Queene,” Book III., Canto
iii.:
CAER-MERDIN, OR CAERMARTHEN (IN WALES), MERLIN’S TOWER, AND THE
IMPRISONED FIENDS.
“Forthwith themselves disguising both, in straunge
And base attire, that none might them bewray,
To Maridunum, that is now by chaunge
Of name Caer-Merdin called, they took their way:
There the wise Merlin whylome wont (they say)
To make his wonne, low underneath the ground
In a deep delve, far from the view of day,
That of no living wight he mote be found,
Whenso he counselled with his sprights encompassed round.
“And if thou ever happen that same way
To travel, go to see that dreadful place;
It is a hideous hollow cave (they say)
Under a rock that lies a little space
From the swift Barry, tombling down apace
Amongst the woody hills of Dynevor;
But dare not thou, I charge, in any case,
To enter into that same baleful bower,
For fear the cruel fiends should thee unwares devour.
“But standing high aloft, low lay thine ear,
And there such ghastly noise of iron chains
And brazen cauldrons thou shalt rumbling hear,
Which thousand sprites with long enduring pains
Do toss, that it will stun thy feeble brains;
And oftentimes great groans, and grievous stounds,
When too huge toil and labor them constrains;
And oftentimes loud strokes and ringing sounds
From under that deep rock most horribly rebounds.
“The cause some say is this. A little while
Before that Merlin died, he did intend
A brazen wall in compas to compile
About Caermerdin, and did it commend
Unto these sprites to bring to perfect end;
During which work the Lady of the Lake,
Whom long he loved, for him in haste did send;
Who, thereby forced his workmen to forsake,
Them bound till his return their labor not to slack.
“In the mean time, through that false lady’s train,
He was surprised, and buried under beare,[40]
Ne ever to his work returned again;
Nathless those fiends may not their work forbear,
So greatly his commandëment they fear;
But there do toil and travail day and night,
Until that brazen wall they up do rear.
For Merlin had in magic more insight
Than ever him before or after living wight.”
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