Merlin

Merlin, the wizard of Arthurian legend, has been a source of enduring fascination for centuries. In this authoritative, entertaining, and generously illustrated book, Stephen Knight traces the myth of Merlin back to its earliest roots in the early Welsh figure of Myrddin. He then follows Merlin as he is imagined and reimagined through centuries of literature and art, beginning with Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose immensely popular History of the Kings of Britain (1138) transmitted the story of Merlin to Europe at large. He covers French and German as well as Anglophone elements of the myth and brings the story up to the present with discussions of a globalized Merlin who finds his way into popular literature, film, television, and New Age philosophy.

IntroductionChapter 1: British Myrddin-Merlin: WisdomMyrddin-MerlinThe Earliest MaterialsNatural Wisdom: Myrddin of CumbriaProphetic Wisdom: Myrddin of WalesWisdom at Court: Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum BritanniaeTwelfth-Century Natural Wisdom: Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita MerliniChapter 2: Medieval Merlin: AdviceFrom Prophecy to Advice: WaceChristian Advice: Robert de BoronGrand Vizier: The Vulgate MerlinDarkening Advice: The Post-Vulgate MerlinAdvising a Nation: from Layamon to MaloryChapter 3: English Merlin: ClevernessProphecy and Advice in DeclineRenaissance ClevernessCleverness High and Low: The Seventeenth CenturyCleverness High and Low: The Eighteenth CenturyThe Dangers of Cleverness: The RomanticsThe Dangers of Cleverness: The VictoriansChapter 4: International Merlin: EducationContinental Merlin: From Cleverness Back to WisdomToward Education: AmericaToward Education: BritainEducation and the Novel: White, Lewis, and CooperEducation and the Novel: Historicism, Juveniles, and FantasyMerlin on ScreenInternational MerlinNotesPrimary BibliographySecondary BibliographyIndex