Merlin: A Teacher for
all Time
It is I,
Bertilak, and I come to you in friendship to deliver my assessment of the
character of my lord Merlin. I have read Sir Thomas Malory’s accounts of King
Arthur’s rise to fame and glory, of his unbelievable exploits on the fields of
battle, and of his unfortunate errors in judgement. There is a common thread in
King Arthur’s story that the good people of Britain should not ignore—the
mystic prophet Merlin.
To begin with,
are we Britons not indebted to Merlin for all time? Has he not given us a
history like no other, full of heroism, of honesty, of generosity, and of
mercy? We would not have had our extraordinary king if Merlin had not used his
magic to provide him. We would not have four
of the most enduring signs of the greatness of Britain. He gave us both the
sword in the stone and Excalibur, the first being a symbol of the rightful
accession of royalty and the second a symbol of Arthur’s supremacy. He gave us
Stonehenge, a remarkable feat of engineering that will astound visitors to our
land for millenniums. He gave us the Round Table, a symbol of our courage and
moral strength.
It was not
enough for Merlin to arrange for the birth, baptism, and upbringing of King
Arthur. He was our good king’s most loyal counselor and guide until his own
death at the hands of Morgan le Fay. It was Merlin who designed the means that
would prove to everyone that Arthur was our rightful king—the sword in the
stone. It was only the stubbornness of the people that made it necessary for
Arthur to demonstrate his right to the throne more than three times. It was
Merlin who took Arthur to the lady of the lake to accept Excalibur from her
hand. We should note that Merlin’s advice was clear on the subject of offense
versus defense concerning the magical sword. When Arthur said that he preferred
the sword to the scabbard, Merlin said, “You are a fool…while you wear [the
scabbard,] regardless of how seriously you are wounded, you will lose no blood”
(24).
When Arthur was
foolish enough to have an affair with his aunt and father Modred, Merlin tried
to protect Arthur for us. Merlin could see the future, including the treachery
of Modred and Arthur’s death, so he advised our king to arrange for the deaths
of all infants born on May Day (25). This story resembles the story of Passover
in the Bible. However, in the first story, the great leader Moses and the Israelites survive, but
in Mallory’s story the murderer of our great king survives.
Merlin even
teaches that when two opponents are of equal goodness, they will not defeat
each other with his prophesy of the battle between Sir Launcelot and Sir
Tristram (30). They ceased fighting and embraced on Merlin’s stone, fulfilling
Merlin’s prophesy (255).
Bertilak, the
Green Knight
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ReplyDeleteWhat strikes me as most significant about Merlin is his death. Merlin does so many seemingly impossible things and gives such omniscient advice time and time again to Arthur, which you boast about; however, he dies at the hands of women, whether one blames Morgan le Fay or Lady of the Lake - I know that's me, but I'm opening my perspective - in such an anti-climactic way. It isn't even ironic; it's just lame! Why does't Merlin die in a more meaningful way or something? What is his death supposed to tell us?
ReplyDelete-Lady of the Lake