Many of the characters in Arthurian legends are perceived differently in the popular mind than they are usually portrayed in the actual text. Most would not assume that Arthur generally does not go questing like his knights, and the degree to which Lancelot is sometimes used as a parody of knighthood and emphasis of brawn over brain was quite surprising to me. But more than any other character, I was surprised by what I read about Merlin.
Merlin’s name might be known even more widely than Arthur’s, and until Harry Potter burst onto the scene he was the go-to reference all things wizard related. He’s usually portrayed as a wise and considerate man, with an air of dignity and possibly a bit of an absent minded professor vibe. Besides his wisdom and knowledge of the mystical, this could not be more different than his portrayal in what we have read for this semester. Merlin’s wisdom is not the kind hearted wisdom of peace. His advice to put all of the infants born in May to death was chillingly Machiavellian. He clearly is not the kind of man who would advise anything but the most efficient solution to a problem, regardless of the morality questions in play.
Even when he is not being cold and calculating, he is usually animalistic. His feral appearances in The Life of Merlin and Silence are a far cry from the dignified robes and quiet mystery I always connected Merlin with in my head before this class. These appearances show his dark side in his prophecy as well, when he predicts what seems like an impossible, multiple death for a boy until it comes true. One wonders if he could have prevented the death by explaining his meaning but didn’t to prove his power. Or even worse, if his prophecies set into motion the events that led to the boy’s death. In Silence he seems to revel in displaying his power by cutting through the lies of the court. He unveils Silence’s deception, not caring if she wanted that or not.
All this said, I prefer this darker, more interesting Merlin to the generic wise old wizard figure I had been picturing all these years. This Merlin has some flavor and some depth. While I might find him slightly shady and a little disturbing, he is also one of my favorite characters from the semester, even though he doesn’t have nearly as much written about his as many other, less intriguing people.
I also prefer the darker, wilder version of Merlin, because there’s something genuinely unsettling about a prophet --someone who can predict the future-- who is completely unpredictable. I get the sense (from Monmouth) that Merlin knows more than he can handle. While the knights are constantly on a quest to develop their identities and secure their futures, Merlin’s already seen most of what lies ahead, leaving him with nothing to search for; he has no “quest,” so to speak. That’s not to say he doesn’t have certain motivations for his actions, but they’re incredibly obscure. Even after all we’ve read about him, I’m still not entirely convinced that he wanted Arthur, or even Arthur’s kingdom, to succeed. (Particularly in Le Morte Darthur, when he vanished so suddenly and wasn’t around when Arthur needed his advice the most.) It seems as though his wild side, or rather his basic instinct, is what governs him. He functions on impulse, which is what makes him so fascinating when he’s in the role of Arthur’s advisor.
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