Myrddin Wyllt
Encyclopedia
Myrddin Wyllt (ˈmərðɪn ˈwɨɬt), Merlinus Caledonensis or Merlin Sylvestris (c. 540 - c. 584) is a figure in medieval Welsh legend
, known as a prophet and a madman. He is the most important prototype for the modern composite image of Merlin
, the wizard from Arthurian legend.
Myrddin Wyllt appears to have been a historical person living in late 6th century Britain, possibly identical to the individual also known as Lailoken
. He was probably born sometime around or in AD 540, and is said to have had a twin sister called Gwendydd or Gwenddydd or Languoreth. Myrddin Wyllt is said to have gone mad after a battle at Arthuret
between the Christian victor Rhydderch Hael or Riderch I of Alt Clut
and the Pagan Gwenddoleu
in AD 573. He fled into the forest and lived with the animals. There he is said to have found his gift of prophecy.
Myrddin reportedly prophesied his own death, which would happen by falling, stabbing, and drowning. This was fulfilled when a gang of jeering shepherds drove him off a cliff, where he was impaled on a stake left by fishermen, and died with his head below water. His grave is reputed to lie near the River Tweed
in the village of Drumelzier
near Peebles
, although nothing remains above ground level at the site. This strange threefold death
is a theme common to many Indo-European
mythologies, and according to Georges Dumezil
suggests a strong threefold division
in Proto-Indo-European religion
.
. There he ruminates on his former existence and the disaster that brought him low: the death of his lord Gwenddoleu
, whom he served as bard. The allusions in these poems serve to sketch out the events of the Battle of Arfderydd
, where Riderch Hael
, King of Alt Clut
(Strathclyde) slaughtered the forces of Gwenddoleu, and Myrddin went mad watching this defeat. The Annales Cambriae
date this battle to AD 572, and name Gwenddoleu's adversaries as the sons of Eliffer, presumably Gwrgi and Peredur
.
A version of this legend is preserved in a late fifteenth-century manuscript in a story called Lailoken and Kentigern, which probably happened in August 584, after Myrddin, also known as Lailoken, had finished writing his prophecies in July of that year. In this narrative, St. Kentigern
meets in a deserted place with a naked, hairy madman who is called Lailoken
, although said by some to be called Merlynum or Merlin, who declares that he has been condemned for his sins to wander in the company of beasts. He adds that he had been the cause for the deaths of all of the persons killed in the battle fought on the plain between Liddel and Carwannok. Having told his story, the madman leaps up and flees from the presence of the saint back into the wilderness. He appears several times more in the narrative until at last asking St. Kentigern for the Sacrament
, prophesying that he was about to die a triple death
. After some hesitation, the saint grants the madman's wish, and later that day the shepherds of King Meldred capture him, beat him with clubs, then cast him into the river Tweed where his body is pierced by a stake, thus fulfilling his prophecy.
Welsh literature has examples of a prophetic literature, predicting the military victory of all of the Celtic peoples of Great Britain who will join together and drive the English – and later the Normans – back into the sea. Some of these works were presented as prophecies of Myrddin; while others such as the Armes Prydein
were not.
. His book Prophetiae Merlini was intended to be a collection of the prophecies of the Welsh figure of Myrddin, whom he called Merlin. He included the Prophetiae in his more famous second work, the Historia Regum Britanniae
. In this work, however, he constructed an account of Merlin's life that placed him in the time of Aurelius Ambrosius
and King Arthur
, decades before the lifetime of Myrddin Wyllt. He also attached to him an episode originally ascribed to Ambrosius, and others that appear to be of his own invention. Geoffrey later wrote the Vita Merlini
, an account based more closely on the earlier Welsh stories about Myrddin and his experiences at Arfderyd, and explained that the action was taking place long after Merlin's involvement with Arthur. However, the Vita Merlini did not prove popular enough to counter the version of Merlin in the Historia, which went on to influence most later accounts of the character. One exception to this is the work of Count Nikolai Tolstoy
titled The Coming of the King
.
Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons, has come down to us in much altered form in medieval Welsh manuscripts such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin....
, known as a prophet and a madman. He is the most important prototype for the modern composite image of Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. 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...
, the wizard from Arthurian legend.
Myrddin Wyllt appears to have been a historical person living in late 6th century Britain, possibly identical to the individual also known as Lailoken
Lailoken
Lailoken was a Northern Brythonic fool or prophet of the late 6th century. The Life of St Kentigern talks of A certain foolish man, who was called Laleocen who lived at or near the village of Peartnach within the Kingdom of Strathclyde...
. He was probably born sometime around or in AD 540, and is said to have had a twin sister called Gwendydd or Gwenddydd or Languoreth. Myrddin Wyllt is said to have gone mad after a battle at Arthuret
Arthuret
Arthuret is a civil parish in the Carlisle district of Cumbria, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,434. The parish includes the small town of Longtown and the village of Easton...
between the Christian victor Rhydderch Hael or Riderch I of Alt Clut
Riderch I of Alt Clut
Riderch I , commonly known as Riderch or Rhydderch Hael , was a ruler of Alt Clut and the greater region later known as Strathclyde, a Brittonic kingdom that existed on the valley of the River Clyde in Scotland during the British Sub-Roman period...
and the Pagan Gwenddoleu
Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio
Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio or Gwenddolau was a Brythonic king who ruled in Arfderydd . This is in what is now south-west Scotland and north-west England in the area around Hadrian's Wall and Carlisle during the sub-Roman period in Britain...
in AD 573. He fled into the forest and lived with the animals. There he is said to have found his gift of prophecy.
Myrddin reportedly prophesied his own death, which would happen by falling, stabbing, and drowning. This was fulfilled when a gang of jeering shepherds drove him off a cliff, where he was impaled on a stake left by fishermen, and died with his head below water. His grave is reputed to lie near the River Tweed
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is long and flows primarily through the Borders region of Great Britain. It rises on Tweedsmuir at Tweed's Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, and the Annan draining south also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" as the Border saying...
in the village of Drumelzier
Drumelzier
Drumelzier , is a village on the B712 in the Tweed Valley in the Scottish Borders.The area of the village is extensive and includes the settlements of Wrae, Stanhope, Mossfennan and Kingledoors. To the north is Broughton and to the south the road passes Crook Inn to Tweedsmuir.The Drumelzier or...
near Peebles
Peebles
Peebles is a burgh in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders, lying on the River Tweed. According to the 2001 Census, the population was 8,159.-History:...
, although nothing remains above ground level at the site. This strange threefold death
Threefold death
The threefold death, which is suffered by kings, heroes, and gods, is a putatively Proto-Indo-European theme – although it is attested in medieval accounts of Celtic and Germanic mythology....
is a theme common to many Indo-European
Indo-European
Indo-European may refer to:* Indo-European languages** Aryan race, a 19th century and early 20th century term for those peoples who are the native speakers of Indo-European languages...
mythologies, and according to Georges Dumezil
Georges Dumézil
Georges Dumézil was a French comparative philologist best known for his analysis of sovereignty and power in Proto-Indo-European religion and society...
suggests a strong threefold division
Trifunctional hypothesis
The trifunctional hypothesis of prehistoric Proto-Indo-European society postulates a tripartite ideology reflected in the existence of three classes or castes—priests, warriors, and commoners —corresponding to the three functions of the sacral, the martial and the economic, respectively...
in Proto-Indo-European religion
Proto-Indo-European religion
Proto-Indo-European religion is the hypothesized religion of the Proto-Indo-European peoples based on the existence of similarities among the deities, religious practices and mythologies of the Indo-European peoples. Reconstruction of the hypotheses below is based on linguistic evidence using the...
.
In Welsh literature
The earliest (pre-12th century) Welsh poems that concern the Myrddin legend present him as a madman living an existence in the Caledonian ForestCaledonian Forest
The Caledonian Forest is the name of a type of woodland that once covered vast areas of Scotland. Today, however, only 1% of the original forest survives, covering in 84 locations. The forests are home to a wide variety of wildlife, much of which is not found elsewhere in the British...
. There he ruminates on his former existence and the disaster that brought him low: the death of his lord Gwenddoleu
Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio
Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio or Gwenddolau was a Brythonic king who ruled in Arfderydd . This is in what is now south-west Scotland and north-west England in the area around Hadrian's Wall and Carlisle during the sub-Roman period in Britain...
, whom he served as bard. The allusions in these poems serve to sketch out the events of the Battle of Arfderydd
Battle of Arfderydd
The Battle of Arfderydd was fought, according to the Annales Cambriae, in 573. The opposing armies are variously given in a number of Old Welsh sources, perhaps suggesting a number of allied armies were involved...
, where Riderch Hael
Riderch I of Alt Clut
Riderch I , commonly known as Riderch or Rhydderch Hael , was a ruler of Alt Clut and the greater region later known as Strathclyde, a Brittonic kingdom that existed on the valley of the River Clyde in Scotland during the British Sub-Roman period...
, King of Alt Clut
Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde , originally Brythonic Ystrad Clud, was one of the early medieval kingdoms of the celtic people called the Britons in the Hen Ogledd, the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The kingdom developed during the post-Roman period...
(Strathclyde) slaughtered the forces of Gwenddoleu, and Myrddin went mad watching this defeat. The Annales Cambriae
Annales Cambriae
Annales Cambriae, or The Annals of Wales, is the name given to a complex of Cambro-Latin chronicles deriving ultimately from a text compiled from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales, not later than the 10th century...
date this battle to AD 572, and name Gwenddoleu's adversaries as the sons of Eliffer, presumably Gwrgi and Peredur
Peredur
Peredur is the name of a number of men from the boundaries of history and legend in sub-Roman Britain. The most well known of them appear in the following literary and historical sources:-Gwrgi and Peredur, sons of Eliffer:...
.
A version of this legend is preserved in a late fifteenth-century manuscript in a story called Lailoken and Kentigern, which probably happened in August 584, after Myrddin, also known as Lailoken, had finished writing his prophecies in July of that year. In this narrative, St. Kentigern
Saint Mungo
Saint Mungo is the commonly used name for Saint Kentigern . He was the late 6th century apostle of the Brythonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in modern Scotland, and patron saint and founder of the city of Glasgow.-Name:In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptismal name Kentigern...
meets in a deserted place with a naked, hairy madman who is called Lailoken
Lailoken
Lailoken was a Northern Brythonic fool or prophet of the late 6th century. The Life of St Kentigern talks of A certain foolish man, who was called Laleocen who lived at or near the village of Peartnach within the Kingdom of Strathclyde...
, although said by some to be called Merlynum or Merlin, who declares that he has been condemned for his sins to wander in the company of beasts. He adds that he had been the cause for the deaths of all of the persons killed in the battle fought on the plain between Liddel and Carwannok. Having told his story, the madman leaps up and flees from the presence of the saint back into the wilderness. He appears several times more in the narrative until at last asking St. Kentigern for the Sacrament
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
, prophesying that he was about to die a triple death
Threefold death
The threefold death, which is suffered by kings, heroes, and gods, is a putatively Proto-Indo-European theme – although it is attested in medieval accounts of Celtic and Germanic mythology....
. After some hesitation, the saint grants the madman's wish, and later that day the shepherds of King Meldred capture him, beat him with clubs, then cast him into the river Tweed where his body is pierced by a stake, thus fulfilling his prophecy.
Welsh literature has examples of a prophetic literature, predicting the military victory of all of the Celtic peoples of Great Britain who will join together and drive the English – and later the Normans – back into the sea. Some of these works were presented as prophecies of Myrddin; while others such as the Armes Prydein
Armes Prydein
Armes Prydein is an early 10th-century Welsh prophetic poem from the Book of Taliesin.In a rousing style characteristic of Welsh heroic poetry, it describes a future where all of Brythonic peoples are allied with the Scots, the Irish, and the Vikings of Dublin under Welsh leadership, and together...
were not.
Geoffrey of Monmouth
The modern depiction of Merlin began with Geoffrey of MonmouthGeoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
. His book Prophetiae Merlini was intended to be a collection of the prophecies of the Welsh figure of Myrddin, whom he called Merlin. He included the Prophetiae in his more famous second work, the Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation...
. In this work, however, he constructed an account of Merlin's life that placed him in the time of Aurelius Ambrosius
Ambrosius Aurelianus
Ambrosius Aurelianus, ; called Aurelius Ambrosius in the Historia Regum Britanniae and elsewhere, was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas...
and King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, decades before the lifetime of Myrddin Wyllt. He also attached to him an episode originally ascribed to Ambrosius, and others that appear to be of his own invention. Geoffrey later wrote the Vita Merlini
Vita Merlini
Vita Merlini, or The Life of Merlin, is a work by the Norman-Welsh author Geoffrey of Monmouth, composed in Latin around AD 1150. It retells incidents from the life of the Brythonic seer Merlin, and is based on traditional material about him....
, an account based more closely on the earlier Welsh stories about Myrddin and his experiences at Arfderyd, and explained that the action was taking place long after Merlin's involvement with Arthur. However, the Vita Merlini did not prove popular enough to counter the version of Merlin in the Historia, which went on to influence most later accounts of the character. One exception to this is the work of Count Nikolai Tolstoy
Nikolai Tolstoy
Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Tolstoy-Miloslavsky is an Anglo-Russian historian and author who writes under the name Nikolai Tolstoy. A member of the prominent Tolstoy family, he is of part Russian descent and is the stepson of the author Patrick O'Brian...
titled The Coming of the King
The Coming of the King
The Coming of the King: The First Book of Merlin is a 1988 historical fantasy novel by Nikolai Tolstoy drawing upon Arthurian legend and more broadly, Celtic and Germanic mythology...
.
Sources
- Seymour, Camilla & Randall, John (2007) Stobo Kirk: a guide to the building and its history. Peebles: John Randall
- Tolstoy, Nikolai (1985) The Quest for Merlin. ISBN 0-241-11356-3