The Merlin Legend and the Welsh Tradition of Prophecy

Abstract

Though linked together in the Middle Ages, the legend of Merlin and the Welsh prophetic tradition were originally distinct and separate. Similarly, despite the inclusion of the legend in the Arthurian complex in the twelfth century, no such association existed at any earlier period. It was in his Historia Regum Britanniae, completed c. 1138, that Geoffrey of Monmouth transformed the legendary Welsh seer Myrddin into the internationally famous Merlin, wizard as well as vaticinator, who played a crucial role in bringing about the conception of Arthur and was prominent in later Arthurian story. Thus, both the Merlin legend and its associated prophecies may be divided into pre-Geoffrey and post-Geoffrey phases, with the proviso that manifestations of the first phase often continued after Geoffrey’s lifetime and uninfluenced by him.

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