{"id":6168,"date":"2009-01-10T11:34:29","date_gmt":"2009-01-10T17:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.epictales.org\/treskillard\/2009\/01\/10\/who_was_merlin\/"},"modified":"2009-01-10T11:34:29","modified_gmt":"2009-01-10T17:34:29","slug":"who_was_merlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.epictales.org\/treskillard\/2009\/01\/10\/who_was_merlin\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Was Merlin? — Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Merlin<\/a><\/div>\n

This is a question that has fascinated people throughout the ages.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

I recently read an article on the BBC News<\/a><\/strong> website, titled “Merlin myths and links with Wales<\/a><\/strong>“.<\/p>\n

This article was prompted by the introduction of a new television series <\/strong>“Merlin – The Legend<\/a><\/strong>” (produced by the BBC, of course) about a young Merlin aiding a young Arthur, yet the article shies away from the TV show and sticks mostly with history. <\/p>\n

Or does it?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Not quite.<\/strong> Although they deal with the history of Merlin in this article, they put a modern, political, academic leftist interpretation<\/strong> on the creation of the Merlin myth. To the researchers quoted in the article, Merlin was:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. “a figment of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s imagination to justify why [the new Anglo-Norman aristocracy] were conquering [Britain]”<\/li>\n
  2. “used to bring stability to the country after the wars of the Roses”<\/li>\n
  3. “a romantic figure … overwhelmed by the seductive wiles of a woman … perfect for the 19th Century because of the strong gender polarities”<\/li>\n
  4. “used by the Nazis to create their own myths and national identity”<\/li>\n
  5. “[taken by] JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis … to wage a literary war on the Nazis”<\/li>\n
  6. “[today] Merlin has really become a Shaman [to meet the spiritual desires of the 21st century]”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"Wikipedia<\/a><\/div>\n

    These answers<\/strong> are attempts to explain Merlin’s creation based on the politics, money, and power of whatever era the myth was rewritten.<\/p>\n

    This leftist view of artistic creation is rather lifeless and cold.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

    That is not to say that these factors did not influence the myth, but (aside from any Nazi propoganda) why should we ignore the God-given desire for an author to create a beautiful story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The stories of Geoffrey of Monmouth<\/strong> (Historia Regum Britanniae<\/a>) and Thomas Malory<\/strong> (Le Morte d’Arthur<\/a>) are just plain beautiful in their own right, and I personally want to appreciate the artistic vision that these men had.<\/p>\n

    Two things the BBC article got mostly right<\/strong> were the following two points. Merlin was:<\/p>\n