As is the case with most legends, many myths are also based on real-life events. For instance, King Arthur really did live, but he died in the year 539, whereas Merlin died in 612, nearly a century later. So, King Arthur didn’t know Merlin, at all. Since that’s out of the way, I can move on to what really matters. To begin with, Merlin’s name is derived from the Welsh Myrddin Wyllt, which translates to “Merlin the Wild”. More importantly, according to old folklore, Merlin reincarnated from the hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes, who had been an avatar of the deity Lugh, long before that. Thus, Merlin could evoke these and other spirits to make use of their supernatural powers.
Merlin was an extremely devout Druid, which was a member of the high-ranking professional class in ancient Celtic cultures. Along with being religious leaders, they were also legal authorities, adjudicators, medical professionals, political advisers, and keepers of lore. While the Druids had to be literate, they were prevented by doctrine from recording their knowledge in written form, thus they left no written accounts of themselves. To make matters worse, the speculations and accusations about Druids from other cultures, such as the Romans and the Greeks are highly suspect, to say the least. This is particularly true of the accounts of Merlin.
The thing is that since his tales were told far and wide, Merlin goes by many different names, such as Myrddin Emrys, Merlinus Caledonensis, or Merlin Sylvestris. In line with all of this, Myrddin Wyllt’s legend closely resembles that of a north-British figure called Lailoken, which appeared in the Life of Kentigern, from the 12th century. Lailoken is identified with Merlin in the late-15th-century, but the alternative name may already be present in the 12th-century dialogue of Myrddin with his twin sister Gwendydd, for she addresses him several times as Llallwg, for which the diminutive is Llallwgan. So, Myrddin and Lailoken were one and the same.
Truth be told, the story of Merlin began long before his birth. This is because in the year 43, the fall of the Celts began during the Roman Conquest. Then, five centuries later, the last great Druid was born into a war-torn society. This traumatized his immortal soul, giving him an incredibly complex mind. As such, throughout his life, Myrddin was often overtaken by “awen”, meaning “inspiration”. This mystical poetic frenzy is what allowed him to become a royal bard. As such, Myrddin became the high priest of an entire monarchy. In fact, Merlin was so important that Clas Myrddin, or Merlin’s Enclosure, was an early name for Great Britain stated in the Third Series of Welsh Triads.
Along with being a brilliant scholar, Merlin was also a brutal warrior wizard who often engaged in armed combat and human sacrifices. As part of this, Myrddin of Emrys served as chief counselor to the Scottish king, Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio. Myrddin was then tasked with the all-important role of advising the king during the Battle of Arfderydd. It was then and there, at Arthuret, that the monotheistic king, Riderch I of Alt Clut, brutally defeated the polytheistic king, Gwenddoleu. According to the Annales Cambriae, this took place in the year 573. The tragic event was a major turning point in British history when the Dark Ages began.
Roman Catholic revisionists had come to take away the heritage of the Scottish, English, Welsh, and Irish people. As part of that mission, Druids were being enslaved, tortured, exiled, converted, executed, and more. So, in spite of doing everything they could to prevent more Roman invasion and expansion, the Celtic resistance had failed. After Gwenddoleu was slain, the war was, more or less, over. The Welsh Triads refer to the Battle of Arfderydd as, one of the “Three Futile Battles of the Island of Britain”, along with the Battle of the Trees and the Battle of Camlann.
Afterward, Myrddin went insane, from guilt and grief. Then, he fled to the wilderness to survive off of the fruits of the land, in self-imposed exile. There, he lived in communion with the natural world, as a kind of nomadic sage. Deep in the enchanted Caledonian Forest, he began a sort of revival of archaic Druidism. Although, unlike the Druids who revered oak trees, Myrddin felt that apple trees were sacred. The Romans had already destroyed the Sacred Groves, and Myrddin didn’t want Christianity to do any more damage to his people or their land. He refused to just let the longstanding tradition of pagan spell casting come to an end, so he just kept on practicing sorcery.
He even went on to become a renowned prophetic soothsayer. After not being able to accurately predict the defeat of Gwenddoleu’s army, which included the loss of Merlin’s three brothers, he vowed to become a powerful seer. Then, Merlin the Wild enlisted several other “wild men of the woods”, to help him carry on with the old Celtic culture of their ancestors. He even had a pet pig, who was also his familiar. Like the ancient, animistic mystic Cernunnos, who went on to become a god, Myrddin rode on a large stag, which was occasionally accompanied by a small herd of red deer.
Myrddin led a rich and full life, in spite of and because of everything that happened to him. In the end, he finally grew too old and passed away in the year 612. The legendary sorcerer was buried, near the River Tweed, in the village of Drumelzier. Since then, he has been mentioned in and even featured in, The Black Book of Carmarthen, as well as The Red Book of Hergest, among many other significant texts. Along with appearing in poetic lamentations, such as those, Merlin has also served as the basis for numerous characters, in countless different books, games, movies, and more.
All of this works to help immortalize, an otherwise obscure, bygone Brit. The fact is that Merlin was one of the three principal bards of Britain, so he must have had a thing or two to say about something. Unfortunately, the oral tradition has all but ended, and much of his wisdom has been lost. Of course, that’s all the more reason to be fascinated by the man, as well as the myths. Myrddin Wyllt was and still is, completely deserving of the legendary status that he has attained, in both fiction and non-fiction, alike. Ultimately, Merlin is the archetypal Druid, living on in our collective unconscious. Long ago, the great Welsh wizard cast a spell on all of us, and to this day Merlin is still an iconic household name. It will remain as such for generations to come…