Merlin

= Merlin is a prophet, magician, wizard, sorcerer, bard, and adivisor and tutor to King Arthur. =

= Merlin was born around 400 A.D. in Carmarthen, Whales. There are three versions of how he was born. =

= The First Story of Merlin’s Birth: Geoffrey of Monmouth = = The first record of Merlin's birth is by Geoffrey of Monmouth who was a cleric that taught at Oxford schools from 1129-1151 C.E. He says that Merlin is the son of a very Christian princess who was seduced by a demon or devil, or, became pregnant without knowing. This meant Merlin would have super-human powers. He was raised by his mother so, he became a Christian. Some believe that this works as a way to show the Christian's concepts of "Light vs. Dark" and as well as the "Virgin Birth". Geoffrey was also the first to call him Merlin. He had changed the original name, Myrddin, because it would have been translated to Merlinus in Latin. He knew that some readers would link that to the French word merde, which translates to dung. =

= The Second Story of Merlin’s Birth: His Welsh Family Tree = = In Welsh history Merlin’s ancestors were human with a link to the gods. His earliest known family member was Coel Godebog. = = = = An interesting part of the story is that Merlin's great-grandfather, Mor, was the son of the goddess Arianrhod. His twin brother, Lleu Llaw Gyffes, is the Welsh counterpart of the Irish god of Light, Lugh. = ===

=== = The Third Story: Merlin was Never Born and Never Died = = Today the most popular image of Merlin is him as a great and powerful wizard. Some people believe that he was never born, never got married, never had children, and never died. His most popular "counterpart" is Melchisedec. He is mentioned briefly in the Bible: "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life..." This acts as "proof" that Merlin is still waiting in in his invisible glass tower waiting for Arthur to come back to the throne of England and rule a new @Camelot. =

= Merlin went mad after his nephew and four brothers died in war. He fled to the Caledonian Forest where he was known as Myrddin Wylt, which means, the Wild. After a year his brother-in-law found him and brought him back to safety. =



= Legends that are often associated with Merlin are the ones where he is tricked by the Lady of the Lake and the other is where he builds @Stonehenge. =

= The Lady of the Lake Legend: = = Merlin fell in love with the Lady of the Lake. She used this as an advantage to trick Merlin into teaching her all of his magic and spells. when she became stronger than him, it is said, that she trapped him in either an invisible glass tower, a cave, or a tree. Some believe he is still waiting in his "prison" for the rise of a new @Camelot that King Arthur will once again rule. = = =

= Stonehenge Legend: = = A long time ago there is said to have been a war, Britans vs. Saxons. During this war the king of England wanted to build a mountain fortress so he would be protect him from invaders. There was only one problem, it kept collapsing. So the King his group of wizards to figure out why this was happening. They told him that the problem can only be fixed with the blood of a child born without a father. Luckily for them this was easy because Merlin was living near them. They brought Merlin to be sacrificed but before this could happen he told them that there were two dragons fighting underground. There was a Red dragon, which represented the Britans, and a White dragon, which represents the Saxons. In the beginning of the fighting the White dragon was winning but then the Red dragon "drove the White dragon back". Merlin told him that this meant that Vortigern would be killed and the throne would go to Ambrosius Aurelianus, the to Uther, and then to the greatest ruler of them all, Arthur. Later Merlin's prophecy came true. Then after 460 British nobles were killed at a peace confrence by the Saxons, Merlin was ordered to build a memorial for them. So Merlin and Uther traveled to Ireland to gether stones from the Chorea Gigantum, which means the Giant's Ring, to build the memorial. With the use of his powers, he brought the stones back to England, where he built the memorial. Today we call it @Stonehenge. =



= Another legend is about King Arthur's Birth: = = @Uther Pendragon had fallen in love with a woman named @Igraine. But unfortunately for him he was married to a man named Gorlois. So he went and asked Merlin for help. He agreed to help Uther. One night while Gorlois was away at war they went to @Tintagel Castle, where @Igraine lived, and Merlin used magic to change Uther so that he looked like Gorlois. He then went into the castle and tricked @Igraine. That night Arthur was concieved. Also that night Uther had Gorlois killed in battle. Because Merlin helped Uther, he had told Merlin that he "owed him one". Later when Arthur was born Merlin told Uther that he wanted to take Arthur, and Uther had to agree because of the deed that Merlin did for him. =

= He is also one of the most well known Arthurian characters in the United States of America. = = media type="youtube" key="rDlC114O63g" height="246" width="232" media type="youtube" key="7bd5YUEOwlE" height="246" width="270"media type="youtube" key="75BJ2ovo-S0" height="247" width="252"=

=**__ Sources __**=
 * 1) @http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/merlin.html
 * 2) @http://warthurian-legend.com/more-about/more-about-arthur-10.phpww.
 * 3) @http://www.arthurian-legend.com/more-about/more-about-arthur-10.php
 * 4) @http://www.britannia.com/history/biographies/merlin.html
 * 5) @http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/student_orgs/arthurian_legend/england/sites/merlin.htm