English 65B/165B: Arthurian Literature

1. Lailoken, crazed by battle, wild man of the wood, the inspired mad prophet
2. Myrddin (his alternative Welsh name), composer of prophetic poems

Merlin in various texts and transformations:

A. Geoffrey of Monmouth, inserts his earlier Vita Merlini into Historia Regum Brittaniae, Book 8, chs. 17-18, 19-20 (see Wilhelm, Romance of Arthur, pp. 63-66): Gorlois, Igerna, Uther, and the begetting of Arthur.

B. Wace, Roman de Brut, Merlin’s ancestry, Vortigern’s falling tower, moves Stonehenge, Uther’s dragon: Gorlois, Igerna, Uther, and the begetting of Arthur (Wilhelm, Romance of Arthur, ch V, The Merlin Episodes)

C. Layamon, Brut:: Merlin’s prophesy that Rome would fall to Arthur, that troubles would follow Arthur’s fall and that he would return again as redeemer.

D. Robert de Boron, The Prose Merlin: 1. The Plot to Create Merlin; 2. Merlin’s Birth and the Defense of his Mother; 3. Merlin’s Instructions to Blaise; 4. The Testing of Merlin’s Prophetic Wisdom; 5. The Battle of Salisbury and the Erection of Stonehenge; 6. The Creation of the Round Table; 7. Uther Pendragon’s Desire for Ygerne; 8. The Birth of Arthur . (Wilhelm, ch. XIVpp. 305-48).[Sensational and sordid, but is it literature?]

E. The Suite de Merlin:: 9. Merlin’s Love for Niviane the Huntress; 10. The Journey Toward the Perilous Forest; 11. The Death of Merlin. (Wilhelm, ch. XIV, pp. 348-363)

6. Huth Merlin (c. 1210-25) (White, KA, pp. 261-69): Merlin takes Arthur to visit

the Lady of the Lake, who gives him his sword; the perilous Seat at the Round Table.

G. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, part IV, st. 19: Morgan la Fay learned her magic from Merlin.

7. Sir Thomas Malory, Morte Darthur: draws upon French prose Merlin for the first

Tale:

1. Merlin’s arranging for Uther Pendragon’s seduction and marriage to Igraine, leading to the birth of Arthur and fosterage, and young Arthur’s pulling out the Sword of the Stone.

2. Of Ninive and Morgan le Fay (Morte Darthur, ed. Cooper, pp. 58-81).