Merlin (Arthurian wizard)
aliases
Merlin Ambrosius, Myrddin, Myridden Emrys, Merlini Silvestris
Merlin (Welsh: Myrddin) is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in Arthurian legend and medieval Welsh poetry. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures. Geoffrey combined existing stories of Myrddin Wyllt (Merlinus Caledonensis), a North Brythonic prophet and madman with no connection to King Arthur, with tales of the Romano-British war leader Ambrosius Aurelianus to form the composite figure he called Merlin Ambrosius (Welsh: Myrddin Emrys). He is allegedly buried in the Broceliande forest, near Paimpont in Brittany.
Geoffrey's rendering of the character was immediately popular, especially in Wales. Later writers expanded the account to produce a fuller image of the wizard. Merlin's traditional biography casts him as a cambion: born of a mortal woman, sired by an incubus, the non-human from whom he inherits his s…more
Geoffrey's rendering of the character was immediately popular, especially in Wales. Later writers expanded the account to produce a fuller image of the wizard. Merlin's traditional biography casts him as a cambion: born of a mortal woman, sired by an incubus, the non-human from whom he inherits his s…more
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Books with Merlin (Arthurian wizard)
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The Mists of Avalon (Avalon, #1)
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1982
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The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King, #1-5)
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published
1958
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A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
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published
1889
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The Crystal Cave (Arthurian Saga, #1)
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1970
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That Hideous Strength (The Space Trilogy, #3)
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1945
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Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table
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published
1485
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Excalibur (The Warlord Chronicles, #3)
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1997
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Enemy of God (The Warlord Chronicles, #2)
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1996
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The Sword in the Stone (Once and Future King, #1)
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1938
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The Hollow Hills (Arthurian Saga, #2)
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1973
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