According to some storytellers and scholars, the source of the character of Merlin can be traced back to Welsh legend from way - WAAAAY Back before the 12th Century. Scholars aren't sure whether our fine and mystical Merlin guy was an archetype/prototype or whether he lived as an actual person hundreds of years ago. Despite not being able to pinpoint facts with complete certainty, for hundreds of years, people have loved to talk about Arthurian characters, tell tales and versions of history, telling about everyone from Merlin to King Arthur to The Lady of the Lake, Sir Lancelot and Guinevere, Sir Gawain, and m..... oh wait.
We were discussing Merlin, weren't we? And is Merle Ambrose the Arthurian Legend "Merlin?"
Ah yes...
Now we'll just have to figure out who the ancient Arthurian Merlin was first now, eh?
Merlin may have been Myrddin Wyllt - who was a historical person with some actual records written about him. He was said to be of Welsh origin and to have been a prophet. As well, he was called a madman (not angry=mad, but Crazy=Mad). It is said that a man with this name, probably born/existing in the late sixth century was some manner of fighter, warrior or knight but that after one particular battle, he went mad and went running into the forest to escape - for what exact reason, nobody really knows - he went mad, remember? Anyway, legend has it that he lived with the animals for a while and in so doing, found his gift of prophecy. This is how he came to be known as both "prophet" and "madman."
Now nothing was really written about Myrddin until a while later (a few hundred years later, according to some sources). We can access documents by a cleric named, Geoffrey of Monmouth, who wrote Historia Regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain) and resided in Wales for a time (scholars have been arguing as to his origins for a long time, many say he wasn't actually of Welsh origin and was more likely a Breton but just lived in Wales a long time... hmmm more mystery). In his Historia Regum Britanniae, Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote some details about King Arthur and also a Myrddin Myllt. Geoffrey of Monmouth asserts that his information came from an ancient text that needed to be translated from British language "[...] that told in orderly fashion the deeds of all the kings of Britain." The ancient text was translated into Latin. The text, Geoffrey of Monmouth said, came from an Archdeacon of Oxford named Walter (or, "Walter, The Archdeacon of Oxford"). It is highly unlikely that Geoffrey of Monmouth fabricated everything said to be informational in the ancient texts but it is also just as highly likely that he blended alleged histories from other texts about the history of kings and of Britain and Wales. Most scholars believe that Geoffrey of Monmouth did embellish upon the stories and writings he was studying from time to time - where gaps made linear historical storylines difficult to navigate....
Hey nobody said history had to be boring, right? And shouldn't the details be COMPLETE now, the accounts not filled with holes? Hmmm?
Now, because it is obvious that Geoffrey of Monmouth embellished in at least some parts of his work, we have to declare his Historia Regum Britanniae as a literary work of national myth.
Does this mean that Geoffrey of Monmouth's documents are garbage, false, not valuable?
I THINK NOT!
Here's why: It is most likely that the writing of the history undertaken by Geoffrey of Monmouth began as a somewhat serious affair. The sources HE read from and studied were questionable - and nobody had documented the history of kings in Britain very well before he attempted to do so. PLUS - all of this questionable information gave people in Geoffrey of Monmouth's time - as well as our own time - something to think about and endless research to do!
In our day, after looking at the older texts and arguments as well, we know a lot more about documenting history, working with spoken narratives, cultural perspectives, and other things. We can understand that in the time when people were trying to understand the histories of lineage of Kings in Britain, the ideas that filled the minds of mankind centuries ago were of mysticism, the possibility of unexplained, magical things - codes of honour, supernatural happenings, sometimes horrible but sometimes beneficial beasts, and a whole lot more. The world was a mysterious, sometimes violent and frightening place.
Some of the best legends and also the best REAL HEROES come out of dangerous, mysterious times, situations and places... so is it really impossible that Geoffrey of Monmouth's tales have some truth to them?
And we still haven't answered the question "Is Merle Ambrose actually Merlin From Arthurian Legend?"
Let's examine this just one step further - on to the next post - I promise I will wrap this up over there.
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