British Magical History: Merlin And King Arthur

Chapter 20

Muggle Version

To Muggles, the stories of King Arthur (including Merlin) are thought to be a myth. Muggles believe that Merlin was only granted the gift of magic because his mother was raped by a demon while still a virgin. The Muggles’ legend continues that Merlin found himself to be King Uther Pendragon’s personal sorcerer. Uther desired Igraine, the wife of his enemy, with whom he was attempting to create peace. Uther desired the woman so much, that he persuaded Merlin to enchant him so that he sounded and looked like her husband King Gorlois, in order to have one night with her. This happened to be the night Arthur was conceived. After he was born, Merlin rushed Arthur away to a village where he secretly entrusted the child to another family. Arthur grew up without knowledge of his heritage, until Uther was killed by his daughter Morgan Le Fey. She grew bitter and evil towards her father, because now that her mother and Gorlois were both dead, Uther was able to marry Igraine and take Gorlois’ land for his own. Morgana, as she was sometimes known, desired the kingdom and power for herself. Unfortunately she knew nothing about Uther’s illegitimate son. After Uther was killed, Merlin rushed to the village where he had placed Arthur in the care of Sir Ector. Arthur, now a grown man, followed Merlin back to take his rightful place as king and to rid his evil half-sister of power. This proved to be harder than anticipated because Morgan Le Fey had magic.

Merlin eventually became Arthur’s greatest advisor and helped him become king. The kingdom, though, was torn between loyalty to Morgana and loyatly to Arthur. Merlin, many years previously, enchanted a sword, Excalibur, to be stuck in a stone until the rightful owner tried to take it for his own. People did not know it was Merlin’s doing, but instead that the sword was placed in the stone by the Gods. Arthur manages to pull Excalibur from the stone. People all around the different kingdoms hear about this and they flock to him for leadership. Arthur is quickly thereafter crowned as king of all of England, with his throne in the castle of Camelot.

Later, barons and knights suggested it was time for Arthur to get a wife and Arthur chooses a woman by the name of Guinevere. However, Merlin foresees that Guinevere will betray Arthur, because one of Arthur’s own knight’s, Sir Lancelot, will fall in love with her. But Arthur would not listen and soon the two of them were married. Merlin’s prediction would become a reality later on.

One day, King Pellinor, brings a lady to King Arthur’s court. A lady, by the name of Nimue. She is today known as the Damsel of the Lake. Merlin falls in love with Nimue, and he doesn’t leave her side at any time possible. Nimue is interested in Merlin’s magical gift and Merlin teaches her all the magic he knows. Nimue later accommodates him to the land of Benwick were Merlin saw Lancelot, and predicted, that he would one day be known as the most honourable and noble knights in all of England. On their travels, Nimue realises the affections Merlin has for her and she sees the potential in this. They came to a cave were she saw her great chance to be rid of Merlin. She uses his own magic against him, and trapped him inside the cave, never to see the brightness of the sun ever again.

However, we as witches and wizards, knows the true story of mighty Merlin:

Wizard Version

It is true that Merlin had magic, but the Muggles just didn’t know to what extent. Merlin was accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when he was young, just like many other witches and wizards. Muggles in the Middle Ages believed magic was something that one was taught, and surely enough one could be taught certain types like potions. However, there also exists a certain kind of magic that comes from within, some kind of magic that cannot be taught. Merlin was one of a kind.

He was sorted into Slytherin, and it soon became apparent that Merlin was meant for something great.

Merlin’s mother was no virgin, nor was she raped by a demon. His mother was actually a witch, who fell in love with a Muggle. In order not to implicate her love or herself, she lied about Merlin’s origins.

Merlin did extraordinary things at Hogwarts, and he would soon be acknowledged as the greatest and most talented wizard Hogwarts had ever seen. Not much is known about Merlin’s school years, but there are a few things we do know.

Merlin’s wand is said to have been made of oak, although this cannot be proven because neither his wand nor his grave has ever been found.

Supposedly, Merlin became the trusted advisor/sorcerer to Uther Pendragon because a dragon had revealed parts of the future to Merlin. Uther had captured this dragon as a young man, and kept it prisoner deep in the underground of his castle.

Only dragonlords can speak with and understand dragons, and Merlin was fortunate to have this special gift. The dragon told him that one day Uther Pendragon would become the father of a boy who would be named Arthur, and together Arthur and he would build a world called Albion, where magic would once again flourish throughout the land. Uther had previously forbidden magic in his kingdom because he was afraid that if magic was permitted, he would lose his power to a warlock or witch. Only Merlin was permitted to use his magic, in order to help Uther in every way possible.

Merlin indeed helped Uther to change his appearance so he could steal a night with the married Igraine. This is the first known usage of what later came to be called the Polyjuice Potion.

Arthur was born and hidden by Merlin in a nearby town so that he would later become the king that the dragon had prophesized.

As told in the Muggle myths of Merlin and Arthur, Uther was killed by his daughter Morgan Le Fey (sometimes known as Morgana), mainly because she wanted the kingdom and power for herself. (Morgana also attended Hogwarts as a child, but it is unknown to what house she belonged.) Merlin brought Arthur back to claim his rightful place on the throne, but in the process gained an enemy in Morgana forever.

Merlin did indeed place the sword Excalibur in the stone for the rightful king of England to claim, and when Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, he won the trust of the citizens of England. They answered to his leadership rather than Morgana’s.

When Uther died, Merlin released the dragon from its prison, but kept a close friendship with the creature. Merlin was no seer, like the Muggles believed him to be. It was the dragon who told Merlin about Guinevere’s eventual fleshly betrayal of Arthur with Sir Lancelot. However, as in the Muggle legend, Arthur would not listen to Merlin and decided to marry Guinevere after all. It was true that both Sir Lancelot and Guinevere betrayed King Arthur. However, this was primarily due to a spell that Morgana cast on Guinevere. She was drawn to Sir Lancelot and ended up kissing him. King Arthur found out and almost had burned Guinevere at the stake and Sir Lancelot exiled, but Merlin discovered the truth and explained everything to Arthur. Merlin was able to undo the spell and everything remained in peace at Camelot. Arthur’s and Guinevere’s relationship was never the same though. After the episode, Sir Lancelot did everything he could to restore his honour and was later known as the greatest and noblest knight of Arthur’s court.

It is also true that King Pellinor once brought a young woman to court named Nimue, known as the Damsel of the Lake. Merlin was an old man by then, but he was besotted with her. She was also born with the gift of magic, but had never attended Hogwarts. It is not known why. She sought to learn magic from Merlin, and he taught her everything she knew. They even travelled to find a wand for her. When they finally found the right quality for her wand, Nimue believed that she did not need Merlin any more. She realised that she could be even greater than him and did not want him around. Nimue tricked Merlin into a cave, broke his wand in half, used his own magic against him and forced him to die a merciless death in the cave.
Nimue later bragged of her accomplishment against the greatest wizard in history, but she never did reveal the location of the cave.

There are stories that claim that Merlin escaped the cave and returned to Arthur’s court, albeit wandless and unable to perform magic anymore. However, these are believed to be just rumour.