Vita Merlini facts for kids
The Life of Merlin (its Latin name is Vita Merlini) is a long Latin poem written around the year 1150. Many people now believe it was written by Geoffrey of Monmouth, a famous writer from that time. The poem tells the story of Merlin, a powerful wizard. It describes how he goes mad, lives in the woods like a wild man, and shares his prophecies (predictions about the future). He also talks with his sister, Ganieda, and the poet Taliesin. The story gets its ideas from old Celtic legends, especially tales about a bard (a poet and storyteller) named Myrddin Wyllt and a wild man called Lailoken. It also includes an important early description of King Arthur's last trip to Avalon. Even though it wasn't as popular as Geoffrey's other famous book, Historia Regum Britanniae, it still influenced many medieval stories about King Arthur. Modern writers like Laurence Binyon and Mary Stewart have also used it in their works.
Contents
What the Story is About
The poem starts with the author talking briefly to Robert, who was the Bishop of Lincoln. Then, the story of Merlin begins.
Merlin is shown as a prophet and a king of Dyfed. He joins a battle with Peredur, king of Gwynedd, and Rhydderch, king of the Cumbrians. They fight against Gwenddoleu, king of Scotland. Gwenddoleu is defeated, but some of Peredur's (or possibly Merlin's) brothers are killed. Merlin is so sad about their deaths that he goes mad. He runs away into the Caledonian Forest, where he lives by eating grass and fruit.
News of Merlin reaches his sister Gwenddydd (Ganieda), who is married to Rhydderch. She sends someone into the woods to find her brother. The messenger finds Merlin complaining about the cold winter. The messenger sings a song about how sad Gwenddydd and Merlin's wife, Gwendolen, are. This song calms Merlin and makes him think clearly again. He is convinced to visit his sister at Rhydderch's court.
Once he is there, being around so many people makes him go mad again. Merlin has to be chained to stop him from running back to the woods. One day, Merlin sees a leaf in Gwenddydd's hair and laughs. He refuses to explain why he laughed unless he is set free. When he is freed, he tells Rhydderch that the leaf got into Gwenddydd's hair when she was secretly with her lover outdoors.
Gwenddydd then tries to trick Merlin to make him look bad. She brings a boy to him three different times, dressed in different clothes each time so Merlin won't recognize him. Each time, she asks Merlin how the boy will die. The first time, Merlin says he will die from falling from a rock. The second time, he says he will die in a tree. The third time, he says he will die in a river. Rhydderch is then convinced that Merlin can be fooled and that his predictions are not always right. Merlin is asked if his wife can marry again, and he agrees. But he warns any future husband to be careful of him. The author then explains that later, the boy did fall from a rock, got caught in a tree below, and drowned with his head in a river.
Back in the woods, Merlin sees in the stars that Gwendolen is getting married again. So, he goes to her wedding riding on a stag (a male deer). He pulls off the stag's antlers and throws them at the groom, killing him. Merlin tries to escape but is caught and taken back to Rhydderch's court. There, he first sees a beggar and then a young man buying leather for his shoes. He laughs at both of them. Rhydderch again offers Merlin his freedom if he explains his laughter. Merlin says the beggar was standing over hidden treasure without knowing it. He also says the young man was fated to drown before he could wear his repaired shoes. When Merlin's words turn out to be true, Rhydderch lets him go.
Merlin returns to the woods and watches the stars from a special place Gwenddydd built for him. He predicts the future of Britain up to the time of the Norman kings. Rhydderch dies, and Gwenddydd is very sad. Taliesin, a visitor of Rhydderch, goes to the woods to see Merlin. They talk for a long time about many learned topics, like how the universe began, the study of the universe, and the nature of fish. They also discuss the world's islands, including Avalon, the "island of apples," where Morgen takes care of King Arthur.
Merlin makes a few more predictions. Then, he remembers the history of Britain from the time of Constans to Arthur. A new spring of water suddenly appears. When Merlin drinks from it, his madness goes away, and he thanks God for being cured. Taliesin then talks about famous springs around the world.
When princes and chieftains hear that Merlin is cured, they visit him in the woods. They try to convince him to become king again. But Merlin says he is too old and enjoys living in nature too much to return. A group of cranes appears in the sky. Merlin then teaches them about cranes and many other kinds of birds. A madman appears, and Merlin recognizes him as an old friend named Maeldinus. Maeldinus had gone mad from eating poisoned apples meant for Merlin. Maeldinus is cured by drinking from the new spring. It is decided that Maeldinus, Taliesin, Merlin, and Gwenddydd will stay together in the woods, away from the busy world. The poem ends with Gwenddydd making a prophecy about events during the reign of King Stephen. Merlin then says he will no longer use his gift of prophecy.
How the Poem Was Written
Geoffrey of Monmouth (who lived from about 1100 to 1155) was a churchman and writer. He lived in Oxford from 1129 to 1152. In the 1130s, he wrote two very successful books: Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain) and Prophetiae Merlini (Prophecies of Merlin). The Historia was a mostly made-up history of Britain, featuring Merlin and King Arthur. These books made Merlin and Arthur famous legends around the world.
The Vita Merlini is a much longer poem. In the only complete copy of the poem, a later note says Geoffrey of Monmouth was the author. Also, the Vita is dedicated to Robert, Bishop of Lincoln. The poet mentions that he had dedicated another work to the previous bishop. Since Geoffrey had dedicated his Prophetiae Merlini to Alexander, the bishop before Robert, this strongly suggests Geoffrey wrote the Vita.
Some critics in the 1800s and early 1900s doubted Geoffrey's authorship. They pointed to differences in writing style and suggested the poem mentioned events after Geoffrey's death. However, most experts now agree that Geoffrey wrote it. Since Robert de Chesney became bishop in December 1148, and Geoffrey died in 1155, the poem was likely finished in late 1150 or early 1151.
Where the Story Ideas Came From
In his Historia Regum Britanniae, Geoffrey showed Merlin as a prophet from South Wales who advised kings in the 5th century. But the Merlin in the Vita is different. He's still a prophet, but also a warrior-king who went mad in the 6th century in the Hen Ogledd (Old North). Geoffrey tried to connect these two Merlins by making the Vita's hero a king of Dyfed in South Wales. He also made Merlin remember his earlier life from the Historia. However, it still feels like two different legends were combined: one from South Wales and one from North Britain.
Experts believe that the South Welsh legend was about a prophet named Myrddin Wyllt, linked to the town of Carmarthen. The northern legend was about a wild man called Lailoken, who was part of the battle of Arfderydd in 573. These two stories likely merged into one long before Geoffrey wrote the Vita Merlini. Geoffrey then used different parts of this combined story in his two works. Some scholars, like Rachel Bromwich and Oliver Padel, even think Geoffrey himself might have been the one to combine these two legends.
Other important old Welsh poems are similar to the Vita Merlini. For example, "The Conversations of Myrddin and his Sister Gwenddydd" (Cyfoesi Myrddin a Gwenddydd ei Chwaer) has Gwenddydd asking questions and Myrddin, who is mad, giving prophecies. Rhydderch and the battle of Arfderydd are mentioned. "The Apple-trees" (Yr Afallennau) is another poem with prophecies and a sad narrator who has wandered for fifty years as a madman in the Caledonian Forest after the battle of Arfderydd.
The character of Lailoken also appears in some Latin writings. One is a "Life of St. Kentigern" written between 1175 and 1199. There are also two short stories, "Lailoken A" and "Lailoken B."
An Irish story called Buile Shuibhne is also similar to the Vita. In this 12th-century work, a warrior named Suibne goes mad during the battle of Moira and runs into the wilderness. He gets better and returns to society, but then goes mad again and returns to the wilds. His wife even remarries, just like in Merlin's story.
Some parts of the Vita might come from other Celtic stories. For example, one of Merlin's prophecies might be similar to a 10th-century poem called Armes Prydein. The way Merlin is first found and captured is very much like a part of the "Life of St Gurthiern". The name Morgen appears in the Vita Merlini as the oldest of nine sisters who care for King Arthur in Avalon. This is the first clear mention of Morgan le Fay in literature.
Geoffrey also used ideas from older Latin writers. As a writer during the 12th-century Renaissance, he knew a lot about classical and medieval Latin literature. This is clear in the Vita Merlini, even in his choice of the classical hexameter (a type of poetic meter). Merlin and Taliesin's talks about the universe, nature, and geography mostly come from medieval Latin writers and from Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae, a very popular encyclopedia from the 7th century. The part where Merlin laughs at the beggar and the man buying leather has similar stories in Greek and Jewish writings, even going back to the Talmud.
How the Poem Influenced Others
Geoffrey probably wrote the Vita Merlini for a small group of friends, not for everyone. Only seven copies of the poem still exist, compared to 217 copies of his Historia Regum Britanniae. This shows it wasn't as widely read or influential as the Historia. Still, it was noticed.
A library list from the 1150s in Le Bec, Normandy, separated Merlinus Silvester (the wild Merlin from Vita) from Merlinus Ambrosius (the Merlin from Historia). This shows the person who made the list had read both of Geoffrey's works and noticed the differences. Gerald of Wales also made this point in his book Itinerarium Cambriae (1191).
Some later works might have been influenced by the Vita. For example, Draco Normannicus (around 1168) by Étienne de Rouen gives details about King Arthur going to Avalon that aren't in the Historia. It's not certain if he got this from the Vita or from spoken stories. The same can be said for Layamon's Brut (around 1200), which knows about Morgan's role in Arthur's survival and Merlin as a wild man. Other stories like Erec (1190) by Hartmann von Aue and the early 13th-century Mort Artu also connect Morgen with Avalon.
An early 13th-century French story, the Vulgate Merlin, shows knowledge of the Vita. It describes Merlin as a trickster and includes the ideas of the "threefold death" (where someone dies in three different ways) and the man who buys leather for shoes but dies before wearing them.
In the 1800s, the Vita became available to more writers. George Ellis published a summary of it in 1805. This allowed writers like Reginald Heber to use the character of Gwendolen from the Vita in his poem. Ludwig Uhland, a German Romantic writer, retold the Vita's story in his ballad "Merlin der Wilde" (1829). He showed Merlin getting his power from the forest and nature.
Laurence Binyon's "The Madness of Merlin" (1947) was based mainly on the Vita and the Myrddin and Lailoken traditions. Mary Stewart's novel The Last Enchantment (1979), which was part of a trilogy narrated by Merlin, used material from many sources. The Vita Merlini contributed Merlin's mad retreat to the forest and the story of the boy who needed his shoes patched but was fated to drown. The New Age writer John Matthews has also retold the Vita as "The Life of Merlin."
More recently, the American academic Jerry Hunter wrote a Welsh novel called Gwenddydd (2010). It takes the story of Gwenddydd and Myrddin from the old Welsh poems and the Vita Merlini. He moves the story to World War II, where Myrddin is a soldier with PTSD who escapes a hospital and reunites with his sister Gwen. This novel won an award in 2010.
Translations
The Vita Merlini has been translated into English and other languages, making it available to more readers.
