Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained.
In today’s video we’re going to discuss Merlin: first quickly discussing the character’s
origin, then spending most of the video on the History of the Kings of Britain, the oldest
surviving written story that features Merlin.
Let’s get into it.
Merlin, the inspiration for his character, comes from Welsh folklore, derived from the
wild sage trope: a person, though uncivilized in that they prefer places unspoiled by human
development, who possess deep wisdom and hidden power.
One such character, Myrddin Wyllt, Myrddin the Wild, was a bard who lived in the 6th
century.
His sanity cracked after witnessing the carnage of a particularly gruesome battle, disappearing
and finding solace in the forest, which became his sanctuary.
Merlin’s earliest extant story committed to writing is Geoffrey Monmouth’s History
of the Kings of Britain.
Interestingly, the beginning of this story is connected to the fall of Troy.
Aeneas was the son of Aphrodite, and of all the Trojan heroes, only Hector was greater.
Aeneas is the eponymous hero of the Aeneid, which describes his narrow escape from Troy
as the Greeks sacked it and recounts the trials and tribulations he overcame in settling in
Latium, a western region in modern day Italy.
Brutus, the grandson of Aeneas, sails to Britain, settling on the island.
He and those who follow him eradicate the savage giants who lived there; and following
that is an account of the early kings, Roman colonization and conquest, the saxon invasion
while Vortigern, the usurper, wore the crown, the reigns of Aurelius Ambrosius and his younger
brother Uther Pendragon, and the time of Arthur.
Vortigern facilitated the arrival of the Saxons to Britain, enlisting them as mercenaries,
thereby greatly bolstering his own forces; however, this course would prove myopic, for
the master’s leash chafed the necks of the Saxons, who would turn against Vortigern and
become an existential threat to all other people of Britain.
Vortigern was betrayed, and the Saxons washed over the land like a plague, assailing and
pillaging a multitude of cities, cities like London, York, and Winchester falling to them.
Vortigern assembled his magicians to counsel him.
They told him he must build an impregnable tower, a stout, fortified place he could retreat
to if he should be pressed, a contingency he could rely on should all his other places
of strength fall.
Just as important as the construction was the location: the place had to be defensible
to the extreme, naturally positioned to compromise enemy forces to the utmost.
Mount Erith was chosen, and there the most skilled architects, builders, and stonemasons
were gathered from far and wide.
Moving forward, though, all efforts were futile: the foundation, no matter how robust, wouldn’t
take root, instead swallowed up by the land.
Hewn rock and milled timber vanished, devoured by the earth, mystifying all those around.
After this utterly bewildering event, Vortigern once again assembled his magicians.
This time they counseled him to scour the country and find a boy with no father.
Once found, this boy should be killed, his blood mixed with the mortar and dripped on
the stones to prevent the foundation from being consumed in the future.
Eventually, Merlin is found and brought before the king.
His mother explains the strange circumstances of his conception, basically that she had
intimate relations with a spirit who frequently visited her in her convent.
Vortigern then explains to Merlin why he has been brought to him, and Merlin, the epitome
of precociousness and already imperious in his young age, equipped with a formidable,
penetrating intelligence, asks - almost demands - that the magicians be presented before them
so that they can be exposed for the liars he knows them to be.
He reproaches them for veiling their ignorance and ineffectiveness with abortive, mystical
solutions, then proceeding to explain that the reason the foundation can’t be laid
lastingly is because of an underground pool of water that lies beneath.
A hole is dug, and just like was said, there was indeed a pool of water.
Everyone around was now greatly impressed by Merlin, who continued with another prophetic
insight, explaining that the pool should be drained, for at its bottom would be found
two hollow stones, each one encapsulating a sleeping dragon.
Now those around were no longer deeply impressed, this failing to capture the awe they felt,
for it was now apparent that there was something not quite human about Merlin, something quite
supernatural, his mind perceiving truth in places closed to the minds of others, his
sight perceiving the world in a way others were blind to.
The next chapter, called ‘The Prophecies of Merlin’, recounts a series of prophecies
that foretell much about the great events that are to transpire in Britain in the coming
years.
The most famous of these is communicated through the image of two dragons, one red, the other
white, fighting each other, fang, claw, and fire.
Here’s a passage from the story that describes this:
“As they struggled on in this way, the King ordered Ambrosius Merlin to explain just what
this battle of the Dragons meant.
Merlin immediately burst into tears.
He went into a prophetic trance and then spoke as follows: “Alas for the red Dragon, for
its end is near.
Its cavernous dens shall be occupied by the White Dragon, which stand for the Saxons whom
you have invited over.
The Red Dragon represents the people of Britain, who will be overrun by the White One: for
Britain’s mountains and valleys shall be levelled, and the streams in its valleys shall
run with blood.””
This battle of two dragons was just the beginning, and many, many more prophecies were told,
Merlin functioning as a conduit for some power, seemingly divine, beyond the scope of human
understanding.
Vortigern, understandably, was greatly concerned with his own end, of which he asked Merlin
several questions.
The answers he received painted a bleak picture.
His enemies were mustering on all dies, his own dwindling strength hemmed in by the Saxon
devastation of his kingdom - perhaps former kingdom would be more appropriate given the
dire straits he faced - and the impending arrival of Aurelius and Uther, the sons of
Constantine, who was betrayed by Vortigern - These two brothers wishing to take vengeance
by trapping him and burning him alive inside his own tower.
After Aurelius defeated the Saxons, he began the long toil of mending the land, rebuilding
its cities.
One sight moved him to tears, and he ordered that a monument should be built to commemorate
the dead.
He was advised by an archbishop to seek out Merlin, a young man with prophetic powers
and the most skilled craftsman in all the land.
When Merlin arrived, Ambrosius asked that he draw back the opaque, impenetrable curtain
of the present and reveal to him the events that pave the path of the future, and in response
Merlin explained that this power was not his to freely command, not at his beck and call,
and that he became a vessel only at times of greatest need.
Merlin tells Aurelius that he should retrieve a stone ring that surmounts a mountain in
Ireland, explaining that, beyond being the best possible monument, these stones were
imbued with mystical healing properties.
Uther, the king’s younger brother, is sent on this mission with 15,000 soldiers, brought
along should the Irish not give up the stones willingly, and with Merlin, brought along
so that his ingenuity could resolve on the road any difficulties that might arise from
transporting massive stones hundreds of miles.
By the contrivances of Merlin, the stones were dismantled, transported, and once again
restored to their original condition, even their arrangement.
Later, on the campaign trail, a brilliant star burned a hole in the black of the night
sky.
Only a single beam in the form of a fiery dragon head shone from it, and from the mouth
shone yet two more beams.
Uther, who was leading the army, summoned Merlin to explain the meaning of this portent,
and like he did all those years ago before Vortigern, he burst into tears and went into
a trance, a state in which he pierced the veil of space and time, divulging information
about events far off or about events that have yet come to pass.
Aurelius was dead, poisoned, and he urged Uther to make haste in engaging the enemy,
for victory would be his and the crown of all Britain with it.
He explained that the dragon’s head symbolized him, and that the two beams that shone from
its mouth symbolized his two children, a son and a daughter.
Following his victory and coronation, he took a new name, Pendragon, meaning ‘a dragon’s
head’, for it was beneath the dragon’s head that Merlin proclaimed his ascent to
the throne.
Uther became utterly enamored with Ygerna, the wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall.
Guided by the mad passion that blazed inside him, he set his forces against the Duke, even
though they were allies.
His army much smaller, the Duke avoided meeting uther in open combat, instead fortifying and
garrisoning his castles while he waited for reinforcements from Ireland.
His land was being burned, but despite this, his chief concern was for his wife, whom he
left at their coastal stronghold, a night-impregnable fortress with a pinched entrance where a few
good men could hold against a sea of soldiers.
Unable to crack this quandary with his army, his vast forces neutralized by defensive advantage,
he summoned Merlin to produce a solution, which came in the form of potions that would
give Uther the exact likeness of Gorlois.
Disguised as the Duke, Uther was granted entry into the stronghold, and he bedded Ygerna
that night, conceiving Arthur.
Gorlois was killed, his forces defeated, and Uther claimed Ygerna, both of them united
by a deep love, a daughter later born to them.
Though Merlin is perhaps best known today for his relationship with Arthur, in this
story, the two of them aren’t connected.
The last mention of Merlin of real significance comes on that night he transformed Uther,
allowing the king to satisfy the carnal desires that drove him to War.
Later, Arthur ascends to the Throne and destroys the Saxons, beating them so thoroughly that
they were unable to recover any semblance of their strength for years and years.
Arthur’s military exploits extended much farther than the island of Britain, conquest
taking him across the channel, where he conquered most of northern Europe.
He claimed victory after victory, and by his sword peace was ushered in, a peace that lasted
until the Romans once again demanded that Britain pay tribute.
This brought about a war that resulted in Roman defeat, and Arthur was to be the next
emperor; but trouble back in Britain drew him away.
Mordred, his nephew, seduced Guinevere and seized the throne for himself.
Arthur kills Mordred, but this exacts a heavy toll, for this struggle sees him suffer a
mortal wound.
In the end, Arthur is born to the isle of Avalon where he makes his cousin Constantine
king.
And that’s it for this video.
If you enjoy the content, please like and subscribe.
Let me know in the comments if there’s a topic you’d like covered.
Thanks for watching!