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Chaosium Digest Volume 07 Number 06
Chaosium Digest Volume 7, Number 6
Date: Sunday, August 28, 1994
Number: 2 of 2
Contents:
Merlin: A Chronology (Peter Corless) PENDRAGON
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From: Peter Corless <pcorless@cisco.com>
Subject: Merlin: A Chronology
System: Pendragon
This is an excerpt from the work in progress "The Knights of King
Arthur", Copyright 1994, Peter Corless (written under contract for
future publication by the Chaosium).
[also see V4.6-V4.7 for the Chronology of Sir Lancelot]
Merlin the Magician
Known Relatives:
Mother - nun; daughter of King of Demetia
Father - spirit or demon
Chronology:
452 - Merlin conceived upon a nun, daughter of the King of Demetia, by an
invisible lover
453 - Merlin born in St Peter's Church, Kaermerdin
466 - Vortigern almost kills young boy Merlin to build his collapsing tower;
Merlin states that the tower collapses because of a pool of water
underneath it; prophesies many amazing things
467 - Bleis takes young Merlin on as pupil
470 - Merlin, with Uther Pendragon's aid, transports massive stones from
Ireland to Stonehenge
480 - Merlin predicts the death of Aurelius Ambrosius and the reign of Uther
from portents in the sky
481 - Merlin uses his powers to build the Round Table for Uther Pendragon
491 - Merlin uses his magical powers to aid Uther beget Arthur upon Dame
Igraine at Tintagel Castle
492 - Arranges to have Arthur secreted away to Sir Ector's manor
495 - Has nobles declare that Arthur is heir to the kingdom upon Uther's
deathbed; arranges to have the Sword in the Stone (Excalibur) appear at
London
500 - Travels to Rome and the Holy Land; in Rome, reveals to the Emperor that
the Empress was keeping twelve lovers disguised as ladies-in-waiting;
also converts King Flualis of Jerusalem to Christianity
510 - Petitions the Archbishop of Canterbury to summon the nobles to London to
end the civil war; advises him on the selection of officers to defend
Arthur
510 - Counsels Arthur at the Battle of Carlion
510 - Magically assesses the strength of Arthur's enemies; asks Arthur to
summon Kings Ban & Bors of Ganis to aid him at the Battle of Bedegraine;
magically feeds and transports their troops to battle; provides magic
tokens to Arthur's army to keep them from being spied on; forsees the
landing of Saxons that will keep Arthur's enemies busy for the next
few years
511 - Visited by his mentor, Bleis, who counsels him to keep a history of
Arthur's reign
512 - Fortells of his own demise and Arthur's betrayal by Mordred
512 - Advises Arthur not to kill Pellinore, instead marry him to Arthur's
sister (Margawse?); arranges for Arthur to get Excalibur and scabbard
from the Lady of the Lake
512 - Prophesies that the tomb of Colombe & Lanceor will be the sight of the
battle between Lancelot & Tristram; tells Balin that he will deliver
the Dolorous Stroke
512 - Frees King Meliodas of Lyonesse (Tristram's father) from a covetous
sorceress' imprisonment
513 - Advises Arthur to kill the May Babies
513 - Merlin warns Arthur of the coming of the kings to Castle Terrabil;
delays King Lot
513 - Arthur buries King Lot & 11 others; Merlin prophesies that tapers will
burn until his death, after which the Grail Quest will begin
514 - Leads King Pellinore to sit in the "Siege Perilous" at the Round Table
514 - Warns Arthur not to marry Guenever; he cannot be dissuaded
514 - Tells Arthur to allow Pellinore, Tor and Gawaine to achieve the
Adventure of the White Hart; tells Pellinore the young maiden he let die
was his own daughter
515 - Finds Balin in the ruins of King Pellam's castle; provides him with a
new horse; constructs and inscribes Balin and Balan's tomb after their
deaths
515 - Puts a new pommel on Balin's sword, which can only be wielded by the
best knight in the world (Galahad or Lancelot); foretells that if
Lancelot uses it, he will kill Gawaine with it; buries it in a marble
block that appears at Camelot years later
516 - Merlin falls in love with the Lady of the Lake, Nimue; begins to teach
her secrets of magic
516 - Visited Benwick; told Queen Elaine that she would see Lancelot grow to
be a great knight
517 - Merlin is entrapped by Nimue beneath a great stone; he sleeps often and
makes great dole
518 - King Bagdemagus encounters Merlin under the stone, but cannot free him
523 - Sir Gawaine hears Merlin underneath the rock; tells Gawaine to carry his
greetings to the King and Queen and that no one will hear his voice again
554 - The candles at King Lot's tomb go out, marking the death of Merlin and
the beginning of the Grail Quest
Character Entry:
Though Merlin's origin was often disputed in Arthur's court, it was
well-known to King Vortigern and his lords. Vortigern was trying to
build a tower upon a hill at Mount Erith. It kept sinking into the
ground. Vortigern's court magicians told him that any structure would
continue to collapse until the building was mortared with the blood
and bones of a fatherless boy child. A young boy named Ambrosius
Merlin fit the description, and was brought to court with his mother
under armed escort.
It was there that Merlin's mother described how she became pregnant.
She was a nun at St. Peter's Kaermerdin, the daughter of the King of
Demetia. At the nunnery, she was courted by and laid with an
invisible lover. Maugantius, a well-read member of Vortigern's court,
described this lover as a spirit that lived between the moon and the
earth. He said these spirits were "partly the nature of men and
partly that of angels", and that some called them demons.
Merlin then asked the court magicians to be brought in and refuted
their claims about the tower. He said the reason the tower collapsed
was simple: there was an underground pool of water beneath the
construction site. Yet he also predicted that they would find two
dragons sleeping in hollow stones when the pool was drained. It
turned out exactly as Merlin stated. The two dragons awoke, and
fought furiously. Merlin interpreted it as the battle between the
Cymric Britons and the Saxons, and fortold of the coming of the Boar
of Cornwall (Arthur). This was just the first examples of Merlin's
powers of prophesy.
Some time after this, Merlin travelled to Northumberland and became
the pupil of Bleis, a master of magics. Little is known about
Merlin's master, but at this time, Merlin's powers expanded from just
that of prophesy, to include powers of disguise and beguilement,
magical transport, the making of potions and magical artifacts, and
many other disciplines.
Soon, Merlin had learned all that his master could teach him. He took
his leave, and asked Bleis to keep an account of all Merlin's
accomplishments. Merlin returned to his master in the woods many
times during the following years, so he could keep Bleis apprised of
the entire story.
The first major task that Merlin undertook was the transportation of
the Giant's Ring, from Ireland to the place now known as Stonehenge.
This was the site near Amesbury abbey at which King Hengist had
betrayed the Britons, and had been considered a place of events both
great and terrible long before that too. These stones had originally
came from Africa, and were erected by giants upon Mount Killaraus in
Ireland. Each stone had medicinal properties. Water poured upon the
stones could be collected for baths that would cure illess or heal
wounds. When the Britons heard this, they all agreed to help Merlin.
Aurelius Ambrosius' younger brother Uther led 15,000 men to Ireland to
get the Giant's Ring. After defeating the Irish prince, Gillomanius,
the troops dragged the stones to the sea's edge, loaded them on ships,
and took them back to Logres.
A decade later, Uther called upon Merlin to interpret a portentous
sight in the sky. A star shone in the sky with a long tail. At the
end of the tail, there was a ball of fire that looked like a dragon's
head. From this ball of fire came two shafts. One stretched across
Gaul, the other to the Irish Sea, where it split into seven parts.
Merlin interpreted it as the death of Aurelius, the rise of Uther to
the throne, the reign of Arthur, and Uther's daughter's sons
thereafter. Uther got his surname Pendragon at this time, for he was
the dragon's head.
Soon after Uther became king, Merlin told Uther about the two holy
tables: the table of the Last Supper of Christ, and the table that
Joseph of Arimathea founded when he came to Logres. In like manner,
Merlin created a third great table, the Round Table, for Uther at
Carlion-on-Usk in Escavalon.
It was years later that Merlin next appeared, this time to use his
powers for Uther in his efforts to win the hand of Dame Igraine of
Cornwall (See King Arthur for details). Merlin also took an active
part in ensuring Arthur's survival after Uther's death. After living
through the deaths of Vortigern, Aurelius, and now Uther, Merlin
wanted to see stability come to the kingdom. He got the assembled
barons to agree to make the missing child Arthur heir if he could be
located, then sent the Sword in the Stone to London as a test to prove
the worthiness of any claimant on the throne. Since none of the
barons could draw it out, none gained any signficant support for their
claim. Thus it alleviated the severity of the civil war that ensued.
With Arthur safely hidden at Sir Ector's, and the stability of the
realm in as good a shape as could be expected, Merlin took a decade
off to travel across Europe, as far as Rome and the Holy Land. None
but Bleis, Merlin's biographer, or perhaps Nimue, his protoge, could
ever say for sure what Merlin learned on these excursions.
Upon his return, Merlin saw that it was time for Arthur to take the
throne. He spoke to his friend, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to
summon the nobles to London to end their civil war. It was at this
New Year's Day tournament that Arthur fulfilled the adventure of the
Sword in the Stone. Merlin did not yet present himself to the Boy
King. Rather, he advised the Archbishop on the selection of trusted
knights and officers to defend Arthur.
It was not until the coronation feast at Carlion that Merlin came
himself before the king. There, he told the barons of Arthur's true
birth, and advised Arthur on the use of Excalibur when the barons
turned against him. He told Arthur to draw Excalibur only when the
need was greatest. When Arthur did so during battle, Excalibur burns
brightly. This magnificent sword allowed Arthur to win the day on
many occasions.
Merlin then used his powers to assay the strength of Arthur's enemies.
To deal with their great numbers, he asked Arthur to summon Kings Ban
and Bors of Ganis to aid him at the Battle of Bedegraine. Even still,
there was no time for them to reach the battle by normal means. So
Merlin magically fed and transported their 15,000 troops to the
battle. At the same time, he provided 35,000 tokens to Arthur's army
to keep them from being spied as they marched. After the battle,
which Arthur won easily, Merlin asked Arthur to slacken his pursuit.
When questioned why, Merlin revealed by prophesy that the survivors
would be tied up for the next few years by the landing of 40,000
Saxons in their homelands.
The following year, Merlin visited his mentor again, and had him also
begin keeping a history of Arthur's reign. Merlin next appeared to
Arthur after he had slept with Margawse and encountered King
Pellinore. He helped stay Arthur's hand after he was defeated by
Pellinore in combat, and cast a spell on Pellinore to make him sleep.
He even advised Arthur to marry Pellinore to one of his sisters
(perhaps meaning Margawse), if opportunity presented itself. It was
at this time that Arthur began the unfortunate tradition of not
heeding Merlin's advice in marriage decisions and promptly forgot the
matter.
At various times in Arthur's adventure, Merlin appears in many guises
to tell him of his unwitting incest by Margawse, and how he will die
in battle as atonement. He also fortells of his own demise at the
hands of Nimue. Merlin accompanied Arthur back to court, and was
present to clear up the mysteries at the reuniting of Arthur with his
mother Igraine. It was also during this adventure that Merlin
arranged for Arthur to re-acquire Excalibur, as well as the scabbard,
from the Lady of the Lake. After Arthur's return to Carlion, Merlin
advised him to expediently kill the May Babies, an act so rash and
rutal that Arthur regretted it for the rest of his life. It is the
most controversial and heart-rending advice Merlin ever gave his
liege. Yet his vision knew the sorrow these children would bring to
the realm.
During the adventures of Balin and Balan, Merlin seemed to be too late
in instance after instance. He arrived too late to prevent the death
of the Lady of the Lake, but explained the doom that Balin had gotten
himself into. Merlin also was unable to prevent the death of Sir
Lanceor and his paramour Colombe, finding King Mark already erecting
the tomb for them. Merlin prophesied it would be the site where
Lancelot and Tristram should fight years later, and told Balin that he
would strike the Dolorous Stroke against King Pellam. In the same
year, he was also too late to save Tristram's mother, Queen Elizabeth
of Lyonesse, who died of exposure searching for her husband. But
Merlin did manage to free Tristram's father King Meliodas from the
lady that held him prisoner.
Merlin stayed aloof from the brothers Balin and Balan, but aided them
in defeating King Rience of Norgales, an enemy of Arthur's. This
prevented the armies of Norgales from joining the newly-hatched
rebellion of King Lot. Merlin warned Arthur, then delayed King Lot
from riding to the Battle of Castle Terrabil with tales and prophesies
so wild that they entranced Lot until the battle's result was decided
in Arthur's favor. King Lot eventually realized he was late for the
battle, but his forces arrived too late in the day to change the
outcome. Lot was killed along with most of Arthur's other enemies.
At Lot's burial, Merlin prophesies the tapers hanging above the tombs
of the kings would burn until he himself dies, after which would
follow the Grail Quest.
When Pellinore accompanied Arthur to court, it was Merlin who led him
to sit in the Siege Perilous. So powerful was Merlin's proclomations,
that no one dared challenge them. Yet years later a rash knight was
foolish enough to attempt to sit in the Siege Perilous. He
immediately was consumed in a column of flame. Thereafter, this chair
remained empty until Galahad came to court.
At the court in 514, Arthur was being pressured to take a wife by the
barons. Merlin was the only person that Arthur trusted to talk to
regarding his decision. When Merlin heard that Arthur wanted to marry
Guenever, he tried to talk the king out of his choice. Merlin
foretold Arthur that she would love another named Lancelot. Arthur
was set in his choice, both as a favor to King Leodegrance his good
friend, and also to secure the Round Table as a dowery gift. Merlin
threw up his hands at the choice, but attended the wedding.
At the wedding celebration, it was Merlin's counsel to send Pellinore,
Tor and Gawaine to achieve the Adventure of the White Hart (See the
Boy King page 53-54). The maiden who claimed she owned the white
brachet (hunting dog) was Nimue. Although we do not know what
Merlin's inner thoughts were upon seeing her, we may have a little
insight in seeing how he asked Arthur to send Pellinore -- the best
knight in the world -- to fetch her back. Pellinore succeeded in his
quest, but allowed a young maiden and knight die because he would not
stop to assist them. Merlin told Pellinore that the unknown lady he
allowed to die was in fact Pellinore's own daughter, and prophesied
Pellinore would meet his doom for such ungallant behavior.
Merlin then disappeared until after Balin delivered the Dolorous
Stroke. He rescued Balin from the wreckage of King Pellam's castle,
and gave him a new horse. He also told Balin that it would be the
last time they would meet on this earth. Shortly after Balin and
Balan slew each other, Merlin erected a tomb for them both. He also
created the Perlious Bed (the adventure which Lancelot achieved
afterwards) and put a new pommel on Balin's sword.
This sword is the second sword in the stone which Galahad withdrew at
Camelot prior to the Grail Quest. Merlin predicted that it could only
be used by Galahad or Lancelot, but if Lancelot were to possess it he
would use it to kill Gawaine. He placed the sword's scabbard on an
island reachable only by an enchanted sword bridge so Galahad could
find it. The sword itself was buried halfway into a marble block
which slowly floated down river until it reached Camelot almost forty
years later in 554 AD.
Merlin thereafter became enamoured with Nimue, a young Lady of the
Lake, and a beautiful maiden. Merlin became so love-struck by her
that he followed her to Benwick in France, forsaking King Arthur at
the Battle of Humber (In which the High King was almost killed in a
night ambush, saved only by his personal bodyguards). During Merlin's
trip to Benwick, Merlin told Queen Elaine of Benwick that her son
Lancelot would grow to become a great knight. He also told her she'd
survive to see him revenge the Ganis clan against King Claudas.
Merlin also took the time to teach Nimue magic, and showed her many
great wonders around the Logres. Nimue was glad for the instruction,
but increasingly couldn't stand Merlin's overt lechery. She was a
beautiful maiden in her teens; he was in his sixties. She was also
afraid that he was a demon's son. Because of this, she paid
particular attention when Merlin showed her a great stone in Cornwall
that hid a mysterious and great wonder underneath it. She let him go
underneath the stone to show her more, then caused the stone to trap
Merlin beneath it. No matter what Merlin tried, he could not get out
from beneath it. And Nimue did not not wish to let him out either.
Nimue left Merlin trapped and all-but forgotten. She eventually fell
in love with and married Sir Pelleas, and little more was said of
Merlin for a long while. Yet others came across Merlin's stone prison
years later, including King Bagdemagus and Sir Gawaine. Bagdemagus
found him after Tor was chosen to the Round Table instead of him. He
had ridden out in search of adventure (to make him more famous and
thereby a better candidate) when he encountered Merlin. He tried to
lift the stone, but to no avail. Merlin told him to stop trying
because only Nimue could free him. A few years later, the encounter
repeated itself with Gawaine. Merlin bid Gawine carry his blessings
to Arthur and Guenever, for he predicted no one would ever speak to
him again. No one knows whether anyone else before or since
encountered Merlin or what activities he undertook during his
imprisonment. Near thirty years later, the candles at King Lot's tomb
went out as predicted, at the exact time when Galahad took the Siege
Perilous.
There are some who say that Merlin did not die, but Nimue finally came
back to take Merlin away, just as she did later for Arthur. If such
was the case, perhaps she reunited the High King with Merlin at
Avalon. Others say he was rescued from beneath the stone during the
Grail Quest by Percival or perhaps Galahad himself. But since neither
of these knights returned from their Quest, no one will ever know for
sure until they meet these noble knights, or the great magician
himself, sometime in the hereafter.
--------------------
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