![]() Read moreĪshe produced his first book on the Arthurian legends – King Arthur’s Avalon – in 1957, and fifty years on he still returns to the Matter of Britain, most recently in this overview of Merlin (first published in 2006 as a hardback by Sutton, now subsumed into The History Press). Despite his 'supernatural' status it is Merlin, of all the great characters in the Arthurian world, who has the strongest claims to having existed. Geoffrey Ashe reveals the man behind the myth, establishing beyond doubt the historicity of a Welsh prophet called Myrddin Emrys. Like Arthur, he acquired immortality and sleeps on Bardsey Island, in a subterranean chamber with nine companions. He was 'immaculately' conceived and was able to interpret dreams and utter prophecies. ![]() The Merlin of legend was born to be a magician. Or was he? This new book by the leading Arthurian scholar of today offers a succession of surprises. As for Merlin, he seems to be wholly a creation of Geoffrey's active brain. One of the most influential books of the Middle Ages, it planted Arthur himself in European minds. ![]() Merlin, seer and wonder-worker at King Arthur's court, makes his debut in the highly inventive 'History of the Kings of Britain', written during the 1130s by an author known to posterity as Geoffrey of Monmouth. ![]()
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