MERLIN, the famous bard of Welsh tradition, enchanter and counsellor of Arthurian romance. The personality of Merlin, on one side of demoniac, on the other of human, parentage, is now generally recognized as a combination of diverse traditions. Geoffrey of Monmouth, to whom we owe the conception of the romantic Merlin, probably knew more than one tradition, Nennius' story of the boy Ambrosius, "child without a father," who revealed to Vortigern the secret of the insecure foundations of his tower, being the starting point of his combination. Into this framework were introduced elements derived from the much older story of the demon Asmodeus (Aschmedai), who acted as familiar spirit to Solomon—the feats of divination with which the boy astonishes the messengers of the king, derive directly from this source. Later on a Vita Merlini, long attributed to Geoffrey—an attribution on which modern scholarship has thrown doubts—incorporated features from the Scotch tradition of a certain Lailoken, a "wild man of the woods," gifted with powers of divination. This led to the idea that there had been two Merlins, Merlin-Ambrosius and Merlin-Sylvestris, a view now very generally rejected. The second part of Robert de Borron's trilogy, which was the starting point of the Arthurian cyclic de velopment, dealt with the birth of the seer and his relations with Uther Pendragon. This, originally in verse form, was later worked over in prose, and expanded, first with additions dealing with the wars incident to the opening of Arthur's reign, then with a medley of romantic incidents connected with Arthur's court. The two
elements are combined in a unique ms., No. 337 (Fonds Francais) of the Bibliotheque Nationale. Finally, a fantastic romance, en titled Les Prophecies de Merlin, belonging to a late period of Arthurian evolution, completed the cycle. Merlin is a strange and interesting personality, and his story may quite possibly have been inspired by popular tradition connected with an actual Welsh bard and sooth sayer.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-For the life of Merlin see Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia and the Vita Merlini (ed. J. J. Parry, University of Illinois, Studies in Language and Literature, vol. x. 1925). For the romantic Merlin see Merlin, ed. H. 0. Sommer (1894) and vol. ii. of Sommer's Vulgate Version of the Arthurian Romances (1908-16) ; Merlin, ed. G. Paris and J. Ulrich (Societe des anc. textes fr. 1886), an edition of the unique Huth ms., the version contained in which was utilized by Malory ; Les Prophecies de Merlin, ed. L. A. Paton (1926-27). See also F. Lot, Annales de Bretagne, vol. xv. For the Oriental parallels see M. Gaster, The Exempla of the Rabbis (1925) and E. Seymour, Tales of King Solomon (5925). J. D. Bruce, The Evolution of Arthurian Romance, vol. ii. (1923), gives a bibliography of the scattered Merlin studies. (J. L. W.)