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This book deals with all aspects of the Merlin legend, from its origins to its expression in medieval and modern literature, film, and popular culture. Two of the reprinted essays are translated into English for the first time.

Arthurian romances --- Wizards in literature. --- History and criticism. --- Merlin --- Marzhin --- Meardon --- Merlí --- Merlijn --- Merlijn Ambrosius --- Merlim --- Merlin Ambrosius --- Merlino --- Merlino Ambrosio --- Merlin Caledonensis --- Merlin l'Enchanteur --- Merlins --- Merlinus --- Merlyn --- Merzhin --- Myrddin --- Myrddin Emrys --- In literature. --- Merlin (Legendary character) in literature. --- Merlin (Legendary character)

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Merlin the Magician has remained an enthralling and curious individual since he was first introduced in the twelfth century though the pages of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. But although the Merlin of literature and Arthurian myth is well known, Merlin the historical' figure and his relation to medieval magic are less familiar. In this book Anne Lawrence-Mathers explores just who he was, and what he has meant to Britain. The historical Merlin was no rough magician: he was a learned figure from the cutting edge of medieval science and adept in astrology, cosmology, prophecy and natural magic, as well as being a seer and a proto-alchemist. His powers were convincingly real-and useful, for they helped to add credibility to the 'long-lost' history of Britain which first revealed them to a European public. Merlin's prophecies reassuringly foretold Britain's path, establishing an ancient ancestral line and linking biblical prophecy with more recent times. Merlin helped to put British history into world history. Lawrence-Mathers also explores the meaning of Merlin's magic across the centuries, arguing that he embodied ancient Christian and pagan magical traditions, recreated for a medieval court and shaped to fit a new moral framework. Linking Merlin's reality and power with the culture of the Middle Ages, this remarkable book reveals the true impact of the most famous magician of all time.

Arthurian romances --- History and criticism. --- Geoffrey, --- Merlin --- Marzhin --- Meardon --- Merlí --- Merlijn --- Merlijn Ambrosius --- Merlim --- Merlin Ambrosius --- Merlino --- Merlino Ambrosio --- Merlin Caledonensis --- Merlin l'Enchanteur --- Merlins --- Merlinus --- Merlyn --- Merzhin --- Myrddin --- Myrddin Emrys --- Merlin (Legendary character)

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It is hard to overstate the importance of this trilogy of prose romances in the development of the legend of the Holy Grail and in the evolution of Arthurian literature as a whole. They give a crucial new impetus to the story of the Grail by establishing a provenance for the sacred vessel - and for the Round Table itself - in the Biblical past; and through the controlling figure of Merlin they link the story of Joseph of Arimathea with the mythical British history of Vortigern and Utherpendragon, the birth of Arthur, and the sword in the stone, and then with the knightly adventures of Perceval's Grail quest and the betrayal and death of Arthur, creating the very first Arthurian cycle. Ambitious, original and complete in its conception, this trilogy - translated here for the first time - is a finely paced, vigorous piece of storytelling that provides an outstanding example of the essentially oral nature of early prose.
NIGEL BRYANT is head of drama at Marlborough College and he has also provided editions in English of The High Book of the Grail: A translation of the thirteenth century romance of Perlesvaus.

Arthurian romances --- Grail --- Merlin (Legendary character) --- Perceval (Legendary character) --- Romances --- Joseph, --- Robert, --- Boron, Robert de, --- Borron, Robert de, --- De Boron, Robert, --- Arimathea, Joseph of, --- Josef, --- Arthurian romances. --- Perceval --- Percival --- Parzifal --- Parzival --- Parsifal --- Peredur --- Parsival --- Perleuaulx --- Perlevaulx --- Perlesvaus --- Merlin