Merlin the Prophet

Hey guys! How are you? How was your week?

This post we're talking about Merlin, a figure who has been portrayed in a wide variety of mediums. When I think of Merlin, I always think of him as a wizard – a sort of Gandalf-esque figure, if you will. This is because a lot of different modern adaptations of Merlin focus on him as a wizard, a being with magical powers. He had these powers in the original stories, but they have been thoroughly expanded on until the wizard aspect of Merlin overcame his original role in Arthurian legend – that of a prophet.

The story of Merlin's birth is an interesting one. He was born the child of a woman (sometimes a noble, sometimes a nun) and an incubus. The word incubus is not used often in modern American culture, so I'd like to explain it a little. An incubus is a male demon who is incredibly handsome and possesses great powers of seduction. They impregnate females, and the resulting child is usually evil given their part-demonic nature. There is a female version of an incubus, called a succubus, who is seen more often in recent pop culture.

 

(For instance, the succubus is one of the demons a Warlock in World of Warcraft learns to summon.)

Anyway, Merlin's mom was impregnated by an incubus. She confessed what had happened to a priest, and he was able to bless the child so that when Merlin was born, he was not evil. However, Merlin maintained some of the powers he had inherited from his demonic father – notably, a gift for prophecy. He knew the past and was able to see the future, which came in handy when Merlin began to aid first Uther and then Arthur.

One unique catch to Merlin's prophetic abilities was the fact that he had to abide by what he saw in the future. In one story, Merlin becomes the tutor of a woman gifted with magical abilities. The woman has many names in the various translations of the story, but I'm going to stick with Nimue. (Remember the name – it will be important in a few posts!) Merlin falls in love with Nimue and teaches her everything that he knows.

Unfortunately, Merlin also sees that Nimue will betray him and imprison him in a magical tree, leading to his death. He knows that this will happen, but is unable to change the future he has seen – just as he is unable to prevent Arthur's eventual death.

I find this concept fascinating. Let me ask – if you could have any superpower in the world, what would it be? I've known a lot of people who wanted to be able to see the future. It makes sense; if you could see the winning lottery numbers, or whether your crush would ever like you back, you could make your life a lot better...or so a person might think. But Arthurian legend explores another side to the power of prophecy – what if you knew what was going to happen, but were unable to stop it? What if you saw your own death, but couldn't do anything to prevent it? How would you like to see all of your friends die horribly in a vision, then have to live with them knowing that just such a thing would come to pass?

It's a horrible idea, but one that the stories in Arthurian legend play out well.

As I said, Merlin eventually became known more as a wizard than as a prophet. His abilities were made more magical as the stories were retold, and eventually his role as a prophet was almost forgotten. Instead, stories focus on his ability to shapeshift, to teleport from place to place, or other various and sundry magical tricks.

(Anyone remember this shapeshifting duel from The Sword in the Stone?)

But, originally, Merlin was a prophet – and his powers were as much a curse as they were a blessing, given their origin in a demonic father.

I hope you guys found the post interesting! I really do want to know – if you could have any superpower, what would it be?

We'll be taking a short break from Arthurian legend for the next two weeks. I have two very special posts written up...so stay tuned, and I'll see you next Monday!