Editing Merlin (section)

{{Short description|Legendary Welsh wizard}}
{{About||the bird species|Merlin (bird)|other uses}}
{{Redirect|Merlyn}}
{{Infobox character
| series = {{no italic|[[Matter of Britain]]}}
| image = File:Arthur-Pyle The Enchanter Merlin.JPG
| caption = ''The Enchanter Merlin'', [[Howard Pyle]]'s illustration for ''[[The Story of King Arthur and His Knights]]'' (1903)
| first = ''[[Prophetiae Merlini]]'' ({{c.}} 1130)
| creator = [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]
| based_on = [[Myrddin Wyllt]] and [[Ambrosius Aurelianus]]
| species = [[Cambion]]
| occupation = [[Prophet]], [[Magician (fantasy)|magician]], [[bard]], [[advisor]], [[warrior]], others (depending on the source){{#tag:ref|As noted by Alan Lupack, "Merlin plays many roles in Arthurian literature, including bard, prophet, magician, advisor, and warrior. Though usually a figure who supports Arthur and his vision of [[Camelot]], Merlin is, because of the stories in which he is said to be the son of a devil, sometimes presented as a villain."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/frequently-asked-questions |title=Frequently Asked Questions about the Arthurian Legends {{!}} Robbins Library Digital Projects |website=d.lib.rochester.edu |access-date=27 June 2019 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128200322/https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/frequently-asked-questions |url-status=live }}</ref>|group="note"}}
| significant_other = [[Lady of the Lake]], [[Morgan le Fay]], [[Sebile]] (romance tradition)
| spouse = [[Gwendolen]]
| relatives = [[Gwenddydd|Ganieda]]
| home = "[[Esplumoir Merlin]]", British woods
}}

'''Merlin''' ({{langx|cy|Myrddin}}, {{langx|kw|Merdhyn}}, {{langx|br|Merzhin}}){{#tag:ref|Alternate forms of Merlin's name include the English ''Merlyn'',<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CpWNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA435|title=Merlin: A Casebook|first=Peter H.|last=Goodrich|date=15 June 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135583408|via=Google Books|access-date=15 March 2023|archive-date=15 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315193833/https://books.google.com/books?id=CpWNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA435|url-status=live}}</ref> the Welsh ''Merddyn'' and ''Myrdin'', and the Breton ''Marzin''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PAr7i_RGDbAC&pg=PA476|title=The Dublin University Magazine: A Literary and Political Journal|date=15 March 1864|publisher=W. Curry, jun., and Company|via=Google Books|access-date=15 March 2023|archive-date=15 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315193833/https://books.google.com/books?id=PAr7i_RGDbAC&pg=PA476|url-status=live}}</ref> Thomas Malory's Winchester Manuscript of ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' used, in addition to ''Merlyn'', also the forms ''Merlyon'' and ''Marylon''.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7M4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59 | title=The Manuscript and Meaning of Malory's Morte Darthur: Rubrication, Commemoration, Memorialization | isbn=978-1-84384-453-2 | last1=Whetter | first1=Kevin Sean | date=2017 | publisher=Boydell & Brewer | access-date=2024-04-04 | archive-date=2024-04-04 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404134508/https://books.google.com/books?id=_7M4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59 | url-status=live }}</ref>|group="note"}} is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of [[King Arthur]] and best known as a [[Magician (fantasy)|magician]], with several other main roles.{{#tag:ref|Peter H. Goodrich wrote, "According to authorial and cultural interests, [Merlin] assumes seven primary roles: Wild Man, Wonder Child, Prophet, Poet, Counselor, Wizard, and Lover. Most literature about the mage is selective, emphasizing and elaborating on one or more of these features and de-emphasizing or eliminating others. Merlin was not always all of these things. Instead, his figure developed by gradually accreting varied capabilities, each suggesting further capabilities and roles."<ref name=phg>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CpWNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA2|title = Merlin: A Casebook|isbn = 9781135583408|last1 = Goodrich|first1 = Peter H.|date = June 2004| publisher=Routledge }}</ref>|group="note"}} The familiar depiction of Merlin, based on an amalgamation of historical and legendary figures, was introduced by the 12th-century Catholic cleric [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]] and then built on by the French poet [[Robert de Boron]] and prose successors in the 13th century.

Geoffrey seems to have combined earlier Welsh tales of [[Myrddin Wyllt|Myrddin]] and [[Ambrosius Aurelianus|Ambrosius]], two legendary [[Celtic Britons|Briton]] prophets with no connection to Arthur, to form the composite figure that he called '''Merlinus Ambrosius'''. His rendering of the character became immediately popular, especially in [[Wales in the Middle Ages|Wales]].<ref>Lloyd-Morgan, Ceridwen. "Narratives and Non-Narrtives: Aspects of Welsh Arthurian Tradition." ''Arthurian Literature''. 21. (2004): 115–136.</ref> Later chronicle and romance writers in France and elsewhere expanded the account to produce a more full, multifaceted character, creating one of the most important figures in the imagination and literature of the [[Middle Ages]].

Merlin's traditional biography casts him as an often-mad [[cambion]], born of a mortal woman and an [[incubus]], from whom he inherits his supernatural powers and abilities.<ref>[[Katharine Mary Briggs]] (1976). ''An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures'', p.440. New York: Pantheon Books. {{ISBN|0-394-73467-X}}</ref> His most notable abilities commonly include prophecy and [[shapeshifting]]. Merlin matures to an ascendant sagehood and engineers the birth of Arthur through magic and intrigue.<ref name="thorpe">{{cite book |author=Geoffrey of Monmouth |author-link=Geoffrey of Monmouth |title=The History of the Kings of Britain |series=Penguin Classics |year=1977 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=978-0-14-044170-3 |editor=Lewis Thorpe |editor-link=Lewis Thorpe |title-link=Historia Regum Britanniae}}</ref> Later stories have Merlin as an advisor and mentor to the young king until he disappears from the tale, leaving behind a series of prophecies foretelling events to come. A popular version from the French prose cycles tells of Merlin being bewitched and forever sealed up or killed by his student, the [[Lady of the Lake]], after having fallen in love with her. Other texts variously describe his retirement, at times supernatural, or death.