10-02-2013, 01:36 PM
I'm very late on this thread, but it looked like a fun thing to try.
Since his earliest mentions in Welsh mythology, Merlin/Myrddin has a lot of different characteristics and personalities (depending on who you read), and spellings, and many different theories about who the real Merlin might have been. I've put together a few of the more interesting theories on the evolution of the character/god:
The nearest 'real' person was, it is thought, two people with the same name 'Emrys' - one of whom was among King Arthur's advisors, and another who was a court bard. They became combined in the Wise-Man Druid figure of Merlin.
Some speculate that his original name was the Welsh Myrddin (which offered phonetic connections to the god Mithras, as well. Something the Romans would have liked while they were busy trying to wipe out the Celts). So it was pronounced more like 'Mithrin', but the Welsh spelling, with all those Ds, translated into French, when Malory was writing, as Merde-in (ie - 'shit') so the 'r' was substituted and this had the happy coincidence of being the name of a bird of prey.
My favourite theory is that 'Merlin' was not a single person, but a title held by successive people (hence the idea of his longevity, and that he aged backwards), and it was the title that got passed on. I'm especially fond of this one as it allows a woman to be the Merlin. MZB is probably the most famous example of this idea, but Neil Gaimon (and later other authors) in the 'Books of Magic' make the Merlin a mage whose particular gifts are reborn, even if the soul, per se, isn't.
Followers of the Grail Tradition consider the Arthurian characters as deities, including Merlin, of course.
Personally, I find Merlin a fascinating character, and I especially love to see what modern authors come up with, such as Stephen Lawhead, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Andre Norton &c. Many emphasise his abilities as Wise Druid/Shaman figure, rather than his great magical prowess, which is why I've made Aeva potentially relatively weak, and starting very low indeed so she can grow into the more confident and wise figure.
Since his earliest mentions in Welsh mythology, Merlin/Myrddin has a lot of different characteristics and personalities (depending on who you read), and spellings, and many different theories about who the real Merlin might have been. I've put together a few of the more interesting theories on the evolution of the character/god:
The nearest 'real' person was, it is thought, two people with the same name 'Emrys' - one of whom was among King Arthur's advisors, and another who was a court bard. They became combined in the Wise-Man Druid figure of Merlin.
Some speculate that his original name was the Welsh Myrddin (which offered phonetic connections to the god Mithras, as well. Something the Romans would have liked while they were busy trying to wipe out the Celts). So it was pronounced more like 'Mithrin', but the Welsh spelling, with all those Ds, translated into French, when Malory was writing, as Merde-in (ie - 'shit') so the 'r' was substituted and this had the happy coincidence of being the name of a bird of prey.
My favourite theory is that 'Merlin' was not a single person, but a title held by successive people (hence the idea of his longevity, and that he aged backwards), and it was the title that got passed on. I'm especially fond of this one as it allows a woman to be the Merlin. MZB is probably the most famous example of this idea, but Neil Gaimon (and later other authors) in the 'Books of Magic' make the Merlin a mage whose particular gifts are reborn, even if the soul, per se, isn't.
Followers of the Grail Tradition consider the Arthurian characters as deities, including Merlin, of course.
Personally, I find Merlin a fascinating character, and I especially love to see what modern authors come up with, such as Stephen Lawhead, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Andre Norton &c. Many emphasise his abilities as Wise Druid/Shaman figure, rather than his great magical prowess, which is why I've made Aeva potentially relatively weak, and starting very low indeed so she can grow into the more confident and wise figure.