LIFE OF

MERLIN
Geoffrey of Monmouth
VITA M E R L im

Edited with Introduction, facing

translation, textual commentary,
name notes index and translations
o f the Lailoken tales
by
BASIL CLARKE

Published on behalf o f the Language and

Literature Committee o f the Board o f Celtic Studies

CARDIFF
UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS
*973
 University o f Wales Press
Merthyr House, James Street, Cardiff

© B. Clarke, 1973

o 7083 0520 2

Printed in Great Britain

University Printing House, Cambridge
CONTENTS

Preface page v

I N T R O D U C T I O N : Proem vii
1 Celtic origins o f Vita M erlini i
2 T he twelfth century and Geoffrey’s
non-Celtic sources 6
3 Prophecy in Vita M erlini i6
4 Stories o f the C eltic wild men (Summaries) 22
5 Geoffrey o f M onmouth’s life 26
6 Authorship 36
7 D ate o f Vita M erlini 40
8 M anuscripts and editions o f Vita M erlini 43
V IT A M E R L IN I: L IF E O F M E R L IN 51
Latin text facing English translation 52
Textual commentary 136
N A M E N O T E S IN D E X 156
Appendix I : LA ILO K E N A and B tales:
translations 227
Appendix I I: Afallennau: three narrative stanzas
translated by Professor A . O . H . Jarm an 235
Abbreviations 236
References 237
General Index 249

[iii]
To J.
 PREFACE

Vita M erlini is a poem written in the m iddle o f the twelfth century b y

G eoffrey o f M onmouth. Its m atter derives from ancient British history, as
known at the time, from W elsh poetic and prophetic tradition and from
legends native and exotic. It also reflects its own day— the intellectual
speculation, the interest in the past, the civil w ar o f Stephen’s reign, the
unfinished struggle between W elsh and Normans and the special moment
o f the establishment o f a new bishopric in an area where these two clashed.
These and other threads, including w hat seems a personal message b y the
author, can be distinguished in the poem. Since the poem has never been
w idely available in Latin and hardly at all in English, the intention is to
present it in Latin and English with enough in the w ay o f general exposi­
tion and detailed commentary to help clarify at least some o f the m any
problems it raises. Topics intertwine a good deal, and convenience o f
reference justifies some overlap o f inform ation; further explanation o f this
edition is given at the end o f the Introduction.
It would be a pity if the poem itself, as a literary creation, were less
considered than the elucidation o f its problems, im portant though some o f
these are. Its age, form and circumstances do not make its qualities easy to
grasp im m ediately and without explanations ; but those who have perse­
vered have found more than the oddities (as they seem) o f its surface. In
particular, there is the creation o f characters with enough vitality to make
one wonder what Geoffrey would have m ade o f the novel, in another age.
In France, for exam ple, Lot spoke o f Geoffrey's *facetious bizarrerie (in
the spirit o f the time) ', but finally came round to seeing Vita M erlini as
‘ here and there one o f the most truly poetic poems o f the M iddle A ges’ .
Sim ilarly, Tatlock in Am erica spent much time with the poem. A t first
reading he described it as incoherent, unaccountable and uncertain in
mood. But later, he thought, ‘ the scales fall from one's eyes’ and ‘ one sees
something in three dimensions and related to its surroundings’ . This sort
o f progress is more rewarding than an attem pt to place the poem in a
literary hierarchy o f values, and the attem pt is not made here.
I am grateful for the permission o f the Clarendon Press and o f Professor
A . O . H . Jarm an to reprint Professor Jarm an’s version o f three stanzas o f
[vj
VI PREFACE

Afallennau from Arthurian literature in the middle ages (edited by R . S.

Loomis, Clarendon Press, 1959; chapter 3, p. 21), and for die practical
suggestions made by the readers in M edieval Latin and M edieval W elsh
o f the University o f W ales Press. M rs Rachel Bromwich gave early
encouragement and I owe a special debt for her comments on a draft.
I should like to thank also D r James Bulloch o f Stobo, M r J . H . Burn o f
Glasgow University, M rs Janet Caird o f Inverness, Professor W . H . Davies
o f Aberystwyth, Messrs W atney M ann L td, and others, for help on
particular points.
B. C L A R K E
 INTRODUCTION

PROEM

Vita Merlim was a poem for a lim ited audience o f friends. T he author
presents it initially as a relaxed literary exercise, but it develops serious
themes by the end. It shows signs o f belonging to the m iddle o f the twelfth
century and to Stephen's troubled reign, but its contem porary references
and its quasi-predictions about British history are accretions on a variant
o f an old tale adapted b y Geoffrey in a w ay which appears to allude to a
stage o f his own career.
His earlier and m ain work was his History, generally known as Historia
Regum Britanniae (HRB) ; but he says in Vita Merlim ( VM ) that it was called
Gesta Britonum in his day. This was published in 1136-8; VM appeared
c. 1150. There are connections between the two, but their purpose and
form were different. H RB was an attem pt to find coherence and a sequence
in available miscellaneous histories, patriotic traditions and rom antic
ideas about the far past and the early post-Roman centuries in the island.
VM makes use o f HRB but founds itself upon a m uch more lim ited set o f
tales and traditions from the same era, partly to entertain, partly to
convey some current preoccupations o f the author through the story o f
M erlin as a grief-stricken fugitive in the forest o f Calidon who eventually
recovers sanity and decides to end his days in spiritual exercises and
contem plation in the woods.
This fugitive M erlin is presented as one with M erlin Ambrosius, who
appeared to V ortigem in the History as a prophetic boy prodigy and
subsequendy performed such feats as shifting Stonehenge from Ireland to
W iltshire and changing U ther's personality by drugs.
Later Arthurian compositions associated M erlin with A rthur’s reign;
but in Geoffrey's History this first M erlin ceases to play a part by the tim e
o f A rthur’s accession, and in Vita Merlim A rthur is dead and M erlin old.
T h e explanation is that the elderly second character, 'M erlin Calidonius'
or 'M erlin Silvester', shows the effect o f contributions from other literary
sources. Both M erlin Ambrosius and M erlin Calidonius owe their pro­
phetic aspect in great part to the prophetic element in the W elsh M yrddin.
But the narrative alluded to in the M yrddin poems and in the North
British-Scotic Lailoken m aterial takes both M yrddin and Lailoken back b y
[vii]
 •••
vin IN T R O D U CT IO N

different routes to the probably historical tradition o f a sixth-century

fugitive; and the story o f M erlin Calidonius in VM refers to this, parti­
cularly the beginning o f the poem. T he other ingredient in M erlin
Ambrosius (besides M yrddin the prophet) was Ambrosius (or, Emreis
W ledig, Aurelius, Aurelianus, etc.), a shadowy British political leader in
the post-Roman fifth century. This composite boy-prophet character was
in existence in Nennius’s history and represents a growth o f legend out
o f Gildas’s account o f the period.
M erlin, as a name, is Geoffrey’s own variation on M yrddin, made, it is
surmised, in order to avoid the sound-similarity to merde; a large part o f his
readership would be French-speaking. M yrddin, as a name and perhaps
as a prophet, m ay— it is only a hint— derive ultim ately from a figure in an
origin m yth superseded b y the legend o f Brutus and the Trojans.
'M erlin Calidonius’, in any case, does demonstrate a new element in
Geoffrey’s information since the w riting o f the History. This was almost
certainly a consequence o f his involvem ent (in w hat capacity is not fully
clear) in the establishment o f the authority o f the new see o f St Asaph, o f
which he became the second bishop. T he traditions o f St Asaph were
linked substantially— so it then appeared— to those o f K entigem , the sixth
century founder o f the see o f Strathclyde. T he growth o f Glasgow in the
twelfth century had already resulted in the w riting o f Lives o f K entigem
and the collection o f relevant traditions; and Bishop John, claim ing all
Cum bria on the ground that it was part o f the original see, was a m ain
force in this. Geoffrey must have had access to some o f this m aterial, and
it included the northern versions o f the w ild fugitive story. These origins
are elaborated in the following sections.
1 CELTIC ORIGINS OF
VITA M E R U M

T h e m ain Celtic origins o f VM and its characters can be given with fair
assurance, though the conventional exercise o f looking for them Says
nothing, o f course, about the merits o f the poem. It is necessary to keep
G eoffrey’s intentions in m ind: these have been mentioned and w ill be
discussed in the section on his life. O ne should also have a historical sense
o f the attitudes by which the m aking o f books by derivative com pilation
was accepted more as a m atter o f course and judged on the result than
tended to be the case later.
T h e M yrddin poems in the W elsh culture into which Geoffrey was born
and at least in part brought up were the im m ediately available sources.
Such poems fvere largely political predictions and exhortations relating to
situations before and during the Norman period (see * Intro. 5), but they
preserved hints o f earlier W elsh history, in this case the wild-fugitive story
relating to the batde o f Arfderydd and featuring M yrddin in the role o f
the fugitive.
T he im portant allusions (Jarm an, 1959) are in Afallennau (Sweet-apple
trees), particularly, and Hoianau (Greetings, litde pig); and in Cyfoesi
Myrddin a Gwenddydd a*i chwaer (The conversation o f M yrddin and his
sister Gwenddydd), in Peirian Faban (Com m anding Youth) and in
Gwasgargerdd Fyrddin yn y bedd (Song uttered by M yrddin in the grave).
Tmddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin (Dialogue o f M yrddin and Taliesin) is also
relevant, though it is not in the prophetic style. T he three narrative stanzas
o f Afallennau were translated by Jarm an (1959, with related quotations)
and this translation is reproduced as Appendix n. Skene (FAB W, 1868)
gave full translations and texts o f all but Peirian Faban. W elsh texts o f
Afallennau by Evans (1906), o f Tmddiddan by Jarm an (1951) and o f Peirian
Faban by Jarm an (19 51a); o f Cyfoesi (partial) by W illiam s (1928); o f
Gwasgargerdd by Phillim ore (1886).
These poems now exist in versions dated to the twelfth to fifteenth
century. But the three Afallennau narrative or descriptive stanzas were
considered by Jarm an to be its nucleus and the oldest m aterial in W elsh
about M yrddin: a date in the period 850-1050 is suggested for its original
composition. There is no complete story, but a considerable part o f the
core o f one emerges from the allusions. (See * Intro. 4 for a fuller outline.)
i [> ] CLM
2 L I F E O F M E R L IN

M yrddin is in urgent flight from Rhydderch H ael’s m en: he has been

hiding in distress in the forest o f Celyddon for so m any years that the
reality o f the pursuit and M yrddin’s sanity are in doubt. (Derangement is
a common prerequisite for credibility in prophets, religious and political.)
T he cause o f his flight is his responsibility for the death o f his sister’s son.
This uncle-nephew kinship tie has been o f special sanctity in numerous
societies, including Celtic ones;1 and there is little objection to believing
that such a m anslaughter m ay in fact have been the cause o f the original
flight. (No such theme seems to attach to any level o f the Irish Suibhne
legend.) Hum an grief at the death o f intimates is still the precipitating
cause o f M erlin’s madness and flight in VM . In this respect Geoffrey kept
quite close to the original line.
M yrddin’s sister Gwenddydd transfers to VM , too, but is compounded w ith
a queen from the oriental tale attached to the northern version (Lailoken B )
o f the wild-fugitive tradition, in becom ing M erlin's sister Ganieda.
T h e Lailoken A and B tales (W ard, 1893; and Appendix 1) were derived
from the same battle, but remained inside a North British/Scotic context
instead o f transferring to W ales, though the name appears repeatedly as
llallogan in Cyfoesi. These tales provide (1), in A , a statement, com parable
to that in the M yrddin poems but vaguer on the causes, o f the theme o f the
guilt-ridden ex-soldier wandering in a wilderness after a breakdown in
battle, and (2) the saintly resolution o f the fugitive’s story, which appears in
a considerably transmuted form in Geoffrey’s poem.
This ‘ saintly resolution’ is a hagiographical device which was probably
grafted on to the Arfderydd tale through its later association with K enti-
gern. It is not peculiar to K entigem , But part o f an older Christian tradi­
tion which derives from the legends o f the desert wanderers and recluses,
particularly in Egypt and Syria. It was often related to a Neoplatonic
idea o f beatific translation at death, as it is in the language used in
Lailoken A (feliciter transibo). Examples and analogues o f this type o f resolu­
tion can be traced back into the third millennium b . c ., as can the w ild m an
himself.2 This is too far to follow in the present context. T he saintly

1 For general accounts, see Homans, 1951 (chs. 9 and 10) and 1942,190-2; cf. Radcliffe-
Brown, 1924. Bromwich {TYP, 371) discusses Celtic examples. There is an Arthur-
nephew relation in traditions before Geoffrey’s use o f it in connection with Modred.
Gawain was Arthur’s nephew at least ten years before HRB (W ill. Malmesb. Bk. 3:
287), but this example has not the dramatic significance o f those o f Myrddin and
M odred; the date may need scrutiny. Hodges (1927), on the Celtic blood-covenant, has
a general relevance.
* See especially Apophthegmata Patrum Aegyptiorum (Verba Seniorum) in Migne, PL 73,
cols. 851-1024, particularly 1004-14, and the references in Williams’s reviews o f die
legends of the Hairy Anchorite (Williams, 1925, 1926, 1935). The topic is a wide one
in regard to its content and the early routes o f its transmission into Europe, including
Ireland and Britain. Cf. also Chadwick, O ., 1959, and Chadwick, N. K ., 1961.
 C E L T I C O R IG IN S O F *V IT A M E R L I N l ’ 3
resolution occurs in the case o f Suibhne, who dies in M oling’s church. It is
thus part o f a common background for these Celtic wild-m an tales. But,
though borne on this basic ‘ carrier m yth ', these are apparently two largely
separate legends springing from different events in Ireland and Britain,
not m erely variants o f one legend, as has often been assumed because o f
similarities o f shape like this saintly ending. It does not occur in the
M yrddin m aterial, though there are hints in AfalUnnau and at the end o f
Cyfoesi in pious prayers about relief.
T h e Lailoken B tale also provides (3) the earlier narrative sequence o f
V M which centres on M erlin’s capture, conveyance to, conversation at and
escape from the king’s court. T h e Lailoken sequence is in VM transferred
from the fort o f a Lothian regulus, or local ruler, to Rodarch's cou rt;1 this
aligns it with the A rfderydd-M yrddin story. In VM Rodarch's court is not
precisely located, but is in ‘ C um bria’, o f which Rodarch is said to be king:
see N N . Lailoken A has K entigem and the w ild man in Glasgow in
Strathclyde, so that alignm ent o f the scene from the Lailoken B story with
the W elsh tradition about Rhydderch H ael and M yrddin was made
easier. T h e triple-death m otif in the Lailoken stories and in VM is
commented on below.
A n im portant early scene o f VM , the first finding and capture o f M erlin
in the hills after a distracted flight from society, is very close to a scene in
Vita Gurthiemi,2 on the life o f St G urthiem o f Quim perlé, and apparently
to no other source. This part o f the legend o f G urthiem relates to a period
o f his life when he was wandering w ild in either North W ales or North
Britain, and the Life m ight link up independently with the Arfderydd
tradition along a lost line. There is another feature— a decapitated-head
m iracle— which m ay be a further hint o f North British origin, since this
not common m iracle is attached to K entigem , who was closely associated
with Lailoken b y the eleventh-twelfth century.
T h e other aspect o f Breton G urthiem , who seems to belong to the fifth -
sixth century, is that he m ay convey some traditions, or even historical
inform ation, about W elsh G w rtheym or V ortigem (NN). Geoffrey was
interested in the traditions o f the district o f Gwent (the Geunssi) and o f
Erging (Archenfield, by Monmouth) in particular, with which V ortigem
had some traditional-legendary links. T h e scene o f the finding o f G ur­
thiem by a spring recalls both VM and the passage in H RB 8. 10
where M erlin (Ambrosius) is searched for by messengers o f Aurelius
(Ambrosius) after the death o f V ortigem and found by a favourite
spring called Galabes, in Gwent. Geoffrey published H RB in the mid-
eleven-thirties; Vita Gurthiemi is c. 1120-30. (This is also relevant to
1 See end o f * Intro. 8 on forms o f names used in VM translation, as well as NN.
* M aître & Berthou, 1904.
4 L I F E OF M E R L IN

the question whether Geoffrey him self was in Brittany during student
years.)
Another suggestion o f the use o f Breton sources comes from considera­
tion o f the character Guennolous in VM . His name appears to derive from
Guennolé o f Landévennec (NN G W E N D D O L A U ). In this case there is a
special link w ith the founder o f M onmouth priory itself, and this m aterial
could well have been available there.
T he immediate source o f the name-form M odred m ay have been Breton
or Cornish, the latter being more likely. T he name antedates Geoffrey’s
time, but there is a possibility that name and character as presented by
Geoffrey were not unconnected with a more recent historical personality
in the north, where the original M edraut o f Arthurian times had probably
belonged also.
Taliesin's visit to Brittany to see Gildas, in VM , has been compared
w ith a reference in the Ruys Life o f Gildas to visits from British monks.
This is supported by and supports the probability that— although the
poem’s ending is through the ’ saintly resolution' already mentioned— the
w ay this is achieved was suggested by the retirement o f Gildas's brothers
and sister to a forest retreat, in the same Life (NN G IL D A S ).
Taliesin him self was o f course available directly in the literary tradition
o f W ales, though with northern links. He plays a special role in the VM
story (see NN) ; but the learned information he incidentally imparts has a
post-classical Latin source (in Isidore), and if contem porary encyclo­
paedias were also consulted, these would not be particularly W elsh. J. J .
Parry (edition o f VM ) printed com parable W elsh poems o f learned
discourse on the universe: Song to the Great World (B T 79 = F A B W
2. 214 and I. 539) and another, attributed to Taliesin, from Myvyrian
Archaiol. (Owen, 1870, 76; see also Nash, 1858, 293 ff.). Neither is in the
same precise vein as the verses in VM or as sustained. Hanes Taliesin has
the like. T hey do not seem specifically C eltic in their informational and
theoretical content, only in style.
T he Arthurian m aterial was still mostly oral in Britain and Brittany,
and Geoffrey’s öWn H RB is a m 'am 'poiilt orcrystallisatiôn. T here'is no
evidence 6T new m aterial in VM , except for M orgen and a discrepancy
over the beginning o f A rthur’s reign, which m ay or m ay not be significant.
T he Arthurian theme in VM is only a sketched background.
" Irish sources can onïyTje séênw îfh any" Confidence, and that qualified,
in the case o f the origins o f M orgen and, more tenuously, those o f her
sisters. (See N N on both.) T h e exact nature o f the link here is obscure.
Geoffrey gives no hint o f knowing Irish, and the possibility o f a personal
interm ediary is raised in the N N .
T he triple-death m otif is in the early Suibhne stories (Jackson, 1940).
 C E L T I C O R IG IN S O F *V IT A M E R L I N l ’ 5
B u t in spite o f the parallel m ain themes, it is doubtful that there was a
sim ple or short chain o f connections between these earlier Irish uses and
V M . (The extant Buile Skuibkne post-dates VM.) T he Lailoken stories refer
to the triple-death m otif in two ways, as a prophecy o f a triple death for
Lailoken him self and (in A) also as a prophecy o f the imminent deaths o f
three others. T h e later Life o f Kentigem (Jocelin) has the second form,
though somewhat differently from Lailoken A . T he B tale has the first
form , the perfunctory end-couplet perhaps added from knowledge o f A .
N either o f the Lailoken stories nor Jocelin includes the death by burning
as m et among the Irish examples. VM follows essentially the Lailoken
form ; but in putting the triple death in a hunting context and attached to
a boy Geoffrey m ay have been influenced by two near-contemporary
poem s about triple-deaths by H ildebert o f L avardin.1
1 See * Intro. 2 for detail.
2 THE TWELFTH CENTURY AND
GEOFFREY’S NON-CELTIC
SOURCES

THE TW ELFTH CENTURY

D uring the half-century in which Geoffrey lived, the main political process
was the transformation o f second and third generation immigrants o f
Norm an extraction into islanders. O n top o f this, Stephen’s reign
(i 135-54) was occupied with the dynastic quarrel with M atilda and her
son Henry, finally accepted as heir to the throne in 1 153.1 T he lining up
o f the supporters o f Stephen and M atilda was relatively stable over long
periods, despite defections and manoeuvres, the desire to retain or w in
back land-grants being a m ajor cause o f loyalty. Supporters were scattered
rather than aligned geographically; towns and castles, with their essential
local countryside, were fortified islands, and, in D avis’s im age, the armies
moved across the em pty spaces between them as though on the high seas.
Estimates vary, but economic dam age and disruption were considerable:
the neglect o f farming during the fighting season was noted in W ales from
the beginning o f the reign. There were extra complications like the
invasion o f D avid I o f Scotland (Battle o f the Standard, 1138) and the rise
o f adventurers after 1140, such as Robert FitzH ubert round Devizes and
Geoffrey de M andeville in the Fens. T h e worst famine year was 1143,2
and in the m iddle o f that decade weariness setded on the country. There
was some turning inwards, and several o f the partisan leaders were am ong
those who went o ff on the second crusade.3 Vita M erlini was occasioned by
special circumstances and was not a public work, but its late theme o f
quietist withdrawal fitted a current mood.
These preoccupations— annexation and civil w ar— kept the country
even more apart from Europe than usual in some ways. O nly a very sm all
contingent, under French leadership, had gone on the first crusade (1096-
99). T he second (1147-9) met disaster with equally little help from Britain;
this time the crusaders were part o f a minor Frisian-Flem ing expedition.
1 For a succinct survey o f the reign, Davis, 1968; for the wars, Slocombe, i960. Potter,
1955, published Gesta Stephani, with its recent additions. For charters, etc., Cronne &
Davis, vol. 3, 1968.
* Cf. VM 1474fr., esp. 1505.
3 Hopes o f gaining land in the east were also high among crusaders* motives.
[6]
 THE TW EL FTH CENTURY 7
Crusades and Moorish confrontation in Spain, however, brought fresh
ideas westwards, not only oriental philosophies and science but Aristotle
an d the Greek m edicine which had been preserved by Islam .1 T h e actu­
alities o f life in the eastern lands cam e back through crusades and
m erchants. A pilgrim called Saew ulf wrote o f his trip in 1 102-3,2 and such
as he would also have brought back more legendary m aterial, like the
cycle o f Alexander tales or Indian stories; the Indian element in VM ,
however, m ay have arrived m uch earlier. T h e fuller im pact o f new ideas
cam e after Geoffrey's day; but men like Adelard o f Bath, who travelled in
Spain and published A rabic astronomical w ork,3 already had an effect.
T h e emphasis was on natural science, and O xford, Geoffrey’s home for
long, was known as preferring scientific subjects to logic and metaphysics,
thought it was not a university like Paris.4 T h e term ‘ A rabs’, in the
context o f this cultural contact, covers a great diversity o f outlooks and
people, including unpersecuted Christian communities. M any centuries o f
pilgrim age to Arab-held Christian places, through the M editerranean and
overland from northern Europe by w ay o f ‘ M icklegarth ’ (Constantinople),
preceded this newer twelfth-century awareness. Earlier chapters o f
R uncim an (1951, vol. 1) convey a general picture.

P O S T -C L A S S IC A L SOURCES

A fter the C eltic poems and tales, and Geoffrey’s debt to his own H istory,
V M owes most, quantitatively at least, to the works which gave it the
m aterial for the learned exchanges between Taliesin and M erlin. M any o f
the scientific ideas and examples come from the post-classical heritage,
affected by but not yet overturned by new winds from the east. This
inform ation was available through various channels, including the schools,
teaching in monastic establishments and the encyclopaedias which helped
to feed the others.
Encyclopaedias were being produced, especially in the early twelfth
century, for the general-reader market. W right (1926) called their lore
‘ an im portant part o f the cargo o f the m ediaeval m ind’, and the informa­
tion lists, at least, are at such a level o f popular learning in VM . T heir
1 See Text. Comm, on VM 1147-53, Merlin’s recovery, and the currency o f Arabic
medical ideas. Riley-Smith, 1967, mentions the pilgrims’ hospital in Muslim-held
Jerusalem towards the end o f the 1 ith century, run on Arab principles by the Knights
o f St John.
* De situ Ierusalem (ed., Brownlow, 1897).
* T he Khorazmian Tables, 1126. This work included the Indo-Arabic concept o f a hypo­
thetical d ty, Ann, without latitude or longitude and on the equator halfway between
east and west, as a terrestrial reference point: a precursor o f the Fortunate Isles and
Greenwich.
4 Wieruszowski, 1966.
8 L I F E O F M E R L IN

sources were antique, as often with encyclopaedias, and they drew much
from such writers as Solinus, Isidore (himself a transm itter o f Solinus’s
work), Bede and the lesser geographers. T h e De imagine mundi (c. i ioo, by
? Honorius Indusus)1 had a high place. Its origins included Isidore and
Solinus, in particular, and also Orosius and Augustine. Another o f the
early twelfth century which acquired a reputation was the Liber Floridus
(by Lam bert, St Om er). It used Isidore, Bede, M artianus Capella and
R aban M aur,* and it had maps.
Geoffrey was on the whole faithful in presenting such conventional
m aterial, turning it into pleasant verse without transforming it altogether.
His skill, not an unpoetic one, was in selecting the sort o f passage which
was relevant to his story or his characters and then, more editorially,
shaping the passage to avoid an obscurer exam ple or an awkward name or
a discrepant detail. But there are instances where he has turned a list
entry to emphasise a point in his own narrative— e.g., over the Fortunate
Isles, the woodpecker, the diomeds. (These are annotated in their places.)
Because this type o f m aterial was well known, it is the harder to attach
to a particular source. Isidore was apparently consulted at first hand, to
judge by the closeness o f correspondence o f most o f the examples listed in
VM ,123 especially the islands and springs, in the order and content o f the
items, provided one accepts some simple assumptions about minor altera­
tions. For exam ple, the Fortunate Isles are displaced because, one says,
Geoffrey wanted them at the end to lead into the passage about M orgen's
island and Arthur. There is also a general omission o f the flat prelim inary
descriptions o f the islands. Otherwise, there are only two order changes (o f
adjoining items) in this list and only one contradiction between the
versified information in VM and that in Isidore.4
There is also the suggestive point that one o f the books at Lincoln
cathedral about 1 150 was a copy o f Isidore;5 Geoffrey was very close to
Lincoln just then, but nothing firm can be said about this point. T he lists
o f VM refer to m aterial in Books 12-14 only o f Isidore. This m ight suggest
direct consultation o f a partial copy, but could be merely a consequence o f

1 Migne, PL 9 172, attrib. to Honorius o f Autun.

2 A ninth-century German polymath, who added theological and historical overtones
to Isidore’s material. (Raby, 1953, 179-83*)
3 The correspondences o f the lists are as follows. Fish, VM 827-54, laid., 12. 6; Islands,
VM 875-909, Isid., 14. 6; Springs, etc., VM 1179-1242, Isid., 13. 13; Birds, VM
1301-86, Isid., 12. 7. See Text. Comm, on detail. Geoffrey handled the information
cautiously, even for a poetic exercise; item after item is qualified by ‘ They say’ or the
like. Isidore also used many qualifiers.
4 Whether Ireland was bigger or smaller than Britain.
3 Giraldus (Rolls), vol. 7, Appx C : (1recepit) . . . Isidontm Etfumologiarum. Hamo’s chancellor­
ship is not closely dated. The collection contained few non-religious works, but
Solinus’s Collectanea and a Mappamundi were acquired in this period.
 TH E TW ELFTH CENTURY 9

the subjects he was looking for to fit the occasion and the two savants. It
also is inconclusive.
There are disagreements with the available text o f Isidore1 which seem
m ore than editorially occasioned. T h e order o f the fish, unlike the others,
bears no relation to Isidore’s order. M ost o f the information coincides, but
Geoffrey's sea-dragon has its poison under its wings, Isidore’s in its gills;
and V M *s muraenas are tempted out by the hissing o f snakes, with which
they mate, whereas in Isidore it is the fishermen who hiss to draw them
out to be caught. V M ’s account o f the thym allus has additional detail.i23
M ore im portant, in Isidore the fish are classified as reptiles and follow the
chapter on worms. In VM they are related as a class to birds. So Isidore
does not have the contrast o f birds with fish— how the sea's wetness drives
the fish beneath the waves, because their constitution is different from that
o f birds, and how the purpose o f fish is to be curative. A variation over the
account o f the parrot in the bird list, however, can be explained by a
simple misunderstanding o f a possibly soiled text, or by unfam iliarity with
parrots.
So V M *s likeness to Isidore’s work is not so com plete and exact as first
impressions suggest. But this only leaves a real doubt over the proxim ate
source for Geoffrey’s fish list. Isidore's Etymologiae (Origines) is still evi­
dently the prim e one for the lists.
There remains o f the scientific conversation o f the two men Taliesin’s
in itial discourse on cosmogony, cosmography, geography, hell and the
w eather (V M 737-824). This general science leads into the lists o f fishes
and islands o f the world, and so to A rthur on M orgen's isle.
M ost o f the concepts expounded are to be found, in em bryo at least, in
Bede’s De natura rervun? and this has been thought to be the source. Parry
stated that this treatise was in use in W elsh schools, and James4 said that
'th e works o f Bede were a regular constituent o f monastic libraries,
perhaps especially in the twelfth century'.
G eoffrey m ight have been taught from it in early life ; but the considera­
tion that the intellectual clim ate was still basically conservative m ay blunt

i Lindsay, 1911. According to Calder, 1917, Isidore died just before Magh Rath (637),
and quotations were taken from him by Cennfacladh, supposed author o f the primer
Auraicept m nEces. The quotations do not parallel Geoffrey's borrowings.
* T hat the scent o f the thymallus betrays it to its enemies, who eat it, and then - betrayed
by the scent themselves - are eaten in turn, until the river is empty. A form o f this idea
occurs before VM in the O ld English poem The Whale. The whale, when hungry, opens
its mouth to emit a sweet scent; other fish are 'betrayed' by the scent and swim in. The
process could hardly be made serial here. The date o f the Exeter Book in which the
poem occurs is not later than 107a, according to M itchell, 1965.
3 M igne, PL, 90.
4 In Thompson, 1935: The MSS o f Bede. The only works o f Bede in the Lincoln
cathedral list are religious.
IO L I F E O F M E R L IN

us to differences which were sharper at the time than they seem now. T he
ideas are not identically clothed in Bede and VM , which has sophisti­
cations and variations. There are four elements in VM , as in Bede; but the
VM elements are both 'p rior causes’ and the m aterial to be shaped by
them. In Bede there is the distinction between aether (a region o f light)
and sublunar space. Taliesin's exposition has a triple space— a starred
firmament (with the sun) enclosing all like the shell o f a nut, then the
heavens where the moon is, and lastly the sublunar atmosphere.1 There
are also three corresponding orders o f spirits: angels in the firmament,
spirits interm ediary between God and men in the m iddle heavens, and
demons between earth and m oon.12
T h e five habitable and uninhabitable zones are the same.34There is an
explanation o f rainfall as a cyclic process (water picked up by wind and
precipitated from cloud). T h e wind types and their effects are differently
explained, but this was always a subject for great diversity o f views.
In VM the three types o f sea (burning, freezing, temperate) m ay echo
the five land zones. But the burning sea leads down— the im age is un­
certain— to a fiery hell where the dead are judged. A hell in the centre o f
the earth was another current idea, not unconnected with the existence
o f volcanoes. T he note on the freezing sea and gem-formation actually
contains a direct reference to A rabic work {perhibent Arabes).* T he remarks
on the temperate sea include platitudes but also a non-Isidorean notion
o f the sea generating sea-birds, and their relation to fish, as discussed
above.
(There are some incidental references to the movement o f celestial
bodies (e.g., Venus, VM 436 f.) which should be considered under this
scientific heading rather than under the classical influences.)
This general-science passage has not received a detailed com parative
study, but it clearly shows the presence o f some contem porary ideas,

1 Cf. De imagine mundi i. 5. The universe is compared to an egg. The shell is the upper
firmament, the white the middle heaven, the yolk the lower air; and the ‘ drop o f
grease’ in the centre is the earth. A spherical and concentric universe was a fam iliar
idea in Europe; Al-Farghani, translated in 1135 by John o f Seville, is said to have
reported similarly for Arabic writers. See Lewis, 1964, ch. 5, on the outline o f the
mediaeval universe.
2 The demons are the class to which Merlin’s father belonged, in HRB 6. 18: Apuleius,
God o f Socrates, is there mentioned. See also Plutarch, Moralia (The decline o f oracles, 10)
for an account of 6af|ioves related in space to the moon and midway between gods and
men.
3 De natura rerum, 9. But elsewhere in the work there are eight earth zones. Zoning was not
always understood. William de Conches, a leader o f thought at Chartres and a
contemporary o f Geoffrey, imposed a confusing cast-to-west factor o f cold-dry/warm-
damp on the ordinary system. There are references to the zones in the Welsh poems in
Parry’s Appendix to his edition o f VM.
4 VM 803. No precise reference has been suggested : see NN ARABS.
 THE TW ELFTH CENTURY II

including A rabic ones, and it is not in fact a hack re-working o f antique

local British school books.

C L A S S IC A L A LLU SIO N S

T h e classical allusions in VM are such as would easily have been en­

countered in an ordinary advanced latinate education. There are few o f
them , and they do not support Faral's view that the origins o f the poem
are essentially classical.1
T h e Augustan epic poets in the dedication (V M 14-16) are from a
passage in O vid’s Pontus poems which could have been a stock list.2 The
three examples o f grieving women at the end o f the messenger’s song
(V M 191-5) are from O vid's Heroides. Orpheus and Eurydice appear
(V M 371-3), though in a textually doubtful passage and not in a recognis­
able version: it does not suggest a knowledge o f Greek. Orpheus is
m entioned with the Augustan poets as a bard. M inerva is used (V M 736)
to symbolise learning, as the Muses are used for the arts in the dedication,
and Boreas for winter and Bootes for the north. Daedalus (V M 923) is
brought in to illustrate M orgen's skill in devising wings for flying. A stray
reference to northern European legend in an association with a Rom an
m ilitary station is W ayland (V M 235: see N N ), who had some currency
in twelfth-century Britain.

E X O T IC SOURCES

T h e rem aining type o f m aterial to consider is that in the few tales o f

exotic origin; one is im portant to the scheme o f the poem, the others
anecdotal. Tales like these tend to have a long history and to wander
between oral and written forms through more than one culture, and the
beginnings and lines o f transmission must usually be uncertain.3 In the
case o f VM we cannot say that Geoffrey saw the anecdotes in a particular
place, but the im m ediate source o f the most im portant story is clear. I f
there is a conclusion, it is that none o f them is a casual literary gleaning
arbitrarily inserted.
T h e stories in VM which have such an exotic character include (1) that
o f the triple-death prophecy, (2) the im portant laugh, lea f and adultery
section o f the narrative, and (3) and (4), the two m arket-place incidents*

* Fand, 1929, 2, 340-401.

* It looks, in fact, as if Geoffrey was quoting from memory, and slipped; but see Text.
Comm.
> For a discussion o f the international popular tale, see Jackson, 1961, lectures 1
and n.
12 L I F E OF M E R L IN

o f the poor begging doorkeeper sitting over buried money, and o f the man
buying new shoes and patches for them in ignorance o f the imminence o f
-his death.
T h e triple-death m otif was known in the early Irish versions o f a w ild
m an legend, and was discussed earlier: where it originated is obscure. In
VM it is no longer part o f the essential plot o f the story, as it was in the
Lailoken tales where Geoffrey is likely to have seen it. It does bring out
M erlin’s prophetic powers, certainly, but his own fate is not bound up w ith
its fulfilment. T he features o f the VM presentation1 o f this m otif which
had not been obviously paralleled in its other appearances in Ireland and
Scotland are the youth with his sequence o f disguises and the fulfilm ent o f
the prophecy during a hunting expedition. There are two short poems on
the theme by H ildebert which are suggestive.12 In the first a pregnant wom an
was told by three gods that her child would be a boy, a girl, a boy-girl.
A fter the birth they predicted three deaths— by a snare, by a weapon, b y
water. It happened so. In the second poem a man, a pig, a snake died b y
a triple (circular) accident: the situation was a hunt in a wood. H ildebert
was w idely known for his verse, and it is more probable than not that
Geoffrey, a younger contem porary, had read him. This does not
mean that Geoffrey did not meet the death prophecy in the Lailoken
m aterial.
T he laugh, leaf and adultery story had its im m ediate or all but immedi­
ate origin in the Lailoken tale connected w ith M eldred, where it was, as
in VM , associated with a death prophecy: its further home is oriental, but
not in a simple fashion. Jocelin's Life o f Kentigem gives the salmon-and-lost-
ring version o f the queen’s adultery, and this goes back to the ancient tale
o f Polycrates’s ring.3 But the laugh is connected with another fish story in
an Indian collection.
A n adulterous queen, refusing fish, made the plain Freudian slip o f
referring to them as ‘ men ’ ; the fish laughed. T h e king's minister (aliter,
a soothsayer), persuaded to interpret, struck the queen with a flower-
spray, and she fainted. T he minister/soothsayer laughed; he explained
that she had not fainted the night before when her lover had struck her.
Queen and lovers were drowned. Both the fish and the interpreter laugh
in this story. The minister/soothsayer had been silent for about three days :

1 VM 254-415.
* Hildebert o f Lavardin (1056-1133), bishop o f Tours 1125: see R aby, 1953, 265-73.
He wrote syllabic verse in addition to much in classical metres. The texts o f these two
poems, apparently adjacent in the Tours M S, are in Migne, PL, 171, 1445-6. A trans­
lation o f the first is in Gleadow, 1968.
3 See Jackson, 1961 and SEBC, 322 n, on the trail o f this theme from the M iddle and
perhaps Far East through Irish hagiography (St Bridget) and the Tim Bö Frdieh (also
gth century and with monastic connections).
 THE TW ELFTH CENTURY IS

it was explained that he had found that his own wife was in love with
someone else. H e was persuaded by the king to speak: rich gifts are
m entioned. T he essence and much o f the detail o f the story o f Lailoken
and M eldred’s queen and o f that o f M erlin, Rodarch and Ganieda are
in this story, which Schm idt believed to have existed by the sixth century.
Carriers and routes are open to speculation.1
Schm idt's translation explains much. In his textus simplicior the minister
uses a flower-spray, Blüthenbüscheln, and when he laughs, it is as if a mass o f
blossoms appeared, wobei eine Menge Blumen zum Vorschein kamen. Paton's
sum m ary spoke o f a /*a/-spray, and the difference turns out to matter.
W ortham ’s translation (original not specified) made the soothsayer m erely
touch the queen. But Schm idt explained that the minister’s name {Pus-
pahäsa: W ortham had Pushpakâra) means ’ Flower-laugher’, Blumenlacher.
Perhaps in the very first version the minister m erely laughed at the queen.
T h is, then, is the origin o f the lea f in G anieda’s hair in VM 259; we do not
know how m any intermediaries there were. Dasgupta and D e (1947) put
the textus ornatior o f this Éukasaptati (Seventy tales o f a parrot) as not
before the twelfth century. T hey did not date the textus simpliciort but
evidendy put it a good deal earlier and thought that even so it was a
secondary text.
B ut there is also another eastern laugh story which parallels the VM
narrative. This is the story o f the capture o f the demon Ashm edai
(Asmodeus, etc.) by Benajah, who took him to Solomon to help with the
building o f the temple. O n the w ay the bound Ashmedai laughed twice in
the m arket-place— at a wizard promising riches in ignorance o f treasure
buried beneath him, and at a man, soon to die, buying shoes to last seven
years, and he wept on seeing a bride (or, bridegroom) who was also soon
to die.*
G aster (1905) translated ’ an old Roum anian m anuscript’ . T he angel
G avril served an abbot, to collect his soul after thirty years. D uring this
tim e G avril never laughed. W hen at length he did, the first two occasions
were (1) at the abbot (soon to die) sending for new shoes, and (2) at an old
m an seeking alms sitting over treasure.3 T h e second case is closer to the
VM form : the Solomon story had a wizard.
t Schm idt, 1894; and see Paton, 1907, and Wortham, 1911.
* T h e story has a Talm udic origin. Summary in Vogt, 1880, 213fr. ; and see Ginzberg,
1913, vol. 4, ch. 5. See also the Testament o f Solomon (McCown, 1922). It is clearly
relevant as a theme to Vortigem and Merlin Ambrosius and the building of the castle
at the end o f HRB Bk. 6.
* T he other occasions were: seeing a bishop and a governor pass in a carriage (they were
twin sons o f a certain poor widow), and a man taking a pot. These are of a different
order and possible accretions, though the second could be seen as prophetic ('d a y
stealing d a y ’). Unfortunatdy, the provenance and date o f Gaster’s manuscript are
obscure, and he associated the Merlin o f HRB with the market-place tales o f VM.
*4 L I F E OF M E R L IN

T w o other stories are o f interest in being o f G reek and Rom an origin,

and so possibly on the route taken by the oriental tales at some unknown
but early period. Both are stories o f wild men captured by kings on account
o f their powers.
M idas had Silenos, a forest m an indeed, captured: he offered Silenos
freedom in return for the secret o f the universe. In other versions M idas
him self was related to the satyrs.1
Faunus and Picus were caught by Num a Pompilius, the second king, to
whom the Romans ascribed their basic religious practices. Both captives
were o f the forest and had a numinous character, Faunus as a probable
local nature god, Picus (the woodpecker) as a woodland prophet: both
were regarded as (prehistoric) kings.2
Parry thought that Geoffrey m ight have seen the two m arket-place
anecdotes in a collection o f exem pla, i.e. that they were literary decora­
tions in VM . But it seems fairly plain that these anecdotes were not
floating independently. T hey had some previous association with themes o f
the VM narrative.
A last exam ple apparently adds another link.3 Solomon had difficulty
with another powerful demon. Sakhr, the only demon unsubdued by the
influence o f Solomon’s ring, lived on a desert island. Solomon gave his
ring to one o f his queens, from whom Sakhr obtained it and with it
Solomon’s power. Solomon wandered as an outcast. A fter m any years, the
ring was recovered from the m aw o f a fish, and Solomon ruled agaiq. H ere
the king-and-wild-man legend combines with the m otif o f the unfaithful
queen, as it does in the Life o f Kentigem and in VM . T he fish-ring m otif is in
VM replaced by the equally oriental lea f m otif. But that, too, we have
seen, had been associated (in the Indian Parrot tale) not only with a fish
but with a portentous laugh, such as went with t^ie disclosure o f adultery
and elsewhere with the m arket-place anecdotes a lso ). .
1 See Pauly-Wissowa for references. Paton pointed to Aelian, Vor. Hist. 3. 18, for this
capture. But Aelian only described the conversation, with Silenos delivering an im­
probable (for him) scientific disquisition in the Taliesin vein. But he ascribed the story
to Theopompus in the 3rd century b.c . It could be a useful fact about the movement
o f the wild-man myth if the story o f the capture also belonged there: for Midas had
connections with Macedonia and Phrygia and Silenos with Lydia. But the extant
fragments o f Theopompus do not mention Silenos or Midas.
* For references, including Plutarch, Numa 15. 3, see Smith, 1894. As noted elsewhere,
Geoffrey after an initial straight run jumped to the middle of Isidore’s bird-list, to end
with picus, the woodpecker (VM 1384-6). There is no direct reference to prophecy,
but Geoffrey, if anyone in the period, would have been familiar with the connection.
It was the picus which sat on the branch on which grew the acorn which became the
oak which Merlin used to explain his own great age (V M 1275). Faunus and Picus are
in the Nennian genealogy (ch. 10) of Aeneas’s wife, and so part o f the Brutus legend o f
the origins o f the British race: Laviniam filiam TurnifiU i Faunifilii Picifilii Saturni. T he
equivalent passage in HRB 1 .3 is in summary form without Lavinia's forebears, but
this is dictated by the narrative, anyway. * Clouston, 1889, 163 n.
 TH E TW EL FTH CENTURY *5
A part from questions o f dating, these complexities are a reminder o f the
largeness o f the number o f individual variants to be envisaged in this sort
o f transmission, and the inadequacy o f notions o f lim ited stemmata such as
ap p ly to surviving manuscripts. Structuralist theories m ay prove essential
tools; but, less form ally, one needs some im age like that o f long chains o f
m any-hooked burrs to meet the case.
3 PROPHECY IN VITA MERLINI

Vita M erlini contains three passages o f obscurely phrased ‘ prophecy’ . They

occupy just under a quarter o f the whole poem (348 lines, or 23 per cent),
and to a m odem reader— not personally anxious for hints on how to
survive through Stephen’s reign— they can be tedious, apart from the
interest o f the form itself. There is a cryptographic attraction in trying to
identify references to current and earlier personalities and events.1 This is
lim ited by the facts that self-protective am biguity is an essential part o f the
genre, that an ambiguous prophet’s hidden views m ay w ell be vague, too,
that Geoffrey was not writing as a committed prophet in his own right and
that some issues and events which seemed significant at the time m ay be in
oblivion now and allusions to them ungraspable. It seems that there are
certainly identifiable references to the contem porary scene; but, for
exam ple, San M arte in his edition could apply the VM prophecies as
alluding to events in John’s reign some sixty years later: this affected his
views on the poem’s date.
T he form is that o f the W elsh nationalistic exhortation put into the
mouth o f one o f the standard earlier prophets or bards. Taliesin and
M yrddin were particularly popular masks, and the earlier poetry owes
some o f its partial survivals to the quotations which were incorporated in
new bardic prophecies to enhance their apparent authority.12 This applies
to the W elsh poems from which much o f the basic VM narrative was
derived. Afallennau, Hoianau and Cyfoesi (but not Ymddiddan) were ‘ pro­
phecies ’ o f this kind.
T h e prophet (Taliesin, M yrddin) would be made to describe, as part o f
the future, the history o f the period between him self and the actual w riter.
This also established the authority o f the later writer by the demon­
stration o f his knowledge o f the past and by the suggestion that he was
associated with a source o f correct prediction. O n these bases he went on
to speak o f the future o f his own times ‘ in a w ay ambiguous enough to be
safe’ ;3 one m ay add, safe in his intellectual standing and in his person.
V ague though the style was, the m aterial would be expected to be useful
to individuals in suggesting a frame o f reference for contem porary politics

1 There are almost certainly some interpolations in VM. See, for example, the variations
o f order between M SS in the couplets in VM 612-21, and Text. Comm, on VM 624.
* Griffiths, 1937. Cf. references to prophecy in G . Williams (1962), and also 1967-8.
3 Parry, T ., 1955.
[16 )
 P R O P H E C Y IN *V IT A M E R L I N l ’ 17

at a tim e when most people depended on distant rumours passed by word

o f m outh.1
T h e special clim ax o f the W elsh form was the promise o f the return o f a
national deliverer, now in suspended anim ation.2 Cynan, Cadw aladr and
O w ain am ong the early leaders were common choices.3 In Arnus Prydein
Cynan and Cadw aladr are mentioned. Cyfoesi ends with gloom and
collapse o f the realm after Cadw aladr dies; but he had earlier arrived to
save it and had reigned three hundred and three years: obviously, if there
were any hope, that is where one would look. In HRB there are Conan and
Cadw alader; it is Conan and Cadw alader in VM A Y et in both o f these
last there is the ambiguous passing o f Arthur, last heard o f as taken to the
Isle o f A vallon or M orgen’s isle for the healing o f a m ortal wound. But
A rthur was then an unestablished newcomer as a future deliverer.
G eoffrey’s presentation o f A rthur was doubtless a great influence in
causing his acceptance in that role, but it did not develop until after
G eoffrey’s own tim e.3
Com m on to much forecasting o f the sort are vague adumbrations o f the
breakdown o f the social order as shown by bizarre fashions, especially
am ong women, by sexual licence and by the failure o f trust. H R B's
prophecy has much o f this, F M ’s a touch. It is not specially W elsh or
C eltic.
T . Parry traced this type o f hortatory W elsh prediction from the ninth
to the fifteenth century. Later it became a largely literary form without
the urgency o f the earlier patriotic propaganda and with only a perfunc­
tory use o f the ancient prophet.6
G eoffrey’s contributiona were^^i) to write proph^î^« f1? to
elaborate greatly th» « y syn hfîlrr* fr>r r a tW fh ^ 2 fr>r
races^for which Nennius had used dragons),7 and, according to Griffiths,
1 C f. HRB 8 .1. After Merlin Ambrosius’s long prophecy to Vortigem (= Bk. 7),
‘ M erlin’s audience was astounded at his words and their uncertain meaning.’ It is
made clear that the astonishment was admiring, though they did not understand what
he meant. In Lailoken A the clergy and others remained interested in Lailoken’s pre­
dictions and noted down some o f them, though his remarks were muddled and he
contradicted himself. C f. Giraldus, Descr. Kambr., 1, ch. 16, on the confused inspira­
tional prophets of his own day, which was just after Geoffrey’s.
2 Such as sleeping in a cave or hollow hill, as Arthur did (e.g. Chambers, 1927, 188 f.,
221 f.). See NN A R TH U R on the apparent currency o f the sleeping hero/god story
in the area o f Britain in the ist century a .d.
2 See Griffiths, 1937, 146 ff., on these and later deliverers.
♦ VM 967-8.
3 See NN A R TH U R .
6 A very late example is the brief anonymous Prophecies o f Myrddin put out by I. Harris
in 1815, with its references to ‘ D ublin’ and to ‘ Highlanders’ (sic).
? Griffiths, 1937, 80; Taylor, 1911. There is hardly any such symbolism before Geoffrey.
The animal« chosen did not necessarily typify the man personally, unless it is that we
misconstrue contemporary views o f either, but more his political role. How far any
2 cm
i8 L I F E O F M E R L IN

to em ploy bolder metaphors and (c) to transfer the theme o f nationalism

from the W elsh to a wider concept o f the British. So in V M ’s allusion to
Conan and Cadw alader they are to unite Scots, W elsh,1 Cornish and
Bretons.2 This is still an un-English patriotism ; but further inclusiveness is
im plied by the invitation in Ganieda’s ‘ contem porary prophecy’ to the
Normans to go home with their troops and leave our country alone. These
Normans are the supporters from France o f Empress M atilda and/or
Prince Henry, not the settled descendants o f the Conquest generation,
whose acceptance as Britons is im plied. M any W elsh, still fighting
annexation, would have included the latter as invading Normans, too, but
this is not w hat Geoffrey him self seems to mean here. A fter all, he was one
o f them.
There is no doubt about the existence o f a mass o f m aterial on w hich
prophecy-writers like Geoffrey drew. His repetition o f symbolisms and
motifs is itself one indication. Even Geoffrey’s contem porary, the historian
W illiam o f Newburgh, accepted Geoffrey’s claim to have translated his
prophecies, jv h ile asserting that he had added a good deal o f his own in
the processjjGeoffrey ‘ translated those prophetic jerem iads from British
and, it is thought with justification, added much to them from his own
im agination. In addition, he accommodated his own im aginings (as he
easily could) to events which occurred before or during his own day, so
that they could be given a suitable interpretation.’3 W illiam ’s intention
was sharply critical, but in fact he could not more clearly say that G eoffrey
was right inside the W elsh tradition in this m atter.
In VM 1161-8 Geoffrey makes M erlin describe his state o f mind during
his prophetic madness or possession— how he was taken out o f him self and
as a spirit knew the history o f peoples long past, and could foretell the
future, and had an esoteric knowledge o f the stars and o f nature, and how
w earying this state was. This and the description o f Ganieda’s light trance
(V M 1472) show an awareness o f the condition o f dissociation which goes
with this tradition o f oraculàr declamation.* W hether Geoffrey had ever
personally felt so transported has to be left open at present.
Geoffrey’s Prophecies o f Merlin, which we now know as Book 7 o f H RB,
interpolated at the request o f Bishop Alexander, seem to have existed
armorial or quasi-totemistic motifs occur has not apparently been studied closely. For
an earlier prophetic dream including two belligerent dragons (and a spring), see Book
o f Esther (Apocr.), 11.
1 VM 969 : Cambros. Welsh (only) should be meant here, as Cadwalader is Cambrorum dux
venerandus in the line before: cf. VM 32 similarly, where Cumbrians are meant. (M SS
vary in both places.)
* It has been pointed out that the phraseology echoes Armes Piydein, which had a Breton
relevance.
1 Hist. rer. Anglic., Intro., Bk. 1.
4 See Text. Comm, on VM 1161-8 and 1472.
 P R O P H E C Y IN ‘ V IT A M E R L I N l ’ 19

before the publication o f H RB, or in some w ay separately, but it is hard to

be positive. T he historian Ordericus V italis has been said to have used
them in 1135,1 one to three years before the usual dates for H RB. T he
Prophecies do appear by themselves in the M SS Peniarth 14 and 16,
according to Griffiths, but as W elsh translations; and as the earlier o f these
manuscripts is only m id-thirteenth century, this does not settle the issue.
There was, however, an Icelandic version o f the Prophecies at or before
the beginning o f the thirteenth century.2 This gave the story o f V ortigern’s
tower, but it was not the HRB version prepared for Alexander. Ambrosius,
also known as M erlinûs, was a noble and belonged to the court, and there
was no fatherless boy as in H RB. This would be consistent with the Latin
Prophecies having come out in more than one form. (There is also a possi­
b ility that the main work, H RB, appeared in more than one form in the
sense that some variation m ay be contemporary. )3 There was a Liber
prognostics among the Lincoln cathedral books listed at or after 1150,
w hich could conceivably have been such a version o f the Prophecies, if (as
it sounds) it was a separate work. There was also an Icelandic bishop,
T hu rlac o f Skalholt, studying at Lincoln about 1160.4 Conclusive evidence
is lacking.
T h e three prophetic passages in VM are as follows:
r ''( i) Lines 580-688. M erlin, wandering about his institute o f astrology
and divination after dinner, delivers his prophecy to his sister Ganieda.
(2) Lines 9 41-1135. This, the longest passage, is M erlin’s response to
the news about A rthur which Taliesin gave at the end o f his general
/science discourse.
(3) Lines 1474-1517. Ganieda, having returned to the forest after
R odarch’s death to live a pious life with M erlin, Taliesin and M aeldin,
acquired the ability to prophesy about the future o f the country. The
poem ends with this passage as an example.
It is not necessary to treat the detail o f these passages as part o f a serious
and coherent if cryptic message which Geoffrey was trying to convey. The
m ain purpose was literary, as the beginning o f the poem indicates. T he
prophecies o f VM are not all arbitrary pastiche, however. Some cautious
and probably sincere headshaking b y the author comes through the
plainer allusions to the recent history o f his own day. There are also parts
w hich m ay raise com parative critical interest— the altered reflections o f
sections o f HRB or the apparent use o f a W elsh poem.
1 Leach, 1911. But the composition o f Ordericus's work is said to have spread over many
years, with revisions. His quotation is a large part o f a chapter (Hist. eccl. Bk. 12. 32).
It does not appear necessary to believe it was composed in the year where it is set.
* By a historian, Gunnlaugr (;. 1138-1218) : Merlinûs Spd, in verse.
3 See Text. Comm, on the siege o f Cirencester, lines 590-5.
4 Leach, 1911.
20 L I F E O F M E R L IN

For guidance, résumés o f the three prophecies follow.

Prophecy 1
(a) 580-595. T h e Britons are scolded for civil wars resulting from
excessive affluence. T h e reigns after A rthur are touched on. Caretic is to
be routed by Gormund and his Africans. (This is the substance o f H RB
1 1. 9 (the scolding) followed by the rest o f H RB 11. 3-10. T he burning o f
Cirencester raises a point about variant editions o f HRB.)
(b) 596-626. T he death o f Rodarch is to be followed by northern civil
w ar. W ales and the Gewissi w ill fight. (This section refers m ostly to
northern (or W elsh) matters, but disconnectedly. T h ey suggest that the
w riter’s basic notions o f the early northern sequence lacked firmness.
A note on the W elsh archbishopric recalls HRB 7. 3.)
(c) 627-688. A dark m edley about Saxon, Danish (sc. Viking) and
Norm an aggression, leading to apparent remarks about the part played b y
bishops turned general in the Stephen-M atilda conflict. A note on the
number (two hundred) o f monks murdered at Leicester (Chester) recalls
the HRB version (one thousand two hundred) and that in the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle (two hundred). The prophecy is asserted to be a summary o f
that made to V ortigem in HRB 7. T he announcement by M erlin o f
Rodarch's death and Taliesin’s arrival closes it. (Its fogginess and dis­
jointedness support the idea that it holds contem porary allusions, as in the
remarks on bishops. T he listing o f kings (672 ff.) by number is particularly
obscure when considered interpretatively; Parry suggested that G eoffrey
really had in mind something like the poem B .T . 35: part o f it can be
plausibly applied to the first Norm an kings, but it is not early.)

Prophecy 2
(a) 941-981. This picks up the theme o f Saxon domination after
A rthur, leading to the abandonment o f the kingdom, and its ultim ate
recovery through Conan and Cadw alader and the return to a state o f
pristine unity as when Brutus lived. (This is the central theme o f H RB,
which ends with the actual abandonment, the deliverance having been
predicted earlier.)
(b) 892-1070. ‘ Rem iniscence’ by M erlin, starting with Constans, who
preceded V ortigem , Aurelius Ambrosius and UtherJ as king in HRB
(Books 6-8), and including the story o f Hengist and Horsa.
(c) 10 71-1135. T he ‘ rem iniscence’ continues through Arthur’s reign
(cf. HRB 9 - 1 1. 2) and that o f his successor Constantine to the current weak
king Conan.1 So this m ain passage o f ‘ rem iniscence’ joins up with the
1 This is Aurelius Conan, nephew o f Constantine, in HRB 11.5. The 'deliverer* in the
prophecies is an earlier character, Conan Meiriadoc, first king o f Brittany in HRB
5 - 9- > 2.
 P R O P H E C Y IN ‘ V IT A M E R L I N ! ’ 21

beginning o f the ‘ prophecy* proper o f the first prophetic passage above,

w hich starts w ith the reigns just after Arthur. There is overlap, since the
first reference there is to ‘ the nephews o f the Boar o f C ornw all’, ap­
parently the (grand-) nephews o f Arthur, M odred’s sons, who rebelled in
Constantine’s reign. A t this point M erlin seems in Prophecy i to be pro­
phesying his own past or at least talking o f several reigns ago as the present.
It is one w ay in which the joining o f the M erlins Ambrosius and Calidonius
into one character shows.

Prophecy 3
This is offered as typical o f G anieda’s prophetic outpourings. It is in the
language o f the other prophecies but there is only reference (apparendy)
to events o f Stephen’s reign. T h ey do not form a connected story and
cannot be summarised easily. M erlin’s approbation and handing over o f
his prophedc role at the end can be taken as a variation on the form ula o f
quoting an old bardic authority. Parry considered that the passage about
the two stars fighting w ild beasts spoke o f the battle at Coleshill, Flint, in
1 150. I f so, it is significant evidence about the date o f VM .
M erlin's valedictory rem ark is to the effect that the spirit has closed up
'm y m outh and m y book'. A possible personal explanation o f this is that
as M erlin refers to his resolution for a life o f pious Christian devotion and
an end to pagan prophecy, so Geoffrey is by analogy celebrating his own
election as bishop-elect and saying goodbye, in a literary or a real sense,
to the Geoffrey o f the early Prophecies which helped to make his nam e.1
1 A t the time o f writing Geoffrey had never held a church appointment and was not yet
even ordained priest. An approaching career as a bishop would certainly look a new life.
4 STORIES OF THE CELTIC
WILD MEN (SUMMARIES)

It is probable that the British and Irish wild-m an traditions spring from
different bases, but there is much that is common in the legend-forms and
conventions available for handling such a theme. T h e m aterial for com­
parison is o f course very incom plete, but summaries o f the m ain C eltic
wild-m an stories follow for reference. T he Buile Shuibhne tale is related to
the earlier Battle o f Mag Rath and Banquet o f Dun na nGedh (edited together
by O 'D onovan, 1842), and Mag Rath also treats o f Suibhne's moment o f
breakdown.

'v it a m e r l in i’ : th e n a r r a t iv e

Merlinus was king and prophet to the Demetae (S. W elsh; Dyfed). He and
Rodarchus (Riderch; Rhydderch), king o f the Cwribri, supported Peredurust
king o f the Venedoti (N. W elsh; Gwynedd), in an unnamed battle against
Guennolous, king o f Scoria (Scotia). Three brothers, M erlin's close com­
panions, were killed. M erlin, overcome with grief, disappeared and
became a wood-wild fugitive in the forest o f Calidon. H e com plained
bitterly when winter came. A n agent o f his sister Gameday Rodarch’s wife,
found him near a spring, calm ed him by music and persuaded him back to
Rodarch’s court. M erlin panicked at the city crowds and went w ild again.
Rodarch had him bound: M erlin became silent. Rodarch offered him
freedom if he would explain a sudden laugh he gave. This led to the
accusation o f the queen for adultery, on the evidence o f the lea f in her
hair. She discredited M erlin by getting three apparently contradictory
prophecies about the death o f a disguised boy. (The boy met a triple
death when grown up.)
M erlin gave his wife Guendoloena permission to re-m arry, and went back
to Calidon. He returned riding on a stag, with a herd o f deer as a wedding
present for Guendoloena; but on an impulse he killed her new husband.
He was re-captured, and remained mute. Taken round the market, he
m ade prophetic assertions, proved true. Rodarch released him, and he
went once more to the forest, still disturbed but more rational and no
longer wood-wild (living like an anim al). H e asked his sister to build him
a forest house for the winter, with a large staff, for scientific-prophetic
[a*]
 S T O R IE S O P T H E C E L T IC W I L D MEN 23

observation o f the heavens. He uttered a long prophecy about the fate

o f Britain.
T h e death o f Rodarch and arrival o f Taliesin from Brittany were
announced. M erlin and Taliesin had a learned conversation. Taliesin told
o f the taking o f A rthur to M orgen's island for treatment. M erlin spoke
further o f Britain at the period o f the Saxon invasions.
A new spring was reported. M erlin washed and drank at it and was fully
restored to sanity. H e gave thanks to G od, and he and Taliesin discussed
springs and lakes. T he leaders o f M erlin’s country cam e to ask him to
return. H e refused, stressing his age and his intention to prepare for the life
everlasting. T h e conversation turned to birds, and was sim ilar in form to
the previous exchanges.
A wandering madman, Maeldinus, appeared and was cured by the
spring water. M erlin recognised him as a friend o f youth and told the story
o f his accidental poisoning by apples left by a discarded mistress o f
M erlin’s.
M erlin, Taliesin, M aeldin and Ganieda decided to spend the rest o f
their lives in spiritual exercises in the forest. T h e civil leaders were dis­
missed. Ganieda delivered a final prophecy, and M erlin indicated that his
pow er o f prophecy had passed to her. T h e last five lines assert that
G eoffrey o f M onmouth, writer o f the British history Gesta Britonumt was
the author.
O f the stories o f the other w ild men concerned, only that o f Suibhne has
a com parably com plete form.

( i) B uilt Shuibhnt: Frenzy o f Suibhne (c. 1200. O ’K eeffe, 1913)

Suibhne was king o f D al Araidhe, Northern Ireland. H e supported the
rebel Congal Claen against the H igh K in g at M agh R ath. Before the
battle he interfered with Ronan, who was taking some o f his land for a
church. Ronan cursed him and predicted his death by a spear. In the
battle Suibhne was seized with panic and madness and flew, literally, from
the field into the trees. T h e rest o f the tale describes in prose and verse his
distracted wanderings round Ireland for m any years, living on water-cress,
brook-lim e and water. A ll through he complains o f his hardships. A relative,
the m iller Loingseachan, caught Suibhne several times to care for him.
Suibhne's wife, Eorann, was visited twice. She was sym pathetic at first,
though dwelling with G uaire, one o f the successors to Suibhne's sovereignty.
A fter a second capture, the nobles o f D al Araidhe cared for him and he
recovered his senses, only to lose them again under the provocation o f an
old m ill woman. T h e pair went off: he caused her death and was in fear
o f Loingseachan’s revenge.
H e went to the Hebrides (Eigg) to visit St Donnan; thence to Strath­
24 L I F E O F M E R L IN

clyde, where he lived with the British wild man Ealadhan for a year.
Returning to Ireland after Ealadhan’s death, he saw Eorann again and
was rejected. He set o ff to live in D al Araidhe, his madness rem itting, but
Ronan re-applied the curse.
H e m et M oling, who mentioned Suibhne’s predicted death and m ain­
tained a light contact with him for a year, his cook M uirghil leaving out
evening m ilk for Suibhne. T he herd M ungàn, husband o f the cook, speared
Suibhne as he drank, suspecting him o f adultery. M oling gave the sacra­
ment and promised heaven. Suibhne staggered to the church and died there.

(2) Ealadhan: B S 46-50

Suibhne met Ealadhan near Dum barton in a great wood. Ealadhan was
called Fer Cailli, M an o f the W ood. He said he lived in fear o f capture b y
the king's household. His story was that he was the son o f a land-owner
and had supported K in g Eochaidh Aincheas (son o f G uaire M athra) for
the sovereignty against Cugua (son o f G uaire). H e had put a geasa (tabu)
on his lord’s people that they should not appear at the battle except in
silk. For this the hosts gave 'three shouts o f m alediction’, and he went
wandering.
A t the end o f a year o f living together in the wood, Ealadhan said that
his time had come, that he must go to the waterfall o f Eas D ubhthaigh
('Blackhouse F alls'), where he would be blown over into the water and
drown, but afterwards be buried in a saint’s churchyard and attain
heaven. Suibhne gave an account o f his own end-to-be. Ealadhan went to
Eas Dubhthaigh and was drowned.

(3) Lailoken: Lailoken A and B

Translations are given o f both tales from Cotton Titus A xix in
Appendix 1. Outlines are:
A : K entigem m et a w ild m an in a desert and prayed for him. T he w ild
man had been driven m ad by an accusatory vision in the sky during a
battle. Later he used to appear (apparently unrecognised) at K entigem 's
church by Glasgow, where he was a nuisance with his wild prophecies. A t
length he demanded the last sacrament from K entigem , who tested his
sanity by asking three times about his death and received conflicting
answers (that he would be stoned and clubbed, that he would be pierced
by a stake, that he would be drowned). Under pressure from his clerics,
K entigem gave the sacrament. Lailoken then predicted the death o f a
king, a bishop and a lord within the year. T h e same day Lailoken was
killed in the triple w ay he had predicted, being set upon by shepherds
near Dunm eller. T h e clerics grasped the point, and the story ends w ith
their distress.
 S T O R IE S O F T H E C E L T I C W I L D M EN 25
B : Petty-king M eldred o f Dunm eller captured Lailoken to hear him
prophecy: Lailoken stayed mute for three days. W hen the queen entered
the court, he laughed. T he disclosure o f the queen's adultery, through the
le a f in her hair, followed. But before disclosing this Lailoken predicted his
ow n death in a few days, obtained a promise that his body should be
buried where Pausail Bum meets Tw eed and prophesied about the re­
integration o f the British nation. T h e queen failed to discredit Lailoken,
and plotted his death. A few years later he was set upon by shepherds at
the instigation o f the queen while he was passing Dunm eller at sunset on
the same day that he had received the last sacrament, was killed as pre­
dicted, and was buried by the king, as he had been promised. (The time
discrepancy— a few days, a few years— is not cleared up.)

(4) M yrddin
This does not exist as a connected account, and the relations o f the
characters in the scattered allusions are not folly explained anywhere. See
* Intro, i on the poems.
M yrddin had been o f high rank; his king had been Gwenddolau,
a generous king o f the north, now dead. M yrddin had been wandering for
m any years in the Forest o f Celyddon (Coed Celyddon), in distress and
m ad after the battle o f Arfderydd. H e had been responsible for the death
o f the son and daughter o f Gwenddydd. Rhydderch H ael’s men were
pursuing him— Gwasawg in particular hated him— and he was hiding
from Rhydderch’s steward in an apple tree. (He had a pet pig; he
regretted his mistress.) H e prayed to die and be received by the Lord o f
Hosts.
5 GEOFFREY OF
MONMOUTH’S LIFE

T he chronology o f Geoffrey’s life is unclear at more than one im portant

stage, but it is not a total fog and there are some relatively fixed points
which lim it the amount o f conjecture necessary. Several signatures as
witness to documents are accepted as his and one or two others are
possible.1 T he official record o f his admission to the priesthood and the
episcopacy survives; there are annalistic entries about his death; and
there are references by contemporaries, which perhaps do not help in a
detailed w ay. There is a scrap o f alleged 'b iograp h y' in the Gwentian
Brut, which is not accepted as authentic and must be ignored as evidence.12
T h e two sources which note his death seem to go back to a common origin
in calling him bishop o f Llandaff, though there is no doubt that he was
bishop o f St Asaph.3 It is the most disputed period o f his life which is most
relevant to the understanding o f VM , nam ely, his location and activities
between the publication o f H RB and o f VM .
There is no evidence about his birth, but *circa 1100' is a convention
which must be approxim ately right: this would put him in his fifties at
death. O f his parentage it is known that his father was an Arthur, and the
name is recorded in G eoffrey's signature o f 1129. So 'son o f A rth u r' is not a
joke name relating to the appearance o f HRB (c. 1136-8), as has been
suggested. A junior would not, anyway, have witnessed a m ajor church
document (Godstow) with a com ic nickname, even though Rahere, who
had a reputation as a joker, was presiding. A rthur was not a common name
in W ales, according to Cham bers: G eoffrey (Galfridus) was Norm an.
M onmouth came under Breton influence early. W illiam FitzO sbem ,
seneschal o f Norm andy, was Earl o f Hereford (1067). H e took over
Archenfield (Erging) and Gwent and built M onmouth casde, one o f a
chain. This castle protected a privileged com m unity o f Norman settlers;
and Geoffrey’s fam ily was almost certainly part o f it. W hat interm arrying
w ith the W elsh had occurred in his fam ily is not known. Pro-Breton and

1 'Signature* means naming as witness to official document, not autograph.

* In Myvyrian Archmol. (Owen, 1870, 711). See Lloyd, 1942, 462 f., on the history o f the
relevant material.
3 The bishop o f Llandaff from 1148 to 1163 was Nicholas ap Gwrgant. Geoffrey’s
appointment to St Asaph’s is recorded.
[2 6 ]
 G E O F F R E Y OF M O N M O U T H ’S L I F E 27
anti-W elsh sentiments can be cited from the end o f H RB, and sentiments in
favour o f all the island-British against Saxons and others can be cited
from other parts o f his work. Biographical deductions from these passages
are hazardous.
M onm outh was a more or less independent lordship by Geoffrey’s time.
In 1071 W illiam FitzO sbem died. His son Roger succeeded, but lost the
earldom and lands to the Crown in 1075. M onmouth passed to W ihenoc
(Guihenoc), who cam e from the D ol district o f Brittany. M onmouth was
in Herefordshire at Domesday (1086), and remained in the Hereford
diocese until 1843-4.1 &ut Archenfield had previously kept a close W elsh
character under English domination, and Geoffrey knew some o f its local
traditions, o f which there is evidence in H RB, especially in relation to
Vortigern. Archenfield's survival as a district with a distinct character o f
its own seems in fact to go back to the time when it was a well-roaded and
cultivated Romano-British area. (The Rom an post o f Ariconium was
near Ross-on-W ye. )
W ihenoc him self seems to have retired to a religious life, the castle
being held by his nephew W illiam FitzBaderon at Domesday. A chapel
existed by 1081. W ihenoc’s priory was confirmed by the king by 1086; and
the connection with D ol led to the gift o f M onmouth church (dedicated
c. 1 101) to the abbey o f St Florent de Saum ur. It remained a poor priory,
and was semi-ruinous when suppressed in 1536.
There are no remains o f the 1 101 building, but parts built in the later
tw elfth century were at the west end o f the present church until recent
times. T h e Norm an monks’ choir was cleared in the eighteenth century.
A story that a window in the priory was ‘ Geoffrey’s w indow ’ w ill be o f
interest when there is reason to believe that there had been such a tradition
before the window was built in the m iddle or later fifteenth century. There
was a parallel story— they m ay be m erely variants one o f the other— that
there was a room called ‘ Geoffrey’s lib rary’ .2 This is a more tantalising
nam e, but a similar comment would apply.
A Breton or Breton-Welsh fam ily background and a connection with
the priory seem probable for Geoffrey. Variants o f Geoffrey are not
infrequent in priory charters from the beginning.3 W hile this local fashion
increases the likelihood o f a connection, it makes identification harder,
1 O n the early history of Monmouth: Taylor (1951) and Lloyd (1942). On the history
o f the priory: Rose Graham (1929). On the priory architecture: pp. 20-5 in Bagnal-
Oakeley (1886), and Lloyd, Taylor, as above. See also B. F. L. Clarke (1968), based
largely on St Mary's Church, Monmouth (pub., S .P .C .K ., 1936).
2 Coxe (1801).
3 M archegay (1879). The dates are o f the documents. Marchegay put the charter in 1069
(W illiam ’s approval being without a year, merely 4th February). The charter was
presumably in fact granted between 1081 and 1086. See Monmouth references, above,
however.
28 L I F E OF M E R L IN

and very possibly none o f the witnesses to priory documents is G eoffrey

o f M onmouth. Those who cannot reasonably be included: Gosfridus
(deacon, c. 1070), Gaufridus filius Tehaeli (c. 1080), Gunfridus (c. 1090),
Gofredus Monemutensis (prior, c. 1120), Godfredus d’Espiniac (ante 1140),
Gaufredus capellanus (ante 1140), Galfridus de Cliffordia (c. 1148-63).
This leaves a possibility in *Galfridus scriba’ (c. 1120) : the status fits the
probable age, im plied upbringing and future career o f Geoffrey.
His next appearance is at O xford1 in 1129, when he signed the founda­
tion charter o f Oseney A bbey together with W alter the archdeacon, who
becam e an intim ate in the following years. There is a space o f a decade
before the next witnessing in January 1139 in connection with the dedi­
cation o f Godstow Abbey, as ‘ m ag. G alf. A rturos’, together with R o lf
(Radulfus) o f M onmouth, who, like W alter, appears with Geoffrey on
most later occasions. A gift to the secular canons o f St George’s is dated
‘ not later than 114 2 '. There is then another gap to 1150 (a Godstow
docum ent), when he was again ‘ magistro Galfrido A rtou r’ . T he Godstow
cartulary recorded early in 1151 W alter’s last appearance— he died that
year— and Geoffrey signed as ‘ Gaufridus episcopus Sancti A saphi’. L ater
in 1 151 he signed a charter o f Robert de Chesney, Bishop o f Lincoln and
the recipient o f the VM dedication, as ‘ Gaufridus electus Sancti A saph i'.
T he latter was more correct, but use o f the full title b y bishops-elect is said
to have occurred.
T he conclusions drawn about Geoffrey at O xford are that he was a
secular canon o f St George's, that he joined it by 1129, that he was either
‘ m agister’ on joining or received the title about 1136,2 and that he m ay
have taught at St George’s, lectures at O xford being known from at least
the fourth decade o f the century. H e was closely connected there w ith
archdeacon W alter, the provost o f St George’s, and w ith R o lf o f M on­
mouth and Robert de Chesney, another canon o f St George’s. R o lf becam e
a canon at Lincoln, and he m ay have been the link with Bishop Alexander.13 *

1 Salter (1919) collected his Oxford signatures.

* A degree from Paris has been suggested: there were few such opportunities available.
(See Nigellus, Speculum Stultorum (W right, 1872, p. 68) for a harrowing but comic
account of student life there somewhat later in the 12th century.) An alternative to
Paris might have been a period spent at a monastic institution in Brittany. It would
be one explanation, not the only one, for a knowledge o f some Breton material having a
close relevance to VM. Taliesin’s visit in VM to Gildas for a course o f science and
philosophy in Brittany could be another hint, in view o f other probable personal
references in VM. The other simple view is that HRB brought him a master’s title
after its presentation to Stephen in April 1136 or between then and M ay 1138
(Griscom, 1929, p. 59).
3 Book 7, Prophecies o f Merlin, o f HRB was dedicated to Alexander. The VM dedication
records Geoffrey’s subsequent disappointment. But Alexander undoubtedly had many
Oxford connections besides Rolf. He was concerned in the founding o f Godstow, for
example.
 G E O F F R E Y O F M O N M O U TH ’S L I F E 29

In 1148 Robert de Ghesney followed Alexander, who died early in that

year, at Lincoln and probably furthered Geoffrey's personal interests.
In terms o f the firmer evidence o f accepted signatures, the decade
1 129-39 seems undocumented, as well as most o f the period 1 140-50. In
the earlier time the w riting o f HRB presum ably took up a great deal o f
the m iddle o f the period and there is no need to think o f alternative places.
O xford, a scholarly centre though not a university, is an inherently
probable home. T h e introduction to HRB refers not only to receipt o f
W alter's book on British history but also to W alter’s own stock o f informa­
tion: this suggests regular personal consultation.1
T h e im portance o f the second period, c. 1140-50, is that it must contain
the explanation o f the extra dimension o f awareness o f native British (pri­
m arily W elsh or W elsh-carried) tradition which is evidenced in VM when
com pared with H RB. It m ight be explained as m erely the distinction be­
tween literary and historical composition ; but the central dilemma o f the two
M erlins, which Geoffrey accepted in VM and tried to resolve, implies more.
T h e intentions o f HRB have often been sought through the dedications
in terms o f Geoffrey’s commitment to the national politics o f some m ajor
figure like Robert o f Gloucester. Flattery to Empress M atilda has been
read into the account o f some o f the more imperious queens o f H RB. This
probably oversimplifies the position, and the politics, and makes too little
allow ance for the conditions under which m anuscript books appeared.
Literature in the early twelfth century was a de-centralised affair, produced
b y clerks for the sollar classes, that is, the aristocratic families living in a
round o f constantly re-forming house-parties in their cram ped peel-tower
country houses. T h e promotion o f a book was a personal m atter, unless one
had the ear of, say, a queen, as Benedeit had for his Voyage o f St Brendan.*
Hand-copying protracted initial publication, and distribution was
through a tangle o f visiting relatives and borrowing friends o f the patron.3
I t was a clannish network and m ay occasionally have put the author almost
1 How much o f the country Geoffrey knew at first hand is an interesting side-issue
relevant to knowing about the base o f private experience from which he wrote.
Conclusions are largely subjective, on hints in HRB: more might be done. Apart from
Oxford, he visited London for consecration at least. Personal connections must have
taken him into Monmouthshire and South Wales, especially Caerleon and Llandaff,
whether or not he lived at the latter. Gloucester and Lincoln can be presumed known;
and perhaps he shows sufficient interest in Hamo’s Port, Southampton, for that to be
included. It would be natural, if he did go to Paris or to a Breton centre. But references
to territory north o f the Dee-Humber line are vague. His grasp o f Scottish geography
is quite indefinite, except perhaps for Glasgow-Dumbarton, and it is largely a distant
wonder-land. ‘ From Caithness to the Humber’ is the kind o f inclusive phrase found.
2 M aud, Henry I’s first queen.
3 See Legge (1963, 28) for an account o f how the baron W alter L ’Espec’s copy o f HRB
reached the hands o f Geoffrey’s early plagiariser, Gaimar, who wrote a no longer extant
Brut or *Estorie des Bretons before his Estorie des Engles.
30 L I F E O F M E R L IN

in the position o f the older tribal or court bard, but the compulsions w ere
less. H RB has not been shown to have been exceptionally distorted by these
(normal) conditions o f publication, except for the interpolation o f the
obviously separate book o f Prophecies.
Otherwise, H RB was an attem pt to construct a synoptic historical
narrative by arranging standard authorities, native accounts and genea­
logies which had no dating and oral productions into an order o f best-fit
without the guidance o f an existing tradition o f critical historical appraisal,
certainly not one which had much to say on this sort o f broad problem .
There seems little reason to assert an intent to deceive, or, in the straighter
narrative books, to rom ance; and the result was a framework which was
useful and unrivalled for a very long time. Reiss (1968), studying 76 M SS
o f W elsh versions, remarked, *Although Geoffrey o f M onmouth’s Historia
Regum Britanniae is without doubt one o f the most significant works o f the
entire M iddle Ages, neither the work nor its place in the history o f
W estern culture has yet been fully understood.’ 1
W here Geoffrey’s story undoubtedly floated highest over its sources was
in the account o f A rthur and Caerleon. Even there the common hypo­
theses o f fraud or unchecked fantasy have to take into consideration, as
they norm ally do not, that the Arthurian account involved, more than
the rest o f the work, the redaction o f currently luxuriant oral m aterial,12
and that Geoffrey was open to the influence o f personal, fam ily and local
loyalties in a w ay that would have been w ell understood.3
He retained his father’s name, A rthur, in his signature until he was
about in his fifties and becam e a bishop-elect. Personal associations w ith
Caerleon or L landaff are not documented directly, but the im plication o f
their existence is strong. T he assignment (mistaken) to Geoffrey o f the
bishopric o f L landaff by two manuscripts, and his obvious involvem ent
with the standing o f Caerleon, could be used to suggest that he had an
early reputation o f being closely linked to W ales south o f M onmouth and
especially to Llandaff. (It is accepted that the m ock-biographical fragm ent
in the Gwentian Brut is false.) There was a fam ily connection between
Caerleon and L landaff in Geoffrey’s time. U chtryd o f L landaff is said to
have had a daughter Angharad, who m arried Iorwerth. H e succeeded his
father O w en ap Caradoc as lord o f Caerleon.4 H e served under Robert o f
Gloucester at Lincoln in 1141, when Stephen was captured. He lost and

1 Cf. Jarman (1966, h i ) on the European relevance o f HRB and its importance to
Wales as a link with other literatures. 2 See HRB 1, ad init.
3 Historia is an ambiguous word, conveying both 'historical account’ and 'story* ; so also
Norman-French Estorie. The distinction is now more commonly but not universally
noticed. See final note o f Text. Comm., however, on early titles o f HRB.
4 He did not succeed, however, till 1156-8. See T . Jones (1955) for the references to
Iorwerth and Angharad.
 G E O F F R E Y O F M O N M O U T H ’S L I F E 31
regained Caerleon more than once before it was confirmed in his old age
by H enry II. A n uncertain tradition made Geoffrey a younger relative o f
U chtryd.
G eoffrey was undoubtedly fam iliar at the time o f HRB with U rban o f
L landaff’s vigorous ecclesiastical nationalism and the claim that Llandaff
had been a former archbishopric.1 T h e fictitious archbishopric o f
Caerleon2 grew out o f such cam paigns, like the annexation o f Dubricius
(Dyfrig) by rem oval o f his (claimed) remains from Bardsey to Llandaff.
How far Geoffrey believed in the Caerleon archbishopric or promoted it
coldly in H RB can be disputed.3
N earer to his origins in M onmouth is the knowledge o f Archenfield
versions o f V ortigern’s end distinct from those in Nennius. (Dubricius
m ay have had Archenfield associations, too.)4
T h e biographical conclusions from the various links mentioned in this
digression are that Geoffrey’s attachments to the M onm outh-Glam organ
area continued to be deep, and that residence in South W ales— in
Llandaff, in Caerleon, or in M onmouth but in contact with L landaff—
in his later m aturity is prima facie at least as reasonable a view as that he
was at Oxford. This is putting it conservatively.
T w o other matters have a bearing on Geoffrey's associations in this
critical decade o f his life before VM : the composition o f the Book o f
L lan d aff {Liber Landavensis: ‘ L L ’) and the establishment o f the bishopric o f
S t Asaph. Authorship o f L L is still undecided, but only one view o f the
bishopric now seems tenable.
I t is considered certain that m any o f the charters o f L L are not authentic
as they stand, the form ulae used being too static over too long a period to
be plausible, for exam ple; and the probability that it was an instrument o f
legitim isation in the church politics o f the day is high. Evans,5 who
produced the diplom atic edition, was too warm for his view that Geoffrey
w as the author and that on calligraphic grounds the m ain part, including
th e Life o f Teilo, patron o f Llandaff, was an autograph. Jones6 denounced
Evans's theory, referring to Lloyd's7 doubts whether Geoffrey had any*
th in g to do with L landaff and arguing that the m ain hand which Evans
p laced before 1154 (as Geoffrey’s date o f death) could and should be
1 It was not a separatist claim. Canterbury was accepted as against the pretensions o f
S t D avid’s.
2 H RB 4. 19; 7. 3; 8 .10 ,1259. I>4 > i i . 3. Cf. other mentions o f Caerleon in 3. 10,12;
5. 5; ï-
3 Brooke (1958) thought he was being funny in the Arthurian section. But the theme o f
Caerleon runs through HRB. As the previous note shows, it is mentioned in Books 3, 4,
5, 7, 8, 9 and 11. Five of the eight references to the archbishopric fall outside Arthur’s
reign, or, eight o f the total twelve references to the place.
4 See E. D. Jones, 1946, 154 f.
5 Evans, 1893. 6 E. D. Jones, 1946. 7 J. E. Lloyd, 1942.
3* L I F E O F M E R L IN

placed later, and the others likewise.1 Jones also argued from the dis­
crepancies between H RB and L L where on common grounds. But this is
in only three instances; and H RB was a named personal work, L L
anonymously institutional, later, and in a different m ilieu. A ll three
discrepancies concern details o f the unstable legendary m aterial. T w o are
about Dubricius, the other about K in g Lucius and the introduction o f
Christianity. Lack o f discrepancies would be more surprising, and L L
cannot be described as a book ‘ entirely at variance with his earlier work*
on this narrow base.
Brooke12 in fact argued that the detailed comparison o f L L with H R B
suggested that Geoffrey knew L L or its m aterial. Brooke put forw ard
Caradoc o f Llancarvan as possible author o f L L . H e did so tentatively;
and perhaps his last suggestion that Geoffrey’s reference3 to Caradoc as his
contem porary means, in effect, ‘ speaking conspiratorially as a senior
forger to a promising junior ’ puts a heavy strain on the allusive signifi­
cance o f an unusual word. H e in fact concludes that if it was not w ritten
b y Caradoc, ‘ then I should feel tempted to resuscitate the old and m uch
abused theory that it was the work o f Geoffrey o f M onmouth him self’.
T h e authorship is still, to be settled, then, but the probability th at
Geoffrey knew L L or its im m ediate sources strengthens the likelihood o f
his having links with L lan daff at a relevant period.4 I f Geoffrey were the
actual com piler,5 then the later sequence o f Geoffrey’s life would be some­
thing like this, (i) A t O xford from c. 1 129 to 1139 or later, but not after
1 142 : H RB published c. 1136-8. (2) In South W ales, either at M onm outh
or at or in contact with L landaff (editing LL?) from 1 139-426 to 115 0 -1.7
(3) Sim ilarly in 1152-5, but as bishop o f St Asaph’s.

1 But he did not establish a firm alternative scheme; and non-palaeographical factors
keep the main composition earlier rather than later than 1150 (see Brooke, n. 2 below).
3 C . Brooke, ch. iv in Chadwick, 1958. "The study o f Vitae Sanctorum Wallensium,
K . Hughes, ch. m, has relevance to broader problems o f LL.
3 HRB, epilogue. Geoffrey leaves the theme o f the subsequent kings o f Britain to his
contemporary (1contemporaneo meo), Caradoc o f Llancarvan.
4 Brooke put the later stages of LL proper as probably 1134-8 on the assumption that
Urban's staff would have completed die compilation as soon as possible after his death
(the see was unfilled 1134-40); but he setded for 1135-50 as the period within which the
bulk o f the book was written. The latter but not the former would be consistent with
Geoffrey being actively involved at Llandaff.
s Some o f Brooke’s arguments seem to involve the editorial compiler bring the actual
forger, but he also appears to hold that the dubious charters o f LL, which was un­
finished, were Urban’s forgeries. The distinction ‘ editor/forger’ deserves to be kept in
view for clarity.
6 I f Geoffrey had family or other private connections with Uchtryd, directly or through
Caerleon, it is relevant that Uchtryd became bishop in 1140 and could have helped
Geoffrey to move.
7 Geoffrey signed a document at Godstow, Oxford, in 1150. It would have been on a
visit, probably, at that date. St George’s came to an end in 1149.
 G E O F F R E Y OF M O N M O U TH ’S L I F E 33

Since L L was unfinished, it could be argued on this scheme that editing

went on till Geoffrey’s death in 1155, as Evans assumed originally.1 His
standing would be senior but not in a church appointm ent: he was not
ordained.2 T he m ock-biography's reference to him as 'instructor o f m any
scholars and chieftains' fits his qualifications, probable experience at
Oxford and lay status. It could be a shrewd guess, though not in itself
evidence. Some intercourse o f the kind would be probable, anyway, if
Geoffrey were at a centre in South W ales; and it would offer a simple
answer to the question o f w hat were Geoffrey’s channels o f communication
to the W elsh traditions with which he evidendy, from VM , became more
closely fam iliar.
The case o f the bishopric o f St Asaph is much less equivocal. It was a
deliberate new creation, and its traditions and documents o f ancient
authority were as new.3 T h e church in Britain in the century after the
Norman invasion was a scene o f vigorous rivalry, and not least in W ales
and its borderlands. T w o prelates were particularly effective there,
Bernard at St D avid’s (M enevia), trying to become an archbishop and
(apocryphally) succeeding for a time, and U rban at Llandaff, while
Canterbury was seeking to control these as well as prevent York from
acquiring prim acy. Theobald re-established Canterbury's position after
1138, and he exacted formal obedience from the first bishops o f new
St A saph: G ilbert in 1143, Geoffrey in 1152 and Richard c. 1155. A new
bishopric to cover the war-tom area between Bangor and Chester was put
forward in 1125: it was then unnamed. G ilbert was described as Lane-
luensis ecclesie electum, and the term had some currency for several decades.
Canterbury recorded the new title Ecclesia Sancti Asaphi when Geoffrey
succeeded.4 In other words, the legend cam e in with Geoffrey. Harris,

t Evans used the date 1154. It is worth a note that there is a Gulfridus among the ancient
bishops of Llandaff in LL. Evans had difficulty in fitting him into the tentative order o f
succession. Gulfridus accepted an estate and a villa in atonement for a murder, and in a
sim ilar case graciously pardoned a man repenting o f having raided a neighbour. Two
names o f VM interest are the witness Maildun (NN M AELDIN ) and Morgen, so
spelt. LL opens with Elgar the Hermit, who after a difficult life retired as a solitary on
Bardsey. His teeth were brought to Llandaff with the bones of Dubricius. He followed
a strict regime - vitam sanctam, vitam gloriosam, vitam castam et eum raro pane, tenui veste,
maceratafane. (The story is in the second M S hand.) The Life o f Teilo was once attri­
buted to Geoffrey: it is thought to be of Urban’s day.
s L landaff lost its monastery through secularization 30 years before VM. But, though
the establishment o f 24 canons had been cut drastically, two canons were allowed for
from i tig .
3 H arris (1956) on the ecclesiastical documentation, and Jackson (1958) on linguistic
peculiarities in the names in Jocelin’s chapters (23-31) on Kentigem ’s exile in Wales
and on Asaph, seem to leave little room for argument on the main situation.
4 His signature in 1151, when bishop-elect, as episcopus Sancti Asaphi was probably the
first-ever appearance o f the title. Asaoensis came in towards the end of the 13th century.
Laneluensis refers to the river Elwy, not to a founder.
3 CLH
34 L I F E O F M E R L IN

detailing the evidence for the newness o f St Asaph, was uncertain whether
the K entigem connection1 was taken over from Scotland12 or invented (and
repeated by Jocelin later). O f these two perhaps the former is more likely.
But in view o f the early connections between North W ales and N orth
Britain, and story parallelisms such as those discussed elsewhere between
Taliesin and K entigem and between W inefride and K entigem , not to
mention V ortigem and his fam ily, an additional possibility is that there
was an older tradition, true or not, o f a K entigem connection in N orth
W ales, but too decayed as it stood to be o f practical use as a basis for a
m odem twelfth-century cam paign o f justification for the new diocese.
Picking up and elaborating a genuinely existing trace, or a trace believed
to exist, is a classical w ay o f asserting new authority.3
There can be no stronger evidence than the mere fact that G eoffrey
wrote VM for believing that he was im plicated in this cam paign. VM ,
against the background o f newer information, is an afterbirth o f m ore
serious compositions. Brooke thought it ironical that Geoffrey received the
shadowy reward o f St Asaph's, where he was likely never to have been in
residence. But he would have known exacdy where he stood, and doubdess
never had any urgent intention o f transferring him self from civilisation4*
to the mountainous front-line territory where Normans were pushing their
frontier out against violent W elsh resistance.3
T h e Canterbury registers show Geoffrey ordained as priest at W est­
minster on 16 February, and consecrated as bishop o f ÖTSiaph a week and
a day later by archbishop Theobald at Lam beth on 24 February 1152.
T h e speed o f the operation makes clear that it was a political appointm ent.6
He was present as a witness to the final agreement between Stephen and

1 This was that Kentigem , driven from Scotland by the tyrant Morken, founded a
monastery during his exile in Wales. Asaf, a local lad, became a pupil and eventually
took over the monastery when Kentigem went north again. Asaf performed one stock
miracle while he was still a boy: this was Kentigem ’s creative period for miracles,
too.
* Perhaps through Furness, if the link with Glasgow was firm before Jocelin’s day.
Furness was in an expansive phase in the Celtic areas. O laf I o f M an in 1134 granted
it the right to choose the bishops o f Man and the Western Isles. Another centre with
a (probably) twelfth century colony in Man was Whithorn, which held the barony o f
St Trinian’s (Megaw, 1950).
1 M ediaeval Welsh bards wrote to the bishops as successors of A saf but never referred to
Kentigem , according to Harris. But more than one explanation for this is possible.
4 Besides, he may have had the Book o f Llandaff to finish.
3 A generation later Giraldus Cambrensis referred (Iter. Kambr. s. 10; Rolls edn. 6. 137)
to visiting Rhuddlan (Rudhelan in provincia de Tegengel) and going over to 'the miserable
church’ o f St Asaph (ad pauperculam sedis Laneluensis ecclesiam.. .transivimus). T he
adjective recurs in Descript. Kambr. 1. 4 (Rolls edn. 6. 170): in eadem paupercula
cathedra.
6 The suggestion that Geoffrey’s own attitudes to his appointment are conveyed by the
form o f VM , especially at the end, is made at the end o f a previous section, *Intro. 3 .
 G E O F F R E Y OF M O N M O U T H ’S L I F E 35

Henry, which confirmed H enry’s succession, in Novem ber-Decem ber

"5 3 -1
Geoffrey died in 1155; his death is recorded in the Brut y Tywysogyon.
Jones (1955) noted that he was called bishop o f L landaff in the Red Book
of Hergest and Peniarth 20 versions, and in Brenhineddy Saesson. He m ay well
have died there.2
1 O n the consecration: Haddan and Stubbs, 1869, 1, 360. On the compact between
Stephen and Henry: Cronne and Davis, 1968, 3, 97-99, No. 272 (from John Rylands
library, Latin MS 420, f. 40). It was also given by Johannes Brompton, in Twysden
(>552, cob. 1037-9). Geoffrey signed last o f the bishops.
2 Jones’s critical text runs: Tny ulwydyn honnoy bu uarw Jeffrei, escob Llan Daf> a Rosser
jarll Henffor[d]. ‘ In that year died Geoffrey, bishop o f Llandaff, and Roger earl o f
Hereford.’ Jesus Coll. cxi and Pen. 19 read or offeren (at mass) for a Rosser, and this
apparent scribal slip led to this detail being included in accounts o f Geoffrey. The
possibility that the original reading was . . . or offeren a Rosser. • • does not appear to be
entirely excluded.

3-2
6 AUTHORSHIP

T he poem itself directly attributes authorship to Geoffrey o f M onmouth in

a coda (lines 1525-29), and adds that he was the author o f the history
known as the Gesta Britonum. T he coda is in the only complete M S (‘ G V ’)
and in the same hand as the rest.1 A later hand added at the bottom o f the
last page, ‘ Here ends the Life o f M erlin Calidonius by Geoffrey o f
M onm outh’ (Explicit vita Merlim Calidonii per Galfridum Monemutensem).
This m ay derive from the coda, o f course, though the spelling o f the place-
adjective is different and this could mean independence. Leland2 quoted
passages from VM which vary noticeably in two or three details from the
m ain M S; and he referred elsewhere3 to having read a copy at Glaston­
bury, attributing the poem to Geoffrey. I f his quotations were from that
copy, then there was probably at least one separate M S w ith the attributive
coda. But Leland could have known the authorship otherwise, and
the form o f the name (Galfredo Arturio Monaemuthensi) differs much from
that in the extant coda and is not intrinsically early. Leland m ay have
copied his attracts from the m anuscript he had seen; he need not have
copied the fam iliar name. T he extracts o f VM in Cotton Titus A xix, ‘ T ’, are
annotated at the top with Galfridus Monumetense (?): Parry thought this
m ight be the ‘ later hand’ mentioned above, but, again, the spelling is not
the same.
W hile it is right to look at such a coda with caution, no direct evidence
has been brought against it, and it was part o f the text by 1300. H erbert4
observed that to lengthen the second syllable o f date, before the caesura in
line 1526, was bad Latin. But apart from the fact that it was not a country
or a period for purist classical verse, H erbert, quoting line 749 {media) for
another instance, nullified his own objection, though there is a doubt
about the correct reading in line 749.
T h e secondary evidence from the dedication supports the usual attribu­
tion to Geoffrey. T he dedication is to Robert, the well-born and learned
bishop o f Lincoln— a new appointm ent popular with clergy and laity—
who followed a bishop less favourable to the author.
Robert de Ghesney was appointed bishop in 1148 while fairly young.
1 See Parry, Intro., 9-15, on this and the other questions o f authorship.
2 John Leland: Assertio (1544; ed. Mead, 1925). The quotations are o f lines 908-13
and 929-40 (not to 949, as in Parry).
3 Leland: Commentarii (ed. H all, 1709). See W ard, Catalogue, 1, 191.
4 A . Herbert, Additional notes, p. xxxiv, in Todd, 1848 (Irish Nennius).
[ 36 ]
 A U T H O R SH IP 37

T h e choice was popular, and H enry o f Huntingdon soon afterwards used

sim ilar language to V M ’s clems populusque petebant and unde modo fe lix
Lincolnia fertur ad astra. H enry wrote, rege et clero et populo cum summo gaudio
annuente and a clero et a populo devotione susceptus est. (Another contem porary
at Lincoln, Diceto, supported the tradition.)1
R o b o t de Chesney was o f good fam ily also. H e succeeded Alexander,
one o f the more arrogant episcopal princes o f the time, who died in 1 148.
A lexander had commissioned the Prophecies o f Merlin, as acknowledged by
G eoffrey in HRB 7, ad init. W e do not know details, but Geoffrey did not
advance until after Alexander’s death: the critical comment in VM 8-9
is in agreement w ith w hat we know o f Geoffrey’s experience.
Robert had been a canon o f St George’s in Geoffrey’s time. T he charter
w hich Geoffrey signed in the second h a lf o f 1151 as bishop-elect o f
S t Asaph was one granted by Robert. Acquaintance o f the two men must
be assumed; friendship is very likely. Geoffrey had other friends at
Lincoln: R o lf o f M onmouth had gone there from St George’s.
Parry listed and answered twelve objections to the attribution, culled
from the nineteenth-century editions b y San M arte (A. Schulz) and by
M ichel (with W right) and from Brugger2 and Morris-Jones.3 O ne point is
the caesura o f line 1526 already mentioned. Another is that there are
allusions to H enry II and the conquest o f Ireland (after Geoffrey’s death).
In fact, such apparent allusions were present in H RB. San M arte took
the last prophecy o f VM (1474 ft.) as referring to the years 1213-17, in
John’s reign. This was a testing o f the guess that the date o f VM was
somewhat after 1217: he adm itted it was difficult. T he alternative expla­
nations applying to Stephen's reign are simpler. T h e double character o f
M erlin Ambrosius o f H RB with M erlin Calidonius o f VM is a difficulty
for some, as m aking different authors probable. But it is as plausible to
take the open effort to unite them as showing continuity o f authorship;
and there is reason to believe that Geoffrey m et other traditions c. 1140-50.
W right,4 like San M arte, considered putting the composition o f VM in
the thirteenth century. H e tried to see Robert Grosseteste, bishop o f
Lincoln from 1235 to 1253, in the Robert o f the dedication, on the ground
that the description o f his learning fits Grosseteste better than de Chesney.
This depends on treating the dedicatory language in a literal w ay not
known to be the convention o f that age, or o f m any others. T he reputation
for learning described in the dedication would fit any bishop not con­
spicuous for lack o f it. Grosseteste was not well-born, either: he him self
said the opposite. (W ard doubted the late date on the ground that the

1 NN R O BER T. * Brugger (1906).

3 Morris-Jones (1918, 49). ‘ The poem is not by Geoffrey.* No reason was given.
4 W right (1836) ; the substance o f the article is in M ichel’s edition o f VM.
38 L I F E O F M E R L IN

supposed praise o f K in g John would be tactless if Grosseteste were the

dedicatee; but John had been dead for nearly twenty years when Grosse­
teste became bishop at Lincoln.) T he absence o f signs o f influence on VM
by early thirteenth-century French romances about M erlin has also been
adduced as an argum ent against the later date.
W right observed that there is only one com plete manuscript and that
this is surprising. A poem by Geoffrey should have attracted more atten­
tion; yet such a contem porary as W illiam o f Newburgh, who attacked
Geoffrey, did not mention VM . These are reasonable comments. But
W illiam was prim arily interested in history and his attack was chiefly on
the Prophecies o f M erlin; for *serious' prophecy only H RB 7 counts, and
that o f VM is not much more than a repetitive résumé o f the equivalent
H RB m aterial, apart from the references to Stephen's reign. Giraldus
Cambrensis does not mention VM either; yet he was a M erlin enthusiast
and started to write a ‘ Prophecies o f M erlin' on his own account. He was
also the first to make a reference to Celidomus.1
T he negative point is that one cannot argue against Geoffrey’s author­
ship from the small number o f surviving M SS or the lack o f mention by
contemporaries. M anuscripts do not perish in a predictable order o f their
later importance. Additionally, the circumstances in which VM was
produced make it unlikely that wide publication was attem pted or
intended: a lim ited edition is a first presumption.
O ther objections are matters o f opinion, such as an impressionistic
comparison o f the prose style o f H RB with the hexameter verse o f VM :
this has led to judgm ents in both directions. O r they are misconceptions,
such as that the author was arrogant, unlike the author o f H RB, and
com pared him self to the great poets o f antiquity,2 or that the contra­
dictory views o f Bishop Alexander expressed in H RB and VM (separated
by a dozen years and a disappointment and a new hope) and addressed
to different people, prove that the authors were not identical.
It does not seem necessary to pursue all the weaker points that have been
raised. W ard, Paris3 and Parry went into such points in some detail. T h e
1 It. Kambr., 2 .8. ‘ The other M erlin’ is called both Celidottius from the Cdidonian wood
and Sylvester because of his flight to the wood after seeing aerial monsters in battle.
Celidomus, so spelt, might indicate only knowledge o f Myrddin and Afalletmau; the sky
vision suggests awareness o f an account o f Lailoken. Neither proves direct knowledge
o f VM; but Giraldus seems to tread very closely on its heels.
* He did not. He suggested that his powers were well below those o f several non­
surviving Augustan epic poets. Even that was a purely literary trope, repeating a list.
W right wanted these poets, Camerinus et al., to mean Horace and V irgil: there is no
reason to take this seriously.
3 Paris, 1868, i. 71-89 (ch. 3). This discussion dealt succinctly with most o f the relevant
issues. Paris put VM in the Welsh tradidon o f the prophet, and saw it as a help to
understanding developments o f Breton legend in the Arthurian romances. His ju dg­
ments and perspectives on the poem were ahead o f his day.
 A U T H O R SH IP 39

probability that Geoffrey was the writer continues to build up from close
acquaintance with the work, apart from the evidence already adduced.
It should be accepted as at least reasonably certain that Geoffrey o f
M onmouth wrote Vita Merlim. For all the attempts to establish objections,
no one else has even been put forward nor have other explanations o f
its production been offered.
7 DATE OF VITA MERLINI

T h e outer bracketing dates for the com pletion o f VM are 114-8, when the
dedicatee Robert de Chesney becam e bishop o f Lincoln, and 1155, when
Geoffrey died. Parry moved these lim its inwards, but was not entirely
convinced that VM could be dated more closely than between the outer
bracketing dates.
Parry’s reason for m oving the earlier date forward was his identification
o f the battle referred to in VM 1498-1504 as the battle o f Coleshill
(Consyllt), Flint, which took place in 1150.1 O wein Gwynedd defeated
Ranulf, earl o f Chester, and M adoc ap M aredudd, king o f Powys. T h e
district o f Argoed, Flint, contained Coed Llwyfein, with which was
associated an earlier battle. This earlier battle had in fact taken place in
the sixth century at Argoed Llwyfein in the north, when the British o f
Goddeu and Rheged under O wein, Ceneu and U rien defeated Theodoric
the Flam ebearer and the Bernician Angles. Parry considered that the VM
lines constituted a reference (‘ a confused recollection’) to Taliesin’s poem
on the battle which named the leaders and the place.2 G anieda’s prophecy
was clearly dealing with the fairly recent past: W ard3 took the preceding
three predictions as concerned with events leading up to the rout o f the
empress at W inchester in 1141.
Geoffrey would have had a special interest in this battle because O w ein
Gwynedd's victory halted the establishment o f a Norman-backed ad­
m inistration; and Geoffrey would be prevented from taking up an appoint­
ment in St Asaph. H e m ay not have been going to live there, but would
have at least visited the see.4 In the event, the situation was prolonged, for
O wein repeated his success in 1157 by defeating Henry I I ; Geoffrey was
dead by then.
Parry took Geoffrey’s signature as bishop-elect in 1151 as a possible
forward lim it, on the ground that he would no longer be asking for help
over an appointment (as in the dedication) after he had received one. O n
this argument the suggested inner bracketing period could be narrowed a
little more because Geoffrey signed as bishop o f St Asaph earlier in 1151
than he signed as electus. The most probable period would then be between
1 Parry, 1925a. * B T 35 in FABW 1. 365.
3 Catalogue, 1, 281 f. See Text. Comm, on passage.
* Was the outburst against the Welsh in VM 601-2 due to irritation over the consequences
o f Coleshill? Concern with ecclesiastical-political consequences as much as personal
ones should be presumed, if so.
[40]
 D A T E O F ( V IT A M E R L I N ! ’ 41

the summer o f 1150 and the very beginning o f 1151» i.e. effectively the
latter h a lf o f 1150. Another reason for not going far forward is the reference
to the jo y at Robert’s appointm ent to Lincoln. Robert was not found to
be inadequate and a disappointment until a good deal later; but even so
the reference to the happy excitem ent at his com ing to Lincoln m ight
begin to seem tired after more than three or four years, say, from 1148.
T his is not a precise point.
T h e arguments for the narrower lim its are not directive, as Parry
acknowledged. Those concerning the 1151 lim it depend on reading the
dedicatory lines as a specific request for help over an appointm ent, and the
reference to Bishop Alexander could support this. But the request is
general and could also be taken as a request relating m erely to the literary
enterprise: the remark about Alexander could fit that interpretation, too.
M oreover, if Robert and Geoffrey were already on good terms, as is likely,
a n application for help would not w ait until Geoffrey had written 1500
lines o f verse. In view o f the construction which can be put on the end o f
th e poem, as a personal statement by Geoffrey about a new life, the poem
could be seen alternatively as more a celebration o f appointm ent or o f a
prom ise o f appointm ent than as a request, and the terms o f the dedication
as conventional, not urgent, or concerned only w ith the literary project.
A time just before Geoffrey's form al appearance as a churchman, when
h e w ould probably abandon altogether 'G aufridus de M onem uta’
(line 1526), still seems likely for the com pletion date. But discussions o f the
d ate o f VM have so far been m ainly directed to deciding its period rather
than its year. This was necessary while the thirteenth century was a
possibility. Parry’s work was a distinct advance here. But the question has
alw ays been brought forward in a w ay that assumes that the poem was
w ritten all at once, and distinctions have not been m ade between composi­
tion and completion.
T h e text has not been m odem ly studied in detail for long enough for
conclusions; even so, there are indications that the poem m ay have had
m ore than one stage. T h e first part is narrative, keeping close to the
received traditions o f the Welsh/North British w ild man, though assem­
bling the pieces from various quarters. Then the prophecies and the
introduction o f Arthur lead to the dilemma o f the two M erlins, though the
present w riter’s view is that this was a planned joining, not a m uddle into
w hich the author got himself: the dilemma exists chiefly for a too-scholarly
reader. Taliesin’s appearance slows the narrative and gives the poem a
different cast. T h e traditional northern conclusion under the blessing o f
a Kentigem -figure does not materialise, though the resolution is through a
turning to Christian piety, and M erlin ends as the central figure, as has
been noted earlier.
42 L I F E O F M E R L IN

O ne explanation worth exploring, for exam ple, would be that G eoffrey

had already started a poem which followed the line o f the M yrddin-
Lailoken story. H e would have been interested partly because o f his own
work on M erlin’s prophecies in his history and partly because he had m et
the K entigem -Lailoken tradition through doing work as an editor on
St Asaph m aterial or knowing o f it. A t some point the possibility arose o f
his being the next bishop. (It does not seem to be known exactly when
G ilbert, the first bishop, died.) H e finished the poem quickly, turning the
original story-line to exclude K entigem ’s direct appearance (though he
m ight have done that anyw ay), and applied to Robert for help in securing
the appointm ent, using the poem as a medium for the request or to back
up a separate request. (He could hardly be thought to have used the hint
in the dedication as the sole reference to his desire for a bishopric.) M uch
o f the self-contained scientific dialogue could have been in existence
already, versified from Isidore and his other sources in another connection
or as a hobby.
Alternatively, he could have been offered the appointm ent indepen­
dently o f Robert, and the latter part o f VM — its shape, its turning to a
Christian theme, etc.— could have been both celebration and sober
reflection. Still more would K entigem then have stayed out o f the compo­
sition. None o f these explanations m ay turn out to be true, but they
illustrate the type o f question which needs to be asked now. T h e extended
nature o f contem porary book production is commented on elsewhere and
has to be kept in mind in relation to date o f com pletion; but probably few
original copies o f VM were made, and this m ay not be an im portant
factor.
For general purposes, then, the evidence now available suggests that the
completed Vita M erlini first appeared between 1148 and 1155, and that one
likely time within that period is the latter h alf o f 1150.
8 MANUSCRIPTS AND EDITIONS
OF VITA M ERLim

T h e manuscripts and editions o f Vita M erlini are listed before the T extual
Com m entary, with abbreviations used. T he present notes in the m ain
follow Parry, who was the only editor to collate all the manuscripts; and
Parry took his general information largely from W ard’s Catalogue o f
Romances, 1883 (vol. 1). Faral's text is the only one since Parry.

M AN U SCR IPTS

T h e manuscripts in which Vita M erlini is extant consist o f one (virtually)

full text, four collections o f extracts covering altogether about h alf the
text o f the full m anuscript, and two manuscripts which have shorter
extracts from the prophetic parts o f VM . A ll these are in the British
M useum .

M ain M S: ‘ C V ’ : late thirteenth century

T h e only com plete M S is Cotton Vespasian E iv, fo l. n a b -ifB b . This is
P arry's ‘ C ’, ‘ C V ’ in this edition. W ard assigned it to the latter part o f
the thirteenth century. It is described as carefully written, without an
excessive number o f abbreviations; but there are difficulties over letters
w ith vertical strokes like m, n, u, t, r. T h e lines begin with blue capitals
decorated in red, and there are paragraphing signs without indentation.
N ear the ends o f m any lines a long-flourished letter evens up the line-
length on the page, a form o f justification. T he punctuation is later and
irregular, and no modern editor has been guided by it.

T h e Polychronicon extracts: H , R , J and T

H , R , and J are inserted in M SS o f the Polychronicon (Higden) between the
years 525 and 533. T is separate but apparently copied from some Poly~
ckronicon M S - secundum historiam polycronicam — but not any o f those
m entioned. These four run roughly from the beginning o f VM to about
line 692 without large gaps and go on, with some very large gaps, to 1291,
when all stop: there are m any minor line omissions, especially in T .
44 L IF E OF M E R L IN

‘ H ’ : Harley 633: late fourteenth century

Carefully written by a writer whose reading o f proper names suggested
knowledge o f W elsh. It is in double columns with initials in red and blue.

*R ’ : Royal 13 E i: c. 1380 (W ard)

M uch abbreviation; numerous mistakes; not carefully written.

‘J ’ : Cotton Julius Emit: end fourteenth/beginning fifteenth

century
W ritten as prose but divided, fairly regularly, by m etric stops. Appears
careless but has not m any serious mistakes.

* T ’ : Cotton Titus A xix: fifteenth century

M ore careless than the others and often difficult to make out. This M S also
contains the two wild-m an tales, Lailoken A and Lailoken B , printed b y
W ard and given here in translation as an Appendix.

O ther manuscripts with extracts:

‘ C l’ : Cotton Cleopatra C io : late fifteenth century; and
‘ H a ’ : Harley 6148: early seventeenth century
These two run from line 580 and end at 981 and 975 respectively. Both
have a gap o f about 250 lines in the m iddle o f this passage, and H a has
m any other omissions.

R E L A T I O N S O F T H E MSS

None o f these M SS is directly derived from another, but there appear to

be groupings which suggest the relations between the M SS from w hich
they were copied. C V and C l are in general agreement against the others.
But C l agrees with the Polychronicon M SS against C V in the arrangem ent o f
VM 612-20 and adds two lines. (H a omits the passage.) So it is not a copy
o f C V , but a common source is implied and it is probably C V which has
moved aw ay from the m ain line there.
T he Polychronicon M SS are in general agreement, but J and T tend to
agree together against the others: so these two probably had a common
source which was derived from a M S giving rise to H and R . H a appears
to be from some Polychronicon source; Parry put it with H and R .
Parry’s view was that ‘ C ’ (C V ) and C l derived from a non-extant
original (‘ b ’). This, from the evidence o f non-intelligible passages in * C '
and C l, was put at several removes from the very first M S (‘ a ’) o f the
poem. A non-extant M S (‘ d ’) was the direct source o f H and R (and
 M A N U S C R IP T S AND E D IT IO N S 45

Original MS a: mid- 12

inter­
mediate
MSS

1
b p bx

? inter­
mediate MS
i
C V : late 13
(The lull H: 14 R : 14
text) r ±
Cl: 15 J: 14-15 T : 15

?Ha: 17

perhaps o f Ha) and, through non-extant ‘ e ’ , o f J and T . Parry presented

this diagram m atically. Perhaps it has not been shown that ‘ d ’ did derive
from ‘ b ’ , and some other M S (say, ‘ b x ’) should be posited, with the
qualification that possibly bx = b, or is a direct copy. H a is not really
placed. A slightly modified presentation o f Parry’s stemma would be as
above: the figures indicate the century. This is an interim solution.

E A R L Y Q U O TA T IO N S

T h ere are quotations o f short passages in Leland, Assertio inclytissimi

Arturii, 1544, one o f which is im portant for the M orgen section o f VM ,
w here Sir John Price {Historiae Biytannicae Defensio: W ard, Catalogue) is
relevant, too. Leland had seen a m anuscript o f VM at Glastonbury.

E D I T IO N S O F ‘ V I T A M E R L I N l ’

T h e first full m odem text was that o f W illiam H enry Black, London, 1830.
It was privately and well printed for the Roxburghe Club. The title ran:
Gaufiidi Arthurii Archidiaconi, postea vero episcopi Asaphensis, de vita et vaticiniis
M erlini Calidonii carmen heroicum. His M S was C V , with references to T
(‘ a lter’) and to C l. He replaced C V ’s (later) punctuation with his own,
and he altered the orthography towards a classical convention, w ith j and v
for consonants and i and u for vowels, expanded diphthongs and joined
enclitics {-que prim arily). There were numerous suggested emendations,
including alternatives, but M SS readings were not obscured. There was
an introductory summary reprinted from the edition o f Early English
Metrical Romances by George Ellis but no other annotation.
46 L I F E OF M E R L IN

T he reputation o f Black’s work has suffered unfairly. Though he w as

lim ited by the M SS available to him , his suggestions were always intelli­
gent and m any have become established. But his Latin introduction w as
destroyed by the sponsor and general editor, G . N . G renville, who printed
Ellis’s non-critical summary instead. M ichel followed Black a great deal
but without acknowledgment and with denigration o f Black’s work; and
this Roxburghe Club edition was o f only 42 copies.
Francisque M ichel published Gaufridi de Monemuta Vita Merlim at Paris
in 1837 (edition o f 200 copies). H e had apparently known o f all the M SS
except J , but in fact relied very heavily on Black. Parry (1925, p. 24) gave
reasons for believing that M ichel’s text owed more to Black than to his
own reading o f the M SS. The introduction consisted o f discussions o f
authorship and the place o f M erlin in later literature (rather than in VM )
and a version o f Thom as W right’s article o f January 1836. This had been
in the form o f a review o f M ichel's work, am ong others. So M ichel’s
edition o f 1837 has the distinction o f including in itself a translation o f a
warm welcome for itself published in English a year before it appeared.
W right's article was probably honest: it was mostly a general discussion.
M ichel had been in correspondence with him , and W right's commendation
was probably based on having seen a draft o f M ichel’s work.
T h e punctuation and spelling o f M ichel's text are similar to Black's,
with closer adherence to a classical convention (-ti for -ci).
A . F. Gfroerer re-published M ichel’s text with a very few alterations
which Parry considered m ight w ell have been due to the printer substi­
tuting more fam iliar for abstruse words rather than to considered sug­
gestions by the editor. T he poem is on pp. 363-412 o f Gfroerer’s Prophetae
Veteres pseudepigraphi partim ex abyssinico vel hebraico sermonibus Udine versi,
Stuttgart, 1840. There is no annotation. T he poem’s title was Gaufridi de
Monumeta Vita Merlim. It was followed by the Prophecies o f HRB Book 7.
San M arte (= A lbert Schulz) published D ie Sagen von Merlin, H alle
1853 >a Germ an edition of* Old-W elsh, Breton, Scottish, Italian and L atin
poems and prophesyings o f M erlin’, including Geoffrey's ‘ Prophetia
M erlini' (= HRB Bk. 7), as w ell as VM , which is on pp. 268-339 w ith
introduction and notes. There is also discussion o f W elsh m aterial. T h e
text is a version o f M ichel’s, modified further towards classical spelling.
Parry commented: ‘ He has, furthermore, been rather careless in copying
the text from M ichel; a number o f the latter’s variant readings have
dropped out, while a number o f his conjectures are now given as readings
o f the manuscripts.’
H . de la Villem arqué, Myrdhinn ou Venchanteur Merlin, Paris, 1862, gave
quotations from VM , and is included here because he put forward some
emendations. H e did not set out to edit the poem, however.
 M A N U S C R IP T S AND E D IT IO N S 47

John J a y Parry produced the most rounded edition o f VM in The Vita

Merlini, U rbana, 1925. H e printed the text o f G V w ith the first full
apparatus criticus based on a collation o f all the M SS (though from roto-
graphs), and the first English translation. T he text o f C V (‘ C ’ in his
usage) was presented exactly except for the expansion o f abbreviations,
indicated by small type. H e noted that his rigour led to occasional ab*
surdity, as in the frequent primi, etc., where patrie was undoubtedly the
word intended by the abbreviations. W here other M SS agreed, he did not
distinguish among their abbreviated/unabbreviated readings.
H e generally noted under his facing-page translation which readings
and emendations he was accepting for translation (J J P tr) as w ell as his
own suggestions (J J P in this edition, E. in Parry). It is not clear in every
case w hat his decision had been, however, and there are slips. T he intro­
ductory m atter gave the first informed discussion o f the C eltic m aterial,
especially in seeing V M ’s W elsh affinities as com ing out o f an existing
tradition rather than as starting o ff one. (The chronology o f the M yrddin
m aterial was much vaguer at the time.)
There is a section o f notes and references on the interpretation o f the
text in detail. H e weighed the evidence for authorship and first set the
V M firm ly in its period instead o f h alf a century later. T he Appendix has
translations, all out o f Skene’s FABW , from the W elsh m aterial: Ymddiddan
(M yrddin-Taliesin), Afallermau, Cyfoesi (M yrddin-G wenddydd), Armes
Prydein. There are two poems related to Taliesin’s scientific discourse:
‘ Song o f the G reat W orld* (FA B W 1. 539) and *A poem o f Taliesin*
(Myvyr. Archaiol., text; trans. Nash, 1858). Distribution o f this edition, too,
was lim ited: it appeared only as a monograph among others in a learned
jou rn al and was probably more compressed than it would otherwise have
been.
Edm ond Faral published the last text o f VM in part III o f La Légende
artkurierme, Paris, 1929; it was accompanied b y texts o f Historia Brittonum
and H RB. Faral said he was presenting the m ain M S with a minimum o f
em endation. H e did this, in classical spelling, b y printing his emendations
in the text, with C V ’s reading below. Numerous minor variations were
ignored, and it is not always clear in difficult passages w hat sense Faral
w ould m ake o f C V ’s reading where he retained it. There are unspecific
references to the Polychromem and M ichel and Parry are mentioned. But
in general other M SS are ignored, and in the m any places where he
follows the emendations o f earlier editors there is no acknowledgment.
But there are one or two footnote suggestions o f his own which are o f
interest. As a text, it is much less advanced than Parry’s. T he com m entary
is in 2. 341-401, as part o f the general discussion on Arthurian legend
rather than as analytical annotation o f VM itself.
48 L I F E OF M E R L IN

P R E SE N T ED ITIO N

T h e present intention is to help make the poem again accessible b y a text

with facing-page translation and by assembling round these, in the form
o f exegesis, analysis and annotation, enough o f the relevant and available
information and ideas on at least some o f the poem’s m any facets to help
further study o f the varied questions which it raises about itself, about
Geoffrey and the twelfth century and about the British tradition and
historical attitudes.
T he text is based on Parry's collation o f M SS and editions. There are
m any places where the emendations o f Black have been endorsed b y
subsequent editors up to Parry and are clearly sound, though in one or tw o
it seems possible to construe the original reading as naturally. Black’s
suggestions, both those incorporated and those in footnotes, are im portant
as being in the first printed edition o f the text and are fairly fully recorded.
T he same is done for later editors, though most o f their work before Parry
is derivative. It is sometimes difficult to decide which suggestions o f
M ichel's were taken seriously by him ; he has a range o f phrases— lege,
Sic M S pro, M S mendose, fortasse legendum, forte, ut videtur. Faral's readings,
being in a version subsequent to Parry’s, are somewhat over-recorded.
Since no new collation o f the M SS has been made, the apparatus criticus
is selective and reference is back to Parry's recension, though readings
accepted do not always coincide with his. A ll name variations have been
included, it is hoped, and all matters o f substance, as well as m any m inor
ones. A ll published editions have been consulted. Though the text is
substantially sound b y now, there is room for further study o f the M SS
because Parry used only reproductions. In addition to the relations between
M SS, there are the problems o f the probably corrupt passages and dif­
ferences o f readings between editors. A particular query, related to the
sim ilarity o f ‘ c ’ and ‘ t ’ in some later m edieval scripts, affects several
words like ethinus; a more substantial point is the name form Rodartkus
reported from the Polyckronicon manuscripts.
T h e thirteenth-century spelling o f C V has been left as far as possible
rather than changed to a classical style. T he Latin looks forward as m uch
as it looks back to Rom e, and the form is not difficult for long if at all.
It is also relevant to prosody and whether in some places the use o f stress
instead o f quantity affects the verse. T he diphthongs ae, oe appear as i,
but joining the enclitic que to the previous word distinguishes it from
que = quae (apart from the m etre), which would be the m ain likely con­
fusion otherwise. There are one or two forms like michi (mild) and nichil
(nihil) which are distinctive and are repeated. But it seemed necessary to
use the m odem convention on i, j , u, v, since C V 's usage is to write J , V
 M A N U S C R IP T S ANO E D I T IO N S 49

for the capitals and i, u for the lower-case letters o f both vowel and
consonant, and this not quite consistently. So J, * and U, u are employed
as vowels and J , j and V, v as consonants. But where lines are marked by
square brackets as corrupt, Parry’s rendering o f C V is left, and the readings
in the apparatus are also left so. T he various orthographies which have been
used by editors have m eant that there are minor discrepancies even in
Parry over the reporting o f their readings, especially over v and u, and no
special point has been made o f this.
A punctuation has been added to give the apparently intended shape o f
sentences. (Alternatives are possible, since the syntax is not always tidy.)
It is restricted to full-stops and a conservative number o f commas, with
quotation, exclam ation and question marks. Capitals are kept for sentence
beginnings and for names. But the m arginal ‘ paragraph’ signs o f C V have
been left, since they presum ably convey an early (&. thirteenth century)
view o f the articulation o f the text.
T h e translation is ad sensum rather than ad litteram, but the intention is to
be plain rather than to re-create b y freer handling. Some o f the Latin
structures tend to wander and require rendering by shorter or varied
English constructions, so that text and translation do not always coincide
in this respect. English idioms for Latin ones with little literal im pact m ay
be noticed in the commentary, e.g. VM 12.
T h e apparatus criticus is at the foot o f the text. T he Nam e Notes
Index gives references and cross-references under the names used in the
translation, and includes some separate discussions which did not fit into
the sections o f the Introduction. It was also convenient to include some
names which do not occur in the poem, e.g., Arfderydd, Drum elzier,
Essich, Lailoken: such names are given in square brackets. M any o f the
names from the Isidorean lists are o f little or no im portance in themselves,
and most such entries have only been briefly annotated from general
inform ation easily available. But there are places where Geoffrey’s own
hand shows in the process o f shaping Isidore’s prose.
A lso because o f Geoffrey’s intervention, the rendering o f the m ain
personal names in VM has no simple rational solution. T he characters
were com positely derived and the name forms are variations on originals
attached to people who had been historical or traditional or literary or
legendary or combinations o f these. Allow ing for the language, the dif­
ferences tend in VM to be relatively small but positive, in a manner
perhaps personal to Geoffrey (though apparent name shifts in H RB w ill
not necessarily be on the same basis). T h e table below shows probable
equivalents, with com m ent: the respective Nam e Notes m ay also be
helpful.

4 CLII
 L I F E OF M E R L IN

Relevant English
Welsh name Latin o f VM translation
Gwenddydd G anieda1 Ganieda
— Guendoloena12 Guendoloena
Gwenddolau Guennolous3 Gwenddolau4
— M aeldinus2 M aeldin
M yrddin5 M erlinus68
7 M erlin
— Morgen* M orgen4
Peredur Peredurus Peredur
Rhydderch7 8 Rodarc(h)nsI Rodarch4
Taliesin T(h)elgesinus Taliesin
1 Latin name not apparently known earlier.
2 New name for substantially new character.
3 Probably from Latin form o f Guennolé.
4 See Name Note.
5 Earlier, Merdin.
6 As in HRB.
7 Riderch in early Welsh.
8 Roderem in 7th century (Adamnân’s Latin).
VITA MERLIN I LIFE OF MERLIN
T ext F acin g T ran slation
 Gaufridi de Monemuta
VITA MERLINI

Fatidici vatis rabiem musamque jocosam

M erlini cantare paro. T u corrige carm en,
gloria pontificum calamos moderando Roberte.
Scimus enim quia te perfudit nectare sacro
5 Philosophia suo fecitque per omnia doctum
ut documenta dares dux et preceptor in orbe.
Ergo meis ceptis faveas vatem que tueri
auspicio m eliore velis quam fecerit alter
cui modo succedis merito promotus honori,
io Sic etenim mores sic vita probata genusque
utilitasque loci clerus populusque petebant,
unde modo felix Lincolnia fertur ad astra.
Ergo te cuperem com plecti carm ine digno,
sed non sufficio, licet Orpheus et Camerinus
15 et M acer et M arius m agnique Rabirius oris
ore meo canerent Musis com itantibus omnes.
A t vos consuete mecum cantare Cam ene
propositum cantemus opus cytharam que sonate.
Ergo peragratis sub multis regibus annis
20 clarus habebatur M erlinus in orbe Britannus.
R ex erat et vates Demetarumque superbis
ju ra dabat populis ducibusque futura canebat.
Contigit interea plures certam en habere
inter se regni proceres belloque feroci
25 insontes populos devastavisse per urbes.
D ux Venedotorum Peredurus bella gerebat
contra Guennoloum Scocie qui regna regebat,
jam que dies aderat bello préfixa ducesque
astabant campo decertabantque caterve
(N.B. A bar over a letter or letters denotes expanded abbreviation.) 1
Headings H : Circa bec tempdfa: floruit merlinüs siluestris. siue calidonûS. qui
pföphetauit in hunc moduffi. No heading in R and J. T (not in a M S o f the
Polychromem) has: fiata MSFlini Siluestre SttündüA histori&fi policronicaA que
contigebant anno grade. 525.
[ 52 ]
 Geoffrey of Monmouth
LIFE OF MERLIN

I set m yself to sing o f the madness o f the bard o f prophecy, an

entertaining tale o f M erlin.
Guide m y pen, Robert, glory o f the bishops; for we know that
Philosophy has filled you with its holy nectar and m ade you
universally learned, so that you m ight prove yourself the fore­
most teacher in the world.
Approve, then, m y project, and be ready to be more indul­
gent to this poet than was that other whom you have just
succeeded, attaining an honour well-deserved.
Everything conspired to win that honour for you— your
principles, your upright w ay o f life, your birth, your fitness for
the place: clergy and people alike supported you. T h at is w hy
lucky Lincoln is now in the seventh heaven.
Indeed, it m ight well have been yourself whom I would wish
to em brace in a noble poem. But I am not the man for it: no, not
even if Orpheus and Camerinus and M acer and M arius and
Rabirius o f the great voice were all to sing through m y mouth
and the Muses were m y accompanists. But, Sisters, you are
used to singing with m e; so let us to the song before us. Sound
the lyre!
Now, m any years and m any kings had come and gone. M erlin the
Briton was famous throughout the world as king and prophet. H e '
was law-giver to the proud South W elsh, and he foretold the future ^
to their leaders.
A time came when it happened that a quarrel arose am ong
several o f the princes o f the realm . In a savage w ar they had
ravaged the unoffending populace in city after city.
Peredur, prince o f the North W elsh, was cam paigning against
Gwenddolau, who ruled the kingdom o f Scotland. T h e day fixed for
battle had arrived, and the commanders had taken the field. Their
1 fastidid R , uatidid T .
2 Merlini cantare paro s H, which then stops until line 19.
14 Camerinus SM .
15 rabiruis C V , Rabirius R , J, T , B> M i, J J P tr, F; orbis R , J, T .
17 Ad C V , A t R , J, T , B , M i, SM , J J P tr, F.
54 V IT A M E R L IN I

30 amborum pariter miseranda cede ruentes.

V enerat ad bellum M erlinus cum Pereduro
rex quoque Cumbrorum Rodarcus sevus uterque.
Cedunt obstantes invisis ensibus hostes,
tresque ducis fratres fratrem per bella secuti
35 usque rebellantes cedunt perimuntquc phalanges.
Inde per infestas cum tali munere turmas
acriter irruerant subito cecidere perempti.
H oc viso, M erline, doles tristesque per agmen
commisces planctus tali quoque voce remugis.
40 ‘ Ergo ne sic potuit sors im portuna nocere
ut m ichi surriperet tantos talesque sodales
quos modo tot reges tot regna remota tim ebant?
O dubios hominum casus mortemque propinquam
que penes est illos semper stimuloque latenti
45 percutit et miseram pellit de corpore vitam !
O juvenile decus, quis nunc astabit in armis
nunc michi pone latus mecumque repellet euntes
in mea dam pna duces incumbentesque catervas?
Audaces juvenes, vobis audacia vestra
50 eripuit dulces annos dulcemque juventam .
Q ui modo per cuneos discurrebatis in armis
obstantesque viros prosternebatis ubique
nunc pulsatis humum rubeoque cruore rubetis!*
Sic inter turmas lacrim is plangebat obortis
55 deflebatque viros. Nec cessant prelia dira,
concurrunt acies, sternuntur ab hostibus hostes.
Sanguis ubique fluit, populi m oriuntur utrinque.
A t tandem Britones revocatis undique turmis
conveniunt pariter pariterque per arma ruentes
60 invadunt Scotos prosternunt vulnera dantes,
nec requieverunt donec sua terga dederunt
hostiles türme per devia diffugientes.
Evocat e bello socios M erlinus et illis
precipit in varia fratres sepelire capella,
65 deplangitque viros nec cessat fundere fletus.
Pulveribus crines spargit vestesque rescindit
32 quorüA T ; cambrorum C V , cuAbroru A H , J , T , B , M i, J J P tr, F ; rodarthus
PP.
46 qui G V, quis PP, B , M i, J J P tr, F .
47 metuAqûS C V , mecuAqüë PP, B , M i, J J P tr, F.
50 annos, C V , F , animos B , M i.
54 abortis C V , obortis M i, J J P tr, F.
 L I F E O F M E R L IN 55

30 troops had begun the struggle, and on both sides alike men fell in
the tragic slaughter.
M erlin had come to the w ar with Peredur, and so, too, had
Rodarch, king o f the Cum brians, fierce fighters both. T hey killed
the enemy before them with their dread swords; and three brothers
o f the prince, who had followed him to the wars, were everywhere
in the fight, killing, and destroying the battle lines. So fiercely and
impetuously did they rush through the dense ranks that they were
soon struck down and killed.
M erlin, you grieved at that sight, and your sad lam ent was heard
throughout the arm y, as you lifted up your voice in these words:
40 *Surely a m alignant fate cannot have been so vindictive as to take
from me all these m y companions, men such that m any a king and
m any a distant kingdom have stood in fear o f them till now? __
43 ‘ O man’s uncertain fate, death ever near, ever with power to
strike him w ith its hidden lance and drive the poor life from his
body! ..— i
*O glory o f youth, who w ill now stand by m y side in battle to turn
back the princes who come to do me ill and their hordes that press
upon me?
50 ‘ Brave youths, your very bravery has taken from you your sweet
years, your sweet youth itself. A moment back, and you were
tearing through the formations in battle array, striking down all
opposition. N ow you lie heavy on the earth, red w ith fresh blood.’
So with fast-running tears he mourned am id the strife and wept
for his heroes. T he terrible fighting ceased not, the lines o f battle
clashed, foe fell to foe. Blood flowed on every side, and the people
o f both nations died.
A t last the Britons rallied their scattered forces and drew together.
60 Together they m ade an armed rush across the field, attacked the
Scots, dealt wounds and laid them low. T h ey did not slacken until
the enemy battalions turned aw ay and fled am ong the by-ways.
M erlin called his companions from the battle-field and instructed
them to bury the brothers in a richly decorated chapel.
/He mourned for his heroes; his flooding tears had no end. He
/
(/
V

57 plurimi C V , F , populi PP, B , M i, J J P tr.

Parry: ‘ plurimi o f C . fits the sense but not the metre*. Perhaps it did fit the
metre as Geoffrey spoke it.
66 comas T ; sparsit C V , spargit PP, B , M i, J J P tr, F; rescidit C V , resdndit R ,
J J P tr, resdndit (or) recidit M i, recidit F.
56 V IT A M E R L IN I

et prostratus humi nunc hac illacque volutat.

Solatur Peredurus eum proceresque ducesque,
nec vult solari nec verba precantia ferre.
70 Jam tribus emensis defleverat ille diebus
respueratque cibos, tantus dolor usserat illum .

Inde novas furias cum tot tantisque querelis

aera complesset cepit furtimque recedit
et fugit ad silvas nec vult fugiendo videri,
75 ingrediturque nemus gaudetque latere sub ornis
m iraturque feras pascentes gram ina saltus.
Nunc has insequitur, nunc cursu preterit illas.
U titur herbarum radicibus, utitur herbis,
U titur arboreo fructu morisque rubeti.
80 Fit silvester homo quasi silvis deditus esset.
Inde per estatem totam nullique repertus
oblitusque sui cognatorumque suorum
delituit silvis obductus more ferino.
A t cum venit yems herbasque tulisset et omnes
85 arboreos fructus nec quo frueretur haberet,
diffudit tales miseranda voce querelas.
1 ‘ C eli Christe deus, quid agam ? Q ua parte morari
terrarum potero cum nil quo vescar adesse
inspicio, nec gramen humi nec in arbore glandes.
90 Tres quater et juges septene poma ferentes
hic steterant m ali, nunc non stant. Ergo quis illas
quis michi surripuit, quo devenere repente?
N unc illas video, nunc non. Sic fata repugnant
sic quoque concordant cum dant prohibentque videre.
95 Deficiunt nunc poma michi nunc cetera queque.
Stat sine fronde nemus sine fructu, plector utroque
cum neque fronde tegi valeo neque fructibus uti.
Singula brum a tulit pluviisque cadentibus auster.
Invenio si forte napes tellure sub im a,
100 concurrunt avideque sues aprique voraces
eripiuntque napes michi quas de cespite vello.
93 nec non C V , T , Pnec/Pnunc non H , R , J, nunc non B , M i, J J P tr, F .
99 napes G V , F , vapes R , T , napos B , M i, J J P tr.
101 napes C V , F , uapes R , T , ?J, napos B , M i, J J P tr. In lin e 101 Black suggested
napos and he and Michel printed napos.. .quas; Parry also accepted napos and did
not alter quas. The objections to näpos are the long first syllable and gender; to
napes, its being apparently a nonce-word. In view o f quas and the MSS readings,
it is simpler to retain napes and assume it is a slightly variant word for turnips.
Faral leaves napes.. .quas, rejecting napos for the metre, but adds with little regard
 L IF E OF M ERLIN 57

threw dust upon his hair, tore his clothes and lay prostrate on the
ground, rolling to and fro. Peredur and the other princes and
commanders offered comfort. H e would not take their comfort and
70 rejected their entreaties. So for three long days he wept, refusing
food, so great the grief that consumed him.
Then, when the air was full with these repeated loud com plain­
ings, a strange madness came upon him.
73 He crept aw ay and fled to the woods, unwilling that any should
see his going. Into the forest he went, glad to lie hidden beneath the
ash trees. H e watched the w ild creatures grazing on the pasture o f
the glades. Sometimes he would follow them, sometimes pass them
in his course. H e made use o f the roots o f plants and o f grasses, o f
fruit from trees and o f the blackberries in the thicket. He became a
80 M an o f the W oods, as if dedicated to the woods. So for a whole
summer he stayed hidden in the woods, discovered by none, forget­
ful o f him self and o f his own, lurking like a w ild thing.
But when winter cam e and took all the plants and the fruit on the
trees, and left him nothing to live upon, he poured out these com­
plaints in a pitiful voice:
*O Christ, God o f heaven, w hat shall I do? W hat place is there
on earth where I can live? I see there is nothing here to eat— no
grass on the ground, no acorns on the tree.
90 'N ineteen were the apple trees which once stood here with their
fruit: they stand so no longer. W ho, who has stolen them from me?
W here have they gone so suddenly? Now I see them, now not. So
Fate both supports and opposes me, letting me see and preventing
me from seeing.
‘ Now the apples fail me, and all else besides. T he forest stands
leafless, fruitless. It is a double affliction: I can get no cover from
the leaves or nourishment from the fruit. W inter and the rain­
storms borne on the south wind have taken them, every one. I f I
100 happen to find turnips deep in the ground, hungry swine and greedy
boars rush up and snatch the turnips from me as I pull them up out
o f the soil.

for the context, 'II faut sans doute lire dipis'. (ndpaeus (‘ woodland’, adj.) can be
mentioned for its form at least. Napaeae were woodland deities (Virgil, Georgies,
4.535, etc.) and occur in the twelfth century in the De planctu Naturae o f Alanus de
Insulis, commentator on Geoffrey (W right, 1872, 2,447; Napae in the M igne text
o f De planctu may be a misprint). Nape as a name occurred c. 1181 in the archives
o f the church at Dol, which had Monmouth connections. Probably none o f this is
relevant, though they were woodland roots.)
58 VITA MERLINI

f
T u lupe care comes, nemorum qui devia mecum
et saltus peragrare soles vix preteris arva,
et te dura fames et me languere coegit.
105 T u prior has silvas coluisti, te prior etas
protulit in canos, nec habes nec scis quid in ore
projicias, quod m iror ego cum saltus habundet
tot capreis aliisque feris quas prendere posses.
Forsitan ipsa tibi tua detestanda senectus
1 10 eripuit nervos cursumque negavit habendum.
Q uod solum superest, comples ululatibus auras
at resupinus humi consumptos deicis artus.'
Hec inter frutices coriletaque densa canebat
cum sonus ad quemdam pervenit pretereuntem,
1 15 qui direxit iter quo sermo loquentis in auras
exierat reperitque locum reperitque loquentem.
Q uo viso M erlinus abit sequiturque viator
nec retinere virum potuit sic diffugientem.
Inde viator iter repetit quo ceperat ire
120 propositumque tenet casu commotus euntis.
Ecce viatori venit obvius alter ab aula
Rodarchi regis Cum brorum qui Ganiedam
duxerat uxorem formosa conjuge felix.
M erlini soror ista fuit casumque dolebat
125 fratris et ad silvas at ad arva rem ota clientes
miserat ut fratrem revocarent, ex quibus unus
obvius huic ibat set et hic sibi protinus ergo.
Convenere simul commiscent m utua verba,
at qui missus erat M erlinum querere querit
130 si vidisset eum silvis aut saltibus alter.
Ille virum talem se conspexisse fatetur
inter dumosos saltus nemoris Calidonis
dum que loqui vellet secum secumque sedere
diffugisse virum celeri per robora cursu.
135 H ec ait, alter abit silvasque subintrat et imas
scrutatur valles montes quoque preterit altos,
querit ubique virum gradiens per opaca locorum.
H Fons erat in summo cuiusdam vertice montis
undique precinctus corulis densisque frutectis.
140 Illic M erlinus consederat, inde per omnes
spectabat silvas cursusque jocosque ferarum.
1 12 dehids T , dejicis B, M i; arctus C V , artus PP (T, corrected from artos),
B, M i, J J P tr, F. 139 densisqûê C V (Parry: densaqüë).
 L I P S OF M E R L I N 59

; *W olf, dear companion, you used to wander along the byways o f

■ the forest and through the glades with m e: you scarcely get across
105 j the field. Harsh hunger has weakened both you and me. You lived
' in these woods before me, and age has turned you grey first. Y ou
have nothing, know not your next m eal. I wonder at it, for the
forest pastures abound in goats and other creatures you m ight take.
1 10 Perhaps it is just that your hateful burden o f years has deprived you
o f strength and prevented you hunting. A ll that is left to you is to
fill the air with howling, your wasted frame sprawled flat on earth.’
So he continued aloud as he went about am ong the undergrowth
and dense hazels. T he sound reached a passer-by, who tinned aside
towards the source o f the speech he heard. He found the place and
he found the speaker. But M erlin saw him , and was off. T he traveller
followed, but could not keep up with the fugitive. So he returned to
120 his route and continued on his business; but he was touched by the
plight o f the man who had fled.
12 1 Then this traveller fell in with another man, who was from the
court o f Rodarch, king o f Cum bria. Rodarch's wife was Ganieda, a
beautiful woman w ith whom he lived most happily: she was M erlin's
sister. Distressed by what had happened to her brother, she had sent
retainers to the woods and the depths o f the countryside to bring
him back. It was one o f these who came upon the traveller. T he
traveller at once went up to him, and as soon as they m et they began
130 to talk. The man sent to look for M erlin asked if the other had seen
him in the woodlands and valleys. T h e traveller said, yes, he had
seen such a man am ong the dense-wooded valleys o f the Forest o f
Calidon; but when he had tried to sit and talk with him , he had
rushed o ff am ong the oak trees.
As the traveller finished this tale, the messenger set o ff into the
woods. He searched the deepest valleys, he crossed high mountains,
he penetrated the most secluded places, seeking his man everywhere.
There was a spring on the very top o f a certain m ountain,
140 surrounded on all sides by hazels and dense thorns. M erlin had
settled there, and from that place he could watch the whole wood­
land and the running and gam bolling o f the creatures o f the wild.
6o VITA MERLINI

Nuntius hunc scandit tacitoque per ardua gressu

incedit querendo virum , tum denique fontem
M erlinum que videt super herbas pone sedentem
145 dicentemque suas tali sermone querelas.
1f ‘ O qui cuncta regis, quid est cur contigit ut non
tempora sint eadem numeris distincta quaternis?
Nunc ver ju re suo flores frondesque m inistrat,
dat fruges estas autumpnus m icia poma.
150 Consequitur glacialis yemps et cetera queque
devorat et vastat pluviasque nivesque reportat.
Singula queque suis arcet leditque procellis
nec perm ittit humum varios producere flores
aut quercus glandes aut malos punica m ala.
155 O utinam non esset hiems aut cana pruina!
V er foret aut estas, cuculusque canendo rediret
et Philomela pio que tristia pectora cantu
m itigat et turtur conservans fédéra casta
frondibus inque novis concordi voce volucres
160 cantarent alie que me modulando foverent,
dum nova flore novo tellus spiraret odorem
gram ine sub viridi levi quoque murmure fontes
diffluerent juxtaque daret sub fronde colum ba
sompniferos gemitus irritaretque soporem.'
165H Nuntius audierat vatem rupitque querelas
cum modulis cithare quam secum gesserat ultro
ut sic deciperet demulceretque furentem.
Ergo movens querulas digitis et in ordine cordas
talia pone latens dimissa voce canebat.
170H 'O diros gemitus lugubris Guendoloene,
O miseras lacrimas lacrim antis Guendoloene!
M e miseret misere morientis Guendoloene!
Non erat in W aliis m ulier formosior illa.
V incebat candore deas folium que ligustri
175 vemantesque rosas et olentia lilia prati.
G loria vernalis sola radiebat in illa
sidereumque decus geminis gestabat ocellis
insignesque comas auri fulgore nitentes.
Hoc totum periit, periit decor omnis in illa
180 et color et facies nivee quoque gloria carnis.
Non est quod fuerat multis meroribus acta,
157 philomena C V , F, Philomela J J P tr.
168 monens C V , mouens PP, B, M i, J J P tr, F.
 L IF E OF M ERLIN 6l

H ie messenger clim bed up and quiedy reached the summit, in

search o f his man. A t length he saw the spring and M erlin sitting
on the grass beyond it, com plaining in this m anner:
‘ O ruler o f all, how happens it that all the seasons are not the
same, distinguished only by their four numbers? As things are, the
spring is bound by its own laws to provide the leaves and flowers;
150 summer gives us the crops and autum n the ripe fin it. Then follows
icy winter, which devours and lays waste all the others and brings
again the rain and snow. It suppresses everything and causes dam age
with its storms. It w ill not let the earth produce its m ulti-coloured
flowers, nor the oaks their acorns, nor the apple trees their russet
apples. W ould there were no winter, no white frost! W ould it were
spring or summer— and the cuckoo back in song, and the night­
ingale, who softens sadness with her tender air, and the turtle dove
160 keeping her chaste devotion. W ould that the other birds, too, were
singing their harmonies in the fresh foliage to delight me with their
warbling, while the earth refreshed, w ith flowers fresh, breathed out
its scent from under the green turf, and springs ran babbling all
around, and the pigeon among the leaves nearby kept up its drowsy
cooing and brought sleep.’
T h e messenger, who had been listening to the prophet, here
interrupted his lam ent by strumming on the guitar he had thought
to bring with him in order to catch the m adman’s attention and calm
him . So his fingers sounded a plaintive strain, plucking out the
measure on the strings, while he lay hidden behind the prophet and
sang softly:
170 ‘ O the deep moan o f m ourning Guendoloena, the piteous tears o f
weeping Guendoloena! I grieve for Guendoloena dying in despair.
No woman in W ales more beautiful— beyond goddesses in fairness,
beyond the privet petal, the rose in bloom , beyond the lilies o f the
field! T he splendour o f spring shone in her alone, the beauty o f the
stars was held in her two eyes, gold glittered in her glorious hair.
‘ A ll this has gone: gone the grace, the delicate bloom , the snowy
180 splendour o f her flesh. She is not w hat once she was, but worn w ith
weeping. She knows not where the prince has gone, whether living
62 VITA MERLINI

nescit enim quo dux abiit vita ne fruatur

an sit defunctus. Languet miserabilis inde
totaque deperiit longo liquefacta dolore.
185 Collacrim atur ei paribus Ganieda querelis
amissumque dolet sine consolamine fratrem.
H ec fratrem flet et illa virum . Com muniter am be
fletibus incum bunt et tristia tempora ducunt.
Non cibus ullus eis nec sompnus nocte vagantes
190 sub virgulta fovet, tantus dolor arcet utramque.
Non secus indoluit Sidonia D ido solutis
classibus Enee tunc cum properaret abire.
Cum non Demophoon per tempora pacta rediret
taliter ingem uit flevitque miserrima Phillis.
195 Briseis absentem sic deploravit Achillem .
Sic soror et conjux collam entantur et ardent
funditus internis cruiciatibus usque dolendo.’
In fidibus querulis dicebat talia cantans
nuntius et modulo vatis demulserat aures
200 m icior ut fieret congauderetque canenti.
Ocius assurgit vates juvenem que jocosis
affatur verbis iterumque movere precatur
cum digitis cordas elegosque sonare priores.
Adm ovet ille lire digitos jussumque reformat
205 carmen item cogitque virum modulando furorem
ponere paulatim cithare dulcedine captum.
Fit memor ergo sui recolitque quod esse solebat
M erlinus furiasque suas m iratur et odit.
Pristina mens rediit, rediit quoque sensus in illo
210 et gem it ad nomen motus pietate sororis
uxorisque simul mentis ratione recepta
conducique petit Rodarchi regis ad aulam.
Paruit alter ei silvasque subinde relinqunt
et veniunt pariter letantes regis in urbem.
215U Ergo fratre suo gaudet regina recepto
proque sui reditu fit conjunx leta m ariti.
O scula certatim gem inant et brachia circum
colla viri flectunt tanta pietate moventur.
R ex quoque quo decuit reducem suscepit honore,
220 totaque turba domus proceres letantur in urbe.
190 arcet C V , ardet T , J J P tr, F.
193 demophon C V , F, demofoon H, T , demephoon R , demophoon J , B , M i,
J J P tr. 198 gfâuibûs C V , fidibus PP, B, M i, J J P tr, F.
 L I F E OF M E R L I N 63

still or dead. She lies sick with sorrow, faded utterly in the dissolu­
tion o f long grief.
‘ Ganieda is in tears by her side, com plaining no less, m ourning
her lost brother, comfortless. O ne for a brother, one for a husband
weeps. Their tears together flow, and time in sadness passes. T hey
eat not, sleep not, wander unrefreshed by night through thorny
190 ways, so great is the grief which grips them.
‘ So once Sidonian D ido mourned, when the fleet weighed anchor
and Aeneas hastened on his w ay. So once poor Phyllis sighed and
wept when Demophoon failed his appointed hour. So Briseis cried,
Achilles lost.
‘ Now wife’s and sister's tears together fall, and grief burns ever
deep within their tortured hearts.'
198 This was the song the messenger sang to his plaintive strings; and
with his air he soothed the listening prophet to calmness and to
200 sym pathy with the singer.
Suddenly the prophet sprang up, accosted the young man with a
lively greeting and begged him to sound his instrument once more
and play again the lam ent he had ju st played. So the singer plucked
at the strings o f his instrument and picked out the song, as he was
asked, a second time. L ittle by little, as he played, he coaxed the
madman to put by his w ild mood under the sweet spell o f the
guitar.
So M erlin cam e to himself, recollected what he had been, and
thought o f his madness with astonishment and loathing. His normal
state o f mind returned, and his power o f feeling, too. His reason thus
210 restored, he could sigh aloud at the names o f his sister and his wife
and be moved by their devotion. H e begged to be taken back to the
court o f K in g Rodarch. His companion agreed. T h ey set o ff at once
from the woods and cam e in cheerful com pany together to the city
o f the king.
Then the queen was glad to have her brother again, and his wife
oveijoyed at her husband’s home-coming. T h ey vied in kissing him,
flinging their arms about his neck in deep affection. T he king, too,
welcomed the returned wanderer with every due honour; and all
220 the nobles who thronged the palace celebrated in the city.

200 fleret C V , fieret PP, B, M i, J J P tr, F.

205 ita T , idem (or) iterum M i.
212 rodarthi R , J, T .
217 geminans C V , geffiinant PP, B, M i, J J P tr.
64 VITA MERLINI

1 A t postquam tantas hominum M erlinus adesse

inspexit turmas, nec eas perferre valeret.
Cepit enim furias iterum que furore repletus
ad nemus ire cupit furtimque recedere querit.
225 Tim e precepit eum posito custode teneri
Rodarchus citharaque suos mulcere furores,
astabatque dolens verbisque precantibus illum
orabat ratione fin i secumque manere
nec captare nemus nec vivere more ferino
230 velle sub arboribus dum regia sceptra tenere
posset et in populos jus exercere feroces.
Hinc prom ittit ei se plurim a dona daturum ,
afferique ju bet vestes volucresque canesque
quadrupedesque citos aurum gemmasque micantes
235 pocula que sculpsit Guielandus in urbe Sigeni.
Singula prétendit vati Rodarchus et offert
et monet ut maneat secum silvasque relinquat.
T alia respondens spernebat mimera vates.
'Ista duces habeant sua quos confundit egestas
240 nec sunt contenti modico set m axim a captant.
Hiis nemus et patulas Calidonis prefero quercus
et montes celsos subtus virentia prata.
Illa michi non ista placent. T u talia tecum
rex Rodarche feras. M ea me Calidonis habebit
245 silva ferax nucibus quam cunctis prefero rebus.
Denique cum nullo potuisset munere tristem
rex retinere virum , forti vincire cathena
jussit ne petent nemorum deserta solutus.
Ergo cum sensit circum se vincula vates
250 nec liber poterat silvas Calidonis adire,
protinus indoluit tristisque tacensque remansit
leticiam que suis subtraxit vultibus omnem
ut non proferret verbum risumque moveret.
Interea visura ducem regina per aulam
255 ibat, et ut decuit rex applaudebat eunti
perque manum suscepit eam jussitque sedere
et dabat amplexus et ad oscula labra prem ebat,
convertensque suos in eam per talia vultus
vidit in illius folium pendere capellis.
260 Ergo suos digitos adm ovit et abstulit illud
236 Rodarthus PP; cytheraqüë R .
234 quadrupedes multos PP. 235 om. PP.
 L IF E OF M ER LIN 65

221 „ But when M erlin saw such crowds o f people there, he could no^
bear them. H e went mad ; and once more his derangement filled hink
with a desire to go o ff to the forest, and he longed to slip away. A t
that, Rodarch ordered him to be held under guard and music to be
played on the guitar to calm his madness. H e went sadly to him and •’
begged and prayed him to be reasonable, to stay with him and not
230 hanker after the forest and an anim al life under the trees, when hé
m ight wield a royal sceptre and rule a nation o f warriors.
The king promised, besides, that he would make him m any gifts.
He ordered clothes to be brought, and hunting birds, and dogs and
fast horses; gold, glittering gems and cups wrought by W ayland in
the city o f Segontium. A ll this Rodarch brought to the prophet,
urging him to stay and forget the woods.
But the prophet rejected the presents in these words: 'L e t these
240 things go to lords hard-pressed by poverty, such as are not content
with modest living but covet everything. But I put above these
things the woodland and spreading oaks o f Calidon, the high hills,
the green meadows at their foot— those are for me, not these things.
Take back such goods, K in g Rodarch. M y nut-rich forest o f Calidon
shall have m e: I desire it above all eke.* . '
A t last, finding that no gift would detain this sullen man, the king
ordered him to be stoutly chained to prevent him setting o ff for the
forest wilderness, if freed. T he prophet felt the chains about him,
250 and saw no w ay to be free to get to the woods o f Calidon. H e
im m ediately fell into a gloom and stayed silent. His face lost its
liveliness: not a word, not a smile would he vouchsafe.
Just then the queen was walking through the hall looking for the
king. He greeted her graciously as she approached, took her by the
hand and begged her to sit down. H e put his arm about her and
kissed her; and in doing so he turned his head and saw a lea f hanging

236 rodarthus R , J, T .
237 relinquet C V , relinquat PP, B, M i, J J P tr, F.
244 rodarthe R , J, T .
260 suos passus R ; abstfäit C V , admouit êt abstulit H , B , amouit êt abstulit R , J,
affimouit 8 obtulit T , abstrahit GJr, F, ('took (it) ', J J P tr).
5 cm
66 VIT A M ER LIN I

et projecit humi letusque jocatur am anti.

Flexit ad hoc oculos vates risumque resolvit
astantesque viros fecit convertere vultus
in se mirantes quoniam ridere negarat.
265 R ex quoque m iratur percunctaturque furentem
tam subito facti causas edicere risus
adjecitque suis donaria plurim a verbis.
Ille tacet differtque suos exponere risus.
A t magis atque magis precio precibusque movere
270 instabat Rodarchus eum. Tum denique vates
indignatus ei pro munere talia fatur.
1 *M unus avarus am at cupidusque laborat habere.
H ii faciles animos flectunt quocunque jubentur.
M unere corrupti quod habent non sufficit illis.
275 A t michi sufficiunt glandes Calidonis amene
et nitidi fontes per olentia prata fluentes.
M unere non capior, sua munera tollat avarus,
et nisi libertas detur repetamque virentes
silvarum valles, risus aperire negabo.’
280 Ergo cum nullo potuisset munere vatem
flectere Rodarchus nec cur risisset haberet,
confestim sua vincla viro dissolvere jussit
datque potestatem nemorum deserta petendi
ut velit optatam risus expromere causam.
285t Tim e M erlinus ait, gaudens quia possit abire,
‘ Iccirco risi quoniam Rodarche fuisti
facto culpandus simul et laudandus eodem,
dum traheres folium modo quod regina capillis
nescia gestabat fieresque fidelior illi
290 quam fuit illa tibi quando virgulta subivit
quo suus occurrit secumque coivit adulter,
dumque supina foret sparsis in crinibus hesit
forte jacens folium quod nescius eripuisti.'
Ergo super tali Rodarchus crimine tristis
295 fit subito vultum que suum divertit ab illa
dam pnabatque diem qua se conjunxerat illi.
M ota set illa nichil vultu ridente pudorem
celat et alloquitur tali sermone maritum.
‘ C ur tristaris, amans? C ur sic irasceris ab re
300 meque nec ex merito dampnas, credisque furenti
267-8 om. J. 270 rodarthus R , J, T .
281 rodarthus R , J, T ; recessit T ; hereret C V , haberet PP, B, M i, JfjfP tr, F .
 L IF E OF M ER LIN 67

260 caught in her hair. So he reached up, pulled it out and threw it on
the ground, with a cheerful joking word to his wife.
H ie prophet turned his eyes on this scene, and laughed. It made
the men standing nearby turn to look at him in surprise, since he had
been refusing to laugh. T he king was also surprised, and pressed the
madman to account for his unexpected laughter; and he reinforced
his words w ith m any gifts.
M erlin stayed silent, and avoided an explanation o f his laughter.
Rodarch continued to press him more and more, adding presents to
2 70 prayers. A t length the prophet grew angry at his generosity and said :
‘ A gift is w hat a miser loves and a grasping man works hard to
get. Such men are corruptible by presents and w ill turn their
shallow minds whichever w ay they are told, because what they have
is not enough for them. But for me the acorns o f pleasant Calidon
are enough, and the sparkling streams that run through fragrant
meadows. Let the miser take his gifts: gifts do not buy me. Unless
I get m y freedom and m ay go back to the green woodland valleys,
I shall refuse to explain m y laughter.*
280 So, since Rodarch had failed to change the prophet’s mind by any
gift or discover w hy he had laughed, he ordered the chains to be
struck o ff at once and gave him permission to leave for the forest
wilderness, so as to make him w illing to give the explanation for
which the king was eager.
M erlin, his spirits rising because he could now leave, then said:
‘ T h e reason I laughed, Rodarch, was that in one and the same
act you earned both approval and disapproval. W hen just now you
pulled out the lea f the queen unknowingly had in her hair, you were
290 more faithful to her than she had been to you when she crept into
the undergrowth, where her lover m et her and lay w ith her. As she
lay there, a lea f fallen by chance caught in her loosened hair. You
plucked it out, unknowing.’
T he moment Rodarch heard this grave charge, he was filled w ith
gloom y anger. H e turned his face from her and cursed the day he
had married her. But she, unperturbed, hid her shame behind a
smile and addressed her husband thus:
‘ W hy so gloom y, m y love? W hy so angry over this, and so unjust
300 in your blam e o f me, and w hy do you believe a lunatic who muddles

286 rodarthe R , J , T .
294 rodarthus R , J, T .
296 que se C V , qua se PP, M i, J J P tr, F.
5*2
 68 VITA M ERLINl

qui ratione carens miscet m endacia veris?

M ultociens qui credit ei fit stulcior illo.
Excipe nunc igitur ne sim decepta, probabo
quod sit delirus, quod non sit vera locutus.*
305 U t plures alii fuerat puer unus in aula.
Hunc cum prospiceret convolvit protinus artem
ingeniosa novam qua vult convincere fratrem.
Inde venire ju bet puerum, fratremque precatur
qua moriturus erit pueri predicere mortem.
31 o f Ergo frater ei, 'Soror o carissim a’, dixit,
‘ hic m orietur homo de celsa rupe ruendo.'
Illa sub hec ridens puero precepit abire
et quibus indutus fuerat deponere vestes
et vestire novas longosque recidere crines,
315 sicque redire ju bet ut eis appareat alter.
Paruit ergo puer, rediit nam talis ad illos
qualis erat jussus m utata veste redire.
M ox iterum fratrem regina precatur et infit,
‘ Q ue mors huius erit narra, dilecte, sorori.’
320 Tunc M erlinus ait, ‘ Puer hic cum venerit etas
mente vagans forti succumbet in arbore m orti.'
D ixerat illa suum sic est affata maritum,
‘ Siccine te potuit falsus pervertere vates
ut crimen tantum me commisisse putares?
325 A c si scire velis qua sit ratione locutus,
hoc nunc de puero censebis ficta fuisse
que de me dixit dum silvas possit adire.
Absit ut hoc faciam ! Castum servabo cubile
castaque semper ero dum flabit spiritus in me.
330 Illum convici pueri de morte rogatum .
Nunc quoque convincam , tu sedulus arbiter esto.’
Hec ait et tacite puerum secedere jussit
vesteque feminea vestire sicque redire.
M ox puer abcessit jussumque subinde peregit,
335 et sub feminea rediit quasi femina veste
et stetit ante virum , cui sic regina jocando,
'E y a , frater,' ait, 'd ic mortem virginis huius'.
'H ec virgo nec ne,' dixit, 'm orietur in ampne’ ,
frater ei, movitque sua ratione cachinnum
340 regi Rodarcho, quoniam de morte rogatus
319 uaria G V, n ana PP, B, M i, J J P tr, F.
340 rodartho R , J , T .
 L IF E OF M ERLIN 69

lies and truth together because he is out o f his wits? Anyone who
believes him becomes m any times more fool than he. N ow watch,
and, if I am not mistaken, I shall prove that he is talking nonsense
and has not told the truth.'
Am ong m any others in the hall there was one particular boy. This
clever wom an noticed him and then and there thought o f an in­
genious trick to show up her brother. She called the boy over and
asked her brother to predict the death the boy would die.
310 So her brother said to her: ‘ Dearest sister, when he is a man, this
lad w ill die by falling from a high rock.'
T he queen smiled at this, and then told the boy to go aw ay, take
o ff the clothes he was wearing and put on others, and cut o ff his long
hair. She_ told him that he was then to come in again, looking like
another person. T he boy did w hat he was told, for he returned to
them in different clothes, as instructed. A fter a little while, the
queen once more appealed to her brother, saying, ‘ M y dear, tell
your sister w hat the death o f this one w ill be.’
320 M erlin said, ‘ W hen this boy grows up, he w ill meet a violent
death in a tree though misjudgment.’
So he spoke. The queen, addressing her husband, said, ‘ Has this
false prophet been able to deceive you so far that you could think
I had committed such a great crime as this? I f you consider how
much sense there is in what he has ju st said about this boy, you w ill
realise that w hat he has said about me has been made up so that he
can be o ff to the woods. As if I would do such a thing! I shall keep
m y bed chaste, and chaste shall I ever be while there is breath in me.
330 I showed him up in questioning him about the boy’s death. I shall
now show him up again: you must watch and ju d ge.'
So saying, she whispered to the boy to go out, dress him self in
woman’s clothes and then come back. He soon after slipped aw ay
and quickly carried out her instructions. He returned dressed in
woman’s clothing, looking like a girl. He came and stood in front o f
M erlin, to whom the queen said jokingly, ‘ W ell, brother, tell me o f
the death o f this girl.'
‘ G irl or not,’ said her brother to her, ‘ she w ill die in a river.’
340 This made Rodarch laugh loudly at his powers o f reasoning. For
70 VITA MERLINI

unius pueri tres dixerat esse futuras.

Ergo putabat eum de conjuge falsa locutum ,
nec credebat ei sed contristatur et odit
quod sibi crediderat quod condem pnarat amantem.
345 Id regina videns veniam dat et oscula jungit,
et blanditur ei letum quoque reddidit illum .
H Cogitat interea silvas M erlinus adire
egressusque domum portas aperire jubebat.
Set soror obstabat lacrim isque rogabat obortis
350 ut secum remaneret adhuc tollatque furorem.
Improbus ille suis non vult desistere ceptis,
set perstat reserare fores et abire laborat,
et frem it et pugnat famulosque fremendo coartat.
Denique cum nullus posset retinere volentem
355 ire virum , jussit cicius regina venire
eius ad abcessum absentem Guendoloenam.
Illa venit suplexque virum remanere precatur.
Spernit at ille preces nec vult remanere nec illam
sicut erat solitus gaudenti cernere vultu.
360 Illa dolet fletuque fluit laniatque capillos,
et secat ungue genas et humi moriendo volutat.
Id regina videns affatur taliter illum .
‘ H ec tua que m oritur sic pro te Guendoloena,
quid faciet? D abiturve viro viduam ve manere
365 precipis, aut tecum quocumque recesseris ire?
Ibit enim tecumque nemus nemorisque virentes
leta colet saltus, dum te potiatur am ante.'
Vocibus hiis igitur respondit talia vates,
‘ [Nolo soror pecudem patulo que fontis hiatu
370 D iffundit latices ut uirginis urna sub estus
Nec curam m utabo meam uelut orpheûS olim
Q uando suos calathos pueris commisit habendos
Euridice stigias plus quam tränsnauit harenas]
M undus ab alterutro veneris sine labe manebo.
375^[ H uic igitur detur nubendi justa facultas
arbitrioque suo quem gestit ducere ducat.
Precaveat tamen ipse sibi qui duxerit illam
obvius u t numquam michi sit nec cominus astet,

34g Sët dolor T ; abortis C V , F, ab ortis PP, obortis M i, J J P tr.

356 absessum R , J, cius ët abscessum T ; deflente® PP, B.
366-7 om. PP.
369-73 om. PP.
 LIFE OF MERLIN ?!

to a question about the death o f a single boy he had given three

predictions. Consequently, he thought M erlin had spoken falsely
about his wife, and would not believe him. H e bitterly regretted
having believed him earlier and having condemned his wife. Seeing
this, the queen forgave him. She kissed and caressed him and made
him happy again.
M eanwhile M erlin was thinking o f his journey to the woods: he
left the house and ordered the gates to be opened. But his sister cam e
and stood in the w ay. H er eyes brimmed with tears as she begged
350 him to rem ain with her and put aside his w ild ideas.
But he was determined and would not give up his plans. H e
continued to try to open the doors and strove to leave. H e raged, he
fought, and his raging forced the servants to open. A t last, when
all had failed to turn him from his resolution to leave, the queen
sent for Guendoloena, who was elsewhere, to come as quickly as
possible to see him depart. She came, she went on her knees to beg
her husband to remain. But he rejected her pleas— he would not
stay, and he would not look at her in his usual cheerful w ay. She
360 was hurt; she dissolved into tears, tore her hair, scratched her cheeks
and collapsed on the ground as though dying.
A t the sight o f this the queen said to h im ,*See, it is Guendoloena,
dying for you here— w hat shall she do? Is she to re-m arry? D o you
tell her to rem ain as a widow?— or to go with you wherever you
travel? She w ill go with you to the forest and w ill be happy to live
in the green forest clearings, if only she can keep your love.'
T o this speech the prophet replied, ‘ [Sister, I do not want a cow
370 that pours water in as broad a stream as the V irgin’s U m in flood.
Nor shall I change m y care as Orpheus once did when Eurydice gave
her baskets to the boys to hold before she swam across the sandy
Styx.] I shall remain clear o f both o f you and undestroyed by love.
So let her have her due chance o f m arriage and choose o f her own
accord whom she shall wed. But let the man who weds her take care

373 prius quam J J P (‘ in early Latin and apparently in the Middle Ages this is
metrically admissible’), post quam F, who otherwise prints the passage without
comment.
374 sine labe PP, B, M i, J J P tr.
72 VITA MERLINI

set se divertat ne si michi congrediendi

380 copia prestetur vibratum sentiat ensem.
Cum que dies aderit sollempni lege ju gali
divcrseque dapes convivis distribuentur,
ipsemet interero donis munitus honestis
ditaboque datam profuse Guendoloenam \
385 D ixerat atque vale gradiens subjunxit utrique
et peciit silvas nullo prohibente cupitas.
Guendoloena m anet spectans in lim ine tristis
et regina simul casuque moventur am ici.
M iranturque nimis rerum secreta furentem
390 nosse virum veneremque sue scivisse sororis.
M entitum que tamen pueri de morte putebant
quam dixit ternam cum dicere debuit unam.
Inde diu sua visa fuit vox vana per annos
donec ad etatem venit puer ille virilem .
395 Tum cunctis patefacta fuit multisque probata.
Nam dum venatum canibus com itantibus iret,
aspexit cervum nemoris sub fronde latentem
dissolvitque canes, qui cervo devia viso
transcendunt com plentque suis latratibus auras.
400 Ipsemet urget equum calcaribus insequiturque
nunc cornu nunc ore monens operisque ministros
increpat, atque ju bet cursu ciciore venire.
Mons ibi celsus erat circumdatus undique saxis,
ju xta quem fluvius subtus per plana fluebat.
405 Hunc fera transcendit fugiens dum venit in amnem
exegitque suas solito de more latebras.
Instigat juvenis montem quoque tram ite recto
preterit et cervum per saxa jacentia querit.
Contigit interea dum duceret impetus ipsum
410 labi quadrupedem celsa de rupe virum que
forte per abruptum montis cecidisse sub amnem,
ut tamen hereret pes eius in arbore quadam
et submersa forent sub flumine cetera membra.
Sicque ruit mersusque fuit lignoque pependit,
415 et fecit vatem per terna pericula verum.
Q ui nemus ingressus fuerat rituque ferino
vivebat, paciens concrete frigoris alge
sub nive sub pluvia sub iniquo flam ine venti,
388 om. C V . J J P added from H , R , J, T (movetur T ). F prints also, with
general ref. to the Polychromem. 392 tfïnaffi PP.
 L I F E OF M E R L I N 73

he never gets in m y path or comes near me. L et him tread another

380 road. For should it chance he meets me, he m ay feel m y flashing
sword. Y e t when the day comes for the solemn joining in m arriage
and the elaborate banquet is set before the guests, I m yself shall be
there, provided with fine gifts, and shall endow Guendoloena
handsomely when she is given aw ay in m arriage.’
H e finished speaking, and, saying farewell to each o f them as he
went, set out for the woods he loved: no-one stopped him.
Guendoloena stayed sadly watching in the doorway, the queen
beside her. Both were moved by the fate o f their dear one. T hey
thought how rem arkable it was that a man deranged should have
390 so much secret knowledge and that he had been aware o f his own
sister's love affair. Still, they thought he had lied about the boy's
death, in speaking o f three deaths when he ought to have spoken o f
only one. So for m any long years his pronouncement seemed an
em pty one, until the boy him self reached manhood. Then its force
became universally apparent, and m any were convinced.
W hile hunting with a pack o f dogs, the youth saw a stag hiding
in the forest undergrowth. H e unleashed the dogs : at the sight o f the
stag they tore upwards along the rough tracks, filling the air with
400 their baying. H e spurred his horse in pursuit, directing the huntsmen
by sounding his horn and by shouting, and urged them to come on
with greater speed.
There was a high hill, ringed with rocks, with a river running
across the plain at its foot. T he quarry crossed the hill and fled
towards the river in search o f its usual type o f cover. T he young man
pressed on and took a straight course over the mountain, looking
for the stag among the scattered rocks. But, in his headlong course,
410 his horse happened to slip and went over a high precipice, and its
rider plunged down the steep cliff slope into the river. But he fell
in such a w ay that one foot caught in a tree and the rest o f his body
was submerged in the flowing stream. So then, he fell— he was
drowned— he hung from a tree; and by his triple death he proved
the prophet a true one.
M erlin had entered the forest and was living an anim al life,
existing on frozen moss in the snow, in the rain, in the angry blast.

395 Tunc demum patefacta PP; prolata J.

400-3 om. PP.
417 alge C V , aquae F.
74 VITA MERLINI

idque placebat ei pocius quam ju ra per urbes

420 exercere suas gentesque domare feroces.
Interea ducente viro labentibus annis
cum grege silvestri talem per tempora vitam ,
Guendoloena datur nubendi lege m arito.
N ox erat et nitide radiabant cornua lune
425 cunctaque convexi splendebant lum ina celi.
Purior aer erat solito, nam frigidus atrox
expulerat nubes Boreas celum que serenum
reddiderat sicco detergens nubila flatu.
Sidereum cursum vates spectabat ab alto
430 monte, loquens tacite sub divo talia dicens.
‘ Q uid sibi vult radius M artis, regemne peremptum
portendit noviter rutilans alium que futurum?
Sic equidem video, nam Constantinus obivit
ipsiusque nepos scelerata sorte Conanus
435 Per Patrui jugulum sumpto diadem ate rex est.
A t tu, summa Venus, que certo lim ite labens
infra zodiacum solem comitaris euntem,
quid tibi cum radio qui duplex ethera findit?
Discidiumne mei sectus portendit amoris?
440 Talis enim radius divisos signat amores.
Forsitan absentem me Guendoloena reliquit
alteriusque viri gaudens complexibus heret.
Sic igitur vincor, sic alter fungitur illa,
sic mea ju ra michi dum demoror eripiuntur.
445 Sic equidem, nam segnis amans superatur ab illo
qui non est segnis nec abest set cominus instat.
A t non invideo, nubat nunc omine dextro
utaturque novo me permittente m arito,
crastina cumque dies illuxerit, ibo feramque
450 mecum munus ei promissum quando recessi.’
D ixerat, et silvas et saltus circuit omnes
cervorumque greges agmen collegit in unum
et damas capreasque simul cervoque resedit,
et veniente die compellens agm ina pre se
455 festinans vadit quo nubit Guendoloena.
Postquam venit eo pacienter stare coegit

424 radiebant C V radiabant PP, B, M i, J J P tr, F.

426-8 om. PP.
436 tramite B, M i.
456“ 7 om. T .
 LIF E OF M ER LIN 75

Y e t that satisfied him more than adm inistering the law in cities and
420 ruling over a warrior people. M eanwhile, as the years were slipping
past and her husband was still leading this sort o f life am ong his
woodland flock, Guendoloena becam e legally promised in m arriage.
It was night, and the hom ed moon was shining brightly; all the
lights o f the vault o f heaven were glittering. H ie air had an extra
clarity, for a bitterly cold north wind had blown aw ay the clouds,
absorbed the mists on its drying breath and left the sky serene again.
T he prophet was w atching the stars in their courses from a high hill.
430 H e was out in the open, talking to him self and saying:
‘ W hat means this ray from M ars? Does its new ruddy glow mean
a king dead and another king to be? I see it so. Constantine has died
and by an evil chance his nephew Conan has seized the crown
through the m urder o f an uncle and is king. Highest Venus, you sail
along within your prescribed bounds in com pany with the sun in his
path beneath the zodiac : w hat now o f your twin ray cutting through
the ether? Does its division foretell the parting o f m y love? Such is
440 the ray that speaks o f love divided. Perhaps Guendoloena has
abandoned me, now that I am away. Perhaps she is happy in the
close em brace o f another man. So I lose, another wins her. M y
rights are taken from me while I linger here. Indeed, a laggard
lover loses to the lover who is not a laggard nor absent but near and
urgent. Y et I bear no grudge. She m ay m arry now the tim e is
right, and with m y permission enjoy a new husband. W hen to-
450 morrow dawns, I w ill go and take w ith me the present I promised
her when I left.*
So saying, he set o ff round all the woods and clearings, and
organized a herd o f stags into a single line; so, too, with does and
w ith she-goats. He seated him self on a stag, and at the com ing o f the
day he set off, driving his lines before him. So he came with speed
to the place o f Guendoloena’s wedding. A rriving there, he made the
 76 VITA MBRLINI

cervos ante fores proclamans, ‘ Guendoloena,

Guendoloena veni ! T e talia munera spectant.*
Ocius ergo venit subridens Guendoloena,
460 gestarique virum cervo m iratur et illum
sic parere viro, tantum quoque posse ferarum
uniri numerum, quas pre se solus agebat
sicut pastor oves quas ducere suevit ad herbas.
TI Stabat ab excelsa sponsus spectando fenestra
465 in solio mirans equitem risumque m ovebat.
Ast ubi vidit eum vates animoque quis esset
calluit, extem plo divulsit cornua cervo
quo gestabatur vibrataque jecit in illum ,
et caput illius penitus contrivit eumque
470 reddidit exanimem vitam que fugavit in auras.
O cius inde suum talorum verbere cervum
diffugiens egit silvasque redire paravit.
Egrediuntur ad hec ex omni parte clientes
et celeri cursu vatem per rura sequuntur.
475 Ille quidem velox sic precurrebat ut isset
ad nemus intactus nisi previus amnis obesset.
Nam dum torrentem fera prosiliendo m earet,
elapsus rapida cecidit M erlinus in unda.
Circueunt ripas fam uli capiuntque natantem
480 adducuntque domum vinctum que dedere sorori.
Captus item vates fit tristis et optat obire
ad silvas pugnatque suos dissolvere nexus,
et ridere negat potumque cibum que refutat
tristiciaque sua tristem facit esse sororem.
485 Ergo videns illum Rodarchus pellere cunctam
leticiam nec velle dapes libare paratas,
educi precepit eum miseratus in urbem
per fora per populos ut letior esset eundo
resque videndo novas que vendebantur ibidem.
490^ Ergo vir eductus dum progrederetur ab aula,
inspicit ante fores famulem sub paupere cultu
qui servabat eas poscentem pretereuntes
ore tremente viros ad vestes munus emendas.

458-8 om. J.
458 Gendoloena C V , Guendoloena H, R , T , B, M i, J J P tr, F.
485 rodarthus R , J, T .
490 om. T .
 L I F E OF M E R L I N 77

stags stand quietly outside the gates, then shouted, ‘ Guendoloena,

Guendoloena, come out! W hat presents are looking for y o u !’
Guendoloena cam e quickly, all smiles, and was astonished to see
460 a man riding a stag and it obeying him, astonished that so m any
animals o f the w ild could be brought together and that he alone was
driving them before him like a shepherd accustomed to taking his
sheep to pasture.
T he bridegroom was standing at a high window, looking in
amazement at the rider on his seat; and he broke into a laugh. W hen
the prophet saw him and realised who he was, he prom ptly wrenched
o ff the horns o f the stag he rode. H e whirled the horns round and
threw them at the bridegroom. H e crushed the bridegroom 's head
470 right in, knocking him lifeless, and drove his spirit to the winds.
In a moment the prophet dug his heels into his stag and set it
flying and was on his w ay back to the woods. H ie incident brought
out retainers from every corner, and they followed the bard in hot
pursuit across country. But he went at such a pace that he would
have reached the forest unscathed had it not been for a river in his
path. W hile his beast was bounding across the torrent, M erlin
slipped and fell into the fast current. T he servants ranged them­
selves along the bank and captured him as he swam. T h ey brought
480 him home, bound him and handed him over to his sister.
T he captured prophet turned surly, wanted to go o ff to the woods
and fought to get loose. He would not smile or take food or drink;
his gloom made his sister gloom y, too. Rodarch saw him losing all
cheerfulness and refusing to taste the fine meals prepared for him.
So in pity he ordered him to be taken out into the city among the
people in the market place, hoping that he would be cheered up by
the visit and by the sight o f the various novelties on sale there. H e
490 was taken out, and on the w ay from the palace he saw a badly
dressed servant in front o f the gates. H e was the doorman, and
he was asking the passers-by in a quavering voice for money to buy
78 VITA M ERLINI

M ox stetit et risit vates miratus egentem.

495 Illinc progressus nova calciam enta tenentem
spectabat juvenem commercantemque tacones.
Tunc iterum risit renuitque diutius ire
per fora spectandus populis quos inspiciebat.
A t nemus optabat quod crebro respiciebat
500 quo nitebatur vetitos divertere gressus.
H Inde domum fam uli redeunt ipsumque cachinnum
bis movisse ferunt, silvas quoque velle redire.
O cius ergo volens Rodarchus scire quid esset
quod portendisset risu, dissolvere nexus
505 ilico jussit ei concedens posse reverti
ad solitas silvas si risus exposuisset.
Letior assistens respondit talia vates.
'Janitor ante fores tenui sub veste sedebat
et velut esset inops rogitabat pretereuntes
510 ut largirentur sibi quo vestes emerentur.
Ipsemet interea subter se denariorum
occultos cumulos occultus dives habebat.
Illud ego risi, tu terram verte sub ipso,
nummos invenies servatos tempore longo.
515 Illinc ulterius versus fora ductus ementem
calciam enta virum vidi pariterque tacones,
ut postquam dissuta forent usuque forata
illa resarciret primosque pararet ad usus.
Illud item risi, quoniam nec calciam entis
520 nec [superaddet eis] miser ille taconibus uti
postmodo compos erit, quia jam submersus in undis
fluctuat ad ripas. T u vade videre, videbis.’
D icta probare viri cupiens Rodarchus ad ampnem
circum quaque suos ju bet ocius ire clientes,
525 u t si forte virum per proxim a littora talem
demersum videant festina voce renarrent.
Jussa ducis peragunt, nam flum ina circumeuntes

496 Spectauit PP. M i read ‘ spectavi* in some M SS; Parry denied this was so.
503 rodarthus R , J , T .
504 & 506 om. T .
5 11 in të fr a T .
513 Jllud ergo C V , Ulus ergo R , IUud ego BC. The second syllable of'ergo* can
be short (VM 7), not usually the first, and a stress principle, as in the lighter verse
o f the day, would have to be assumed. It is possible, but substituting ‘ ego* may be
better; it would also sharpen ‘ tu ’ in the same line.
518 resartiret C V , F, resarciret T , B, M i, J J P tr.
 L I F E OF M E R L I N 79

clothes. T he prophet stopped and laughed in astonishment at the

poor man. He went on further and saw a young man w ith new shoes
in his hand purchasing leather patches. The prophet laughed again;
but he would go no further through the market place to be a spectacle
for the people he was looking at. He longed for the forest, often
500 looked back towards it, and tried in spite o f refusals to go in that
direction.
O n reaching home, the servants told the story o f his two laughs
and o f his attem pt to return to the woods. Rodarch wanted to know
w hat his laughter had m eant and prom ptly issued orders for his
release, and gave him permission to go back to his fam iliar woods if
he would explain his laughs.
M erlin, recovering his spirits, answered, ‘ T he doorman in front
o f the gates was sitting in shabby clothes and was begging passers-by
510 to give him money for buying clothes. Y et all the time he was
secretly rich, for he had a secret hoard o f coins under him. So I
laughed. Turn up the earth beneath him ; you w ill find coins which
have been hidden there a long time. From there they took me further
on to the m arket place, and I saw a man buying shoes and with them
the patches to repair and renew them when worn and holed by use.
I laughed again: the poor fellow w ill be in no position to use his
520 shoes, or fix the [extra] patches on them later. He is already drowned
and floating in to shore. G o and look for yourself: you w ill see.'
T o check his words Rodarch ordered his men to make an
immediate search all along the river and to hurry back and tell him
at once if they saw such a drowned man by the shore. T h ey carried

520 superaddet C V , superaddit B, M i, J J P , superadditis F. Parry says, 'I follow

Black's arrangement o f this passage; it does not satisfy me but I cannot suggest
a better interpretation.' He translates, '...u s e the shoe nor', he added, 'th e
patches.. . but this construction is not easy to accept. Faral's superadditis gives
a good sense (which has been followed in the present version), but it does not
scan on normal quantity.
521 om. T .
523 rodarthus R , J , T .
327 flûuia C V , F, flumina PP, later hand in margin of C V , M i, J J P tr.
8o VITA MERLINI

submersum juvenem squalentes inter harenas

inveniunt redeuntque domum regique renarrant.
530 A t rex interea forium custode remoto
suffodit et vertit terram reperitque sub ipsa
thesaurum positum vatem que jocosus adorat.
His igitur gestis vates properabat abire
ad solitas silvas populos exosus in urbe.
535 Precipiebat ei secum regina manere
optatumque nemus postponere donec abirent
que nunc instabant candentis frigora brume
atque rediret item teneris cum fructibus estas,
unde frui posset dum tempora sole calerent.
540 Ille repugnabat, verbis et talibus illam
alloquitur cupiens secedere frigore spreto.
1T ‘ O dilecta soror, quid me retinere laboras?
Non me brum a suis poterit terrere procellis,
non gelidus Boreas cum flatu sevit iniquo
545 balantum que greges subita cum grandine ledit,
non cum turbat aquas diffusis imbribus Auster,
quin nemorum deserta petam saltusque virentes.
Contentus m odico potero perferre pruinam.
Illic arboreis sub frondibus inter olentes
550 herbarum flores estate jacere juvabit.
N e tamen esca m ichi brum ali tempore desit,
in silvis compone domos adhibeque clientes
obsequiumque m ichi facient escasque parabunt
cum tellus gram en fructumque negaverit arbor.
555 A nte domos alias unam compone remotam
cui sex dena decem dabis hostia totque fenestras,
per quas ignivomum videam cum Venere Phebum
inspiciamque polo labentia sydera noctu,
que me de populo regni ventura docebunt,
560 totque notatores que dicam scribere docti
assint et studeant carmen m andare tabellis.
T u quoque sepe veni, soror o dilecta, meamque
tunc poteris relevare famem potuque ciboque.’
D ixit et ad silvas festinis gressibus ivit.
565 Paruit ergo soror nam jussam condidit aulam

534 and 536-9 om. H , R , J.

om. T .
5 3 4 -539
544-551 om. PP.
546 conturbat C V , and all except F, cum turbat F.
 L I F E OF M E R L I N 8l

out the prince's instructions, and on their tour o f the rivers they
found the drowned youth on a desolate strand. T h ey returned home
and told the king.
530 M eanwhile the king had had the doorman moved and had dug
and turned up the earth and found a hoard secreted beneath the
surface. In high spirits he congratulated the prophet.
A fter this incident the prophet was anxious to be o ff to his fam iliar
woods: he hated the people in the city. T he queen advised him to
stay with her and delay his return to his beloved forest until the
white winter frosts, now not far ahead, had abated. W hen summer
returned once more with its delicate fruit, he could live on them in
a season o f warmth.
540 He rejected this: he cared little about the cold in his eagerness to
be aw ay, and told her:
'W h y, m y dear sister, do you strive so hard to hold me back?
Neither winter with its storms, nor the chill north wind when it
rages with savage blast and lashes the flocks o f bleating sheep with
sudden hail-shower, nor the south wind when it stirs the waters w ith
falling rain w ill be able to deter me from seeking the forest wilder­
nesses and the green glades. I need little: I shall be able to endure
550 the frost, and in summer it w ill be bliss to lie under leafy trees among
the fragrant flowers. Still, food m ight fail me in winter. So raise me
a house, send me retainers to serve me and prepare meals in the
time when the earth refuses its grain and the tree its fruit. Before the
other buildings build me a remote one to which you w ill give
seventy doors and as m any windows, through which I m ay see fire­
breathing Phoebus with Venus, and watch by night the stars
wheeling in the firm am ent; and they w ill teach me about the future
o f the nation.
560 'L e t there be as m any secretaries trained to record w hat I say,
and let them concentrate on com m itting m y prophetic song to
paper. Com e here often yourself, dear sister, and you w ill be able
to stay m y hunger with food and drink.'
W ith these words he hurried o ff to the woods. His sister obeyed
him, for she built the hall as prescribed and the other houses and

557 igninouum R , C V , igniuomum H , T , B, M i, J J P tr, F, ignoninuffi (?) R ,

ignim ouuA J ; febum J.
558 inspitiam que C V , inspidamque PP, B, M i, J J P tr, F.
6 CLM
 82 VITA MERLINI

atque domos alias et quicquid jusserat illi.

Ille quidem dum poma m anent Phebusque per astra
altius ascendit gaudet sub fronde manere
ac peragrare nemus zephiris mulcentibus ornos.
570 Tim e veniebat yems rigidis hirsuta procellis
que nemus et terras fructu spoliabat ab omni
deficeretque sibi pluviis instantibus esca.
Tristis et esuriens dictam veniebat ad aulam .
Illic multociens aderat regina dapesque
575 e* potum pariter fratri gavisa ferebat,
qui postquam variis sese recreaverat escis
m ox assurgebat com plaudebatque sorori.
Deinde domum peragrans ad sidera respiciebat
talia dum caneret que tunc ventura sciebat.
580H ‘ O rabiem Britonum, quos copia dividarum
usque superveniens ultra quam debeat effert!
N olunt pace frui, stimulis agitantur Herinis.
Civiles acies cognataque prelia miscent.
Ecclesias Dom ini paciuntur habere ruinam
585 pontificesque sacros ad regna remota repellunt.
Com ubiensis apri conturbant queque nepotes.
Insidias sibimet ponentes ense nephando,
interim unt sese, nec regno ju re potiri
expectare volunt regni diadem ate rapto.
590 Illis quartus erit crudelior asperiorque.
H unc lupus equoreus debellans vincet et ultra
Sabrinam victum per barbara regna fugabit.
Idem Kaerkeri circum dabit obsidione
passeribusque domos et m enia trudet ad imum.
595 Classe petet Gallos set telo regis obibit.
Rodarchus m oritur, post quem discordia longa
Scotos et Cumbros per longum tempus habebit
donec crescenti tribuatur Cum bria denti.

567 pcPacta C V , per astra B, M i (both reading 'pacta*), J J P tr, per alta F
(whose footnote gives his suggestion as 'p er olta’ and C V 's reading as ‘ peraeta ’ :
possibly both are misprints).
567-9 om. PP.
570 cumque veniret B, M i, F; hyemps miseris R . Parry translates 'T u n c veniebat*
and 'deficeretque* as straight indicatives. The present version takes 'deficeret* to
be part of an incompletely expressed conditional phrase.
578 Inde PP.
580 Brittonum Ha.
582 Faral prints 'herinis*, but the footnote has, 'herinus à corrigerprobablement en
Erinis, considéré comme un génitif*.
 L IF E OF M ER LIN 83
all else he had commanded her. But while there were still apples
and the sun rose higher in the heaven, he was happy to live under
the leafy trees and wander in the forest where breezes caressed the
rowans.
570 Then winter, harsh tempestuous winter, came to strip forest and
earth o f all their produce, and w ith the com ing o f the rains food
m ight have failed him . H ungry and heavy o f heart he used to come
to his hall. There the queen would often come to visit him , happy to
serve him both food and drink. He would dine from the varied
dishes, and soon after rise, w ith a compliment to his sister; then he
would wander through the house gazing at the stars, and sing in this
manner o f the future that he knew would be:
580 ‘ O the madness o f the Britons! Their universal affluence leads
them to excess. T h ey are not satisfied with peace. A Fury goads
them on. T h ey engage in civil w ar and fam ily feuds. T h ey allow the
churches o f the Lord to go to ruin, and drive the holy bishops out
into distant lands. T he nephews o f the Cornish boar disrupt every­
thing. T hey lay ambushes for each other and put one another to
death with their evil swords : they cannot w ait to succeed law fully,
590 but seize the crown. T h e fourth after them w ill be crueller and
harsher. A sea-wolf w ill engage him and defeat him and drive him in
defeat across the Severn into wilder realms. This w olf w ill lay siege
to Cirencester and by means o f sparrows raze its walls and houses
to the ground. H e w ill then set o ff for France w ith a fleet, but w ill
die by a king’s spear.
‘ Rodarch is dying. A fter his death Scotland and Cum bria w ill
quarrel long, until Cum bria is given over to a growing tooth.

585 om. J.
586-95 om. Ha.
590 Illic G V , F, Illis PP, O , B, M i, J J P tr.
591 Hinc G V, F, Hune H , J, B, M i, J J P tr; om. T .
593 Inde PP; kaerkeii G V, kaerkey J, T , Kaerkeri J J P , F.
595 petit C l; sed C l; obiuit G V, obibit R , B, M i, J J P tr (but no note), F,
obibunt Cl.
596 rodarthus R , J , T , rodartus C l, régi darchus H a; postqûâm C V , post
queffi H , R , J , Ha.
597 scocios C l; cambros Ha.
598 Cambria H a; genti R , F.
6-2
 84 VITA MERLINI

C am bii Gewissos post illos Cornubienses

600 afficient bello nec eos lex ulla dom abit.
K am bria gaudebit suffuso sanguine semper.
Gens inim ica deo, quid gaudes sanguine fuso?
K am bria com pellet fratres committere pugnas
et dampnare suos scelerata morte nepotes.
6 o 5 f Scotorum cunei trans Hum brum sepius ibunt
obstantesque viros periment pietate remota,
non impune tam en, nam cesus ductor obibit.
Nomen habebit equi qui fiet sevus in illo.
Finibus ex nostris heres expulsus abibit.
610 Scote, reconde tuos quos nudas ocius enses,
vis tibi dispar erit nostra cum gente feroci,
f Corruet urbs A ld u d nec eam reparabit in evum
rex aliquis donec subdatur Scottus apello.
f Urbs Loel spoliata suo pastore vacabit
615 donec reddat ei cam bucam virga Leonis.
Urbs Sigeni et turres et m agna palatia plangent
diruta donec eant ad pristina predia Cam bri.
H Kaerperis in portu sua menia rupta videbit
donec eam locuples cum vulpis dente reformet.
620^ Urbs R utupi portus in litore strata jacebit.
Restaurabit eam galeata nave Ruthenus.
M enia M enevie reparabit quintus ab illo
per quem palla sibi reddetur dem pta per annos,
inque tuo, Sabrina, sinu cadet Urbs Legionum
625 am ittetque suos cives per tempora longa.
Hos sibi reddet item cum venerit Ursus in Agno.
Saxonici reges expulsis civibus urbes
rura domosque simul per tempora longa tenebunt.
E x hiis gestabunt ter tres diadem a dracones.
599 Cambrigei missos C V , cambri gemussos gemussi cornubienses H , R , J ,
cambri gemussos gemussi comubientes T , cambrigei missos gennissent CI,
Cambri gewissos J J P , F. (Gambrigei read by B.)
599-604 om. Ha.
601 & 603 Cambria PP, C l.
601 diffuso R , J , T , diffliso H.
605 huôbriam (i underdotted) R , vmbrie T .
608-9 om- Ha.
610 Scotte Cl.
615 (C V 619) cambucam C V , B, M i, cambutam F.
612-621 The line-order used is that accepted by J J P tr, following C l, which is
largely supported by PP. Correspondences between C l (= present text order)
and C V are: 612/612, 613/613 (om. PP), 614/618 (om. PP), 615/619, 616/614,
617/615, 618/616, 619/617, 620-1/620-1. F keeps C V ’s order.
 L I F E OF. M E R L I N 85

600 ‘ The W elsh w ill make w ar on Gwent, and afterwards on Cornwall,

nor shall any law constrain them. (Wales w ill always enjoy spilling
blood. N ation abom inable to G od, w hy do you enjoy spilt blood?)
W ales w ill force brothers into fighting and condemning their own
nephews to a foul death.
‘ Scottish forces w ill often cross the Hum ber, putting all opposition
pitilessly to death: not w ith im punity, however, for their leader w ill
be killed, he o f the horse name and savage w ith it. His heir w ill be
610 driven headlong from our frontiers. Scots, sheath the swords you
bare too ofien. Y our power w ill not prove a m atch for our fierce
nation.
'D um barton w ill fall, w ith no king to re-build it for an age, until
the Scot is defeated by a boar. Carlisle w ill be deprived o f its pastor
and stand vacant until the Lion’s authority restores the staff o f
office to it. T he towers and great palaces o f Segontium w ill be tom
down, and they w ill weep there until the W elsh go to their old
domain.
' Porchester w ill see its walls lying broken in its harbour till a rich
620 man w ith a fox’s tooth re-builds them. T he city o f Richborough w ill
also lie strewn along the harbour shore. It w ill be a man from
Flanders in a crested ship who w ill restore them. The fifth from him
w ill repair the walls o f St D avid’s, and through him, too, the pall lost
for m any years w ill be recovered. The C ity o f the Legions w ill fall
into your bosom, Sabrina. It w ill lose its citizens for a long age.
W hen the Bear-in-Lam b comes, he w ill bring them back.
'Saxon kings w ill turn out citizens and hold their cities, lands and
homes for a long time. Am ong these kings three dragons w ill three

612-636 om. Ha.

612 acelud C V , Acelud B , F, Alcluid H, J J P tr, acliud R , J, aliud T , ascelud C l.
Alchid BC, after HRB (Trin. 1125).
613 scotcus C V , scotus C l, Scottus B, M i, F ; duello J J P , F. Parry translated the
end of the line as ‘ by w ar’ ; but duello, an old form o f bello, does not fit the metre.
I have taken afiello to be intended as a diminutive from aper, a boar, assuming it
to be an animal symbol for a person, as not infrequently in prophecies a boar is
used. The line may be unauthentic.
616 (C V 614) sigius R , sigein J, T , C l; plangunt C V , F, plangent PP, M i.
618 (C V 616) Kaeptis C V , Parry records the readings o f H, R , J in his apparatus
criticus, p. 66, as Caerperis, and in a footnote to the translation, p. 67, as Kaerperis,
Carperis T , Kaeperis F.
620 rutipi R , J , ruoupi C l; littora C V , F, litore PP, C l, M i, J J P tr.
621 rutenus C V , ruthenus H , R , T .
86 VITA M ERLINI

630 D ucenti monachi perimentur in U rbe Leyri,

et duce depulso vacuabit m enia Saxo.
Q u i prior ex Anglis erit in diadem ate Bruti
restaurabit item vacuatam cedibus urbem.
Gens fera per patriam prohibebit erisma sacrare
635 inque D ei domibus ponet sim ulachra deorum.
Postmodo Rom a Deum reddet m ediante cuculla
rorabitque domos sacro sacer imbre sacerdos,
quas renovabit item pastoribus intro locatis.
Legis divine servabunt jussa subinde,
640 plures ex illis et celo ju re fruentur.
Id violabit item gens im pia plena veneno
m iscebitque simul violenter fasque nephasque.
Vendet in extremos fines trans equora natos
cognatosque suos iram que Tonantis inibit.
645 O scelus infandum, quem conditor orbis honore
celi dignatus cum libertate creavit,
illum more bovis vendi ducique ligatum !
Cessabis miserande Deo qui proditor olim
in dominum fueras cum primum regna subisti.
650 Classe supervenient D aci populoque subacto
regnabunt breviter propulsatique redibunt.
His duo ju ra dabunt quos ledet acumine caude
federis oblitus pro sceptri stemate Serpens.
Indeque Neustrenses ligno trans equora vecti
655 vultus ante suos et vultus retro ferentes
ferratis tunicis et acutis ensibus Anglos
acriter invadent, periment campoque fruentur.
Plurim a regna sibi subm ittent atque dom abunt
externas gentes per tempora donec Erinus
660 circum quaque volans virus diffundet in ipsos.
Tum pax atque fides et virtus omnis abibit,
undique per patrias committent prelia cives
virque virum prodet, non invenietur amicus.
Conjuge despecta meretrices sponsus adibit
665 sponsaque cui cupiet despecto conjuge nubet.
Non honor ecclesiis servabitur, ordo peribit.
630 lo ri H , lyeri R .
630-49 om. Ha.
631 uacuabunt PP.
633 sedibus PP.
637 Rorabit C V , rorabit PP, B, M i, J J P tr, F.
648 Cessabit C V , Cessabis C l, B, J J P tr, F, Cessabis miserande draco PP.
 L IF E OF M ERLIN 87

630 times wear the crown. T w o hundred monks w ill perish in Leicester:
the Saxon w ill overthrow the city’s leader and leave the city em pty
within its walls. T he first A ngle to wear the crown o f Brutus w ill
restore the city which was em ptied by that massacre.
*A savage nation w ill forbid the rite o f anointing throughout the
land and set up images o f gods in the shrines o f God. Later,Rom e w ill
restore G od, with a monk's aid; and a holy priest w ill sprinkle G od’s
shrines with holy water. H e w ill rebuild the shrines, and their pastors
w ill be set once more within them. M any o f them w ill thereafter be
640 obedient to the commands o f divine law and earn their right to
heaven. But an irreligious people full o f venom w ill break that peace,
w ill violently confound right and wrong, w ill sell their sons and
relatives into slavery in the far corners o f the earth across the sea
and incur the anger o f the Thunderer.
‘ W hat an unutterable crim e that man, whom the Creator o f the
universe made worthy o f heaven in honourable liberty, should be
roped and led to the sale like a cow!
‘ You wretch, who turned traitor to your lord when you came into
650 the kingdom, you w ill attend to God. T he Danes w ill come with a
fleet, defeat our people and reign for a short w hile: they w ill be
driven out and return home. T w o men will administer them. A snake
w ill forget its pact and strike them with its stinging tail instead o f its
garlanded sceptre.
‘ Then the Normans w ill come over the sea in wooden ships,
bearing a face in front o f them and a face at their back. C lad in their
iron arm our, they w ill make a violent attack with sharp swords on
the Angles, kill them and win the field. T hey w ill bring m any
kingdoms under them and rule foreign nations for a time, till a Fury
660 flying all around w ill infoct them with its poison. Peace, faith and all
honour w ill depart, and there w ill be civil w ar throughout the land.
M an w ill betray his fellow, and friendship w ill not be found.
Husbands w ill have no regard for their wives and w ill turn to
whores: wives, regardless o f their husbands, w ill m ate with whom
they wish. Respect for the church will dwindle, and the order w il

653-3 om. Ha.

654 veustrcnscs R.
659 erineus C l, Herius Ha.
665 om. Ha.
88 VITA MERLINI

Pontifices tunc arm a ferent, tunc castra sequentur,

in tellure sacra turres et menia ponent
m ilitibusque dabunt quod deberetur egenis.
670 D ividis rapti mundano tram ite current
eripientque Deo quod sacra tyara vetabit.
Tres diadem a ferent post quos favor ille novorum.
Q uartus erit sceptris pietas cui leva nocebit
donec sit genitore suo vestitus ut apri
675 dentibus accinctus galeati transeat umbram.
Q uatuor ungentur vice versa summa petentes,
et duo succedent qui sic diadem a rotabunt
ut m oveant Gallos in se fera bella movere.
Sextus Hibemenses et eorum m enia vertet,
680 qui pius et prudens populos renovabit et urbes.
H ec Vortigem o cecini prolixius olim
exponendo duum sibi mistica bella draconum
in ripa stagni quando consedimus hausti.
A t tu vade domum morientem visere regem,
685 o dilecta soror, The^gesinoque venire
precipe namque loqui desidero plurim a secum.
V enit enim noviter de partibus Arm oricanis
dulcia quo didicit sapientis dogm ata G ilde.’
It Ganieda domum Thelgesinum que reversum
690 defunctumque ducem repent tristesque clientes.
Ergo fluens lacrim is collabitur inter amicos
et laniat crines et profert talia dicens.
H ‘ Funera Rodarchi, mulieres, plangite mecum
ac deflete virum qualem non protulit orbis
695 hactenus in nostro quantum discernimus evo.
Pacis am ator erat, populo nam ju ra feroci
sic dabat ut nulli vis inferretur ab ullo.
Tractabat sanctum justo moderamine clerum ,
ju re regi populos summos humilesque sinebat.

667 sequentur C V , F, struentur H , R , J, J J P tr, seruantur T , fruent Ha. H , R , J*s

reading, accepted by Parry, is un-metrical, and castra sequentur is a reasonable
phrase.
670 capti H.
67a per quos C V , post quos PP, H a, J J P tr, F.
673 quintus Ha.
674-5 ° m- Ha.
676 unguentur T , véfsa vice C l.
677 quia sic C V qui sic PP, Ha, J J P tr, F.
678 moneant C V , moueant, H , Ha, B, J J P tr, F; bella monere T .
679 hibemensis C l; nomina C V , menia PP, Ha, C l, J J P tr, F (moenia).
 L IP E OF M ER LIN 89

perish. Bishops w ill then bear arms, w ill then follow the m ilitary life,
w ill set up towers and walls on sacred ground and give to soldiers
w hat should go to the poor. T h ey w ill be swept along by riches
670 and follow the w orldly path, and take from God w hat their holy
office forbids them to take.
‘ Three w ill w ear the crown, after whom w ill be that desire for
new men. T h e fourth in power w ill be harm ed by his clumsy piety
until he puts on his father’s clothes and so, girt with boar's teeth,
crosses the shadow o f the Helmeted M an. Four o f those anointed
w ill strive in turn for the supreme power; and two who win it w ill
alternate on the throne in such a w ay as to tempt the French to start
a fierce cam paign against them. T h e sixth w ill overthrow the Irish
and pull down their walls. B y his piety and foresight he w ill
680 re-establish our people and cities.
'A ll this I once predicted at greater length to Vortigern when I
was explaining to him the mystic battle o f the two dragons as we sat
on the bank o f the drained pool. But now, dear sister, go home and
attend to the dying king. Bid Taliesin come. I have much I wish to
discuss w ith him , since he has only recently returned from Brittany,
where he has been enjoying the sweets o f learning under the wise
G ildas.’
Home went Ganieda and found Taliesin returned, the prince dead
690 and the court in mourning. She collapsed in tears into the arms o f
her friends, tearing her hair and crying out:
‘ W eep w ith me, women, the death o f Rodarch. M ourn for a m an
whose like earth has not been known to produce before in our age.
He was a lover o f peace, for he so administered a warrior people
that there was no violence between man and man. H e treated the
holy priest with due consideration and m ade the rule o f law avail-

681-3 om. PP.

681-950 om. Ha.
681 De Vordgerno Vmq.
685 telgesino H , R , C l, tdgesimo J, Ttlyesino Vmq.
689 A t media domuffl thelgesinuA qüë reu&fsto T , telgesinufft H, R , J, Cl.
692 Et clamat crines T ; pfôfert plüriraa plangens C l.
693-733 om. PP.
693-940 ora. Cl.
697 ius C V , F , vis B, M i, J J P tr.
699 populo C V , F , populos B , M i, J J P tr.
90 VITA MERLINI

700 Largus erat nam m ulta dabat, vix quid retinebat.

Om nibus omnis erat faciens quodcum que decebat,
flos equitum regumque decor regnique columpna.
Heu michi qui fueras, inopinis vermibus esca
nunc datus es corpusque tuum putrescit in urna.
705 Sicne cubile tibi post serica pulcra paratur?
Siccine sub gelido caro candida regia membra
condentur saxo nec eris nisi pulvis et ossa?
Sic equidem, nam sors hominum miseranda per evum
ducitur ut nequeant ad pristina ju ra reduci.
710 Ergo nichil prodest pereuntis gloria mundi
que fugit atque redit fallit leditque potentes.
M elie suo delinit apes quod postmodo pungit.
Sic quos demulsit divertens gloria mundi
fallit et ingrate collidit verbere caude.
715 Fit breve quod prestat, quod habet durabile non est,
more fluentis aque transit quodcumque m inistrat.
Q uid rosa si rutilet, si candida lilia vernent,
si sit pulcher homo vel equus vel cetera plura?
Ista Creatori non mundo sunt referenda.
720 Felices igitur qui perstant corde piato
obsequiumque Deo faciunt mundumque relinquunt.
Illis perpetuo fungi concedet honore
qui sine fine regit Christus qui cuncta creavit.
Vos igitur proceres vos m enia celsa laresque
725 vos nati dulces mundanaque cuncta relinquo,
et cum fratre meo silvas habitabo Deumque
leta mente colam nigri sub tegmine pepli.’
H ec ait atque suo persolvit justa m arito
signavitque suam cum tali carm ine tumbam.
730 ‘ Rodarchus Largus, quo largior alter in orbe
non erat, hic m odica magnus requiescit in urna.*

V enerat interea M erlinum visere vatem

tunc Telgesinus qui discere missus ab illo
quid ventus nimbusve foret, nam mixtus uterque
735 tunc simul instabant et nubila conficiebant.
Hec docum enta dabat socia dictante M inerva.

705 Set ne C V , Sicne M i, Siccine SM , F , Tale J J P . The sense requires Sîccbti,

the metre requires a trochee. The next line shows that the final e could be short
when needed; and the least disturbance is caused by accepting a spelling o f the
word as a dissyllable, Sicnl.
791 reliflquflt C V relinquunt B , M i.
 L IF E OF M ERLIN 91

700 able to high and low alike. He was generous, gave much aw ay, kept
but very little. H e was all things to all men, doing all that was right
and proper: flower o f knights, glory o f kings, pillar o f the kingdom !
‘ W oe is me, alas, for w hat you were, now given untim ely to the
gnawing worm ; and your body moulders in the grave. A fter fine
silken sheets, is this the bed made ready for you? W ill the fair flesh
and royal limbs indeed be hidden under the cold stone, and you
become but dusty bones?
‘ Y et so it is. So runs the sad lot o f man throughout the ages: there
710 is no returning to the earlier prime. There is no profit in the inter*
m ittent glory o f the passing world, a painful deception even for the
great. T he bee smears its honey where it later stings; so the world’s
glory turns again and deceives those it has caressed, piercing hard
with its unwelcome sting.
‘ Excellence is a brief thing, transient in its nature. A ll advantage
passes aw ay like running water. W hat if the rose blushes? W hat if
white lilies bloom ? W hat if a m an, a horse, or all the rest be fair?
These are questions for the Creator, not for the world.
720 ‘ H appy, then, are those who are resolute in piety and service to
God and take leave o f the world. Christ, who created all, whose
reign is endless, w ill grant them everlasting glory. Therefore I take
leave o f you— you noble chiefs, you high walls and household gods,
you m y sweet children, and all that is o f this world. I shall live in
the woods by the side o f m y brother and w ith m y black cloak
around me worship God with a happy heart.’
In these words she paid due tribute to her husband, and she
inscribed this verse on his tom b:
730 ‘ Rodarch the Generous, none in the world more generous,
A great man lies quiet in this little urn.’

In the meantime Taliesin had come to visit the prophet M erlin,

who had sent for him to learn w hat winds and rain-storms were.
For both these were blowing up at the time, and the clouds were
gathering. Taliesin, w ith the aid and direction o f M inerva, gave the
following explanation.

730 rodarthus R, J, T .
732 merlmuA vincCfe.
733 Tunc telgesinüs cui Merlinus cito dixit PP, thdgesinus T .
734 - 9 4 * om. PP.
92 VITA MERLINI

f ‘ Q uatuor ex nichilo produxit Conditor orbis

ut fierent rebus precedens causa creandis
materiesque simul concordi pace ju gata.
740 Celum , quod stellis depinxit et altius « t a t
et quasi testa nucem circumdans omnia claudit.
A era deinde dedit formandis vocibus aptum ,
quo mediante dies et noctes sidera prèstant,
et m are, quod terras cingit validoque recursu
745 quatuor amfractus faciens sic aera pulsat
ut generet ventos qui quatuor esse feruntur.
H V ique sua stantem nec se levitate moventem
supposuit terram partes in quinque resectam,
quarum que m edia est non est habitanda calore
750 extremeque due pre frigore diffugiuntur.
Tem periem reliquis permisit habere duabus.
Has homines habitant volucresque gregesque ferarum.
1f U tque darent subitas pluvias quo crescere fructus
arboris et terre facerent aspergine m iti
755 adjecit celo nubes que sole ministro
sicut utres fluvii occulta lege replentur.
Inde per excelsum scandentes ethera sumptos
diffundunt latices ventorum viribus acte.
H inc fiunt imbres hinc nix hinc grando rotunda
760 cum gelidus madidus m ovet sua flam ina ventus,
qui nubes penetrans quales facit egerit amnes.
Naturam que suam zonarum proxim itate
ventorum sibi quisque trahit dum nascitur illuc.
H Post firmamentum quo lucida sidera fixit
765 ethereum celum posuit, tribuitque colendum
cetibus angelicis quos contem platio digna
ac dulcedo D ei reficit m iranda per evum.
H oc quoque depinxit stellis et sole chorusco
indicens legem qua certo lim ite stella
770 per sibi commissum posset discurrere celum.
1f Postmodo supposuit lunari corpore fulgens
aerium celum , quod per loca celsa redundat
spirituum cuneis qui nobis com paciuntur
et colletantur dum sic aliterve movemur.
775 Suntque preces hominum soliti perferre per auras
atque rogare Deum quod sit placabilis illis
749 media est non est habitanda M i. C V s reading does not scan, unless the
author lengthened media in speech. M ichel’s suggestion is a simple solution, though
 L IF E OF M ER LIN 93

>-'*! S '
‘ The Creator produced out o f nothing four elements to be the
I
causative principle in the m aking o f things and at the same time to
I
be the m aterial for them, when conjoined in a concordant manner.
740There was the H eaven, which he embellished with stars. It is set
\
above and envelops everything in the w ay a nutshell encloses a nut.
'
Then he gave the A ir, fitted for the production o f sounds. By means
o f it day and night make the heavenly bodies visible.— Then, the
Sea, which encompasses the earth, and, m aking four circuits, so stirs
up the a ir with its m ighty recoil as to generate the winds, which are
held to be four in number. He established the earth, which stands by
its own strength and is not easily moved. It is divided into five zones.
750 T h e m iddle zone is uninhabitable because o f the heat, and the two
outer zones are avoided because o f the cold. He allowed the other
two to have a tem perate clim ate. These are the zones where men,
birds and the herds o f w ild beasts live.
‘ He added clouds to the sky to give the sudden rains whose gentle
showers cause the fruits o f the trees and o f the earth to grow. W ith
the help o f the sun, the clouds are filled like water-skins by the rivers
through the operation o f a mysterious law. Then, when driven by the
force o f the winds, they rise on high into the upper atmosphere and
discharge the water they have taken up. This is the origin o f rain-
760 storms, the origin o f snow and o f round hailstones, when a cold
moist wind begins to blow, penetrating the clouds and forcing out
the water into whichever type o f shower it is forming. Each o f the
winds takes its nature from its relation to the zones at its birth.
‘ After the firmament, where he fixed firm the bright stars, he
established the ethereal heaven. He designated it as the place for the
assemblies o f angels whom the noble contem plation and wonderful
sweetness o f G od refresh down the ages. H e also embellished it w ith
the stars and the dazzling sun, appointing the law whereby a star
770 could move on an exact course through the part o f the heaven
assigned to it.
‘ Afterwards he placed beneath these the airy heaven, glowing
with the lunar body. T he high spaces o f this heaven are thronged
with bands o f spirits who are considerate towards us or cheerful
with us, according to our moods. It is their practice to carry men’s
prayers up through the air, to beg God to deal sym pathetically with

the phrase is not elegant; an est can drop out easily in copying, as Parry showed by
reporting M ichel’s suggestion without the second est.
769 que C V , qua J J P tr, F .
 94 VITA MERLINI

affectum que D ei sompno vel voce referre

vel signis aliis ut fiant inde scientes,
f A t cacodemonibus post lunam subtus habundat,
780 qui nos decipiunt et tem ptant fallere docti,
et sibi multociens ex aere corpore sumpto
nobis apparent et plurim a sepe sequuntur.
Q uin etiam coitu mulieres agrediuntur
et faciunt gravidas generantes more prophano.
785 Sic igitur celos habitatos ordine terno
spirituum fecit, foveant ut singula queque
ac renovent mundum renovato germine rerum,
f E t mare per species varias distinxit ut ex se
proferret rerum formas generando per evum.
790 Pars etenim fervet, pars friget et una duabus
temperiem sumens nobis alim enta ministrat.
A st ea que fervet baratrum cum gentibus acris
circuit et T etri diversis fluctibus orbem
secernit refluens ignes ex ignibus augens.
795 Illic descendunt qui leges transgrediuntur
postpositoque Deo quo vult perversa voluntas
incedunt avidi corrumpere quod prohibentur.
T ru x ibi stat judex equali lance rependens
cuique suum meritum condignaque debita solvit.
8oot A ltera que friget pretonsas volvit harenas
quas secum gignit vicino prim a vapore
quando suos radios inmiscet stella Diones.
H anc perhibent Arabes gemmas generare micantes,
dum peragrat Pisces dum respicit equora flammis.
805 H ec virtute sua populis gestantibus ipsas
prosunt et multos reddunt servantque salubres.
Has quoque per species distinxit ut omnia factor
ut discernamus per formas perque colores
cuius sint generis cuius virtutis aperte.
810K T ercia forma maris que nostram circuit orbem
proxim itate sua nobis bona m ulta ministrat.
N utrit enim pisces et sal producit habunde,
fertque refertque rates commercia nostra ferentes,
779 caco demonibus C V , cacodaemonibus B , M i, F.
782 loquuntur F.
787 renouet C V retument BC. Parry took renovet as referring to the spirits but left
it singular: if the Conditor orbis is meant, this is an awkward change.
793 tetri C V , terrae B , M i, J J P tr, F; orbent C V , orbem B , M i, J J P tr, F . Black’s
terrae. . .orbem was accepted by M ichel, J J P tr (with reservation) and Faral, but
 L IF E OF M ER LIN 95

them, and to convey G od’s w ill through a dream or a voice or

through other signs by which they m ay acquire understanding.
‘ But the space down below the moon is full o f evil demons skilled
780 in deception, who tem pt and cheat us. T h ey frequendy make them­
selves a body out o f air and appear to us: the consequences are m any
and various. Indeed, they even have intercourse with women and
make them pregnant, an immoral fatherhood.
‘ In this w ay he populated the heavens with a three-part order o f
spirits, intending that they should look after every individual thing
and renew the world by renewing the seed o f things.
‘ He divided the sea into different types, to facilitate the develop­
m ent o f natural forms from out o f it by production over a long
790 period. So one part o f the sea is hot, another cold, and the other,
which takes its m oderate temperature from the other two, provides
us with food.
‘ The hot sea goes round a gu lf where live vicious races o f people.
As it swirls on, the currents divide and it separates o ff the zone o f
hell, getting hotter and hotter. Crim inals go down there, those who
have neglected G od and rush on where their perverse w ill leads
them, eager to ruin w hat they are forbidden to harm . A stem judge
stands there balancing his scales, and to each one he allots his due
and ju st deserts.
800 ‘ T he other sea, which is freezing, rolls along its trimmed beaches,
which it first produces from the nearby mist, when the beams o f
D ione’s star m ix w ith it. T he Arabs believe that this star creates
sparkling jewels when it passes through the sign o f the Fishes and
flickers down on the sea. These gems do good to their wearers by
their intrinsic power, curing m any and keeping them healthy. T heir
M aker has, as with all things, divided them into different types, to
enable us to decide their kind and their known powers from form
and colour.
810 ‘ T he proxim ity o f the third type o f sea which encircles our globe
brings us m any benefits. It feeds fish, produces a great deal o f salt
and bears to and fro the vessels which carry our trade and allow a

does not much clarify the image. Since Utrum could be a substantive (Cicero,
De natur, dear.), Tetri orbem is a not improbable though not separately authenticated
phrase for hell. (Isidore, Etjm ., 10. 270, cf. 194, discussed teter,— ob obscura tene-
brosaque vita, etc.)
799 cumqüé C V , cuique B , M i, J J P tr, F.
812 habunda C V , abunde B , M i, F, habunde J J P tr.
 96 VITA MERLINI

unde suo lucro subito fit dives egenus.

815 V icinam fecundat humum pascitque volucres,
quas perhibent ortas illinc cum piscibus esse,
dissimilique tamen nature ju re moventur.
Plus etenim dom inatur eis quam piscibus equor
unde leves excelsa petunt per inane volantes.
820I A t pisces suus humor agit reprim itque sub undis,
nec sinit ut vivant dum sicca luce finiuntur.
Hos quoque per species distinxit factor eorum
naturamque dedit distinctis, unde per evum
m irandi fierent egrotantique salubres.
825H Nempe ferunt mullum cohibere libidinis estum,
set reddit cecos ju giter vescentis ocellos.
A t qui nomen habet timeos de flore timallus
sic quoniam redolet vescentem sepius illo
protrahit ut tales oleant per flum ina pisces.
830^ Femineo sexu subtracto ju re murenas
esse ferunt cunctas, coeunt tamen ac renovantur
m ultiplicantque suos alieno germine fetus.
Conveniunt etenim per littora sepius angues
quo degunt faciuntque sonos ac sibila grata,
835 et sic eductis coeunt ex more murenis.
H Est quoque mirandum quod semipedalis echinus
herens cui fuerit fixam quasi litore navem
detinet in ponto nec eam perm ittet abire
donec discedat tali virtute timendus.
840*1 Quem que vocant gladium , quia rostro ledit acuto,
sepius hunc nantem m etuunt accedere navi,
nam si sumptus erit confestim perforat illam
et m ergit sectam subito cum gurgite navem.
Fitque suis cristis metuendus serra carinis
845 quas infigit eis dum subnatat atque secatas
deicit in fluctus crista velut ense timendus.
H Equoreusque draco qui fertur habere venenum
sub pennis metuendus erit capientibus illum ,
et quociens pungit ledit fundendo venenum.
850^ Ast alias clades torpedo fertur habere,

820 piscis C V , pisces B , M i, J J P tr, F .

821 sunt C V , F, sinit M i, J J P tr.
825 nulluifi C V , B , M i, mullus J J P (se. a slip for mullum, from translation),
mullum F .
829 olent C V , oleant J J P , F.
 L IF E OF M ERLIN 97

poor man to become rich by quick profit-making. It makes the

adjacent land fertile and produces food for the birds which, it is said,
derive from it as do fish, though the laws o f their functioning are not
the same. T he birds can transcend the ocean more than can the
fish, and fly easily up from it into space.
820 'B u t its moisture affects fish and keeps them below the surface and
does not perm it them to live in the dryness o f the open air. T heir
M aker has divided up fish also into types, assigning a specific nature
to each different type; and because o f this they have long been a
source o f wonder as well as an aid in sickness.
‘ For exam ple, it is said that the mullet inhibits die sexual urge, but
leads to blindness if eaten constantly. T he one called thymallus after
the herb thym e has such a scent that it betrays any fish that
regularly feeds on it; and so all the fish in the river become sim ilarly
scented.
830 ' Murenas are said to be all o f the female sex and lack seminal fluid.
Y et they reproduce by copulation and m ultiply through fertilization
by the seed o f a different creature. Snakes often gather along the
shore which they frequent. These snakes make a seductive hissing
sound to tempt out the murenas, and intercourse then takes place
normally.
'A nother rem arkable fish is the echinus. It is only six inches long,
but when it attaches itself to a ship, it holds the ship as fast on the
high seas as if it were aground, and prevents it proceeding until it
lets go: a power for which it is feared.
840 *M en are also often afraid to steer a ship close to the fish known
as the sword-fish when they see it swimming near, because it causes
dam age w ith its sharp beak. I f it is taken, it prom pdy holes the ship
and, by cutting into it, causes it to sink as the water suddenly swirls
in.
‘ T he serra is a danger to hulls because o f its crests. It sticks these
into the hull while swimming beneath the ship. It causes the damaged
hulls to sink into the waves, and it is to be feared for its crest as if it
were a sword.
'T h ere is a sea-dragon which is said to have poison beneath its fins,
and puts any who catch it in great peril. Every time it strikes it
makes the wound serious by injecting its poison.
850 ‘ The torpedo is said to be another type o f m ortal peril. Anyone who
833 M ultiplicat C V , Multiplicant B , M i, J J P tr, F.
834 ac sibila grati C V , F, et sibila B , M i, grata J J P .
836 ethinus C V , echinus B , M i, F , echauns J J P .
840 gladum C V , gladium B , M i, J J P tr, F.
841 nautae metuunt B .
7 cm
98 VITA MERLINI

nam qui tangit eam viventem protinus illi

brachia cum pedibus torpent et cetera membra
officioque suo quasi m ortua destituuntur,
sic solet esse nocens illius corporis aura.
855H Hiis Deus ac aliis ditavit piscibus equor,
adjecitque suis plures in fluctibus orbes
quos habitant homines pro fertilitate reperta
quam producit ib i fecundo cespite tellus.
Quarum prim a quidem m eliorque Britannia fertur,
860 ubertate sua producens singula rerum.
Fert etenim segetes que nobile mimus adoris
usibus humanis tribuunt reddendo per annum ;
silvas et saltus et ab hiis stillantia m ella,
aerios montes lateque virentia prata,
865 fontes et fluvios, pisces pecudesque ferasque,
arboreos fructus, gemmas, preciosa m etalla,
et quicquit prestare solet natura creatrix;
preterea fontes unda fervente salubres
que fovet egrotos et balnea grata ministrat,
870 at subito sanos pellit languore repulso.
Sic Bladudus eos regni dum sceptra teneret
constituit nomenque sue consortis Alaron.
U tilis ad plures laticis medicamine morbos
set mage femineos ut sepius unda probavit.
875^ A djacet huic Thanatos que multis rebus habundat.
M ortifero serpente caret tollitque venenum
si sua cum vino tellus com m ixta bibatur.
Orchades a nobis nostrum quoque dividit equor.
Hae tres ter dene sejuncto flumine fiunt,
880 bis dene cultore carent alieque coluntur.
K U ltim a que Thule nomen de sole recepit
propter solsticium quod sol estivus ibidem
dum facit avertit radium ne luceat ultra
abducitque dies ut semper nocte perhenni
885 aer agat tenebras, faciat quoque frigore pontum
concretum pigrum que simul ratibusque negatum.
Insula post nostram prestantior omnibus esse
fertur Hibemensis felici fertilitate.
Est etenim major, nec apes nec aves nisi raras

856 fructibus C V , fluctibus B , J J P tr, F.

861 odoris C V , F, J J P tr, adoris B .
871 Sic ac blandus C V , Sic Bladudus B , M i, J J P tr, Sicut Bladud eos F .
 L IF E OF M ERLIN 99

touches it while it is still alive is at once afflicted w ith a torpidity o f

the arms, the feet and the rest o f the body. His limbs lose their
normal function and feel dead, so virulent its secretion norm ally is.
'G o d allotted the sea to these and to the other fishes. H e also
created further worlds am ong his waves which men inhabit because
o f their reputation for fertility, the earth producing abundantly
from the rich soil there.
‘ Britain is considered first and best am ong these. It offers o f its
860 bounty every m anner o f thing. It yields crops which year by year
contribute their noble gifts o f grain for m an's use; woodlands and
pastures where honey drips; airy mountains and broad green
m eadowlands; springs and rivers; fish, cattle and w ild creatures;
fruit trees; jewels and precious m etals; and a ll else that creative
N ature can supply.
' In particular, there are health-giving springs whose hot waters do
870 the sick good and provide welcome baths for them— after which,
their illness subsiding, they are soon sent aw ay w ell. Bladud so
established these baths during his reign, and he named them after
his consort Alaron. Because o f the m edical properties o f the water,
they are useful in most kinds o f disease, but especially for women’s
disorders, as the w ater has frequently demonstrated.
' Close to this island lies Thanet, which is rich in m any things— but
lacks dangerous snakes; and it is an antidote to poison to drink wine
in which Thanet earth has been mixed.
‘ O ur ocean also divides the Orkneys from us. These islands,
separated by the flowing tides, number thirty-three. Tw enty o f
880 them are unworked, the rest cultivated.
* Thule gets its name, "Furthest T h u le ", through the sun, on
account o f the solstice or stop which the summer sun makes there.
A t that point the sun’s rays turn aw ay so as to provide no illum i­
nation beyond. T he sun thus takes aw ay the daylight, so that ever
through the endless night the air begets shadows, and in addition its
coldness makes the sea hard and sluggishly unnavigable by ships.
‘ T he island which after ours is held to be superior to all is Ireland,
' for its happy fertility. It is larger; it possesses no bees, no birds (save
a very few), and is entirely unsuitable for snakes to breed in. In fact,

879 Hec C V , F (Haec), Hae B , M i, J J P tr, se iuncto C V , sejuncto B , M i, J J P tr, F .

881 ytilie C V , Thule B , M i, J J P tr, F .
889, 890, 891 C V had the order 889 ( .a . in margin), 891 (.b . in margin),
7-2
IOO VITA MERLINI

890 educit penitusque negat generare colubres.

Unde fit ut tellus illinc avecta lapisve,
si superaddatur, serpentes tollat apesque.
Gadibus Herculeis adjungitur insula Gades.
Nascitur hic arbor cuius de cortice gumini
895 stillat, quo gemme fiunt superillita vitra.
1 Hesperides vigilem perhibentur habere draconem,
quem servare ferunt sub frondibus aurea poma.
1f Gorgades habitant mulieres corporis hirci,
que celeri cursu lepores superare feruntur.
9 0 0 A rgire Crisseque gerunt ut dicitur aurum
argentum que simul ceu vilia saxa Corinthus.
1f Taprobana viret fecundo cespite grata.
Bis etenim segetes anno producit in uno,
bis gerit estatem, bis ver, bis colligit uvas
905 et fructus alios nitidis gratissima gemis.
K Tiles etem o producit vere virentes
flores et frondes per tempora cuncta virendo.
Insula pomorum que Fortunata vocatur
ex re nomen habet quia per se singula profert.
910 Non opus est illi sulcantibus arva colonis,
omnis abest cultus nisi quem natura ministrat.
U ltro fecundas segetes producit et uvas
nataque poma suis pretonso gram ine silvis.
O m nia gignit humus vice graminis ultro redundans,
915 annis centenis aut ultra vivitur illic.
Illic ju ra novem geniali lege sorores
dant his qui veniunt nostris ex partibus ad se,
quarum que prior est fit doctior arte medendi
exceditque suas forma prestante sorores.
920 M orgen ei nomen didicitque quid utilitatis
gram ina cuncta ferant ut languida corpora curet.
Ars quoque nota sibi qua scit m utare figuram
et resecare novis quasi Dedalus aera pennis.
Cum vult, est Bristi Cam oti sive Papie,
925 cum vult, in vestris ex aere labitur horis.
Hancque m athematicam dicunt didicisse sorores
M oronoe, M azoe, Güten, Glitonea, G liton,
890 ( .c . in margin). B and M i and F printed in the order used in the present text;
J J P tr concurred.
895 gemine C V , gemmae B , M i, J J P tr, F; super illita C V , ilUsa SM , J J P tr («.) ;
iura C V , F : ‘ à corriger peut-être en jure*', quo gemme fiunt superillita uitra BC.
905 gemmis B , SM , F.
 L I F E OF M E R L I N I OI

890 if some earth or a stone from there is taken to another place and
added to the soil, it destroys serpents and bees as well.
‘ T he island o f Gades lies adjacent to Herculean Gades. A tree
native to this place has a bark from which a gum drips. Pieces o f
glass become gems when smeared with it.
‘ T he Hesperides are said to have a watchful dragon which (the
story goes) guards golden apples am ong trees.
‘ T h e Gorgades are inhabited by goat-bodied women, and these
women are said to run faster than hares.
900 *Argyre and Ckryse are reported as bearing gold and silver as easily
as Corinth does ordinary rocks.
‘ Ceylon blooms happily[on its fertile soil. It has two crops a year—
two springs, two summers : twice do men gather the grapes and other
fruit. It is also most attractive on account o f its shining jewels.
' Tiles produces flowers and foliage which flourish in an eternal
spring.
‘ T he Island o f Apples gets its name “ T he Fortunate Island*' from
the fact that it produces all manner o f plants spontaneously.
910 It needs no farmers to plough the fields. There is no cultivation o f
the land at all beyond that which is N ature’s work. It produces crops
in abundance and grapes without help; and apple trees spring up
from the short grass in its woods. A ll plants, not m erely grass alone,
grows spontaneously; and men live a hundred years or more.
‘ T h at is the place where nine sisters exercise a kindly rule over
those who com e to them from our land. T he one who is first am ong
them has greater skill in healing, as her beauty surpasses that o f her
920 Ysisters. H er name is M orgen, and she has learned die uses o f all
plants in curing the ills o f the body. She knows, too, the art o f
changing her shape, o f flying through the air, like Daedalus, on
strange wings. A t w ill, she is now at Brest, now at Chartres, now at
Pavia; and at w ill she glides down from the sky on to your shores.
‘ T hey say she had taught astrology to her sisters— M oronoe,

906 Atilis C V , Tiles J J P , At Tylos F.

913 germine C V , F, gramme J J P ; praetenso F .
915 viuiter C V , vivitur F (and, sc., J J P tr., though not noted).
925 nostris B , M i, F ; labitur terris Lot. Black printed horis in his text, with the
footnote, 'Id est oris’, which was explanatory not emendatory.
102 VITA M ERLINI

Tyronoe, Thiten cithara notissima Thiten.

Illuc post bellum Cam blani vulnere lesum
930 duximus Arcturum nos conducente Barintho,
equora cui fuerant et celi sydera nota.
Hoc rectore ratis cum principe venimus illuc,
et nos quo decuit M orgen suscepit honore,
inque suis talamis posuit super aurea regem
935 fulcra m anuque sibi detexit vulnus honesta
inspexitque diu, tandemque redire salutem
posse sibi dixit, si secum tempore longo
esset et ipsius vellet medicamine fungi.
Gaudentes igitur regem commisimus illi
940 et dedimus ventis redeundo vela secundis.*
H Tunc M erlinus ad hec ait, ‘ O dilecte sodalis,
postmodo quanta tulit violato federe regnum
ut modo quod fuerat non sit. Nam sorte sinistra
subducti proceres ac in sua viscera versi
945 omnia turbarunt ut copia dividarum
fugerit ex patria bonitasque recesserit omnis,
et desolati vacuent sua m enia cives.
Insuper incum bit gens Saxona m arte feroci,
que nos et nostras iterum crudeliter urbes
950 subvertit legemque D ei violabit et edes.
Nempe Deus nobis ut corrigat insipientes
has patitur clades ob crim ina nostra venire.’
T[ Nondum desierat cum talia protulit alter.
‘ Ergo necesse foret populo transmittere quemdam
955 et mandare duci festina nave redire,
si jam convaluit, solitis ut viribus hostes
arceat et cives antiqua pace reformet.*
H ‘ N on,’ M erlinus ait, 'n on sic gens illa recedet
u t semel in nostris ungues infixerit ortis.
960 Regnum namque prius populosque ju gabit et urbes

928 Tirone Vmq.

930 Arturum Leland, Vmq, F; Baritui» Leland, Bcayntho Vmq.
933 Morgan Leland, Morgan Price.
935 Stulta CVffidcra Leland, Fulckra Price, Strata B , M i, Vmq, J J P tr, F; honestum
J J P . Parry (p. 9 n) later thought Price quite probably had the right reading. H e
reported Leland’s reading (EETS edition) wrongly as Fulckra.
941 C l. begins again.
942 PP begins again; PostinQs T ; regna tulit T ; federe reguA H , R , J.
946 om. T ; ex priA a C V , ex patria H , C l, B , M i, J J P tr, F.
947 desolari u acu an tj.
 L I F E OF M E R L I N IO 3

M azoe, Güten, G litonea, G liton, Tyronoe, and Thiten,— Thiten,

famous for her lyre.. " <
930 ‘ It was there we took A rthur after the battle o f Cam lan, where he
had been wounded. Barinthus was the steersman because o f his
knowledge o f the seas and the stars o f heaven. W ith him at the tiller
o f the ship, we arrived there w ith the prince; and M orgen received
us with due honour. She put the king in her cham ber on a golden
bed, uncovered his wound with her noble hand and looked long at
it. A t length she said he could be cured if only he stayed w ith her a
long while and accepted her treatment. W e therefore happily
committed the king to her care and spread our sails to favourable
940 winds on our return journey.*
T o this M erlinrepUed: ‘ M y dearest friend— how great a burden
has the kingdom borne since then, with the pact broken, so that it is
not w hat it once was. Through unhappy circumstances the nobles
have been led aw ay and turned to rend each other’s vitals. They
upset everything, and so prosperity has left the country: all goodness
has gone. Those who Uve in the cities w ill abandon their walls in
despair. For the Saxon, warlike and ferocious, descends on us,
950 savagely overthrows our cities and ourselves once more, and w ill
violate G od’s law and his house. Indeed, God suffers this disaster
to come upon us because o f our crimes, as a punishment for our
f^lly.’
/ H e had not finished speaking before TaHesin broke in: ‘ Then
( the people must send someone to call on our leader to return in a
>fast ship. I f he has recovered, he can exercise his old vigour to fend
o ff the enemy and re-establish the nation in its old state o f peace.’
‘ N o,’ M erlin replied. ‘ This is not the w ay the invader w ill leave,
960 once he has fixed his talons in our land. Before that time comes, he

948 incufnbunt PP; saxona marte nephando PP, saxona marce C l, Saxona marie
B , M i, F . Parry: ‘ Saxon people, fierce in w ar’.
94g Q ui R , J , T ; vos ët vëstras R , nos ci vëstras T .
950 Subuertet H, R ; uiolauit J, T .
951 Ha begins again; cerissat Ha.
953-7 om. PP, Ha.
959 in uëstris C V , F , in nfistris H, J, T , C l, semell nostris H a; in ortis vngues R ,
B , footnote, ‘ Leg. hortis vel oris' (but he printed ortis), oris Gfr, J J P tr. The last,
attributing oris to B , added, ‘ or possibly ortis, a word used in a similar sense in the
Historia’.
960-6 om. Ha.
104 VIT A M ER LIN I

viribus atque suis multis dom inabitur annis.

Tres tamen ex nostris m agna virtute resistent,
et multos periment et eos in fine domabunt.
Set non perficient quia sic sententia summi
965 judicis existit, Britones ut nobile regnum
temporibus multis am ittant debilitate,
donec ab Arm orica veniet temone Conanus
et Cadualadrus Cam brorum dux venerandus,
qui pariter Scotos Cam bras et Comubienses
970 Armoricosque viros sociabunt federe firmo
amissumque suis reddent diadem a colonis,
hostibus expulsis renovato tempore Bruti,
tractabuntque suas sacratis legibus turbes.
Incipient reges iterum superare remotos
975 et sua regna sibi certam ine subdere forti.*
f ‘ Nemo superstes erit tunc ex hiis qui modo vivunt,’
Telgesinus ait, ‘ nec tot fera prelia quemquam
inter concives quot te vidisse putamus.*
'S ic equidem ,’ M erlinus ait, ‘ nam tempore m ulto
980 vixi m ulta videns et de nostratibus in se
et de barbarica turbanti singula gente.
Crim en quod memini cum Constans proditus esset
et defugissent parvi trans equora fratres
U ter et Ambrosius. Ceperunt ilico bella
985 per regnum fieri, quod tunc rectore carebat.
Vortigernus enim consul Gewissus in omnes
agm ina ducebat patrias ut duceret illas,
ledens innocuos miseranda clade colonos.
Denique vi subita rapuit diadem a peremptis
990 nobilibus multis et regni cuncta subegit.
Ast hii qui fuerant cognato sanguine juncti
fratibus id graviter tolerantes, igne crem are
ceperunt cunctas infausti principis urbes

964 pföfident PP.

965 dracones yt C l; ëï nobile T .
966 amittent C l.
967 annonico T , armonice H a, Armorica Vmq; ueniat PP, H a; themone J ;
conamûs J.
968 om. T ; cadwaldrus J, H a; Cadvaladrus F; kambrorûA C l; dum C V , dux B ,
S M ,3 J P tr ,F .
969 cufibros PP, M i.
970 sociabit C l.
972 bruti om. T .
974 Indpient PP, Ha, B , M i, J J P tr, F; qüë greges T .
 L IF E OF M ERLIN IO 5

w ill have conquered our kingdom and our people and our cities, and
kept them under by force o f arms for m any years. Three o f our men
w ill resist w ith great bravery, however; they w ill kill m any o f the
invaders and in the end overcome them. But they w ill not complete
their task. It is the w ill o f the most high Judge that the British shall
be without their kingdom for m any years and rem ain weak, until
Conan in his chariot arrive from Brittany, and that revered leader
o f the W elsh, Cadwalader.
‘ T h ey w ill create an alliance, a firm league o f the Scots, the W elsh,
970 the Cornish and the men o f Brittany. Then they w ill restore to the
natives the crown that had been lost. H ie enemy w ill be driven out
and the time o f Brutus w ill be back once more. T he natives w ill
administer their own cities by the tim e-hallowed laws. T h ey w ill
once again undertake the subjection o f distant kings and make a
vigorous effort to bring these kingdoms under their sw ay.’
‘ None w ill then be left o f those who are now alive,’ said Taliesin,
977 'an d I think there is no-one who has seen more savage civil wars
than you.’
M erlin said, ‘ Indeed, that is the truth. For I have lived long and
980 seen m uch - our own folk turning on one another, and the chaos the
barbarian brings.
‘ The greatest crim e I remember is the betraying o f Constans and
the flight o f his two small brothers, U ther and Ambrosius. A t once
the kingdon was enveloped in w ar for lack o f a leader. V ortigern,
governor o f Gwent, began leading out his forces against all regions
in an effort to win the leadership over them, and he inflicted misery
and destruction on the innocent population. A t length he seized the
crown in a sudden attack, killed m any o f the nobility and forced the
990 submission o f the whole o f the kingdom.
‘ But the blood-relatives o f the brothers began, in high resentment
at this, to put all the cities o f this ill-omened prince to the flame and

975 The fragment o f Ha ends here, but has three lines not in other M SS:
‘ falsi pfôdent viri capti tunc redimentur
Actus nec fari valet homo pfêmeditari
Occumbet deno lustro Cursu quoqüé sexto’
976-1135 om. PP.
981 The fragment o f CS ends, followed by
‘ Expliciunt vêfsus M êflini’.
987 priAas C V , patrias B , M i, Vmq, J J P tr, F; subderet illas B , F . ‘ duceret’ may
be suspicious on general grounds, and ‘ subderet’ a likely alternative, but there is
no positive reason for change.
 I06 VITA MERLINI

et turbare suum crudeli m ilite regnum,

995 nec permiserunt illum cum pace potiri.
Anxius ergo manens cum non obstare rebelli
quivisset populo, parat invitare remotos
ad sua bella viros quibus obvius iret in hostes.
M ox ex diversis venerunt partibus orbis
iooo pugnaces turme, quas excipiebat honore.
Saxona gens etiam curvis advecta carinis
ejus ad obsequium galeato m ilite venit.
H uic duo prefuerant audaci pectore fratres
Horsus et Hengistus qui prodicione nefanda
1005 postmodo leserunt populos lesereque urbes.
Postquam namque ducem famulatus sedulitate
attraxere sibi, cives quoque lite propinqua
viderunt motos leviter quo subdere regem
possent, in populos verterunt arm a feroces,
1010 ruperuntque fidem proceres quoque prem editata
fraude necaverunt sedentes ferme vocatos
insimul ut pacem secum fedusque jugarent,
truseruntque ducem nivei trans ardua montis.
Q ue sibi de regno cepi cantare futura.
1015 Inde domos patrie peragrantes igne crem abant
et nitebantur sibimet submittere cuncta.
A t Vortim erus, cum tanta pericula regni
expulsumque patrem Bruti vidisset ab aula,
assensu populi sumpsit diadem a feramque
1020 invasit gentem concives dilaniantem ,
atque coegit eam per plurim a bella redire
in Thanatum , qua classis erat que vexerat illam .
Set dum diffugerent bellator corruit Horsus
et plures alii nostris perimentibus illos.
1025 Inde secutus eos circum dedit obsidione
ilico rex Thanatum terraque m arique resistens.

996 abstare M i.
1000 Pugnatos C V , pugnaces B , M i, J J P tr, F.
1003 Hinc C V , Huic B , M i, J J P tr, F.
1004 prodicioe or prodicone C V , proditione B , M i, J J P tr, F .
1005 lesere quod C V , laesereque B , M i, J J P tr, F . Black’s emendation produces
sense and a hiatus.
1006 famûlatüs C V , famulantes or famulatum B , (famulantes J J P tr, F ), famulati (?)
BC. Black and Parry took famulare as an active verb meaning ‘ to serve’ (Parry:
‘ serving the king’) instead o f ‘ to use as a servant’ ; the following sedulitate would
 L IF E OF M ER LIN 10 7

to harry his kingdom with their fierce armies: they allowed him no
chance o f peaceable possession. Disturbed by his inability to deal
w ith die rebellion, he arranged to bring men from afar into his
fighting force to enable him to emerge to meet his enemies.
‘ Soon bands o f fighting men arrived from all over the world and
1000 he welcomed them. In particular, the Saxons sailed in in curved ships
and brought their helmeted troops to his service.
‘ Their leaders were two aggressive brothers, Horsa and Hengist,
who later did great dam age to the nation and its cities by their black
treachery. For they won over the prince by obsequious service; and
so, when the nation was next stirred up over a quarrel, they were
easily able to overpower the king, and they then viciously turned their
1010 forces against the people. T h ey broke their word when they killed by
calculated deceit the nobles as they sat assembled together to make a
peace treaty w ith them. T h ey drove the prince across the snowy
m ountain heights. This was the future o f the kingdom as I had
begun to prophesy it to him.
‘ A fter this the Saxons went about firing the homes o f the people
and attem pting the com plete subjugation o f the country. But
Vortim er saw the great danger the kingdom was in and the expulsion
o f his father from the palace o f Brutus. H e took the crown with the
1020 people's approval, and attacked the savage tribe which was crushing
them. A fter m any clashes he forced the Saxons to retreat into
Thanet, where the fleet that had brought them was lying. But in
their flight the war-lord Horsa and m any others m et their deaths at
the hands o f our men. T he king pursued them and besieged them in

block the latter meaning, apart from the context, famulati would give the likely
sense and remain close to the M S, where the ending is abbreviated; but C V ’s
reading has been left and famulatus taken as a genitive.
1010 prêmeditatos C V , praemeditata B , J J P tr, F .
1015 prüfte C V , patriae B , M i, F , patrie J J P .
1017 causa pericula C V , tanta pericula B , M i, J J P tr, F .
1022 vexarat C V , vexerat B , M i, J J P tr, F .
1026 tanathum C V , F , Thematum J J P ', tëfra qüS C V , ‘ que* om. B , M i.
 io 8 VITA MERLINI

Set non prevaluit, subito nam classe potiti

vi m agna fecere viam , ductique per equor
exegere suam festino remige terram.
1030^ Ergo trium phato bellis victricibus hoste
fit Vortim erus rector venerandus in orbe
attrectando suum justo moderamine regnum.
Set soror Hengisd successus Renua tales
indignando ferens protectaque fraude venenum
1035 miscuit, existens pro fratre m aligna noverca,
et dedit ut biberet fecitque perire bibentem.
Confestimque suo m andavit trans freta fratri
ut remearet item cum tot tantisque catervis
quot sibi pugnaces posset submittere cives.
1040 Sic igitur fecit, nam tantus in agm ina nostra
venit ut eriperet cunctis sua predia pregnans,
et loca per patrias penitus com bureret igne.
Hec ita dum fierent, in finibus Arm oricanis
U ter et Ambrosius fuerant cum rege Budico.
1045 Jam gladio fiunt cincti belloque probati,
et sibi diversas sociabant undique turmas
ut peterent natale solum gentesque fugarent
quae tunc instabant patriam vastare paternam.
Ergo dedere suas ventoque marique carinas
1050 presidioque suis concivibus applicuerunt.
Nam Vortigernum per Cam brica regna fugatum
inclusumque sua pariter cum turre cremarunt.
Enses inde suos vertere recenter in Anglos
congressique simul vincebant sepius illos
1055 et vice transversa devincebantur ab illis.
Denique consertis magno conamine dextris
instant nostrates, et ledunt acriter hostes
Hengistumque necant Christoque volente trium phant,
f Hiis igitur gestis cleri populique favore
1060 Ambrosio regnumque datur regnique corona,
postmodo quam gessit tractando singula juste.
Emensis autem per lustra quaterna diebus,
proditur a m edico m oriturque bibendo venenum.
M ox germanus ei successit junior U ter,
1065 nec primum potuit regnum cum pace tueri.

1041 pugnans F .
1044 Biduco C V , Budico F .
1045 cuncti C V , cincti B , J J P tr, F.
 L IF E OF M ERLIN IO 9

Thanet by land and from the sea. H e was unsuccessful, however,

because the Saxons suddenly seized possession o f their fleet, broke
out in a violent sortie and m ade their w ay across the ocean and very
quickly regained their own land.
1030 ‘ Vortim er gained a world-wide reputation for him self as a ruler
after his defeat o f the enemy in this victorious cam paign; and he ran
the adm inistration o f his own kingdom with measured restraint.
‘ But Hengist’s sister Renua could not accept his success and
burned w ith indignation. Concern for her brother turned her into
a vindictive stepmother. She concocted a poison under cover o f
deceit, gave it to Vortim er to drink and so caused his death. She
prom ptly sent word overseas to her brother to come back with
sufficiently large forces to overcome our warrior people. This, then,
1040 he did; and so great were his forces that he was able to grow fat on
the loot he took from all and sundry; and he went about burning
throughout the land.
‘ Through all this U ther and Ambrosius were in Brittany with
K in g Budic: they had now taken to arms and were proved in war.
T h ey had gathered round them troops o f varied origins for an
expedition to their native land, to put to flight the hordes now
intent on wasting the country o f their father.
‘ So they committed their ships to wind and tide and landed to
1050 protect their fellow-citizens. T h ey drove V ortigem in flight through
the kingdom o f W ales, cornered him and burned him and his tower
together.
'T h e y at once turned their swords on the Angles: they met them
m any times in battle and beat them often, but on the other hand
they often suffered defeat b y them. Finally, during a hand-to-hand
encounter, our men m ade a great effort in an attack which inflicted
severe losses on the enemy. T hey killed Hengist, and by Christ's
w ill they triumphed.
'A fter these events, clergy and people approved the presentation
1060 o f the kingdom and its crown to Ambrosius. His reign was marked
by consistent fairness o f administration, but after four lustrums had
passed he became the victim o f his doctor’s treachery and died
through drinking poison.
‘ His younger brother U ther succeeded him. A t first he was un­
able to m aintain the peace o f the realm ; for the unscrupulous tribe

1048 Quod G V, quae B , M i, J J P tr, F; priiîiam C V , patriam B , M i, J J P tr, F .

1049 uento qüê C V , 'q u e ’ om. B , M i.
1056 consortis G V, consertis GJr, SM , J J P tr, F .
 IIO VITA MERLINI

Perfida gens etenim demum consueta redire

venerat et solita vastabat cuncta phalange.
O ppugnavit eam sevis congressibus U ter,
et pepulit victam trans equora rem ige verso.
1070 M ox reform avit posito certam ine pacem
progenuitque sibi natum qui postmodo talis
extitit ut nulli fieret probitate secundus.
Arturus sibi nomen erat regnumque per annos
optinuit multos postquam pater U ter obivit,
1075 idque dolore gravi gestum fuit atque labore
et nece multorum per plurim a bella virorum .
Nam dum predictus princeps langueret, ab A ngla
venerat infidus populus cunctasque per enses
trans Humbrum patrias submiserat ac regiones.
1080 E t puer Arturus fuerat nec debilitate
e tatis poterat tantas compescere turmas.
Ergo consilio cleri populique recepto
Arm orico regi mittens m andavit Hoelo
ut sibi presidio festina classe rediret.
1085 Sanguis enim communis eos sociabat amorque
alter ut alterius deberet dam pna levare.
M ox igitur collegit Hoel ad bella feroces
circum quaque viros et multis milibus ad nos
venit, et A rturo sociatus perculit hostes
1090 sepius agrediens, et stragem fecit acerbam .
H oc socio securus erat fortisque per omnes
Arturus turmas dum progrederetur in hostes,
quos tandem vicit patriam que redire coegit,
composuitque suum legum moderamine regnum.
1095 M ox quoque submisit post hec certam ina Scotos
ac Hibemenses, convertens bella, feroces.
Supposuit patrias illatis viribus omnes,
et.Norwegenses trans equora lata remotos
subdidit et Dacos invisa classe petitos.
1100 Gallorum populos ceso Frollone subegit,
cui curam patrie dederat Rom ana potestas.
Romanos etiam bello sua regna petentes
obpugnans vicit, procuratore perempto
1075 gestum om. B .
1078 populos G V (misprint?), populus B, F . J J P tr translates as if the reading
were populus but makes no note.
1079 periones C V , repones J J P , F .
1083 Hoeli G V, Hœlo Vmq, J J P tr, F.
 L IF E OF M ERLIN III

o f Saxons, who were now always likely to return, came in their

usual hordes and caused general devastation. U ther fought them in
a number o f savage encounters, beat them and drove them out : their
ships took them back across the ocean. Soon the cam paign was over
1070 and he had established peace. H e had a son born to him who later
became a great man and second to none in worth. His name was
Arthur, and he held the kingdom for m any years after his
father U ther had died. This cost much toil and great distress and
the death o f m any men in numerous campaigns. For a pagan people
came from A ngla at a time when the prince U ther lay ill; and they
conquered by the sword all the territories o f our native land that lie
beyond the Humber.
1080 'A rth u r was a boy, and in his youthful inexperience he was un­
able to check these great forces. He took the advice he had from
both the clergy and the people and sent word to H oel, king o f
Brittany, with a request that he would come to his support in a fast
fleet. Common blood and affection were the ties between them,
which put each under an obligation to support the other in trouble.
'H oel soon gathered fighting men from all parts for the cam paign
and brought m any thousands with him over to us. He joined forces
1090 with A rthur, broke the enemy by continual attack and inflicted
terrible losses on them. His help gave A rthur confidence and power
in handling all his troops when he took the offensive against the
enemy. A t last he defeated them and forced them back to their own
country. Then he settled his own kingdom through the moderation
o f his laws.
'Soon after this struggle he subdued the Scots and, changing die
direction o f his cam paign, the war-like Irish. H e overcam e all
nations in the expeditions he led. He brought into subjection both
the Norwegians who lived far across the broad seas and the Danes
whom he sought out with his dreaded fleet.
1100 'H e brought the people o f France under his rule after killing
Frollo, to whose care the country had been committed by those in
power at Rom e. He even fought and defeated the Romans them­
selves when they were preparing a cam paign against his kingdom.

1089 pertulit C V , perculit B , M i, J J P tr, F.

1096 Ac C V , Atque F .
1 101 prüfte CSV, patriae B , M i, patrie J J P .
 1 12 VITA M ERLINI

Hyberio Lucio, qui tunc collega Leonis

1105 induperatoris fuerat jussuque senatus
venerat ut fines Gallorum demeret illi,
f Ceperat interea nostrum sibi subdere regnum
infidus custos M odredus desipiensque
illicitam venerem cum conjuge regis agebat.
1 1 10 R ex etenim transire volens, ut fertur, in hostes,
reginam regnumque suum commiserat illi.
Ast ut fam a m ali tanti sibi venit ad aures,
distulit hanc belli curam patriam que revertens
applicuit multis cum milibus atque nepotem
1 1 15 obpugnans pepulit trans equora diffugientem.
Illic collectis vir plenus prodicione
undique Saxonibus cepit committere pugnam
cum duce, set cecidit deceptus gente prophana
in qua confisus tantos inceperat actus.
1120 O quantas hominum strages matrumque dolores
quarum conciderant illic per prelia nati!
Illic rex etiam letali vulnere lesus
deseruit regnum, tecum que per equora vectus,
ut predixisti, nimpharum venit ad aulam.
1125 Ilico M odredi duo nati regna volentes
subdere quisque ceperunt bella movere
altem aque suos prosternere cede propinquos.
Deinde nepos regis dux Constantinus in illos
acriter insurgens populos laniavit et urbes,
1 130 prostratisque simul crudeli morte duobus
ju ra dedit populo regni diadem ate sumpto.
Nec cum pace fuit quoniam cognatus in illum
prelia dira movens violavit cuncta Conanus
proripuitque sibi regiones rege perempto,
1135 quas nunc debiliter nec cum ratione gubernat.’

f H ec illo dicente cito venere clientes

et dixere sibi fontem sub montibus illis
erupisse novum laticesque refundere puros,
qui jam manantes longe per concava vallis
1140 girabant saltus refluo cum murmure lapsu.
M ox igitur spectare novum consurgit uterque
festinus fontem visoque resedit in herba
1104 Hybero C V , Tiberio B , SM , Tyberio M i, H iberioJJP, F , Hyberio B C ; collega­
que Legnis C V , collega Leonis F. Black and San M arte referred to texts o f the
Historia as then known. But Lucius Hiberius is the name in respectable M SS such as
 L IF E OF M ER LIN M3
H e killed the procurator Lucius Hiberius, who had become the
colleague o f Em peror Leo and had come on the Senate’s orders to
bring the French territories back under its authority.
^ - ‘.During this time the faithless and foolhardy guardian o f our
/ realm , M odred, had begun to take over the kingdom and to carry
on an unlawful love affair with the king’s wife. T he king, it is said,
m o : had entrusted the kingdom and the queen to M odred’s care when
J about to leave on a cam paign against his enemies overseas. W hen the
report o f this great crim e reached his ears, he gave up his intended
cam paign and returned home, landing w ith m any thousands o f men.
H e attacked his nephew and drove him abroad in flight. There this
m an o f treachery gathered Saxon troops from all quarters and began
a battle against his prince. But he was tricked by the evil race on
whom he had relied in his large enterprise, and he was killed.
1120 *How great was the slaughter o f men and the sorrowing o f mothers
whose sons had feilen in battle there!
‘ O n that field also the king was m ortally wounded and left the
kingdom. As you have described, he sailed with you over the water
and cam e to the palace o f the nymphs.
‘ Each o f the two sons o f M odred intended to seize the kingdom
for himself: so they fought, and each in turn murdered his near kin.
Then the king’s nephew, Prince Constantine, rebelled violently
against them, and harried their supporters and their cities ; and when
1130 they were brought low and had both m et a harsh death, he assumed
the crown and took over the management o f the nation. His peace
did not last; for his kinsman Conan organised a form idable cam ­
paign against him. Conan caused general destruction, killed the
king and seized the territories over which he now exercises a weak
and witless control.’

1136 As he was speaking, retainers rushed up and told him that a new
spring had broken out at the foot o f the nearby m ountain and that
streams o f pure water were already gushing out, running far down
1 140 the hollow o f the valley and swirling noisily as they rippled on their
w ay across the pastures.
T h ey both rose im m ediately to go and see this new spring as soon
Faral's. Parry quoted Nicholson (1906) to the effect that the weight o f M S evidence
supported Hiberius as the proper HRB form: see Text. Comm., 590-5. Faral’s
emendation o f the end of the line to collega Lamis not only makes a smoother
sentence but refers back to the emperor Leo who is associated with Lucius Hiberius
in the French campaign of 10 .6 (cf. 9 .1 1 , 10 .11 -d e a th o f L e o -a n d 1 1 .1 ).
1 108 iustos C V , custos M i, J J P tr, F .
1 113 priihamqüê C V , patriamque B , M i, J J P tr, F .
1136 PP begins again. Hoc illo C V , F , Hec iüo PP, B , M i, J J P tr.
1142 om. T .
8 CLX
 114 VITA MERLINI

M erlinus laudatque locum limphasque fluentes,

et m iratur eas de cespite taliter ortas.
1145 M oxque siti captus se proclinavit in amnes
potavitque libens et tem pora proluit unda,
utque per internos alvi stomachique meatus
humor iit laticis subsedavitque vaporem
corporis interni, confestim mente recepta
1150 sese cognovit, rabiem quoque perdidit omnem,
et qui torpuerat per longum tempus in illo
sensus item rediit mansitque quod ante m anebat,
sanus et incolumis rursus ratione recepta,
f Ergo deum laudans vultus ad sidera tollit
1 155 edidit et voces devoto fam ine tales.
*O rex siderei quo constat m achina celi,
quo mare quo tellus leto cum germine fetus
dantque foventque suos crebroque juvam ine prosunt
humano generi profusa fertilitate,
1160 quo sensus rediit mentisque revanuit error!
Raptus eram m ichimet quasi spiritus acta sciebam
preteriti populi predicebam que futura.
Tunc rerum secreta sciens volucrum que volatus
stellarumque vagos motus lapsusque natantum ,
1165 id me vexabat naturalem que negabat
humane menti districta lege quietem.
Nunc in me redii videorque vigore moveri
quo vegetare meos animus consueverat artus.
Ergo, summe pater, tibi sic obnoxius esse
1170 debeo, condignas ut digno pectore laudes
dicam semper agens letus libam ina leta.
Bis etenim tua larga manus michi profuit uni
munere dando novum viridi de cespite fontem.
Nam modo possideo latices quibus ante carebam
1175 et reducem capitis sumpsi potando salutem.
U Ista set unde venit vis, o dilecte sodalis,
ut fons iste novus sic effluit atque reformet
me m ichi qui fueram quasi vecors hactenus ex m e?’
K Telgesinus ait, *Rerum m oderator opimus
1145 sui raptus H , siti raptus R , situ raptus J, T ; ad ampnes T .
1 146 timpora H , tympana R .
1 148 om. T .
1 155 famine laudis PP.
1 156 siderea C V , F , siderei J J P .
1157 germine C V , F , gramine B , M i, J J P tr.
 LIF E OF M ERLIN !,5
as possible. M erlin sat down again on the grass when he had seen it
and admired the place with its flow o f clear water, much taken with
the w ay it rose from out o f the soil. A fter a while he felt thirsty and
bent over the stream: he drank freely and bathed his temples in the
water. As the liquid passed through the internal passages o f stomach
and bowels and settled the humours o f his system, he suddenly
1 150 recovered his m ental balance and cam e to himself, losing all trace
o f madness. Feeling long dorm ant in him returned also; he became
and remained the same man as he had been before— healthy and
whole once more, now that his reason was restored.
H e lifted his face towards the heavens in praise o f God and pro­
claim ed his praise aloud in this devout address:
‘ O king, by whom the frame o f the starry sky stands established;
through whom the earth with happy seed and the sea give forth and
cherish their children and provide for man repeatedly out o f their
1 160 abundant fertility; by whose aid feeling has returned to me and the
error o f m y mind has vanished!
*I was taken out o f m y true self, 1 was as a spirit and knew the
history o f people long past and could foretell the future. I knew then
the secrets o f nature, bird flight, star wanderings and the w ay fish
glide. This distressed me and, by a hard law , deprived me o f the
rest that is natural to the human mind. Now I am m yself again, and
I feel strong in me that life with which m y spirit had always filled
m y limbs.
‘ So, father on high, for this I should be gratefully obedient to you,
1170 to proclaim your full praises from a full heart, happily bringing m y
happy offerings. D oubly has your generous hand brought aid to me
especially, in giving me a new spring from out o f the green earth.
Now I have the waters that I needed, and by m y drinking o f them
m y brain has regained its health once more.
‘ But, m y dear friend, whence comes the power that causes this
new spring to break out and bring me, insane and deranged as I have
been till now, back to m y own self?’
Said Taliesin: *The bountiful D irector o f the universe divided

1 157-9 om. PP.

1162 concinnabaA PP, praedicebam quae Vmq.
1 166 om. PP.
1168 arctus C V , artus H , R , J , B , M i, J J P tr, F.
1168- 1286 om. T .
1 169- 1286 om. H , R , J.
1176 inde GV , unde F (and, J J P tr) ; bis C V , vis B , M i, J J P tr, F.
8-a
 Il6 VITA M E R L IN I

1 180 flum ina per species divisit et addidit ultro

cuique suas vires ut prosint sepius egris.
Sunt etenim fontes fluviique lacusque per orbem
qui virtute sua multis et sepe medentur.
A lbula namque rapax Rom e fluit amne salubri,
1 185 quem sanare ferunt certo m edicamine vulnus,
f M anat in Italia fons alter qui Ciceronis
dicitur. H ic oculos ex omni vulnere curat.
1 Ethiopes etiam stagnum perhibentur habere
quo velut ex oleo facies perfusa nitescit.
1 1 9 0 Affrica fert fontem qui vulgo Zem a vocatur.
Potus dat voces subita virtute canoras.
U D at lacus Italie [dictonus] tedia vini.
Q u i de fonte Chios potant perhibentur hebere,
f Fertur habere duos tellus Beotica fontes.
1195 H ic facit inmemores, memores facit ille bibentes.
Continet ipsa lacum tam dira peste nocivum
ut generet furias nimieque libidinis estum.
f Fons Cyzicus venerem venerisque repellit amorem,
f Cam pana regione fluunt, ut dicitur, amnes
1200 qui faciunt steriles fecundas flumine poto.
Idem dicuntur furias abolere virorum .
Ethiopum tellus fert rubro flum ine fontem.
Q ui bibit ex illo lim phaticus inde redibit.
1f Fons Leinus fieri numquam perm ittit abortum.
1205 Sunt duo Sycilie fontes, steriles facit alter,
alter fecundans geniali lege puellas.
Flum ina Thessalie duo sunt virtutis opime.
H oc potans nigrescit ovis, candescit ab illo,
ast ab utroque bibens variato vellere degit.
1 2 10 I Clitum nus lacus est quem continet U m brica tellus.
H ic aliquando boves fertur producere magnos,
inque R eatina fit equorum dura palude
ungula confestim dum progrediuntur arenas.
1 Asphaltite lacu Judee corpora mergi

1 181 Cumqüë C V , Cuique B , M i, J J P tor, F .

1 190 Africa Gfr; zema C V , F , Zama J J P .
1 192 dictonus C V , Clitorius J J P . The emendation does not scan; the name was
Clitörlus in Ovid, and the last syllable here is lengthened by tedia. Perhaps
Geoffrey made the name a trisyllable by lengthening the middle (Clitöriüs), which
would serve.
1193 habere C V , hebere J J P , F . Black and M ichel accepted C V ’s habere and
thought a verse or more was missing. Parry’s correction is confirmed by Isidore’s
 L IF E OF M ER LIN II7

1 180 flowing waters into types and then allotted to each type its particular
powers as a regular benefit for the sick.
‘ There are springs, rivers and lakes all over the world which
constantly provide relief for m any through their special properties.
T he health-giving waters o f the fast-flowing Tiber run through
Rom e: men say they are a sure treatm ent to heal a wound. Another
Italian source is called Cicero's Spring. This heals all kinds o f dam age
to the eye.
‘ T he Ethiopians also are believed to have a pool which glistens like
1 190 oil when poured over the face. A frica has a spring usually known as
Zenur. drinking from it gives the voice an immediate sweetness o f
tone.
‘ Lake Clitorius in Italy makes one tired o f wine. Those who drink
from the spring Chios are said to grow dull. T he land o f Boeotia is
said to have two springs, drinking from one o f which makes people
forgetful : the other makes them remember. This same country
contains a lake o f such terrible potency that it produces mad rage
and an excessive lust. T he spring o f Cyzicus suppresses sexual activity
and the desire for it.
‘ In the country o f Campania, it is said, flow rivers which make
1200 barren women fertile on their drinking from the stream. These rivers
are also said to abate mad rages in men. T he land o f the Ethiopians
has a spring w ith red waters. W hoever drinks o f it w ill come back
raving. T h e spring Leinus always prevents miscarriages. Sicily has
two springs, the first o f which induces sterility; but the other has the
happy effect o f m aking girls fertile.
‘ T w o streams o f Thessaly have profound effects. A sheep drinking
from one o f them turns black: if it drinks from the other, white. I f it
drinks from both, it spends the rest o f its life with a m ottled fleece.
1210 ‘ T he lake Clitumnus is one found in the land o f U m bria: it is said
that it sometimes produces great oxen; and in the Reatine Marshes
horses’ hooves become suddenly hard as they make their w ay across
the sands. In the Asphalt Lake o f Judaea bodies cannot sink at all as

hebetesfiant', the Boeotian springs follow in Isidore as here, and there is no lacuna.
C f.N N C H IO S.
1 194 boetica C V , Beotica F .
1 195 immemores B , M i.
1 196 uotiuum C V , nocivum B , M i, J J P tr, F .
1198 syticus C V , Cyzicus J J P , F. (Emended after Isidore.)
1204 lentus C V , F , Leinus J J P .
1205 Sycilia SM , Siciliae F .
1214 A la id qüë C V , Asphaltite B , M i, J J P tr, F.
 Il8 VITA MERLINI

1215 nequaquam possunt vegetat dum spiritus illa.

IT A t contra stagnum Syden fert Indica tellus
quo res nulla natat set m ergitur ilico fundo.
H Et lacus est A loe quo res non m ergitur ulla,
omnia set fluitant quamvis sint plum bea saxa.
1220H Fons quoque M arside com pellit saxa natare.
Stix fluvius de rupe fuit perimetque bibentes.
Has clades ejus testatur [achadia] tellus,
f Fons Ydum eus quater inmutando diebus
m ira lege suos fertur variare colores.
1225 Pulverulentus enim viridisque fit ordine verso.
F it quoque sanguineus, fit limpidus amne decoro.
E x hiis per ternos unum retinere colorem
asseritur menses semper volventibus annis,
f Trogoditis lacus est, ejus quoque profluit unda,
1230 ter fit am ara die, ter dulci grata sapore.
H Epiri de fonte faces ardere feruntur
extincte rursusque suum deponere lumen.
1f Sic algere die perhibetur fons Garam antum
et vice transversa tota fervescere nocte,
1235 ut neget accessum pre frigore preque calore.
Sunt et aque calide multos fervore minantes
fervoremque trahunt dum perlabuntur alumen
aut sulphur quibus est vis ignea grata medendi.
His aliisque deus ditavit viribus amnes
1240 ut fierent egris subite m edicina salutis
et manifestarent quanta virtute creator
prem ineat rebus dum sic operatur in illis.
Hos etiam latices summa ratione salubres
esse reor subitamque reor conferre medelam
1245 nunc potuere novo sic erumpendo liquore.
H ii modo sub terra per concava ceca fluebant,
ut plures alii qui submanare feruntur.
Forsitan excursus illorum prepediente
obice vel saxi vel terre pondere lapse.
1250 Retrogradum cursum facientes arbitror illos

1216 sygen C V , F, Syden J J P . (Siden in Isidore.)

1220 maraidie C V , F (-iae), Marside J J P . (Isidore: Marsidaefons.)
1221 Styx Gfr; bidentes C V , bibentes SM , J J P tr, F .
1222 Hac M i; achadia C V , B , M i, F , Arcadia J J P . (See N N A C H A EA on this
line, ‘ achadia’ and all variants present difficulty.)
1223 Idumea J J P .
1225 Pulverilentus C V , Pulverulentus B , M i.
 L I F E OF M E R L I N "9

long as life remains in them. O n the other hand, there is the pool
Syden in the land o f India where things w ill not keep afloat but sink
at once into the depths. It is the Aloe lake where no thing sinks and
everything floats, even lumps o f lead. T he spring Marside also
1220 forces stones to swim.
(T h e river Styx flows out o f a rock and kills those who drink o f it:
Achaea is the witness o f such deaths.
'T h e spring o f Idumaea is said to change the colour o f its water four
times over a period, by a rem arkable arrangem ent. It has a sequence
o f m urky— then green— then blood-red; and it then turns into a
beautifully lim pid flow. Each o f these phases is said to keep its colour
for three months, year in year out.
'T h e Trogodytic lake is the one whose water comes out bitter
1230 three times a day, and three times w ith a pleasantly sweet taste.
‘ Torches which have gone out are said to catch light in the spring
o f Epirus and, conversely, to give up their light.
'T h e springs o f the Garamantes are said to be so cold by day, but
so hot all night by contrast, that it is not possible to get near on
account o f the cold or the heat. There are also warm waters whose
heat is a danger to m any people. These waters acquire their heat as
they pass through alum or sulphur: these two contain a principle o f
fire, a welcome property in treatment.
' God assigned to waters these and other properties to bring quick
1240 relief to the sick and to demonstrate the power and greatness o f the
Creator in nature, in working thus within it.
‘ I consider these waters here to be health-giving in the highest
degree, also, and, I consider, they were able to effect that sudden
cure ju st now because the new stream broke out in the following
w ay. Previously these waters were flowing underground through
lightless caverns, like very m any others which are said to run there
below. Perhaps their emergence is due to the presence o f an obstruc­
1250 tion, or a fall o f stones or earth; and I expect that they were finding

1229 Rogotis C V , F (‘ Déformation de Tröglödytis, métriquement impossible’),

Trogdytus J J P , Trogodiiis BC. (Isidore’s MSS have trogoditis, -ytis, and trocoditis.)
1232 componere J J P .
1233 Sic C V , Sed F .
1236 multaefervore manantes F.
1245 potuisse F .
 120 VITA MERLINI

paulatim penetrasse solum fontemque dedisse.

Sic plures m anare vides iterum que redire
sub terram rursusque suas tenuisse cavernas.’
Hec ita dum gererent, rumor discurrit ubique
1255 in Calidone novum silvis erumpere fontem
sanatumque virum , postquam potavit ab illo,
tempore qui m ulto rabie corruptus et isdem
extiterat silvis ritu vivendo ferarum.
M ox igitur venere duces proceresque videre
1260 et colletari curato flumine vati.
Cum que statum patrie per singula notificassent
atque rogaretur sua sceptra resumere rursus
et tractare suam solito moderamine gentem,
sic ait, ‘ O juvenes, mea non hoc exigit etas
1265 in senium vergens que sic m ichi corripit artus
ut vix preteream laxatis viribus arva.
Jam satis exegi longevo tempore letos
glorificando dies, michi dum rideret habundans
copia magnarum profuse dividarum .
2 70 ! Roboris annosi silva stat quercus in ista
quam sic exegit consumens cuncta vetustas
ut sibi deficiat succus penitusque putrescat.
H anc ego cum primum cepisset crescere vidi
et glandem de qua processit forte cadentem,
1275 dum super astaret picus ramumque videret.
H ic illam crevisse sua jam sponte videbam
singula prospiciens, tunc et verebar in istis
saltibus atque locum memori cum mente notavi.
Ergo diu vixi, mea me gravitate senectus
1280 detinuit dudum. Rursus regnare recuso.
M e Calidonis opes viridi sub fronde manentem
delectant pocius quam quas fert India gemme,
quam quod habere Tagus per littora dicitur aurum ,
quam segetes Sicule, quam dulcis M ethidis uve,
1285 aut celse turres, aut cincte menibus urbes
aut fraglascentes T irio m edicamine vestes.
Res m ichi nulla placet que me divellere possit
ex Calidone mea me judice semper amena.
1251 degisse M i.
1261 prime C V , patriae B , M i, patrie J J P .
1264 exigat B .
1276 suo iam pene sedebam C V , F (suo jam paene: 'T exte sans doute altéré,
que je ne sais comment rétablir.’), sua iam sponte videbam J J P . Parry's suggestion is
 L I F E OF M E R L I N 121

their w ay back to their proper course when they gradually seeped

through the soil and provided the spring. Y ou see m any which flow
out like that, to return underground and keep within their own
caverns once m ore.'
W hile they were thus engaged, the story was spreading every­
where about the new spring which had broken out in the woods o f
Calidon and about the man who had been cured after drinking
from it, though he had been deranged for a very long time and had
been living in these same woods like a w ild anim al.
Consequendy, chieftains and other leaders soon cam e to see and
1260 also to congratulate the prophet on being cured by the water. T hey
told him in detail how matters stood in the country; and he was
asked to resume his kingly position and continue his previous fair
adm inistration o f his people.
But he said, ‘ Young men, at m y time o f life this cannot be
demanded o f me. I am now reaching old age, and it so enfeebles m y
limbs that with m y slackened strength I can scarcely get across the
fields. I have by now enjoyed a sufficiently long and happy period
during which exceptional prosperity, with a liberal endowment o f
wealth, has smiled on me.
1270 ‘ There stands in that wood an oak, rugged and full o f years,
now so worn by the passing o f all-devouring tim e that its sap is
failing and it is rotting through. I saw this tree when it had just
begun to grow, and I saw the acorn from which it sprang as it
chanced to fall, while a woodpecker perched above it and watched
the branch. Here I have seen that acorn grow unaided, observing
every detail. I felt a deep respect for it standing there in the clearing,
and I marked the spot in m y memory.
‘ I have lived long, then, and by now the weight o f m y years has
1280 told on me. 1 w ill not reign again. W hile I rem ain under the green
leaves o f Calidon, its riches shall be m y delight— a greater delight
than the gems that India produces, or all the gold men say is found
along the banks o f the Tagus, or the corn o f Sicily, or the grapes o f
pleasant M ethis— more pleasing than high towers or w all-girt cities
or clothes redolent o f T yrian scents. Nothing can please me so,
nothing can tear me from m y Calidon, ever dear to me, I feel. Here

accepted here, but without strong conviction. He translates: 'I have seen it grow
o f its own acco rd .. Black thought lines 1275-6 quite corrupt.
1284 situle C V , Siculae B , M i, F , sicule J J P .
1287 PP begins again, me que diuellere H , J , me que deuellere R , T .
1288 A calidone PP, B .
 122 VITA M ER LIN I

H ic ero dum vivam pomis contentus et herbis,

1290 et mundabo meam pia per jejunia carnem
ut valeam fungi vita sine fine perhenni.’
f H ec dum dicebat proceres super ethera cernunt
agm ina longa gruum flexo per inane volatu
[ordine girantes per littora certa videre
1295 posset in exstructa liquido super aere turma.]
H ec adm irantes M erlinum dicere poscunt
quid certe fuerat quod tali more volarent.
1 M ox M erlinus eis, V o lu cres, ut cetera plura,
natura propria ditavit conditor orbis.
1300 Sic didici multis silvis habitando diebus.
U Est igitur natura gruum dum celsa pererrant,
si plures assint, ut earum sepe volatu
aut hanc aut aliam videamus inesse figuram.
U na modo clam ando monet servare volando,
1305 turbatus solitis ne discrepet ordo figuris,
cui dum raucescit subit altera deficienti.
Excubias noctis faciunt custosque lapillum
sustinet in digitis dum vult expellere sompnos,
cum que vident aliquos subito clam ore citantur.
1310 Penne nigrescunt cunctarum quando senescunt.
H Ast aquile, que nomen habent ab acumine visus,
obtuitus tanti pre cunctis esse feruntur
ut perferre queant non flexo lumine solem.
A d radium pullos suspendunt, scire volentes
1315 illo vitato ne degener exstet in illis.
In montis sublime manent super equora pennis
aspiciuntque suas im o sub gurgite predas.
Ilico descendunt rapido per inane volatu
et rapiunt pisces ut poscit origo natantis.
1289 Hic heroduA uiuaA J. •
1291 H, R , J, T end here, and C V is the only M S for the rest o f the poem. T has
the words, ‘ Am en.ffinis.Explicit.’ H, R , J continue with the Polychrom em text.
pSf enni J .
[ 1294-5] videri/possunt ex tructa J J P , videri /possunt, instructa F . Parry translates the
passage, ‘ . . .the chiefs caught sight o f long lines o f cranes in the air, circling
through space in a curved line in the shape of certain letters; they could be seen
in marshalled squadron in the limpid air.* He comments, ‘ The “ ordine litterato”
o f the corresponding passage in Isidore seems to require this meaning, although
how Geoffrey expressed it I cannot see.* Faral’s suggestion does not touch the
essential point about ‘ littera/littora’ . (He puts a colon before ordine and a comma
after possunt.) A similar solution with a break before ordine would be a construction
like, ‘ Ordine girant per quem littera certa videri / possit in exstructa, etc* A further
possibility is that littora occurred in 1294 and the copyist slipped to the word after
 L IF E OF M ERLIN 12 3

I w ill be while I live, happy w ith fruit and herbs: and I w ill purify
1290 m y flesh w ith pious fasting, to enable me to enjoy endless ever­
lasting life.'
W hile he was speaking, the chieftains caught sight o f long lines o f
cranes passing in a curving flight across the sky. [They circled in an
order by which a certain letter could be seen in the arrangem ent o f
the flock in the liquid air above.] In astonishment the chieftains
asked M erlin to tell them ju st w hy it was that the birds flew in this
manner.
A fter a moment M erlin said to them, ‘ T h e Creator o f the uni­
verse assigned to birds, as to m any other things, their own special
1300 nature: this I have learnt during the m any days o f m y life in the
woods. So, then, the nature o f cranes is such that if large numbers are
present during their flight, they dispose themselves, as we often see,
in one or another arrangem ent. T h e call o f one among them serves
to w arn them to keep the order o f flight and not to let the form ation
break up and disrupt the traditional figure. W hen that bird grows
hoarse and gives up, another one takes its place. T h ey keep watch
at night; and the sentinel bird holds a pebble in its claw to make
sure o f not falling asleep. W hen they see anybody, they rouse up
1310 with a sudden clam our. In all o f them the feathers turn black as
they age.
*Eagles, who get their name from their acute sight, are said to
have vision so much more powerful than all other birds that they are
capable o f staring at the sun without flinching. T h ey dangle their
young in its rays in order to find out (by the avoidance o f the
sunlight) whether there is one o f inferior constitution am ong them.
T h ey hover over water at m ountain-top height and spot their prey
in the deep under the surface. Then they im m ediately dive fast
through space and seize the fish, as accords w ith the nature o f fish.

littera in the next line, so dropping the end o f 1294 and the beginning o f the
unknown line.
1300 sylvas B . 1304 modum.. .volandi B .
1306 Aut dum C V , cui dum B , J J P tr (?), F.
1316 in montis sullime C V , sublimi B , sublime SM , immotis sublime F . B noted on
‘ sullime’ : ‘ sic pro sublimi: dicimus Anglicè “ mountain-high’V J J P tr (no note
o f which reading preferred) : ‘ over waters as high as the top o f a mountain’. F ’s
immotis takes sublimé as the adverb.
1317 Aspirant que C V , Aspiciuntque B , J J P tr, F; uno sub C V , imo sub B , M i,
J J P tr ,F .
1319 natantis C V (reported by F as ‘ patantis’), natantes M i, J J P tr, F . The
meaning is that being eaten by birds is part o f the natural order o f things for the
fish. M ichel’s emendation would mean that the natural law demands that fish be
caught while swimming, an improbable emphasis. The participle o f nato was used
from the time o f Virgil as a noun meaning fish: cf. VM 1164.
 I 24 VIT A M ER LIN I

1320IÏ Postposito coitu, sine semine sepe m ariti

concipit et generat, dictu m irabile, vultur.
H ec per celsa volans aquilarum more cadaver
naribus elatis longe trans equora sentit,
quod quamvis tardo non horret adire volatu
1325 ut sese valeat preda saciare cupita.
Idem centenis robustus vivit in annis,
f N untia veris avis crepitante ciconia rostro
dicta fovere suos in tantum sedula natos
exuat ut proprias nudato pectore plumas.
1330 H ec cum brum a venit fertur vitare procellas
et fines Asie ductu com icis adire.
Pascit eam pullus senio cum deficit etas
quod depavit eum cum debuit ipsa diebus.
Excedit volucres dulci modulamine cunctas
1335 cum m oritur cignus nautis gratissimus ales.
H unc in Hiperboreo perhibent accedere tractu
ad cantum cithare per littora forte sonantis,
f Strucio que ponit sub pulvere deserit ova
u t foveantur ibi dum negligat ipsa fovere.
1340 Inde creantur aves radio pro m atre cubante.
Tf A rdea cum pluvias tempestatesque perhorret
evolat ad nubes ut tanta pericula vitet.
H inc illam subitos dicunt portendere nimbos
sublimem quociens spectant super ethera naute.
13 4 5 I U nica semper avis divino munere phénix
in terris Arabum redivivo corpore surgit.
Cum que senescit, adit loca fervidiora calore
solis et ingentes ab aromate jungit acervos
componitque rogum quem crebris motibus ale
1350 succendit, ferturque super penitusque crem atur.
Producit volucrem pulvis de corpore facta,
et fit item phénix hac lege novata per evum.
N idificare volens fert cinnomon cinomolgus
edificatque suum procero robore nidum.
1355 Illinc pennatis homines abducere telis
moverunt cumulum soliti transmittere venum.
Alcion avis est que stagna m arina frequentat

1333 Quod CV, Quot F ; iam CV , cum J J P .

1338 Strucio CV , F , struthio B , Gjfr, J J P tr.
1339 negligit B , F .
1351 facto C V , fo eta B , M i, J J P tr, F .
 L IF E OF M ERLIN I 25

1320 ‘ T h e female vulture avoids intercourse and often (strange to tell)

conceives and produces young without fertilization by a mate. She
flies high, like the eagle, and with nostrils distended senses a corpse
far o ff across the sea. H er flight is slow, but not through revulsion,
as she goes over to it to fill herself on the prey that satisfies her. This
same bird lives to a hundred years in full vigour.
‘ T he stork's croaking voice is a messenger o f spring. This bird is
said to look after its young with such extrem e devotion that it strips
1330 its breast bare by pulling out the feathers. W hen winter comes, these
birds are said to avoid the storms by flying o ff to the shores o f Asia,
with a crow as guide. Its chick feeds it when it grows weak in age,
because it fed the chick at the period when it needed that care.
‘ T he swan surpasses all other birds in the sweetness o f its song
when it is dying. It is a bird much welcomed by sailors. M en say
that in the H yperborean region this bird w ill approach close, at the
sound o f a guitar happening to be played along the shore.
‘ T he ostrich deserts her eggs, but lays them under the sand so that
they m ay be looked after when she herself is no longer looking after
1340 them. So it happens that these birds are hatched b y the sun instead
o f by their mother.
‘ W hen the heron is afraid o f rains and tempests, it flies up into the
clouds to avoid such dangers. So when sailors see it flying high into
the sky they say it is a warning o f imminent rain-storms.
‘ In A rab lands the ever-unique phoenix rises with a renewed body,
by a divine dispensation. W hen it is growing old, it goes to a place
which has been heated up by the sun. There it makes a great heap
o f spices and builds a pyre which it kindles into flam e by rapidly
1350 fluttering its wings. It settles itself on top and is com pletely con­
sumed. T h e ash from its body creates a bird, and in this fashion the
phoenix is renewed for ever.
‘ T he cirmamolgus fetches cinnamon when it wants to nest, and it
builds its nest on a high trunk. M en set themselves to knock the heap
down from there w ith feathered projectiles, their custom being to
send it for sale.
‘ The halcyon is a bird which haunts sea-shore pools and builds its

1353 cinom cinomolgus CV , emnamum cinnamologus B , cinnamon M i, J J P tr,

cinnamon cinomolgus F .
1354 pro cero CV, procero B , Gfr, F , pro certo J J P .
1357 Aldon C V (Aleion, according to B , M i), Halcyon B , Alcion M i, F.
 126 VIT A M E R L IN I

edificatque suos hiem ali tempore nidos.

Dum cubat, equora sunt septem tranquilla diebus
1360 et venti cessant tempestatesque remisse
inpendunt placidam volucri fam ulando quietem .
H Psitacus humanam proprio modulamine vocem
dum non spectatur prorsus proferre putatur.
Intermiscet ‘ a ve’ verbis et ‘ chere’ jocosis.
1365 H Est pelicanus avis pullos consueta necare
et confusa tribus lugere dolore diebus.
Denique supposito laniat sua corpora rostro
et scindens venas educit sanguinis undas,
et vite reduces reddit rorando volucres.
1370 Dum Diomedee lacrim osa voce resultant
et faciunt planctus subitam portendere mortem
dicuntur regum vel m agna pericula regni.
Cum que vident aliquem discernunt ilico quid sit,
barbarus an Grecus, nam Grecum plausibus ale
1375 et blandimentis adeunt leteque resultant.
Circueunt alios pennisque feruntur iniquis
horrentique sono velut hostes agrediuntur.
Memnonides quinto semper dicuntur in anno
Memnonis ad tumulum longo remeare volatu
1380 et deflere ducem Troiano M arte peremptum.
Fert quoque m irandam splendens hircinea pennam
nocte sub obscura que fulget ut ignea lampas,
atque m inistrat iter si preportetur eunti.
Quando nidificat devellit ab arbore picus
1385 clavos et cuneos quos non divelleret ullus,
cujus ab impulsu vicinia tota resultant.’

1f His igitur dictis, quidam vesanus ad illos

accessit subito, seu sors conduxerat illum .
Terrifico clam ore nemus com plebat et auras
1390 et quasi sevus aper spum abat bella minando.
O cius ergo virum capiunt secumque sedere
cogunt ut m oveat risusque jocosque loquendo.
Inspiciens igitur vates attentius illum ,

1367 M i printed this line after 1389; apparently a printing error.

1372 D icentur M i.
1373 quis sit M i.
1378 Mennonides C V , F , M em nonides B , J J P tr.
1379 Mennonis C V , F , M em nonis B , J J P tr.
1381 drcinea C V , eircanea B , Hercynia J J P , hircinea F .
 LIFE OF M ER LIN 12 7

nests during the winter. W hile it is hatching, the sea is calm for
1360 seven days, the wind falls and storms die and hold off, to provide
peace and quiet for the bird.
‘ T h e parrot is thought to produce human speech in its own tones,
when not looked at directly: it mixes “ H allo’* and “ H ow d’you
d o ?” w ith funny remarks.
‘ T h e pelican is a bird which usually kills its brood and laments for
three days in a confusion o f grief. Finally it pecks at its own body
w ith its beak, cutting into the veins and letting out streams o f blood
with which it sprinkles the young birds and brings them to life.
1370 ‘ W hen the diomeds em it their mournful cry o f lam entation, they
are said to be foretelling the sudden death o f kings or great dangers
to the kingdom. W hen they see anyone, they can tell at once what
kind he is— a barbarian or a Greek. T h ey approach a Greek play­
fully, flapping their wings and chirruping happily. T h ey circle the
others and make hostile dives, going at them with a fierce cry as at
enemies.
‘ The memnonids are said to undertake a long flight every fifth year
1380 to the tomb o f M emnon, to mourn for the prince who was killed in
the Trojan war.
‘ T he splendid hercynia grows a wonderful feather which on a dark
night burns like a lamp-flame and lights the w ay if carried in front
o f a traveller.
‘ W hen the woodpecker is nesting, it pulls out o f the tree nails and
wedges that no-one has been able to dislodge, and the place around
resounds w ith its blows.*
As he finished speaking, a madman cam e up to them un­
expectedly— or perhaps fate had brought him. H e filled the forest
air with a terrible noise, made threatening gestures and foamed at
1390 the mouth like a wild boar. T h ey quickly caught this man and m ade
him sit down, to get some laughter and jokes out o f w hat he would
say.
T he bard looked at him more attentively, realized who he was,
and gave a deep sigh which cam e right from his heart, saying:

1384 dioellit B , M i. B and M i may be right, but divelleret in 1385 is not

directive. It is less rare, but less precise for what the woodpecker is doing, viz.,
plucking(de-) rather than tearing (rfi-). (Cf. readings in line 1287.)
1385 Claveos M i.
1388 ceufors B .
 128 VIT A M E R L IN I

quis fuerit recolit gemitumque reducit ad imo

1395 pectore, sic dicens, 'N on hec fuit ejus ym ago
olim , dum nobis juvenilis floruit etas.
Pulcher enim fortis fuerat tunc tempore miles
et quem nobilitas regumque ferebat origo.
Hunc mecum pluresque simul tunc dives habebam ,
1400 totque bonis sociis felix censebar eramque.
A ccidit interea dum venarem ur in altis
montibus Argustli nos devenisse sub una
que patulis ramis surgebat in aera quercu.
Fons ibi m anabat viridi circum datus herba,
1405 cujus erant latices humanis haustibus apti.
Ergo siti pariter correpti sedimus illic
et fontis puros avide libavim us amnes.
Deinde super teneras solito conspeximus herbas
in rivo fontis redolentia poma jacere.
1410 M ox ea collegit qui primus adiverat iste
porrexitque michi subito pro munere ridens.
Ergo distribui data pom a sodalibus et me
expertem feci quia non suffecit acervus.
Riserunt alii quibus im pertita fuerunt
1415 meque vocant largum cupidis quoque faucibus illa
agrediendo vorant et pauca fuisse queruntur.
N ec m ora, corripuit rabies miserabilis istum
et cunctos alios qui m ox ratione carentes
more canum sese lacerant mordendo vicissim.
1420 Stridunt et spumant et humi sine mente volutant.
Denique digressi sunt illinc, more lupino
complentes vacuas miseris ululatibus auras.
H ec m ichi non illis velut estimo poma dabantur,
postmodo seu didici, nam tunc in partibus illis
1425 una fuit m ulier que me dilexerat ante
et mecum multis venerem saciaverat annis.
H anc, post quam sprevi secumque coire negavi,
u t me dam pnaret rapuit mox leva voluntas,
cum que movens aditus alios reperire nequiret,
1430 apposuit fonti superillita dona veneni
1403 surgebant C V , surgebat B , M i, J J P tr, F .
1410 adheserat C V , F {-aes-), adspexerat J J P , adiverat (?) BC. Parry’s emendation
does not scan. I do not know how Faral would render C V ’s reading. I f adiverat
were right, the MS reading could have been due to a mis-hearing in dictation to a
copyist.
1424 tea B , Gfr.
 L IF E OF M ER LIN I29
"This was not how he once looked when we were in the flower o f
our youth. A t that time he was a strong handsome soldier, in whom
the nobility o f royal descent was patent. I had him and m any others
1400 as the companions o f m y prosperity: I was considered to be lucky,
and I was, to have such good friends.
‘ O ne day we happened to be hunting in the high mountains o f
Arwystli and cam e to a spot under an oak whose spreading branches
stretched towards the sky. A spring was flowing there in a circle o f
green grass: its w ater was good for drinking. A ll o f us were parched;
so we sat and drank greedily o f the pure spring stream. Then we saw
fragrant apples lying on the soft grass o f the fam iliar bank o f the
1410 spring. T h e man who had first com e upon them quickly gathered
them and gave them to me, laughing over our unexpected present.
I handed the gift o f apples round m y friends but left m yself without
any, because the pile was not large enough. Those who had received
apples laughed and called me generous. Then they eagerly fell to
and ate them up, com plaining that there were so few.
' In a moment a pitiable madness seized this man here and all the
others. Soon they were out o f their minds, bit and scratched each
1420 other like dogs, screamed, foamed at die m outh and rolled demented
on the ground. Then they dispersed and went off, filling the air with
their pidftd howlings, like wolves.
‘ I think that these apples had been a gift intended for me, not for
them ; and I later learnt that this was so. A t that time there was
living in those parts a wom an who had previously been attached to
me and had fulfilled her love w ith me for m any years. A fter I had
discarded her and refused to cohabit with her, she soon developed a
vicious determ ination to harm m e; and when her scheming had
failed to discover any other approach, she placed the poison-
1430 smeared gift at the spring by which I was to return, intending by

1428 dampanaret C V , dampnaret BC. Editors have not changed C V ’s reading. As

the ending is normally -âret, and as elsewhere in V M dampn- is usual, it is changed
here.
1429 monens C V , movens B , M i, J J P hr, F .
1430 super illita C V , superillita BC. Cf. VM 895 n. L it., 'smeared gifts o f poison';
veneno is a possible correction.
9 CLM
 I 30 VITA MERLINI

quo rediturus eram, meditans hac arte nocere

si fruerer pomis in gramine forte repertis.
A t me sors m elior sic conservavit ab illis,
ut modo predixi. Set eum compellere queso
1435 hoc de fonte novo limphas potare salubres,
ut si forte suam possit rehabere salutem
se cognoscat item mecumque laboret in istis
saltibus in domino dum postera vita m anebit.'
Sic igitur fecere duces, sumptoque liquore
1440 redditur ille sibi qui vecors venerat illuc
cognovitque suos subito curatus amicos,
f Tunc M erlinus ait, ‘ T ib i nunc constanter eundum
est in agone Dei qui te tibi reddidit ut nunc
ipsemet inspectas, qui per deserta tot annis
1445 ut fera vixisti sine sensu turpis eundo.
Ne modo diffugias frutices ratione recepta
aut virides saltus quos jam lim phando colebas,
set mecum maneas ut quos tibi surripiebat
vis verunca dies iterum reparare labores
1450 obsequio domini. Q uod erit per singula mecum,
ex hoc nunc commune tibi dum vivit uterque.’
H Ergo sub hoc M aeldinus ait, nam nomine tali
dictus erat, ‘ Non hoc, pater o venerande, recuso.
Letus enim tecum silvas habitabo deumque
1455 tota mente colam tremulos dum rexerit artus
spiritus iste meos quem te doctore piabo.'
‘ Sic et ego faciam vobiscum tercius auctus,’
Telgesinus ait, ‘ despecto them ate mundi.
Jam satis exegi vivendo tempore vane
1460 et nunc tempus adest quo me michi te duce reddam.
K Vos set abite, duces, urbes defendere vestras.
Non decet ut nostram vestro sermone quietem
a modo turbetis. Satis applausistis am ico.’
Discedunt proceres. Rem anent tres et Ganieda
1465 quarta soror vatis, sumpta quoque denique vita.
D ucebat vitam regis post fata pudicam .
Q ue modo tot populos indicto ju re regebat,
nunc cum fratre sibi silvis nil dulcius exstat.
H anc etiam quandoque suus rapiebat ad alta

1449 uerunca C V , F,fitriosa J J P , mimica Oldfather ap. J J P . B annotates ‘ id est

v iro sa without further comment: virosa means foul in a slimy way. Verrunco is a
verb with a religious use meaning ‘ to turn’ ; with bene, it indicates turning out well.
 L IF E OF M ERLIN *3*

this trick to cause me distress, should I happen to find the apples in

the grass and eat them. A happier chance preserved me from them,
as I have ju st explained. But now, I beg you, get this man to drink
the clear healing water from this spring so that, if he is capable o f
recovering his sanity, he m ay do so and come to himself. Then he
can work with me in the Lord among these groves for the rem ainder
o f his life.’
So the nobles did this, and, when he had taken the water, the man
1440 who had arrived mad recovered; and the moment he was cured, he
recognised his friends.
Then M erlin said, ‘ You who have for m any years lived and gone
about the w ild places like a beast, without a sense o f shame, you
must now continue steadfastly in the service o f G od, who has
restored you to being the man you now see you are. And now that
you have your reason back, do not flee from the green groves you
haunted in your derangement, but stay with m e: then you m ay
make up for all the tim e stolen from you by the distorting m ania,
1450 in the service o f the Lord. AU I have I shall share with you from now
on as long as each o f us m ay live.’
T o this M aeldin— that was his name— replied, ‘ Venerable father,
this is not a thing I refuse. I w ill gladly stay w ith you in the woods
and serve God with m y whole mind as long as m y trem bling limbs
are governed by that vital spirit for which I shall give thanks under
your guidance.'
‘ I too shall stay with you and make the third,' said Taliesin,
‘ turning aw ay from the traffic o f the world. I have spent long
1460 enough in em pty living; now the time has come to recover
myself, and you shall lead me.
‘ But you, m y lords, aw ay to defend your cities! It is wrong that
you should disturb our quiet w ith your talk. Y ou have acclaim ed
our friend enough.’
T he chieftains departed. T he three rem ained, and w ith them a
fourth— Ganieda, the prophet’s sister, who had finally taken to their
w ay o f life also. She had been leading a retired life since the death o f
the king. She who till now had been the queen o f a large nation
under the appointed law , now found nothing pleasanter than living
in the woods w ith her brother. She, too, was from time to time

I f it is connected with C V ’s 0erunca, this (unqualified) might convey *distorting*

when applied to vis. M i and F print vis oerunca without comment.
1461 defendite B .
1465 vitta F.
9-2
I 32 VIT A M ER LIN I

1470 spiritus u t caneret de regno sepe futura.

IT Ergo die quadam cum fratris staret in aula
inspiceretque domus radiantes sole fenestras,
edidit has dubias dubio de pectore voces,
f ‘ Cerno Ridichenam galeatis gentibus urbem
1475 im pletam sacrosque viros sacrasque tyaras
nexibus addictos, sic consiliante juventa.
[Pastor in excelsa m irabitur edita turris
et reserare sui cogetur futile dam pni.]
f Cerno K aerloytcoyt vallatam m ilite sevo
1480 inclusosque duos quorum divellitur alter
ut redeat cum gente fera cum principe vallis
et vincat rapto sevam rectore catervam .
Heu, quantum scelus est capiant ut sidera solem
cui stillabuntur nec vi nec m arte coacta.
1485 Inspicio binas prope Kaerwen in aere lunas
gestarique duos nim ia feritate leones
inque duos homines unus m iratur et alter
in totidem pugnam que parant et cominus astant.
Insurgunt alii quartum que ferocibus armis
1490 acriter obpugnant nec prevalet ullus eorum.
Perstat enim clipeum que movet telisque repugnat
et victor ternos confestim proterit hostes
im pellitque duos trans frigida regna Boote,
dans alii veniam qui postulat. Ergo per omnes
1495 diffugiunt partes tocius sidera cam pi.
Arm oricanus aper, quercu protectus avita,
abducit lunam gladiis post terga rotatis.
Sidera bina feris video committere pugnam
colle sub Urgenio quo convenere D eyri
1500 Gewissique simul magno regnante Cohelo.
O quanto sudore viri tellusque cruore

1469 suis C V , suus Vmq, F .

Parry apparently retained ‘ suis’, translating ‘ so that she often prophesied to her
friends’. The Latin order is difficult for this.
147a domos C V , domus J J P tr, B C ; fenestfä C V , F , fenestras J J F . Parry: ‘ the
windows o f the house shining with the sun’, which requires domus, an emendation
not apparently put forward; domos as a genitive is recorded, but as an affectation
o f Augustus. Cf. V M 578 (singular), and V M 555 where the forest observatory is
unam (sc., domum) remotam.
1477 Pastoris excelse J J P . This suggestion would make miro an active verb, which
is pre- rather than post-classical usage.
1478 fic tile B , M i. Parry: ‘ possibly the reading o f the manuscript also’.
 L I F E OF M E R L I N *33
1470 exalted in spirit to sing often o f the future o f the kingdom. So, one
day when she stood in her brother’s hall and gazed at the house and
at its windows glittering in the sun, she uttered these dark sayings
out o f a dark heart:
*I see die city o f O xford filled with helmeted men, and holy men
and holy bishops bound on the decision o f the Council. [The
shepherd w ill look at the high batdements o f his casde and he w ill be
forced to unlock it without advantage and to his own hurt.] I see
1480 Lincoln walled in by a fierce arm y and two men shut within. O ne
o f them escapes, to return to the siege w ith a wild people and their
chief to defeat the fierce host after capturing their commander.
‘ O w hat a terrible thing it is for stars to capture the sun, under
which they sink down without the compulsion o f m ilitary force.
I see two moons in the air near W inchester, and two lions acting
with excessive ferocity; a man looking at two men, and another man
at as m any again, and standing face to face in readiness for battle.
T he others arise and make furious and bitter attacks on the fourth
1490 m an; but none o f them prevails. For he stands firm, holds out his
shield while fighting back with his weapons, and suddenly emerges
as the victor over his triple foes. H e drives two o f them across the
frozen wastes o f the north, while granting the other one the pardon
he begs. So the stars flee throughout the field.
‘ T he Boar o f Brittany, under the protection o f an antique oak,
takes aw ay the moon, swords brandished behind backs. I see two
stars battling with w ild beasts under the hill o f U rien, where the
1500 men o f D eira and the men o f Gwent came together in the reign o f
• the great Coel. How the men drip with sweat and the ground flows

1479 kaerloyctoyc C V , F , Katrloytcqyt B C . Cf. H R B , Trin. M S 1125 §58, C oir

L iâ t Coyt, and R B H has Caerlwytcoet.
1480 diueUiter C V , divellitur B , M i, J J P tr, F .
1484 nec arte B . Parry wished to accept Black’s suggestion, ’ but the metre
forbids’. The change is not necessary.
1485 caerwent J J P , F (JT-). Caenvent is unacceptable metrically, though this
(= Winchester, now Caer-wjm t) is the place meant. Since C V ’s ’ Kaerwen’ would
sound like ‘ W hitecastle’ and this is a ’ prophetic’ passage anyway, it creates little
difficulty.
1493 boetes C V , F , Boote B C .
1499 conuenire C V , convenere B , M i, J J P tr, F .
1501 qûinta C V , quanto B , M i, J J P tr, F .
 I34 VITA M ERLINl

m anat, in externas dum dantur vulnera gentes!

Concidit in latebras collisum sydere sidus
absconditque suum renovato lumine lumen.
1505 f H eu, quam dira fames incum bit ut arceat alvos
evacuatque suos populorum viribus artus.
Incipit a Kam bris peragratque cacum ina regni,
et miseras gentes equor transire cohercet.
D iffugiunt vituli consueti vivere lacte
1510 vaccarum Scotie morientum clade nephanda.
Iteque Neustrenses, cessate diutius arm a
ferre per ingenuum violento m ilite regnum!
Non est unde gulam valeatis pascere vestram.
Consumpsistis enim quicquid natura creatrix
1515 fertilitate bona dudum produxit in illa.
Christe, tuo populo fer opem, compesce leones,
da regno placidam bello cessante quietem!*
f Non super hoc tacuit com m iranturque sodales
germanusque suus, qui m ox accessit ad illam
1520 hocque modo verbis applaudens fertur amicis.
‘ Tene, soror, voluit res precantare futuras
spiritus osque meum compescuit atque libellum ?
Ergo tibi labor iste datur. Leteris in illo
auspiciisque meis devote singula dicas.’
1525 Duximus ad metam carmen. Vos ergo, Britanni,
laurea serta date G aufrido de M onem uta.
Est etenim vester, nam quondam prelia vestra
vestrorumque ducum cecinit scripsitque libellum
quem nunc Gesta vocant Britonum celebrata per orbem.
1502 gente C V , gentes M i, Ward, J J P tr, F. Black suggested that either externa. . .
gente or externas.. .gentes should be read.
1505 ardeat J J P , arcuat F . Cf. VM 190 n. on ardeofarceo.
1506 suis B , F; arctus C V , artus B , J J P tr.
1512 ingenium C V , ingenuum B , M i, Ward, J J P tr, F.
 L IF E OF M ERLIN »35
w ith blood, as wounds are inflicted on foreigners! A star collides
w ith another and falls into the shadow, hiding her own light when
light is renewed.
‘ Alas for the terrible famine which falls on the people and grips
their bellies and drains their limbs o f strength. It starts from W ales,
goes out to the furthest parts o f the kingdom and forces the unhappy
population to go overseas. T he calves flee that used to live on the
1510 m ilk o f Scottish cows now dying in the dread pestilence.
‘ Normans— go! No longer take your armies o f violent soldiery
through our native kingdom. There is nothing left to fill your m aw:
you have eaten up everything that creative nature has till now
produced out o f her fertile bounty.
'C h rist, succour your people! Curb the lions, put a stop to war,
and give the kingdom peace and quiet.'
She did not end with this, and her friends listened in amazement.
So also did her brother, who after a while went up to her and
1520 congratulated her in kindly words, saying,
‘ Sister, is it you the spirit has willed to foretell the future? H e has
curbed m y tongue and closed m y book. Then this task is given to
you. Be glad o f it, and under m y authority declare everything
faithfully.'

W e have brought the song to an end. So, Britons, give a laurel

wreath to Geoffrey o f M onmouth. He is indeed your Geoffrey,
for he once sang o f your battles and those o f your princes, and he
wrote a book which is now known as the ' Deeds o f the Britons ’—
and they are celebrated throughout the world.

1521 T e ne C V , tene M i, F.
1522 On 'libellum ’ (CV) F notes: *A corriger peut-être en labellum ’.
1524 deuota J J P . F as C V .
1526 monumeta C V , Monemuta M i, J J P tr, F.
1529 After VM 1529 in C V , in a later hand, ‘ Explicit vita Merlini Calidonii per
Galfridum Monemutensem’.
 TEXTUAL COMMENTARY

M A N U SCR IPTS AN D E D IT O R S : A B B R E V IA T IO N S
Present
usage M anuscripts In other editions
CV Cotton Vespasian E iv. (The full text) Parry: C
Michel: C 1
Black: codex
H Harley 655. (Partial: in copy o f Polychrom em ) Parry:H
Michel: H, a lter
R Royal 13 E i. (As H) Parry: R
J Cotton Julius E viii. (As H) Parry: J
T Cotton Titus A xix. (Partial; secundum historiam Parry: T
policronicam , but not in a Polychrom em copy. Contains Michel: C 3
also the texts o f Lailokcn A and B ) Black: alter
PP Agreements o f the readings o f H , R , J , T . Parry: PP
a Cotton Cleopatra C iv. (Extracts, especially Parry: Cl
prophecies) Black: tertius
Ha Harley 6148. (Extracts, prophecies) Parry: Ha
Editors
B W . H . Black, 1830. (C V , T , C l; suggestions) Parry: B
Mi F. Michel and T . W right, 1837. (After B ) Parry: M
G fi A . F. Gfroerer, 1840. (Variations from Aft) Parry: G
SM San M arte (A. Schulz), 1853. (As G fi) Parry: S
Vmq H. de la Villem arqué: M yrdhism , 1863. (Quotations Parry: V
with amendments)
JJP J. J. Parry, 1935. (Collation o f all M SS.)
J J P tr = readings adopted by him for translation;
J J P = Party’s own textual suggestions. Parry: £
F É . Faral, 1939. (C V text with own amendments)
BC B. Clarke, 1973. (Present edition)

3 Robert de Chesney, bishop o f Lincoln 1148-63, once an Oxford colleague o f Geoffrey.

See NN R O BER T.
4 'filled you w ith’. T he normal transferred sense o f perjundo; 'poured over’ { J J P tr)
was a literal meaning.
8-9 'th at o th er.. .succeeded*. Bishop Alexander o f Lincoln, a leading prelate-
politician o f Stephen’s reign, died in 1148. The allusion is to a presumed disappointment
o f patronage. The Prophecies o f M erlin, H U B Bk 7, were dedicated to him {H R B 7 .1 ) .
NN, * Intro. 5 & 7 .
10-13 'clergy and people alike supported you’ . This echoes contemporary phrases on
Robert’s appointment: see NN and * Intro. 7 .
13 'in the seventh heaven’. Lit., 'is carried to the stars’.
[>36]
 T E X T U A L COMMENTARY I37
14-15 Orpheus is mentioned also in V M 371. Little is known about the four poets: see
N N . They were all contemporaries o f Ovid and are mentioned within a few lines of one
another in O vid’s letters from Pontus, E x Panto, 4« 16, lines 5-6, 19, 24. (i) cum fo ret et
M arsus magmque R abirius oris Iliacusque M acer; (ii) quique canit domitam Camerinus ab H ercule
Troiam ; (iii) M arius scripti dexter in omne genus. This passage may have been used as a
student’s mnemonic list; there are other poets included. Because he puts Rabirius, Macer
and M arius together, Geoffrey was perhaps recalling it and slipped, since it is Marsus who
goes with the other two. On the other hand, Marius is noted by O vid for his versatility,
which fits the point in the dedication o f V M . magnique R abirius oris is o f course an exact
quotation. This group o f poets tended to have an epic interest in the Trojan war and its
preliminaries and consequences, which may have kept them in Geoffrey’s mind.
18 ‘ lyre*, cytharam. In connection with Muses, poetic diction calls for ‘ lute’ or ‘ lyre’.
Evidently no precise instrument is meant by cythara; but as it is the word in V M 166 for
the instrument, portable on mountains, used to accompany a popular style o f song,
‘ guitar’ is there a closer current equivalent, despite lire in V M 204. Geoffrey may have
been thinking o f a zither or a type o f small Welsh harp— and the phrase in V M 168 might
be an argument if the reading were firmer— but the guitar (from the Moors via Spain) is
early, too. In V M 928 ‘ lyre’ is again appropriate for the cithara o f Morgen’s sister. See also
V M 226, 1337 for the popular instrument.

21 On M erlin as king, see NN W ALES.

23-5 Parry thought this might be an allusion to a pillaging expedition by Aeddan
(Aidan) shortly before the battle o f Arfderydd; but (p. 18) he took Aeddan to have been
a participant in the batde, which is unlikely. The line may be poetic, not a pointer.
Reference to a raid by Maelgwn in the previous generation precedes the description o f
Arfderydd in stanza 6 ff. o f Tm ddiddan.
26-7 NN on these names.
28 ‘ battle’ : see NN AR FD ER YD D .
34 ‘ three brothers o f the prince’. Sc., brothers o f Peredur, the only leader called dux
(line 26), though, as Merlin is a king, the reference could just be to him. The point is
relevant to the explanation o f the violence o f Merlin’s grief as presented. On this as a
possible displacement, see * Intro. 1 (Celtic origins) on the sister’s son whom the M erlin-
M yrddin-Lailoken original may have killed at the time o f Arfderydd. Merlin’s grief
speech does not refer to the dead men as brothers but as intimate friends {sodales).
Peredur son of Eliffer (see NN) is normally credited with a brother Gwrgi. But in the
reference to Arfderydd in Tmddiddan it is said, ‘ The seven sons o f Eliffer, seven heroes
when put to proof, / They will not avoid seven spears in their seven divisions.’ This
appears to mean that seven brothers o f Peredur fell at Arfderydd. The number cannot be
taken as a serious tradition here because the writer is repeating ‘ seven’ and ’seven score’
in an incantatory way (‘ seven thrusting spears, seven rivers-ful.. .seven score generous
ones’, etc.). In Triad 44 (see NN AR FD ERYD D ) the horse o f the sons o f Eliffer took
Gwrgi and Peredur and Dunawd V w r and Cynfelyn Drwsgyl. The last two are considered
cousins; this might lead to them being loosely listed as brothers in a poem; and the next
stanza in Tmddiddan to that quoted mentions ‘ the seventh Cynvelyn’.
The three brothers in V M seem most likely to be related to and drawn from these
traditions o f the sons o f Eliffer. But there is also a hint o f a tradition about M yrddin’s
brothers. Robert Vaughan’s notes on the Arfderydd Triad 84 ( T T P 9 209) give Rhydderch
and Aeddan o f Dalriada as involved at Arfderydd, but they also mention the death o f
Gwenddolau and the deaths with him o f the sons o f Morfryn, Merlin Caledonius’s
brothers, named as Llywelyn, Gwgawn, Einiawn, Rhiwallawn. This a late commentator’s
note ; but the names are also in lines 50-1 o f the poem PeirianFaban (Jarman, 1951).There
is uncertainty whether there is any connection, real or verbal, between this Rhiwallawn
and Aidan mac Gabrain’s alleged grandson Rigullôn: see T T P f 2 6 4 a .
65 ff. Merlin’s initial grief: see note to V M 34.
138 LIF E OF MERLIN

78 ff. Forest food: see NN CALID O N .

80 Man of the Woods, silvester homo. The only occurrence o f silvester in V M . Classically it
meant both ‘ woodland’, ‘ growing or living wild* (bulls in Pliny) and ‘ rural, pastoral’
(Virgil, E clogues). C f. Ealadhan’s title Fer C a illi, Man o f the Wood, in B S 46.
84 Winter complaint. Distress through exposure is common in the earliest wild-man
stories and among ascetics. Complaints about it are a feature o f ascetic poetry in the
Celtic province. See Williams, 1925, 1926; E C N P , including xn, xvm (Irish, twelfth
century); Meyer, 1901.
87 C eli Christe deus. Parry said that ‘ Celi D uw’ became a common Welsh title for the
Deity, coeli losing its meaning and being considered equivalent to ‘ G od’.
90 Apple trees. Apple trees are a main feature o f the chief Myrddin poem, A fallennau ,
but they are not said to provide Myrddin with food. See NN CA LID O N , M AELD IN ,
M O RGEN , FO R TU N A T E ISLE. No significance has been attached to the number
nineteen.
102 ff. Wolf. Desert ascetics had animal familiars round their cell sometimes, but not
usually in the wild. Cf. Hoianau for O ian a parchellan, Myrddin’s address to his pig. Liban
had an otter which followed her on her sea wanderings before she became M uirgein:
NN M ORGEN . C f. E C N P x x x (Irish).
1 14 ff. The finding o f Merlin by a royal messenger at a spring is parallelled in the L ife
o f the Breton saint Gurthiem, written by 1130: see NN V O R T IG E R N and *In tro. 1 .
122 Ganieda. See NN, * Intro. 1 (Celtic origins) and • Intro. 2 (twelfth century/Exotic
sources).
132 nemoris Calidom s. NN CA LID O N . Coed Celyddon was Myrddin’s hiding-place in
the Welsh tradition.
134 ‘ oak trees’, robora usually meant hard oaks, but could be any stout-trunked trees.
154 punka m ala. These would be pomegranates in Pliny, but the adjective was a common
colour adjective, like punkeus, in classical poetry, and it here means the russet colour o f
apples.
170-97 The messenger’s song. See NN G U EN D O LO EN A, and cf. the funeral oration
for Rodarch, 693-727 and Text. Comm.
174 Privet petal, fo lium lig u stri. Parry noted that ligustrum seemed to have come to mean
‘ primrose’ in the Middle Ages. But he translated here as ‘ privet’, correctly since the
flowers are illustrating whiteness (candor; cf. nivee quoque gloria cam is in line 180). Some
coloured roses from southern Europe and further east perhaps came through the crusades
(the rose in V M 717 blushes) ; but Ausonius had red roses in Gaul in the fourth century.
The common natives in Britain would be Rosa arvensis (the field or white dog-rose) and
Rosa alba (the origin o f ‘ Isle o f Albion’ according to Pliny; later, the York rose).
Lilies, too, are native. Possibly lilia p rati here refers to the lily of the valley (C onvallaria).
L ilium candidum was an East Mediterranean import and would always have been a garden
flower. The biblical ‘ lilies of the field* were by definition coloured, and perhaps another
plant altogether. Alexander Neckam (D e naturis rerum) noted the rose and lily, with
paeony, heliotrope, violet, as garden-cultivated flowers in the late twelfth century, among
many herbs. Neckam knew the religious symbolism o f the red rose and used it in his
poetic work, D e laudibus.
190 ‘ grips them’, arcet conveys inhibition, and it fits the tone o f this description o f grief
well. Cf. V M 1505, arceat alvos, ‘ grips their bellies’, and V M 957, where it is used o f
Arthur stopping Saxon incursions. T ’s ardet (Parry and Faral) is less satisfactory here, but
ardent seems right for V M 196.
191-5 These examples o f womanly sorrow are in fact all different from Guendoloena’s
case and from one another, but it does not matter. The allusions are to O vid’s H eroidesy
Letters 7 (Dido), 2 (Phyllis) and 3 (Briseis). Dido, a widow, writes not without thought for
 T E X T U A L COMMENTARY I39
the practical advantages Aeneas has left, before she dies. ‘ Sidonian’ : Sidon was con­
sidered the mother city o f the Phoenicians, who built Carthage. The adjective survives in
a Spanish ducal tide: Medina Sidonia. Phyllis was queen of Thrace, Demophoon son o f
Theseus. Her tone is o f distressed grief for Demophoon’s failure to come. She dies.
Briseis is Hippodamia, daughter of Brises and captive o f Achilles, taken by Agamemnon,
and cause o f Achilles' wrath. Her letter is reproachful, urging Achilles to action, and,
though distressed, she is hopeful.
212-54 The king’s court. See * Intro. 1 on the relation to the court o f Meldred in
Lailoken B .
235 Wayland. See NN W AYLAN D , SEG O N TIU M . The line could be an interpola­
tion: the Polychromeon MSS left it out, and their reading for the beginning o f line 234 is
different.
254fr. The adultery o f the queen, Ganieda: s e e 0Intro. 2 (twelfth century/Exotic sources).
Lailoken B (in Appendix I) is the more immediate source, or its parallel. In Jocelin’s
L ife o f Kentigem , a generation later, there is a variant involving the loss o f a ring and its
recovery from a salmon.
287 Approval and disapproval’, culpandus sim ul et laudandus. Compare the antitheses in
the Lailoken B riddles.
305fr. The triple-death prophecy. See *Intro. 1, Jackson (1940) and Text. Comm., 684.
Forms o f the m otif occur in the Lailoken stories and in Jocelin’s K entigem . Lailoken A refers
to Lailoken’s death as by a fall, piercing by a stake and drowning. Lailoken B refers in the
final couplet to Merlin suffering by a stone (sc., the fall), being pierced by a stake and
suffering by water. Ealadhan (B S 44-50) predicts for himself and suffers a double death;
he cam be seen as sharing an Irish-type triple death with Suibhne.
O n the probable influence on VM of Hildebert’s poems, see * Intro. 2 (twelfth century/
Exotic) ; in the early period the snake-bite seems known only in Hildebert. Parry (pp. 119ft)
quoted Turn Gelwydd Teg (Tom o f the Fine Lies) as a fifteenth century Glamorgan example
o f the triple-death prophecy; the deaths were by adder bite, falling and breaking the
neck, and drowning. He also mentioned his paper (Parry, 1924) on how a m otif can
become attached to a minor character later; his example is about Excalibur.
345ft The queen’s attempt to hoodwink Rodarch is paralleled in Lailoken B . There,
however, Meldred rejects his wife’s arguments, and she then plots Lailoken’s death.
356 abcessum = (rr.) abscessum, but Parry:* ordered Guendoloena.. .to come to make him
desist’ .
365-75 Both omissions in PP (lines 366-7 and 369-73) may be interpolations in C V .
T he latter, 369-73, certainly changes the tone (n o lo .. . pecudem , etc., in reference to his
wife), and line 374’s mundus ab alterutro is a curious remark. Parry: ‘ probably corrupt’ .
T he main manuscript has paragraphing signs before 368 and 375, as often at the beginning
o f speeches. The original may have run: 365, 368, 375 ff. This would give paragraphing
signs by adjacent lines: it does occur once elsewhere, but not against a speech. But these
signs may well not precede this copying. The translation given is speculative. Virgin9s U m
(370). Perhaps a reference to Aqua Virgo, a spring discovered by a girl and brought to
Rom e by aqueduct : later the Trevi Fountain. M . Vipsanius Agrippa, the naval commander
at Actium and an intimate o f Augustus, did much reconstruction at Rome and built
Aqua Virgo.
Orpheus and Eurydice (371-3). The detail about the boys and baskets does not seem
known. In the telling of the Orpheus-Eurydice story in Georgies 4 . 453-547 there is a line
(506) illa quidem Stygia nabat iam frigida cumba; it , too, may be an interpolation (O. Ribbeck,
ed., 1895).
424-8 This precise description o f a particular type o f night sky is not known to be other
than original. The Polychronicon writers omit the second part of it, however, whether from
desire for brevity in quotation or because it is an interpolation in the main M S.
I4O L I F E OF M E R L I N
431 ff. This is not part o f the prophecies but a reading o f the present from star-study. The
end o f M erlin’s second prophetic speech (1128-35) » reminiscence ending with the same
two kings. See NN CO N STA N TIN E (= Custennin Gomeu) and NN (Aurelius)
CO N AN . The latter is to be distinguished from the traditional deliverer-to-come, Conan
Meiriadoc. Aurelius Conan lasted two years in the H R B (11.5 ) scheme and was succeeded
by Vortipor. Geoffrey (H R B 11. 2) dated Arthur’s death to 542, and gave Constantine a
reign o f three years after his subjugation of Modred’s sons. So if Geoffrey had believed
rigidly in his H R B dating framework and kept it sharply in mind while writing a rom antic-
spiritual poem fourteen years later, he would be placing Merlin’s present, as he divined
and prophesied here, circa 547 or a little later. Neither assumption is a sound one; and the
post-Arfderydd references and the description o f the building o f Merlin’s houses ( V M
565-6) and his next period in the forest place this present part of the poem somewhere
between 574 (a year after Arfderydd) and 611 (a year before Rhydderch’s death). It is
unnecessary to be interested in this dilemma. It merely shows the irrelevance o f dates to
the context, apart from the unsurprising sidelight it throws on Geoffrey’s information -
that he felt vaguer about later sixth-century North British history than he did about
Arthur. It is of interest that the MSS o f V M which are found in Polychronicon M SS are
there placed between the years 525 and 533. This may reflect only the influence on
chroniclers of Geoffrey’s stitching together o f the eras o f the two Merlins, p o in d (435) is
another uncle, not Constantine but his heir (H R B 11.5 ).
451-70 (1) Stag-riding. There are Celtic parallels o f power over stags, etc., but the
origin is unclear. Muirgein (NN M ORGEN) had ridden behind two wild stags, and there
was a beastlike herd in T he voyage o f M aeldtdn . Suibhne rode on antler-points (B S 40) :
this, however, was not part o f the story but in the verse elaboration. The stags are un­
connected with his wife; and antler-point riding is a verbal play in the Gaelic (fe r -
benn = man o f the peaks/antier-points). This example may well be directly derivative from
V M . The Lady o f the Fountain (M abinogion , Jones and Jones, 1948) has a one-eyed giant
black herd with a power over stags, but he does not ride them. There is a giant herd in
Chrétien’s Yvaw, and Paton (1907) noted later parallels: a fifteenth-century giant herd
(German) actually rode a stag to battle.
(2) Guendoloena’s wedding. Her new bridegroom is unknown. The comparable
situation in A ? is Suibhne’s visit to his wife Eorann when she is dwelling with Guaire mac
Congail, one o f the two said to have an equal claim to Suibhne’s abandoned kingdom
(B S 31). M arriage is not mentioned, but in the verse (B S 32) there is a reference by
Suibhne to her lover and wooer. She then expresses continuing affection for Suibhne.
On a second visit (B S 55, after the Scottish trip) he refuses her invitation to enter and she
dismisses him. There is no reference to new husband or lover, only to the attitude o f the
neighbours. The correspondences are not close, but there is an essential parallel in this
case. Either the two authors drew on a common source or the author o f B S saw V M .
This last possibility has not been considered. But the writer o f B S evidently knew
Strathclyde and the Glasgow area, and he probably made use o f Lailoken for the character
o f the wild man Ealadhan.
There are no clues to the bridegroom in V M that have been noticed; but it can be
remarked that Gwasawg in Afallennau is a spare character whom Geoffrey, with his style
o f editorial economy, might have found suggestive.
The killing of the bridegroom could have been prompted by the anecdote o f Maelgwn’s
son Rhun and Cedig Draws. There the blow was by an ox-hom. It seems the nearest to
a clue that is available. See NN M AELD IN .
49Ï-532 The market-place tales. See * Intro. 2 (twelfth century/Exotic) on the oriental
origins o f these tales and their apparent previous connection with other themes in the
Celtic wild-man complex.

552-65 The forest house(s). The details— the numbers o f windows and doors and
staff—are not known to be other than Geoffrey’s. There are hints o f antecedents to the
idea, however. There is no parallel in B S itself, though Tech M oling, Moling’s establish-
 TEX T U A L COMMENTARY 14 1

ment where Suibhne stopped at last may be an equivalent. O ’Keeffe (BS, p. xvii) quotes
a riddling poem in four stanzas assigned to the eighth or ninth century and attributed to
Suibhne in an Irish MS in the monastery o f St Paul in Carinthia (Stokes and Strachan,
1903, n, 294, and Thumeysen, 1949, n, 39-40). ‘ M y little oratory in Tûaim Inbir, / it is
not a full house that i s .. • / with its stars last night, / with its sun, with its moon. // Gobban
hath built that— . . etc. One of the other poems is attributed to Moling, and there are
appreciative descriptions of Moling's monastery in the second and third o f the five
Anecdota poems discussed by Jackson, 1940, pp. 537 ff.
None o f this is very close to the VM forest house, which was a centre for (non-christian)
W elsh star-prophecy. There is, however, a sort of connection between the oratory built by
Gobban (sc. ‘ Sm ith’) in the Carinthian poem and the fact that it was a woman, Ganieda,
who built Merlin’s forest house after the episode of the triple-death prophecy about the
boy. This is that the second form o f the Grâg story in the Irish Life of Moling (Jackson,
loc. cit. p. 541) concerns Ruadsech; for she was the wife o f Gobban who built M oling’s
oratory. Grâg, an outlaw, had stolen her two cows. Ruadsech suspected that Moling had
incited Grâg to steal them. Moling, to pacify her, offered to send men in pursuit o f Grâg
and to bum and to drown him. Ruadsech treated these offers with cynicism. St Moling
did send a party in pursuit, and Grâg was wounded, burned and drowned. So the triple­
death prophecy here took the form o f a conversation between prophet (Moling) and the
wife o f the builder o f the oratory. In VM also the prophecy was unfolded in conversation,
between the prophet (Merlin) and Ganieda who built the forest house. (It is not the same
triple death: the burning is an Irish feature.)
Parry noted that in ‘ the Irish version’ (je., BS) the prophecies were taken down by
M oling, in ‘ the Scotch version’ (sc., Lailoken) by Kentigem , while Myrddin related them
to his sister (i.e., in Cyfoesi). O nly the last is true. Moling (BS 76) asked Suibhne to come
each evening ‘ so that I might write your story’ (do sgéla), not prophecy. In Laihken A
K entigera’s clerics remembered some o f his apparently idle sayings and committed them
to writing; the triple-death forecast was not among these.
Rhys (1888) mentioned an undated Anglesey tale about Merlin living in a wood, while
his sister kept house.
580-688 First prophecy. See résumé, +Intro. 3.
(i) 580-595 recapitulates HRB 11. 9 and HRB 11. 3-10. ‘ The nephews o f the Cornish
boar’ are probably Modred’s sons, Arthur’s grand-nephews in the HRB scheme: HRB
11. 3, 4 and NN CO N STAN TIN E.
(ii) 596-626: the period after Rhydderch’s death.
(iii) 627-688 : from the Saxons to Geoffrey’s twelfth-century present.
590-5 Gormund and the siege o f Cirencester. In HRB 11.8 , 10 Gormund and his
Africans ravaged Britain during Caretic’s reign, with Saxon connivance. Caretic was
besieged in Cirencester and driven out when it was burned. Details o f the burning are not
given. Finally, Gormund ceded Loegria (sc. Midlands) to the Saxons. Geoffrey says he
w ill tell the rest when he writes of the churchmen exiled in these disasters. Mention is
made o f an alliance o f Gormund with Isembard, nephew o f Frankish king Lodewicus,
Isembard giving up Christianity for help in seizing Lodewicus’s kingdom. Isembard plays
no active part.
The KAf summary refers obliquely to the king as the fourth (illis quartos) and to Gormund
as a sea-wolf: Alanus de Insulis explains the lupus equoreus as Gormund. VM adds detail to
the siege o f Cirencester (Kaerkeri : Parry), that the firing was by sparrows, and that Gormund
went to France and died by the king’s spear. This outline is the same as the plot o f the
epic Isembard and Gormund (Zenker, 1896) ; in that work swallows were employed to carry
the combustible material.
The Cirencester sparrows appear in early followers o f Geoffrey - Wace, Layamon,
Gaim ar. Griscom’s Welsh M S mentions them in the passage on the burning o f‘ ssyssedr’
or Caer Vyddau. This suggested the existence of forms o f HRB not represented in extant
available M SS. (F. Lot, 1898; Krappe, 1925. Parry also thought Alan’s commentary was
referring to different M SS.) But Griscom decided for a common older source for all. It
142 L I F E OF M E R L I N

has even been thought that there was an actual tradition belonging to Cirencester itself.
Geoffrey perhaps just edited out the detail o f a received account in H R B , and may have
contemplated more for his projected account of the exiled churchmen.
Nicholson (1906) related the ‘ African invasion9 to the accession to their strength
received by the West Saxons in the sixth century and to the battle of Dyrham (Glos.) in
577 (A S Ckron). Gloucester, Cirencester and Bath were taken; Welsh communications
with the south-west were4disrupted. Nicholson’s argument was that the ‘ Africans9 were
Vandals who had come from N. Africa when their empire collapsed and had reached
Britain through Spain (H iberia). This is relevant to Arthur’s ‘ continental cam paign9
(H R B 10 and V M 1100 ff.) and his Roman opponents ‘ Lucius Hiberius9 and Leo (V M
1104). Isembard in H R B was plotting against his fellow Frank, Lodcw icus. The Franks
were then neighbours o f the Bretons. Perhaps, then, the ‘ continental campaign9 was a
memory o f Breton resistance to ‘ some Aquitanian Visigoth9claiming to represent Rom an
authority— rather as the Bretons were resisting the Angevins in the period o f V M . (In
regard to relations between Isembard and the ‘ V andal9 Gormund, the detail about
Isembard having to give up Christianity is o f interest in that the Vandals were
Arians.)
Nicholson supported his thesis as touching Britain by place-names with elements
related to Vandals (Wendlesclif, etc.) or incorporating Godmund (as a form o f Gormund).
The distribution o f Wendel names from the Cotswolds through the south Midlands to
East Anglia and London might be significantly connected with the H R B assertion that the
‘ Africans9finally came to an agreement with the Saxons over land in Loegria. Later work
did not confirm all Nicholson’s speculations, e.g., about the Slaughters in the Cirencester
region. The status o f Godmund-Gormund names is confused by traditions about Alfred’s
adversary Guthrum, the Danish king of East Anglia (A S Chron 875-90). Mawer and
Stenton (1926), discussing Godmund-GuSmund and Godmanchester, etc., decided that
the Gurm- forms resulted from a pseudo-historical tradition. (William o f Malmesbury,
G est. R eg. ch. 121, said that Danish Guthram was Gumumdus according to ‘ our9 authori­
ties - nostri vocant.)
But although Mawer and Stenton leant towards individual-name solutions for ‘ W endel9
places, they noted a mythological origin and the likelihood of the Vandals somehow
acquiring their name from this myth source. So it remains possible that this distribution o f
place-names is to be taken as indicating a population settlement at a particular
period.

596-624 The death o f Rhydderch is predicted in C jfo esi, stanza 8; in the FABW
version, ‘ The day after tomorrow Rydderch Hael will not be9, the prediction being made,
as here, to the prophet’s sister. The prophecy of Rederech’s death is in Jocelin’s L ife o f
KenXigenty ch. 45, but the occasion is not another parallel. It is in Lailoken Ay but the king
is not named.
Parry said that for this section he could find no specific explanations. It is probable
from the nature o f the prophecy that there are few that are intended to be precise— only
veiled allusions to obscure traditions made in a literary context. Special studies m ay
reveal more, but there is already a weight o f loose conjecture in editions. See N N
PO R CH ESTER for a suggestion about 612-21.
608 ‘ he of the horse name9. This Scottish leader is unknown. ‘ Horse-names9 such as
Horsa and March can be mentioned but are not obviously relevant.
614-15 Carlisle. Destroyed by the Norse. The town was re-built under W illiam Rufus;
the bishopric was restored by Henry I in 1133 (cambuca = a bishop’s staff). The ‘ wand
o f the Lion9is also an emblem o f office. Virga could mean ‘ scion o f9, but in the Prophecies,
H R B 7. 3, Leo ju stitia e seems to be Henry I.
624 Caerleon was and is on the Usk, two main rivers away from the Severn. Given
Geoffrey’s intimate concern with Caerleon, I do not see— without a special explanation—
how he could have written this line.
 T E X T U A L COMMENTARY I43

626 San M arte, 1853, thought the ‘ Bear in Lam b9referred to Augustine, i.c. before the
Saxons mentioned in lines 627 ff.
631 Massacre of monks. The number is two hundred here and in A S Chron. In H R B
i i . 13 the number is twelve hundred and the place is also Leicester. A massacre at
Chester (<c. 616; under 605 in A S Chron) is probably meant, ‘ the city’s leader’ : Brocmail
in H R B i i . 13, and A S Chron.
632 ‘ The first Angle to wear the crown o f Brutus’. Athelstan in H R B 12 .19 : grandson
o f Alfred, he reigned 925-39. See NN AN G LES.
650-4 ‘ Two men will administer them ’ (the Danes). Parry suggested Canute and his
son Harold.
654 Normans. This means those o f the time o f the eleventh century conquest, not
French supporters o f Empress M atilda in the twelfth century.
667 ‘ Bishops will then bear arms.’ Stephen’s reign was notable for military bishop-
politicians. Gesta Stephani s.a. 1139 commented on a group o f special importance : Roger
o f Salisbury, also chancellor and justiciar o f England (secundus post regem in omnibus regni
im periis habebatur)9 and his nephews, Alexander o f Lincoln (v. NN) and Nigel of Ely.
O f these last G est. Steph. said, ‘ They were called bishops, but were men of great boldness
and audacity. Neglecting the pure and simple way of life belonging to the Christian
religion, they gave themselves up to military affairs and secular pomp, showing, whenever
they appeared at court, so vast a retinue o f followers that all men marvelled.’
672 favor ilk novorum: new men, or things.
672-80 (The previous passage, from line 654 about the Normans in wooden ships and
iron tunics, reflects H R B 7. 3.) In line 672 f. the three are presumed to be William I and II
and Henry I, and the fourth, Stephen. But there is then a difficulty over the four of line 676
and the two who succeed. San M arte took the two to be Richard I and John, in support of
his view that V M might have been written in John’s reign, in the early thirteenth century.
But H R B certainly belongs to Stephen’s reign and, as generally known, also has a similar
sequence o f six. One possibility is interpolation: it would have to be in both.
Parry suggested that Geoffrey was adapting the poem B T . 72 (F A B W 1. 234). Mrs
Bromwich points out that this poem is not early, but of the ? twelfth-thirteenth century.
675 ‘ the shadow of the Helmeted M an’ is also in H R B 7. 3, apparently alluding to a
Scottish expedition: ‘ he will climb the mountain peaks and the shadow of the Helmeted
M an. Scotland will be angry, and will summon her allies, etc. ’ Alanus de Insulis explained
the Helmeted Man as a Scottish mountain peak, named from its shape.
681-3 H R B 7. 3, the third part o f the Prophecies, opens with this scene at the drained
pool.
684 ‘ the dying king’. This is an attentuated form o f the triple-death prophecy, echoing
the end of Lailoken A .
685 See NN and * Intro. 1 and * Intro. 5 on Taliesin and Kentigem in relation to V M .
687 Gildas. NN. His role as teacher in Brittany is described in the L ife by the Monk of
Ruys (Williams, 1901, 347-9, ch. 16).
693-727 Exemplars for this funerary oration have not been demonstrated. The descrip­
tion o f Rodarch could be pieced together from his traditional epithets and from the sort
o f summary comments Geoffrey makes in H R B about various early kings. The sentiments
about death and transience are traditional, with wide mediaeval currency, and not ill-
expressed. The speech may be entirely Geoffrey’s: roses and lilies appear again as in the
messenger’s song (170-97). 7 T P , 380 wondered whether the speech was a type of lament
(1marumad) comparable to that for Gwenddolau in H oianau. See NN G U EN D O LO EN A
on the messenger’s song.
This oration serves to sound the first note o f the theme o f pious contemplation in a forest
I 44 L I F E OF M E R L I N

retreat with which the poem concludes. Line 698 is presumably an oblique reference to
Kentigem .
730-1 Rodarch’s epitaph. Parry referred to the Yarrow Stone inscription as a compar­
able late sixth century epitaph to sons o f a kinsman o f Rhydderch. It is now taken as early
sixth century and as referring to other individuals : see NN R O D A R C H . The modest urn
in this epitaph, implying cremation, conflicts with Ganieda’s bones-and-worms oration
and with tumba, but nothing more than poetic convenience need be read into it.
734 'w hat winds and rainstorms were’, i.e. a broad natural-science question. Parry: 'to
find out what wind or rainstorm was coming u p ’ . This makes it a casual enquiry, hardly
justifying the visit or the following disquisition, which provides no local answer, anyway.
737 ff. See * Intro. 2 (twelfth century/Post-dassical) on the relation o f this discourse to
contemporary thought. It appears to be more than a mechanical rendering o f old ideas or
texts such as Bede’s De natura rerum.
738 'th e causative principle’, précédons causa. O r, 'th e prior cause’ (J JP tr).

766 'th e noble contemplation and wonderful sweetness o f God’. The genitive has a
double role.
779 ff. The demons and the space below the moon. The cosmology determines the sense.
Sub-lunar space was the normal place for demons, and 'post lunam ’ means 1below the
moon’ because the direction of travel in the discourse has been from the outer firmament
in towards earth.
The demons are those mentioned in the story o f M erlin’s birth from an incubus demon
father and a human mother: HRB 6. 18. There Apuleius’s 'G od o f Socrates’, De deo
Socratis, is referred to as an authority. This second-century work derived from Plato’s
Apology 31 c-d and Symposium 202d-203e. The sub-divine middle nature o f the demons and
their location between moon and earth are there. But their function is that o f inter­
mediaries between gods and men. In VM another race of spirits above the moon has this
function, the demons having in the meantime sunk in status: 'azrodemones’. See Lewis,
1964, 40-44, for a summary and discussion o f De deo Socratis
794 The notion o f actually retrograde motion is not particularly strong in refluens: cf. the
new spring in VM 1140, which gushes out refluo lapsu, 'sw irling’.
793 ff. The underworld. The nether world o f the dead as a place o f horror was promi­
nent in Sumerian and Egyptian thinking: see, e.g., Hooke, 1963. The concept o f judgment
with the accompaniment o f fire recurs in Jewish prophetic books: e.g. Bk. Darnel, 7 - 9 ,
Bk. Isaiah, 66. 24. See also Isidore on Gehenna (14.9 , 9 and also 8, 14) as the name for
both a Jewish burial ground and the place o f punishment for sinners. He adds in a note
on inferus that it referred to the middle o f the earth, and that inferi were so called because
souls were taken hence to that place. The astrological section o f a Syriac medical text in
a probably twelfth century manuscript from Mosul has: 'Beneath the earth there is an
awful sea o f many waters and beneath the sea o f waters is a sea o f fire and beneath the sea
o f fire is a sea of wind and beneath the sea o f wind is a sea of darkness.. . ’ (Budge, 1913,
2.628: the M S was very possibly from a monastic library.)
Boase (1966) discussed mediaeval ideas and illustrated the imagery. A miniature of
Hell-mouth, with tormented souls, was painted for the Winchester psalter in the decade in
which VM appeared. A tympanum, or entrance-panel, o f 1130 at Conques has a Christ-
in-judgment and compartments. These include a hell-space below, where a legend lists
categories o f the damned. Judgmental discrimination in space terms was early in Christian
thought: on Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom and Dives a great gulf away and below in hell,
see Luke 16. 22 ff. Boase quotes Tertullian, early third century, 'There is a spatial concept
that may be called Abraham’s bosom for receiving the souls o f all peoples.. . ’ In the
context, this can be compàred with Henry V, 2. 3, the hostess saying of Falstaff, 'N ay,
sure, he’s not in hell: he’s in Arthur’s bosom, if ever man went to Arthur’s bosom*.
 T E X T U A L COMMENTARY 14 5

800-4 ‘ trimmed beaches’, preUmsas harenas. Ice-edged Arctic shores rather than glacier
cliffs seem intended. Cf. line 913, pretonso gram ine.
The Arab reference is not known: see NN ARABS. The gem-process is not clear, except
that Venus (Dione’s star) applies a ray treatment to the water. Parry’s version: ‘ This star,
the Arabs say, makes shining gems when it passes through the Fishes while its waters look
back at the flames.’ The main meaning o f respicio is, pay attention to; and flam m is in the
present version is taken as instrumental.
812-54 Fish list. There are eight fish, and they and most o f their attributes are in
Isidore, Etym . 12. 6, D e piscibus. But, as noted in * Intro. 2 (twelfth century/Post-classical),
the correspondence is less close than for the later lists deriving from Isidore. There are
differences of detail in some cases, and extra detail in V M in one case. One name is
different, but an easy confusion to fall into; and fish in Isidore are not mentioned as
curative. The order is different: in the other lists Geoffrey’s order is close to Isidore’s.
For comparison the orders are (Isidore/ V M ) : 1 = 5, 2 = 6, 3 = 1, 4 = 2, 5 = 4 ,6 = 7,
7 = 3, 8 = 8; but these eight are out of a long list o f several dozens of instances. More
important, Isidore classifies them with, and just after, ‘ worms* vermes. Birds follow in 12. 7,
but as a quite distinct class. In V M birds and fish have the same oceanic origin. Geoffrey
drew on some intermediate source, possibly one o f the twelfth century encyclopaedias.
825 f. M ullet (barbel), m ullus. In Isidore, 12.6. 25, its effects are not confined to regular
eaters; but it is there said only to diminish visual acuity not cause blindness. Regular
eaters smell o f the fish; and if a mullet is killed in wine, those who take the drink are put
o ff wine.
827 ff. Thymallus. The serial betrayal is not in Isidore. On the eleventh-century poem
T he W hale, where there is a trace of the idea, see * Intro. 2 (twelfth century/Post-classical).
830 ff. Murenas: subtracto ju re. Parry: ‘ contrary to all laws’. Subtracto (withdrawn) is not
an obvious word to convey this meaning with ju re alone. It could as easily, and more
appositely in the immediate context, refer to semen.
There is a reference to this piece of unnatural history in the H R B Prophecies (7.4) :
‘ Then he (i.e .9 the Charioteer of York) will become a fish in the sea, and will mate with
a snake which enticed him with her hissing.’ It implies long knowledge of the Isidorean
source, as far as it goes for evidence; the tale was already known in the fourth century to
Basil o f Caesarea.
833-5 The shore detail is lacking in Isidore; fishermen are said to make a noise like a
snake in order to catch them (but it has been noted that they conceive by a snake). They
are said to have their anima in the tail and to be awkward to kill. In the translation ex
more is given a usual sense.
836-9 Echinus. Geoffrey attributes to this creature, really the sea-urchin, what Isidore,
12. 6. 34, attributes to the échlnâls: hence Parry’s emendation, which does not scan. This
latter mythical creature is generally called the remora, as in Parry’s translation. It is the
echineis (the Greek form) in Pliny and occurs so in Lucan and Ovid.

840-3 Sword-fish. As in Isidore, 12 .6 .15 , who is briefer.

844-6 Serra. As in Isidore, 12. 6 .16 , except that there it only swims beneath a ship
without affixing itself.
847-9 Sea-dragon, equoreus draco. In Isidore, 12. 6.42, the draco marinus has its poison
in its gills, not under its wings, sc.y fins.
850-4 Torpedo. As in Isidore, 12.6. 45, who quotes Pliny, N H 32, 7.
856-915 The islands. These are taken from Isidore, 14. 6. 1—13, and are only the first
part of his catalogue o f islands. Lot {Études) thought that Solinus (53. 11) had also been
used directly. Both were major influences on twelfth-century encyclopaedias. But there are
few details which are not in Isidore, and they might have been picked up casually from
many derivative sources. The order o f presentation is the same as in Isidore, except that
zo CLM
146 L I F E OF M E R L I N

the contiguous entries on Thule and the Orcades are interchanged, as are Gorgades and
Hesperides; and the Fortunate Isle, now singular, is transferred to the end to lead into the
account of Arthur on Morgen’s island. The preliminary notes about position, etc., are
generally omitted in V M .
859-74 Britain. Isidore’s comments that Britain is separate and faces Gaul and Spain,
and the circuit of the island, are omitted. Its natural resources are listed in V M ; in
Isidore they are varia copia. Fontes ca lid i are noted, but not FA f’s Bladud and wife. Of. the
general description o f Britain in H R B 1. 2, and Gildas, D e excidio, 1.
871-2 See NN BLAD UD , A LA R O N . Bladud as founder o f Bath appears in H R B 2. 10
with more detail but wifeless.
875 Thanet. As in Isidore, except that he did not mention wine (V M 877). See NN.
878 Orkney. Orcades in Isidore, and part of Britain; divided by ‘ our ocean’ in V M . The
numbers of islands are the same.
881 ff. Thule. Before Orkney in Isidore’s list. The detail is very close for a difficult
concept rendered into verse: cf. unde et pigrum et concretum est mare with V M 885-6,
pontum I concretumpigrum que. Parry’s ‘ making a bridge congealed by the benumbing cold’
is due to a slip over ‘ pontum’ : there are no variant readings.
887-92 Ireland. In Isidore, but not in V M , there is passing reference to Scotia between
Orkney and Ireland, but there is not a separate entry and Scotia seems subsumed under
Ireland. In Isidore Ireland is said to be smaller, in V M larger than Britain. (Isidore was
right.) The use of Irish earth to kill bees elsewhere is extended to snakes in V M .
893 Gades. See NN.
895 Black commented, ‘jus pro succus ’, i.e. thatju ra was to be taken as juices, exudations :
he did not translate or elaborate what the full sense was, or how to take super illita . San
Marte emended the last to illisa , and Parry, though making no note, seems to have accepted
this when he translated, ‘ breaking all laws’. It is not easy to get this out o f super illisa ju ra ,
and illisa breaks a metrical law, anyway.
Isidore, 14. 6. 7, wrote, N ascitur in ea arbor sim ilis palm ae, cuius gummis infectum vitrum
ceraunium gemmam reddit. This seems to mean, ‘ There grows in it [Gades] a tree like a
palm, whose gum turns glass stained with it into the gem ceraunium.’ (Ceraunium was a
probably purply-red stone, ?a type o f onyx.)
Three preliminary points about V M 895 are: (1) gemine, it is agreed, stands for gemme
(-ae). The fact that gemine can mean nothing here indicates that the copyist was writing
this line without attending much to the sense. (2) Isidore’s gummis (fern.) and Geoffrey’s
gummi (indeclin. form) are in the nominative singular. (3) superillita is from a known verb,
superillino , meaning ‘ smear’, though no V M editor has joined the two parts. It is not far
in meaning from Isidore’s infectum . It recurs in V M 1430.
Comparing Isidore and V M , the sense of both is now that ‘ [something] stained/smeared
with the tree-gum becomes a gem/gems’. This leaves only the ‘ something’ to be equated.
In Isidore it is vitrum ; in V M , according to C V , it is iura.
The straightforward solution is, of course, that the original did not have a word for
‘ laws’, but a plural o f vitrum , which would Ije uitra in C V ’s orthography: this has only
one more minim (upright stroke) than iura. mtrum usually remains singular, and this is a
difficulty. But vitrea means *glass-w are9, and so vitra might carry the sense, ‘ bits o f glass',
to go with the now plural ‘ gems’. A construing of V M 894-5 would then be, ‘ from whose
bark a gum drips, by-which-smeared glass-bits become gems’.
896-7 Hesperides. Isidore has additional topographical matter. They follow the Gor­
gades in Isidore.
898-9 Gorgades. In Isidore named after the Gorgons, female, hairy and rough-bodied
but not fast runners as here, where they are not named.
 T E X T U A L COMMENTARY H?
900-1 Argyre and Chryse. In the Indian ocean in Isidore» who has not the Corinthian
comparison. The names derive from the Greek for silver and gold» but the entry says
nothing about Geoffrey’s acquaintance with Greek» though he did happen to reverse the
order when versifying. Corinth’s rocks: there was a difficult entrance to the harbour
which was proverbial; see NN.
902-5 Ceylon» Taprobana. It is split by a river in Isidore» has elephants and two winters
and two summers : in V M it has two springs and two summers. Tâprôbând is needed here for
the metre. Täpröbänä or - i was the classical usage» chiefly the latter» which Isidore has.
906 Tiles. As Isidore» but its Indian placing is omitted. After Tiles (14. 6 .13 ) Isidore
says Hucusque Oceani insulae, ‘ So much for the Oceanic islands’» and turns to Cyprus and
the Aegean islands.
908 Leland quoted V M 908-13 and 929-40 (not to 949) : see * Intro. 6 .
908-940 Island o f Apples (Fortunate). Isidore’s description in full is (14 .6 .8 ) :
Fortunatarum insulae vocabulo suo significant omnia ferre bona, quasi fe lic e s et beatae fructuum
ubertate. Sua enim aptae natura pretiosarum poma silvarum parturiunt; fo rtu itis vitibus iuga collium
vestiuntur; ad herbarum vicem m essis et holus vulgo est. Vnde gentilium error et saecularium carmina
poetarum propter so li fecunditatem easdem esse Paradisum putaverunt. Sitae sunt autem in Oceano
contra laevam M auretaniae, occiduo proxim ae, et inter se interiecto m ari discretae.
Literally: ‘ The Fortunatarum insulae convey by their name that they bear all good
things» as if happy and blessed in the abundance o f their produce. For» as fitted by their
nature» they bring forth the apples of their precious woods; the heights o f the hills are
covered with natural vines; crops and vegetables commonly take the place of grasses.
Consequently the error o f die gentiles and the songs o f secular poets have thought that
these same isles were Paradise» because o f the fruitfulness o f the soil. They are situated in
Ocean to the left o f Mauretania» furthest west, and are separated from one another by
the sea.’
T he differences of substance are: (1) The original islands were plural. Geoffrey is being
editorial (as also in moving the entry out of its place in the catalogue in order to introduce
the Arthur story). (2) The theme o f longevity (‘ men live a hundred years or more’»
V M 915) is not present in Isidore. It is frequent in Celtic legends of islands. (3) VM *s
island is specifically called ‘ Island o f Apples’»as Isidore’s is not; and this is a m otif with
Celtic associations» like that o f longevity. Here Geoffrey is seen sewing together received
post-classical learning and received Celtic legend-motifs.
There is a point which wants further examination. The V M island is also called
‘ Fortunate’»Fortunata. Isidore’s name is Fortunatarum insulae, i.e.» not ‘ Fortunate Islands’
but ‘ Islands of (the) Fortunate W omen’. Lindsay» 1911» reports no variants. This point
has not been commented on» and it is relevant to the nine sisters o f line 916 ff. - if the
explanation is not purely a textual matter arising subsequent to Geoffrey. I f it antedated
Geoffrey» it could even have given him the idea for the fictional sisters. But the description
o f fertility» etc.» and the other comments obviously refer the adjective to the islands
themselves. Solinus (23. 10 and especially 56. 14) gave a precise description» if a dis­
appointed one - in f‘ra fam am vocabuli res est and ideoque rum penitus ad nuncupationem su i
congruere insularum qualitatem . But long before» Plautus had referred to Fortunatorum insulae9
and this presumably harks back to the Greek Islands of the Blest» poocdpcov vf(ooi, first in
Hesiod, where heroes dead in battle and some gods lived in the far west. Pindar antici­
pated Geoffrey by speaking of only one such island. AU this does not necessarily explain
Fortunatarum in Isidore. (Isidore fairly clearly referred to the actual Canary Islands, from
the geographical pointers. Solinus had named them, including Canaria.)
920-8 See linked NN M O RG EN and M O RG EN ’S SISTER S.
924 Parry commented that Papie was sometimes Paris and that R . S. Loomis had
suggested that B risti was a locative for Bristol. The origin o f this flying and this itinerary
is not clear: it may have a Breton source.
926 didicisse, to have taught. Cf. line 920, d id icit, learnt.
10-2
14 8 L I F E OF M E R L I N

999 NN CAM LA N .
930 NN A R T H U R , BARIN TH U S.
936-8 The ambiguity over the seriousness o f the wound is implied; the wound is not
directly spoken o f as ‘ lethal’, as in VM 1122 and in HRB 11.2 .
941-1135 The second and longest section o f political prophecy (covering Saxon domi­
nation to the recovery o f the kingdom under Conan and Cadwalader) and ‘ reminiscence’
from Constans to the present under Aurelius Conan. Résumé in +Intro. 3. The supposed
time o f the events closing this prophecy overlaps with that o f the beginning o f the first
prophecy.
954-8 This exchange between Merlin and Taliesin establishes that Arthur’s era is
finished. He is not to return, at least in any near future. See NN A R T H U R on this.
967-8 See "Prophecy and NN A R TH U R , CAD W ALAD ER , CO N AN . Williams (1955,
xxvii) decided that this passage was a direct echo of Armes Prydeinywhich has a call to the
men o f Cornwall, Man, Wales, Strathclyde and to the Dublin Danes to drive the enemy
into the sea, about the year 930.
974 ‘ distant kings’, reges.. .remotos. Parry takes reges as the subject o f incipient and
remotos as the object o f superare: ‘ Kings shall begin again to conquer remote peoples.’
remotos is used in such a way in VM 997, but this does not clinch the matter here.
982-1070 ‘ Reminiscence’ from Constans’s reign to Arthur, reflecting HRB Books 6-8.
982-4 Constans, Uther, Ambrosius: see NN.
986 SeeN N V O R T IG E R N .
1010 K illing o f British leaders. This story is told in full in HRB 6. 15 (and set at
Amesbury). The historical evidence seems to depend on the Kentish and Anglo-Saxon
Chronicles. Morris, 1966 (pp. 167 f.), placed the incident in the decade 450-60, during
the breakdown of the organized post-Roman government o f Britain and before the large
British migrations to France.
1017 Vortimer. Eldest son o f Vortigem . Cf. HRB 6 .13 -14 .
1021-g Thanet. NN. The southern end o f the channel which made Thanet an island
was one reputed original landing place for Hengist. The death of Horsa and the British
seaside victory here seem to compound two Kentish battles of the struggle, recorded both
by Nennius, HB 44, and AS Ckron: (1) that known as Episford (or Rithergabail, sup­
posedly the British name), in which Horsa and Vortigem ’s second son Catigem were said
to have died, and (2) a battle won by the British on the Channel coast, super ripam Gallici
maris. Nennius speaks o f the place as a harbour and juxta lapidem tituli : this may refer to
the old Roman monument and look-out at Richborough.
1033 Renua. NN. Saxon second wife of Vortigem ; Reinwein, Rowena, etc., o f HRB
6. 12, where she is the daughter o f Hengist, not the sister, as here.
1044 K ing Budic o f Brittany: cum rege Budko (Biduco). In HRB 6 .8 Budicius received
Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther as children when, as in VM 983-4, they fled after the
murder o f their brother Constans. In HRB 9. 2 Arthur sent for help against the Saxons to
Hoel, son o f Budicius. Hoel is there described as sister’s son to Arthur. ‘ Sister’s son’ was
an important Celtic kinship bond and is discussed elsewhere. It seems to have caused an
implausible genealogy in HRBy for Budicius, already king, had looked after Arthur’s
father Uther in childhood, and Hoel, contemporary with Arthur, is offered as Budicius’s
son by Uther’s daughter. This problem, however, is not revived in VM: Hoel and Arthur
are merely said to have common blood (line 1085). Perhaps this genealogy underlines the
unreality of the character Uther, Arthur’s father. (See NN U TH ER .)
In line 1044, onty Faral, among editors, changed C V ’s Biduco to Budko, to bring it more
into line with HRB*s Budicius. There are no other MSS at this point, and the change is
reasonable. Stokes (1870-2) related ‘ Budic’ to ‘ victorious’ : cf. Boudicca, sc. ‘ Queen
V ictoria’ ; also Ross, 1967, 360.
 T E X T U A L COMMENTARY I49
104g Landing of Uther and Ambrosius: cf. H R B 8. 2 ff.
1062 ‘ four lustrums9. Parry noted that in mediaeval usage a lustrum was commonly a
single year. Classically it was a period o f five or o f four years.
1063 ‘ his doctor’s treachery9. H R B 8 .14 .
1083 Hoel. See note on V M 1044, on Arthur’s relationship with Hoel in H R B g. 2 ff.
In H R B Hoel went on a northern expedition and fell sick at Dumbarton. A t the end o f
Arthur’s Scottish campaign Hoel inspected the marvels o f Loch Lomond and its sixty
eagles.
lo g s ff. Parry divided these sentences differently. ‘ Soon after this struggle he changed
the scene o f the war, and subdued the Scots and Irish and all these warlike countries by
means o f the forces he had brought. He also subjugated the Norwegians, sir.’
1 108 ff. The Modred campaign in V M differs from the H R B account. In H R B 1 1 .1
Modred, having won support from the Saxons under Chelric, opposed Arthur’s landing
at Richborough, was defeated there, at Winchester and at Camlan, where he died. He was
not said, as in V M , to have been driven abroad or to have been tricked by his Saxon
allies; in fact, in H R B they were made to fight with tenacity, Chelric being killed also.
See NN M O DRED .
1 133 Aurelius Conan, not ‘ the deliverer’ Conan.
1 136-1253 Springs, etc. The basis o f the list is Isidore, Etym . 13. 1 3 .1 -1 1, D e diversitate
aquarum (Bk. 13 is D e mundo). Cures are only one o f six classes, and the properties o f the
actual springs described are very varied .and, as in V M , not confined to medicinal effects.
The passage in V M is thus largely a digression; but it would be o f general interest, since
concern with the properties of springs can be shown to have been intense and tenacious.
There is much information, though it is very scattered and local. Native and Romano-
British water-cults (Alcock, 1365) are about the earliest recorded in the islands and can be
compared with continental cults.
Less formal customs of the country as distinct from cults continue into the present. The
last mass immersion for the cure o f madness was probably that in 1871 in Strathnaver at a
traditional site. But, for example, Columba’s Font in woods by Loch Ness has retained a
reputation in connection with sterility; while an extant London public house (a Green M an,
but no traceable wild-man connection) had in its lease a clause requiring the dispensing of
phials o f ‘ eye lotion’ from the spring in its cellar, and the custom was kept up until after
1950. A Forfar firm has even been exporting water to America by air. Brown (1963)
summarised the data on Devon healing wells. Ross (1967) gave examples o f Celtic well
cults. See F. Jones (1954) on Welsh holy wells.
But in relation to the V M spring a special note has to be made o f Holywell, Denbigh­
shire, as both a cult and curative centre. It is only ten miles from St Asaph, from which
Giraldus Cambrensis visited it. It is intimately bound up with the legend o f Winefride
(see NN for details o f the well) ; and she has some shadowy links with the Vortigem -
Ambrosius-Merlin legend— see NN V O R T IG E R N . Parry refers to the spring in Rhig-
yfarch’s L ife o f D avid, ch. 7; it appeared for David’s baptism and cured a blind monk.
The situations and origins o f the individual springs, lakes and rivers in this long list are
not for the most part of importance to V M in themselves: some miscellaneous information
is in NN, but systematic annotation belongs to a study o f Isidore. Most o f the corres­
pondences with Isidore in V M are close enough to suggest direct consulting, but one or two
name variants may indicate reading o f a derived encyclopaedia. There is no deviation
from Isidore’s order, but there are omissions, and Isidore’s list ends with a general note on
how hot springs are heated, while V M 's has observations about the sudden emergence of
underground springs like that in the story. The omissions in V M seem like items trimmed
to shorten the account or because they were not convenient metrically. Between Styx
and Idumaea Isidore has Gelonium (Sicily) and Ammon (Africa), and between Trogo-
ditis and Epirus he has Siloa (by Sion) and a Judaean spring which was dry on Sundays
150 L I F E OF M E R L I N

and a warm Sardinian spring with an obscure property. Fons Ydumaeus ( V M ) is lo b in

Isidore, with similar characteristics, and placed in Idumaea.
1147-53 Merlin’s recovery. More literally, ‘ As the moisture o f the water passed through
the internal passages o f bowel and stomach and settled the vapour o f the internal body,
suddenly, mind regained, he knew himself.’ Geoffrey is unlikely to be moving outside a
terminology of his day, and the reference illustrates the influence o f the wave of medical
and other scientific translations from the Arabic during the eleventh and twelfth centuries
by which European acquaintance with Galenic and earlier Greek ideas was made or
renewed, though the fuller impact o f Aristotle in particular did not occur till later. The
passage is one indication of Geoffrey’s interest in contemporary thought; he would
probably have met such views while he was living at Oxford.
This idea derived from the theory o f psycho-physiological function which involved
humours and a principle o f heat. The brain, not an active organ but a sort of homoeostatic
device, condensed the heat o f the heart, and this, with the balance o f the humours,
determined among other things the nervous stability or otherwise o f the individual. The
present passage seems to reflect theory o f this kind. The water cooled the (hot) vapour— as
Merlin’s brain should have been doing— and brought the system into equilibrium. W hat
remains obscure is why this particular spring’s water was efficacious: Taliesin’s science
falls back on an original classification by properties made by the Creator.
1 161-8 ‘ I was taken out o f my true self, etc.’ This is an important statement in relation
to Geoffrey’s own attitude to prophesying, including his own work in H R B and to a
lesser extent in V M (where it is not so much the recapitulations of H R B as the near-
contemporary allusions which are ‘ real’ prophecy in the present sense). He clearly had an
insight into the state o f possession or ‘ enthusiasm’ which went with the traditional type o f
Welsh prophesying and perhaps survives in some styles o f impassioned preaching.
Geoffrey’s prophecy, as written down, is not artlessly unconsidered, but it has been
touched with the traditional spirit. See * Intro. 3 on William of Newburgh’s comments.
Line 1472 should be looked at also in this context. Ganieda’s prophetic state is there
induced by fixation on a small intense light-source— the sun reflected from windows at a
distance. This under some conditions and with some people would be a way o f inducing a
semi-hypnotic state; and Geoffrey, in his own phraseology, o f course, knew about it.
How widely such knowledge was familiar is a separate question.
1 181 ff. M any o f the waters in the list which starts here have no curative properties
assigned to them: they are m irabilia .
1 184 Tiber, A lb u la . The name o f A lbula , applied to springs near Tibur (Tivoli), became
transferred to Tiber. The Tiber, through Rome, was not likely to have promoted rapid
healing. NN T IBER .
1186 Cicero’s Spring. NN. Reputation for efficacy in eye diseases tends to mean
particularly clear water, in Britain at least: T . Brown, 1963.
1188 Ethiopian pool; oil-glistening face. Not known. Cf. St Catherine’s W ell near
Edinburgh, which has an oily scum: its early reputation was for skin diseases. (See
R CA H M M idi., 1929; Boece, 1526, for story; M . Mackaile, 1664, for description.)
1 190 Zêma. NN. Zam a in Isidore, whence Parry’s emendation. Numidia had two towns
called Zàm a; the vowel was probably changed here for the metre.
1 192 Clitorius (as in Isidore) : J J P accepted for translation. Ovid spoke o f a Jons here,
Pliny o f a locus \ references in NN.
1204 Leinus in Arcadia. Cf. Styx problem in 1222 : see NN ACH AEA.
1210 Clitumnus. Mentioned in the same stanza o f Propertius as T ibur and Albanus lacus,
but cattle are not referred to : see NN TIB E R . See NN on possible confusion with Clitorius.
1214 Asphalt Lake: or, the Dead Sea (Pliny).
1218 Aloe. In Isidore, in A fricae lacu Apuscidamo omnia flu ita n t9 n ih il mergitur.
 T E X T U A L COMMENTARY 151

1223 Fans Tdüm êus. In Isidore, Fans lo b in Idumaea. The adjective could mean ‘Jewish*
classically; its scansion was Idûmaeus, from the Greek *l6oupa(a. The red-green sequence is
reversed in V M .

1229 Trogodytic lake. Ethiopian, in the country of the Trog(l)odytae or cave-dwellers.

Trögödytis is a feminine adjective in Pliny 6,29, 34 § 17. Parry’s Trogdytus does not seem to
be known.

1232 Parry’s suggestion b due to having read the line as if it started ‘ extincteque rursus’,
and is unnecessary. Geoffrey’s description is the same as Isidore’s; he merely reverses the
order o f the two powers ascribed to the spring.
1233 The Garamantes. A tribe in what is now Fezzan in southern Libya. Giraldus,
I t . Kam b. 2. 10, mentions a spring near Rhuddlan, Flints., which had an odd rhythm of
ebbing and flowing. (It has been identified by an early commentator as at Kilken,
mentioned by Lhuyd.) Then Giraldus quotes ‘ Trogus Pompeius’ : ‘ there is a town o f the
Garamantes, where there is a spring which is hot and cold alternately by day and night.’
1246 ff. The underground streams. The section after the Garamantes in Isidore is a
general note on how hot springs acquire their heat by contact with sulphur and alum:
this also is an underground process, o f course.
1262-3 Merlin asked to resume his kingly role. These political leaders should have
come, not from the late Rodarch’s court in Strathclyde or ‘ Cum bria’, but from South
W ales. Geoffrey’s distances are poetical, but he had not entirely forgotten V M 21-2,
R ex erat et vates Demetarumque superbis / ju ra dabat populis. For Merlin refers to Welsh
mountains (Arwystli in central Wales) in V M 1402 when speaking of his youth.
1270- 8 The old oak. Chadwick (1966, 12-13, 34-6) discussed the place of oaks in Celtic
cult contexts. Calidon in V M has apples, hazeb and mountain ash, but oaks evidently
predominate or are important (e.g., V M 134, 154, 241). The woodpecker (picus) presides
over this exemplary oak. It is the bird o f prophecy, and it occupies a special position in
M erlin’s bird list. (See notes on the bird list, lines 1298-1386 and 1384-6 in particular,
and also * Intro. 2 (twelfth century/Post-classical). It is not worth trying to see friendly
allusions to Robert o f Lincoln in this passage, Robert de Chesney or de Querceto - both
names refer to an oak-wood. He was a promising young oak by reputation at the time:
see dedication and NN R O BER T. W ith the prophetic woodpecker, the lines might be
expected to be a prediction of a noble long life for him, but the description of the aged oak,
1271- 2, is against this additional interpretation. The O ld Woman of Beare’s acorn
comment (Meyer, 1899) has been adduced, but is not relevant.
1283 Tagus. In Portugal: see NN on golden sands.
1284 Methis. Untraced: see NN.
1286 Tyrian scent. The reference seems general, to Phoenicians as suppliers of luxury
markets.
1293-5 The cranes. See below on 1301 ff.
1298-1386 Bird list. It is based on Isidore, Orig., 12. 7. The birds follow the fish in
Isidore but are not, as in V M , linked to fish in the natural order. (See note on the Fish list,
V M 812-54.) Isidore’s own list of birds b much longer, and the V M lbt consists essentially
o f the first quarter o f it : the woodpecker b taken from much later in the lbt, for a purpose.
The order of Isidore’s lbt b maintained, with the following discrepancies. The cranes, third
in Isidore’s lb t, are used as the introduction in V M . Parrot and halcyon (n th and 12th in
Isidore) are reversed. The 14th item in Isidore, the Stym phalides, a difficult entry, is
omitted. There is a gap of sixteen entries between hercynia and final woodpecker. The
discrepancies between the Ibts are therefore small. Individual comparisons also show little
substantial variation in the descriptions, though these are turned to fit the verse.
152 L I F E OF M E R L I N

1301 ff. Cranes. The points given by Geoffrey tally with Isidore’s description, including
probably, the original version o f lines 1294-5. On the littera , Isidore has, H aec autem d m
properant, imam seqidtwr ordine litterato. D e quibus Lucanus [5, 716];

E t turbata p erit dispersis littera p innis.

E xcelsa autem petunt, quo fa c iliu s videant quas petant terras.

1311 Eagles. Not discrepant.

1320 Vulture. Not discrepant, but Isidore describes size.
1327 Stork. Not discrepant, but Isidore has more detail. C f. FAf's N untia veris and
Isidore’s H ac veris nuntiae.
1334 ff* Swan. There is agreement in the main, but Isidore gives the Latin name as
‘ olor’, referring to the Greek kùkvov as well. The cithara o f FAf reflects praecinentibus citha­
roedis; but Isidore has an explanation o f the swan’s modulated song in terms of its long neck,
and there is no reference to song when dying, an important m otif in the swan legend.
A quotation, however, uses çygnus and laetissim us ales in the same line: cf. 1335.
1338 ff. Ostrich. Not in FAf are that it looks like an animal with wings and does not fly
high. The hatching is fo tu pulveris in Isidore, here radio pro matre cubante, but the earlier
description also has sub p u lv ere.. .u t fo v ea n tu r.. .fovere.
1341 ff. Heron. Geoffrey or his source misunderstood the heron’s supposed behaviour in
storms. V M says the heron flies up to the clouds to avoid danger. Isidore more reasonably
says it flies above the clouds.
1345 ff. Phoenix. Information close to Isidore’s. Omitted are the exact period when it
grows old (after fifty) and some etymology.
1353 ff. Cinnomolgus. This entry is garbled because not understood or because con­
densed too much. Isidore says that the bird (Arabian) builds its nest out o f cinnamon fruit,
setting it in high woods. These trees cannot be climbed because o f height and thin
branches. The cinnamon is knocked down by leaded projectiles, p lu m b a tis.. .ia cu lis. This
phrase, when compared with FAf’s p en n a tis.. .te lis , suggests that Geoffrey saw a different
reading or imagined a different picture; but that by itself does not argue for a different
source from an Isidore M S. Isidore’s account makes certain that ‘ procero’ is the right
reading in 1354. Parry translated his ‘ pro certo robore’ as ‘ because o f its undoubted
strength’.
1357 Halcyon. Comes after the parrot (next entry) in Isidore. Not discrepant. ‘ Seven
days’ calm in both. Classically the halcyon procured fourteen days o f calm in winter.
1362 ff. Parrot. Isidore has a long entry on the parrot. It includes origin (India) and
description (green, with purple neck), and it refers to the large, unusually broad tongue
which allows speech. The example, as in V M , is i have ve1 and there is a two-line
quotation from M artial, 14. 73 *
The V M entry has only the detail about speech, and it misses the point in saying that the
parrot speaks ‘ when not looked at directly’. Isidore says that if you couldn’t see it, you
would think it was a person speaking: Vnde et articulata verba exprim it ita u t, s i eam non videris,
hominem loqui putes. E x natura salutat dicens: ‘ have ’, vel x&Tpc. Cetera nomina institutione d iscit.
The M artial quotation follows. Geoffrey failed to grasp or perhaps to read carefully this
exotic information. A negative deduction about his personal life, that he had not kept a
talking parrot, is reasonable.
1365 ff. Pelican. Not discrepant. But Isidore adds that it is Egyptian-born, Canopos
Aegyptus, from the Nile deserts.

1370 ff. Diomeds. In Isidore the Stymphalides (odious birds o f prey connected with
Arcadia) precede the diomeds. Additional details in Isidore about the diomeds are their
 T E X T U A L COMMENTARY ISS
physical description (like swan-sized coots), their origin as companions o f Diomed and
how he died. Their weeping is said to be for their own change and for the king’s death.
KAf’s prophetic warnings o f the death o f kings and perils to the kingdom are not there.
This is undoubtedly Geoffrey inserting his own brand of Welsh prophecy. Cf. H R B g. 6
on the sixty eagles of Loch Lomond who congregated annually and *indicated by loud
concerted screaming any remarkable event which was going to occur in the kingdom’.
(Geoffrey did not always believe eagles: see H R B 2. g on the prophecies o f the eagle at
Shaftesbury which he refused to repeat. A purported version o f these exists; perhaps
someone else wrote them and this accounts for Geoffrey’s rejection.)
1378 ff. Memnonides. An abbreviated version o f the central item o f Isidore’s entry, only.
(After the arrival at Ilium and two days o f flying round, the occasion concluded with a
day o f savage fighting among themselves.)
1381 ff. Hercynia. This bird may have grown from a joke about the dark Hercynian
forest, but could have been a folk or traveller’s tale. (See note on this forest, NN GALI-
D O N .) Solinus (20. 3) says, Saltus Hercynius gignit aves quarum pennae per obscurum em icant. ..
Unde hom ines.. .plerum que nocturnos excursus sic destinant ut illis utantur. . •
Black’s drcanea is a very rare word for a bird with a circular flight.
1384-6 Woodpecker. This comes sixteen entries after the hercynia in Isidore. A special
interest in this bird seems indicated, as the rest is an almost straight run down the original
list. The woodpecker was a bird connected with prophecy. See also line 1275 on the
woodpecker and the oak. Isidore first distinguishes the picus or picus M artius from the p ica .
T h e pica is the magpie, and it has the same character as the parrot of being able to imitate
human speech and of sounding like a person when not visible. The picus ‘ took its name
from Picus son o f Saturn, because he used it in augury. For they say this bird has some­
thing divine ( quiddam habere divinum ).* This last is explained by its removal o f nails from
the tree where it builds its nest.
1387 ff. A madman. See NN M AELD IN on the whole story here and on the name.
1402 Arwystli: see NN.
1472 ff. There is apparently emphasis on the distinction between aula9 Merlin’s hall (of
residence) and domus9 the prophetic forest institute. Ganieda is looking out from the hall to
the forest house. The sun-glitter on the windows induces a mild trance-like condition
suitable for prophesying. See Merlin’s description o f prophetic possession, V M 1161-6
and note, and 'In tr o . 3 .
1474-1518 This, the only prophecy not delivered by M erlin, is also the only one entirely
concerned with the twelfth-century British political present and recent past. A point is
that before and after the speech it is indicated that this is merely a sample o f the kind o f
prophecy Ganieda occasionally uttered, not (like the rest) a particular one coming out o f
the V M narrative. (Cf. V M 1468, . . .quandoque.. • and 1471, Ergo die quadam .. . and
1518, N on super hec ta c u it.. . ) The contemporary references do not appear intended to form
a connected account. But the final address to ‘ Normans* could be taken as airing the need
for a permanent settlement o f the dynastic feuds, - or as an attempt to cultivate Stephen’s
favour.
It is suggested that the use o f Ganieda here, and the words o f V M 1521, ‘ He [the spirit]
has curbed my tongue and closed my book’, constitute a statement by Geoffrey that he
was abandoning native (‘ pagan’) prophecy for the religious life at a point when he knew
he was probably to become a bishop. See also end o f 'In tr o . 3 on this.
1474fr. Oxford. (U rbs Ridichena: the Welsh for Oxford is stiU/Z^pfon.) Ward explained
the episode alluded to as follows (Catalogue, 1883, 1. 280 f.) :
‘ A t the Council of Oxford, 24th June 1 13g, Bishops Roger o f Salisbury and Alexander
o f Lincoln were seized by Stephen at the instigation o f the Court (“ iuuenta” ), whilst
Bishop Nigel o f Ely fled to Bishop Roger’s castle o f Devizes. In the sequel, Bishop Roger
154 L I F E OF M E R L IN

was dragged to Devizes, and forced to open the castle, the immediate cause o f his disgrace.
The surrender of his other castles, and those of Bishop Alexander, soon followed.'
San Marte discussed the possibility that the events referred to were those o f Easter
week 1215, when John met the barons at Oxford. As noted elsewhere, San M arte was
exploring rather than asserting an idea about the date o f V M .
1477-8 These lines have not been satisfactorily emended, though the historical allusion
to Bishop Roger and Devizes castle (see above) seems plain.
1479 ff. Lincoln. Lot (1899, 332) preferred Lichfield as the place meant. But W ard’s
identification o f the incident sketched here seems very likely:
‘ This is surely the battle o f Lincoln, 2nd February, 1141. Stephen was blockading
W illiam de Roumare and his younger half-brother, Randolf of Chester, in the castle o f
Lincoln, when Chester managed to slip through the lines, and then returned to them
(“ vallis") with the Welsh and their great chief, Robert o f Gloucester, and Stephen was
taken prisoner; thus the “ sidera" captured the sun.’
(On San M arte’s hypothesis the reference is to the capture of Lincoln in 1217.)
1485 ff. Winchester. W ard’s explanation is: ‘ Surely the rout o f Winchester, 14th Septem­
ber, 1141. The two moons are the two Matildas [the Empress M atilda, claimant to the
English throne, and Stephen’s queen], who brought their rival forces up to Winchester,
where the bishop changed sides from the empress to the queen; whilst Randolf o f Chester
(according to John of Hexham) first offered his aid to the queen, but was accused o f
treacherous designs, and joined the empress; and thus the numbers are here represented
as shifting from side to side. William d’Ypres gains the day, and drives two, the K ing o f
Scots and (probably) Randolf of Chester, far towards the north, captures Robert o f
Gloucester, and disperses the rest in all directions. The Empress M atilda herself was nearly
taken (says John of Hexham) but Geoffroi Botrel, Count of Penthièvre, the elder brother
and constant enemy o f Alan, Earl o f Richmond, rallied her followers and checked the
pursuit. This Breton count then is the “ Armoricanus aper" who bears away the moon.’
(On San Marte's hypothesis, the reference is to John meeting Stephen Langton at
Winchester in 12213; and the ‘ Breton boar’ would probably be Henry III.)
1493 O n eof the usual genitives o f Bootes would be Boote (-at), though Geoffrey may have
taken it as indeclinably Bootes. This was the common classical name for the constellation
abo known as Arctophylax, the Bearkeeper. Its brightest star being Arcturus (cf. V M 930)
would be an additional reason for Geoffrey knowing it familiarly.
1498 f f . Ward took this passage to mean an expedition against the W ebh under a double
leadership. But Parry (1925a) suggested that the Battle o f Coleshill, Flint, in 1150, was
meant. This has a bearing on when the poem was composed or at least completed. On this,
and for detail o f the battle, see * Intro. 7: cf. lines 601-2 also.
1505 ff. Famine. See note in * Intro. 2 (twelfth century).
1511 ff. Normans, i.e., the French troops o f the invasions o f Stephen’s reign. W ard
thought the Norman troops o f M atilda were probably meant. Stephen had lost all
control in Normandy in 1143 after Rouen was captured by Geoffrey o f Anjou, who
assumed the title of Duke. I f there is any particularization in the V M phrase, more recent
memories at the time of V M would be o f the incursions o f Geoffrey o f Aqjou’s son Henry,
Stephen’s ultimate successor in 1154. His troops invaded England in 1147 and 1149.
Geoffrey o f Monmouth was present at the final settlement o f 1153.1
1525-9 The coda. See * Intro. 6: the coda and attribution seem authentic. The name
Gaufrido de M onemuta perhaps implies that the poem was completed not later than early
1151 (when Geoffrey began signing as bishop or bishop-elect of St Asaph) and more
certainly not later than February 1152, when he actually became bishop. The flaw in this
argument is that he would not in any case have been likely to have associated himself in
his St Asaph persona with a poem like V M , skating closely round Kentigem , for reasons
discussed in * Intro. 5 and NN K EN TIG ER N .
 T E X T U A L COMMENTARY ISS
Gesta Britonum is given here as the commonly accepted name c. 1150 of what is now
known as Geoffrey’s H istoria Regum Britanniae. The words libellum quem n u n c.. . vocant, ‘ the
book which they now ca ll’, may suggest that Geoffrey and/or the world had a different
name for it in 1136-8, when it was first completed. Gesta Britonum is embalmed in a
metrical line of c. 1150. Griscom’s (1929) MS Cambr. 1706, about the earliest extant,
uses H istoria Britonum . The first printed edition o f H istoria Regum Britanniae, under that
title, was that o f Commelin in 1587.
 NAME NOTES INDEX

ACH AEA
VM 1222 [achadia tellus]
T he Styx was commonly put in A rcadia by Greek and Latin authors.
Isidore (Etym. 13 .13 . 7), Geoffrey’s general source, put it in Achaea. T h e
spring o f Leinus (V M 1204), a few lines earlier in Isidore, was in A rcadia.
T he M S C V has achadia tellus here. Black: Arcadica; Parry: Arcadiay but
noting Isidore.
Either Ârcàd\(c)& is accepted and scanned v - v v, which would be very
difficult, or Achaia is made into three syllables, perhaps w riting it Achaeta.
Greek myths were still largely at a remove in Geoffrey’s day, and the list
comes from Isidore; so the second is somewhat preferable. It is possible
that Geoffrey deliberately or absently wrote exactly w hat the M S has,
compounding the two traditions in one name in a context where an
attem pt at pedantry would be idle.

A C H IL L E S
VM 195 absentem.. .Achillem
Son o f Peleus and Thetis ; leader o f the Myrmidons from Thessaly, at T ro y.
See N N B R ISE IS.

AENEAS
VM 192
British legend knew Aeneas as Eneas Yscyvdwyn, 'A eneas W hite-Shield’
(Triad 50), in the context o f the tradition o f the Trojan origin o f the
British. But the allusion here is to O vid and is entirely classical. See N N
D ID O .

A F R IC A
VM 1190 Affrica
Springs list, Isid., 13. 13. See N N ZE M A .

ALARO N
VM 872 sue consortis Alarm
Bladud's wife, not mentioned in the H RB 2. 10 account o f him. In V M
only, the baths are presented as efficacious especially for women’s diseases
(though in HRB they are dedicated to M inerva, sc. M edica) and are
[*56]
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X !57
nam ed after Alaron. Loth (1887, Chrestomathie bretonne) noted two oc­
currences o f Alarm. (1) W om an's name, estate files o f St Sulpice de
Rennes, 1152. T he name was thus current about the time o f VM .
(2) Soult-Alarun, in the cartulary o f Quim perlé. This also appeared in
G eoffrey’s day and contains parallels to part o f the VM story: G eoffrey
m ay have seen it. Loth’s attem pt to connect the name w ith m odem
Sant-Alarin and Sant-Talar (a farrier saint) is not useful here. See N N
BLAD U D .

A lbula: T I B E R

A lclud: D U M B A R T O N

[ A L E X A N D E R o f Lincoln: ‘ alter’]
VM 7-9
vatemque tueri
auspicio meliore velis quamfecerit aUer
cui modo succedis
G eoffrey dedicated the H RB Prophecies o f M erlin to Alexander (HRB 7 .1 ,
ad init.). There is no evidence about favourable or unfavourable results
o f this patronage beyond the above lines, which im ply disappointment.
(Alexander, said Geoffrey, had asked him to translate the Prophecies.)
A Liber prognosticon was am ong Lincoln cathedral books listed not long
after his time.
Alexander was o f Norm an birth, was adopted by his uncle, Roger o f
Salisbury, H enry I's right-hand m an and leading prelate, and brought up
w ith a cousin, N igel, later bishop o f E ly. T hey both learned to live
ostentatiously, and afterwards Alexander’s lavishness in Rom e earned him
the epithet ‘ the M agnificent’ . After two years as archdeacon at Sarum he
was made bishop o f Lincoln, the third bishop, in 1123. His early pre­
occupations were with celibacy among the clergy and he promoted laws
w hich proved ineffective. In 1139 Alexander and Roger transferred their
allegiance from M atilda as H enry I ’s successor and turned to Stephen.
From then on Alexander was in the front o f the political stage, and
continued to live high (see Text. Comm, to VM 667), and had a reputation
for extortion. He went again to Rom e in 1145. Lincoln cathedral, burnt
in his absence, was restored by him in 1146, when Stephen paid a visit.
In 1 147 he was taken ill at Auxerre and died in Lincoln early in 1148 and
was buried there. His grave is unknown. See N N R O B E R T .
15® L I F E OF M E R L IN

ALO E
VM 1218
Springs list, Isid. 13. 13. Lake A loe, where nothing sinks. N ot apparently
identified, and Isidore calls it Lake Apuscidamus, in Africae lacu Apusci-
damo: the position in the list and the properties are the same as those o f
A loe, though the latter description is elaborated (line 1219). Perhaps Aloe
was a m etrically convenient substitute, applying a name for the Dead Sea
to another lake with similar characteristics: cf. Asphaltite lacu in lines
1214-15, though there ability to float applies only to living things. (Aloe
in Ptolem y, Bk. 7, is an Indian place.)

A M B R O S IU S
VM 984, 1044 Uter et Ambrosius
1060 Ambrosio regnumque datur regnique corona
In Geoffrey’s works Aurelius Ambrosius was younger brother to Constans,
ruled for four years after V ortigem and was succeeded by his younger
brother U ther: his father Constantine (HRB 6) was the first British king
after the Romans left, and m arried a British wife. Gildas (De excid. 20-4)
had given the outline in his sketch o f Aurelius Ambrosianus, who had
rallied the British against the Saxons after the superbus tyrannus (sc.
V ortigem ). Nennius (H B 48) referred to Ambrosius acting as a high king,
but gave only an account o f the prophetic boy who explained V ortigem ’s
difficulty over the building o f his tower and was granted the western
kingdoms.
In HRB the prophetic-boy character became assimilated to that o f
M erlin, probably just because o f the prophecy, and he appears as the boy
M erlin Ambrosius, now son o f a demon, not o f a Rom an. A n apparent
variant o f the demon-father m otif seems to show in the story ofV ortigern ’s
incest with his daughter, apparently alleged by Germanus as part o f his
anti-Pelagian cam paign (HB 39). T he offspring was taken aw ay to be
brought up by Germanus, and a saint, St Faustus Secundus, resulted.
Neither incest nor demonic father is mentioned in VM , but the sub-lunar
demons are remarked on in Taliesin's general-science disquisition (V M
779-84), with a reference to their intercourse with women. H RB 6. 18
gives Apuleius’s ‘ God o f Socrates' as a source for the idea.
T he theme was current in the twelfth century outside Geoffrey's
interest. Giraldus (It. Kambr. 1. 12: Pembs.) mentions two cases as in his
lifetime. In one, Elidore de Stakepole’s self-appointed steward was young,
red-haired, efficient, but not religious, and held nightly conversations by
a pool. O n discharge he explained the demon father and village mother.
His advanced views on the rights o f the workers to lavish reward, as
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 159

applied to Elidore's staff, m ay have helped to create his reputation as

dangerously alien.
T h e Irish Nennius in the Book o f Lecan, possibly containing an early
tradition o f H B (van Ham el, 1932), has the story o f the fatherless youth
seized to make a sacrifice in aid ofV ortigem ’s tower, as in H RB 6. A demon
for a father was not there asserted. T he mother said she simply did not
know how he was conceived.

AN GLA
VM 1077-8 ab Angla / venerat infidus populus
H ere ‘ A n gla’ is the homeland o f the invaders o f north-east England
against whom Arthur moved his arm y through York, on his first juvenile
cam paign. There is only one manuscript at this part o f the VM text, but
an alternative name or form need not be expected. N N A N G L E S,
A R T H U R , D E IR A .

AN GLES
VM 632 Qui prior ex Anglis erit in diademate Bruti
656, 1053 Anglos
G eoffrey’s m ain interest was in the Arthurian period and in the Saxon
enemies o f the British then. H e did not always make a firm distinction
between Angles and Saxons. Thus, the Angles o f VM 1053 are the
foreigners, the Saxons, defeated by Aurelius in the time o f V ortigem .
But the enemies o f Arthur in VM 1077 were in the north-east o f England
and from ‘ A n gla’ . (See also N N D E IR A .) VM 632 refers to a later age.
This first Angle to wear ‘ the crown o f Brutus ’ was Athelstan, grandson o f
A lfred: he reigned 925-39. In 927 he received the submission o f the kings
o f Strathclyde, Scotland and English Northum bria at the river Eamont
by Penrith. Even more decisive was the victory o f Brunanburh in 937 over
Scandinavians, British and Scots. T he British defeats are w hat the H RB
and VM allusions acknowledge. T h e HRB allusion is in the very last
chapter, 12. 19, where the people are referred to both as Angles and as
Saxons, and Adelstanus is named.

ARABS
VM 803 perhibent Arabes
1345 in terris Arabum
Line 803 is about the production o f gems by star-light on m isty northern
seas. A n exact source has not been identified, though Faral (1929) said
that it probably recalled ‘ the famous pseudo-letter o f the A rab king Evax,
o f which Isidore conveyed the gist in the Etymobgies*. In Isid. 16 .4 . 11 the
Arabicus lapis and in 16. 15. 14 the Arabica gemma are mentioned; both are
i6 o L I F E O F M E R L IN

like ebony, and their formation is not described. There are some fugitive
hints, which could have been conflated, in Isidore’s general discussion o f
gems and their formation. In 16. 6. 9 topaz was first found on an island o f
A rabia, which was hidden in mists when sought again. In 16. 8. 6, ‘ There
is produced in islands o f the northern O cean a sort o f gum, and it thickens
to something like crystal through cold or time.* In 16. 10. 3, *Asterites is
white, containing a light like a star m oving within.* In 16. 13. 7, ‘ Astrion
is from India, near to crystal, and in its centre a star shines w ith the
brightness o f the full moon.*
Line 1345 is an antique reference, being in Isidore part o f the legend
o f the phoenix, whose name is there given an A rabic derivation. See
* Intro. 2 on later A rabic influences.

Arcturus: A R T H U R

[A R F D E R Y D D ]
T h e M erlin-original was a fugitive after the battle o f Arfderydd; it is the
unnamed battle at the beginning o f VM . T he first historical record is in
Annales Cambriae, s.a. 573: Bellum Armterid. Geoffrey probably knew the
name from the W elsh M yrddin poems or from Triads, and the northern
provenance, but not the date. T h e FAf-Arfderydd link was assumed b y
the later addition to the Ann. Cambr. entry: Merlinus insanus effectus est; and
the M erlin annotations in the Lailoken texts point in the same direction.
T he Polychromem M SS o f VM are inserted between the years 525 and 533.
Triads 29, 31W , 44, 84 (v. T Y P ad locc.) carry fragments o f the
tradition. T h e outline (Tr. 84) was that the cause was ‘ the lark’s nest’ ;
but this is not explained. A boundary dispute is possible, whether or not
related to Caerlaverock (‘ lark-fort’) at the mouth o f the N ith: it was
im portant from Rom an times (Bum , 1953). Some shepherds m ay have
been involved: cf. the shepherds who killed Lailoken. T h é other T riads
recall the war-bands o f Gwenddolau (29) and Dreon (31W ). T r. 44 names
the sons o f Eliffer, G w rgi and Peredur, and others as the opponents o f
Gwenddolau in the ‘ battle-fog’ o f Arfderydd. A note in one text o f Ann.
Cambr. (573) also names the sons o f Eliffer and Gwenddolau, the last as
dying in the fight. T he battle seems to have been all-British, perhaps
prim arily a quarrel between branches o f the line o f Coel Hen.
Rhydderch (of the other North British dynasty o f D yfnwal Hen)
appears not to have been there; but he is the chief figure in the M yrddin
poems. O ne explanation is that he was involved only through the death o f
his sister’s son, caused by the M yrddin-original, and that this was an
incidental not a central issue, whether arising before or during the battle.
W ard (1893; v. also I. W illiam s, 1952) took the prosaic view o f M erlin as
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X l6 l

no devil's child: 'H e is only the brother o f the queen o f Strathclyde.'

A view dating from the nineteenth century (Grant, 1892; Douglas, 1894;
Barnes, 1908; M axw ell, 1912) that Rhydderch was leading a crusade
against Gwenddolau, as representing pagan resistance to Christianity, has
no substance. It is repeated as late as 1966 in a serious history o f Arthuret
(Bulm an). It probably derived from a casual reference to Rhydderch in
Hotanau as 'defender o f the fa ith '; but the m odem tradition was written
b y Chalm ers (Caledonia) and passed on through Skene and through Forbes
(1874, Note G G G , 36of.).
Skene (1865) located the battle at Arthuret, 8 miles north o f Carlisle,
suggesting nearby Carw inley as recording (Caer) Gwenddolau. Lailoken A
had in fact Carwannok, and Bower’s Scotichronicon (Goodall) abridgem ent,
Carwanolow. (See Armstrong, 1950-2, for fuller history, s.v. Carwinley
Bum .) No sites for a caer ( = any fortified place) have been established.
Skene meant Liddel Strength, north o f Longtown (Curwen, 1910; R . G .
Collingwood, 1926; V C H , Cum berland, 1901) ; it is too late— a motte and
bailey with added keep— but it has not been excavated. N etherby (Castra
Exploratorum: Birley, 1954) is another suggestion; it has not been excavated
centrally.
N o exact battle site has been m ade plausible. A shallow earthwork on
the Knowes o f Arthuret was described b y Barnes, 1908. W . G . Colling­
wood (1926) decided it was the court or garth o f a thirteenth-century
m anor; see also Blake (1955, 26). T h e church was known from the twelfth
century. Ruinous by the sixteenth century through the constant raiding
over the D ebatable Lands, it was re-built from a national subscription by
Jam es V I/I as part o f a policy o f border pacification.
T h e isolation o f the large structure is unexplained: there was no village
there even by 1704, W . Nicolson noted, and there is none today. Bulman
(1966; revised with R . E. Frith, n.d.) speculated that the adjacent spring,
w ith ?seventeenth-century steps, was the reason. T he long chance is that
the site had continuity o f reputation, stemming from the battle, from the
sixth century to the founding o f the first church. T h e site fits the British
custom o f defending most fiercely not the ford but the high ground or a
dyke above it. Arfderydd had a reputation for ferocity (it was a fam ily
battle), and T r. 31W speaks o f the dyke (rotwyd) o f Arfderydd. Against this,
the land m ay have advanced westward since the m iddle ages (Neilson,
1899), and early fords o f the Esk below Castra Exploratorum m ay be
problem atical.
T h e name Arthuret (Arm strong: Eskdale ward) was Artureth in the first
recorded form (twelfth century), and often so to the late fourteenth.
'A rth u ret' itself seems to derive from Arcturet (1209) through Arthur*s head,
Arthured(e), etc. T h e twelfth-century legends o f Arthur (Ar(c)turus) m ay
IX cm
1 62 L I F E O F M E R L IN

have had an effect, and Geoffrey much responsibility, in this. But A rtereth
is found as late as 1609, and there are interm ediate forms. T he now avail­
able fuller detail, as far as it goes, supports Skene's idea, as in the case o f
Carwinley. T he battle name was first Armterid, then Arderyd in W elsh
m ediaeval references, including Triads, and is m odem ly rendered in
W elsh as Arfderydd. Skene's and Bulm an's Ardderyd for the battle is
presum ably due to the later forms o f the place name after its corruption
through association with A rthur; but Skene also used Arderyth.

Argustli: A R W Y S T L I

ARGYRE
VM 900 Argire Crisseque
Islands list, Isid., 14. 6: Argyre, Chryse', Chrysam et Argyren in 14. 3. 5.
Isidore put them in the Indian O cean, said they had so much precious
m etal as to be believed to be surfaced with silver and gold respectively,
and noted the Greek derivation. T hey have no m odem identification, but
appeared on edge-labels on some twelfth-thirteenth century maps.

Arm orica: B R I T T A N Y

ARTH U R
VM 586 Comubiensis a p ri.. .nepotes ( = (grand)-nephews o f A .)
929-30 Illuc post bellum Comblons vulnere Usum j duximus A r c ­
turum. 954 ff.: T he king should be asked to return. 1070-
1125: Recapitulation o f A .’s reign. Named in 1073, 1080
{puer), 1089, 1092. 1 122-3, A .’s passing, Illic rex etiam letali
vulnere lesus / deseruit regnum.
A rthur had been left with M orgen about four years before M erlin's talk
with Taliesin {V M 929fr), on VM time. A rthur was not dead, but his
era was firm ly over. T he point is raised in VM 954 fr., when Taliesin
suggests sending for Arthur to deal with the Saxons. M erlin replies, no,
a divine judgm ent prescribes a long period o f national tribulation.
Arthur was not a ‘ future deliverer’ in HRB or VM ', Conan and Cad-
walader still had more political heat to their memory. Arthur becam e the
focus o f some W elsh story-cycles by the Fninth century {T Y P bdx), but
his legend was not a stabilized tradition. T h e W elsh Triads show the
growth o f Arthurian interest later, through substitutions in their formulae
{T Y P 274-6); but in T riad 51 Arthur dies without qualification. Breton
entertainers in the twelfth century accelerated the spread o f Arthurian
tales, but Arthur first appeared clearly as a deliverer figure c. 1168 in
Etienne de Rouen’s Draco Normannicus (H. Om ont, 1884; R . H owlett,
 NAM E N O TE S IN D E X 16 3

1884-5). This was occasioned by Breton resistance to the pressures o f

G eoffrey o f Anjou and H enry II, who led an expedition in 1 167.
In Draco Normcmnicus Arthur's threats to H enry recapitulate some
A rthurian quasi-history fam iliar from H RB, but there are some variations
not in H RB or VM . Morganis nympha perhennis is now Arthur’s sister, and
after being m ade immortal by her he has been ruling the antipodean
kingdom . In Geoffrey nothing happens after Arthur’s ambiguous end; but
this is in both H RB and VM and must have been m eant: it resulted later
in the legend o f sleeping Arthur waiting to return. T he W elsh Beddau
verses about heroes’ graves rem ark that A rthur’s grave is unknown.
W illiam o f M alm esbury (Gest. reg. Angl. 3. 387 = Rolls 3. 343) said the
same when dealing with the finding o f Gaw ain's supposed grave. T he 1191
'd iscovery' o f A rthur’s grave at G lastonbury was patently factitious
(Cham bers, 1927, i i s f f ) . But the Plutarch story (Moralia 419 and 941;
Burn, 1953) o f'C ro n o s' bound in sleep and guarded by 'B riareus’ on a
deserted island in the ? Hebrides shows this sleeping god/hero m atrix as
available in or attributed to Britain in the first century.
W ales had only minor links in terms o f place associations. O ne o f these
(pre-Geoffrey) was L icat A nir; it was in Erging, Geoffrey’s home area, to
which he refers in H RB. But there is evidence that long before Geoffrey
W elsh poetry was affected by the existence o f A rthur tales (Jones, 1964).
T h e Annales Cambriae (s.a. 537) note o f Arthur's death m ay be the only
really historical fact about him, even if the date is far out— M orris (1966),
for exam ple, put his campaigns somewhere about 470-90. But there is
m ention o f him (if not sixth century, at least incorporated by the ninth) in
the Gododdin, the northern poem commemorating a raid from Lothian
down to ? Yorkshire. A rthur holds a court o f some magnificence in the
story Culhwch and Olwen. This could have suggested to Geoffrey his treat­
m ent o f Caerleon on Usk, and it m ay be one o f the sources influencing the
earlier French Arthurian writers independently o f Geoffrey (see Jones,
l.c.). Arthur plays a part, not at all as an unsullied hero, in some saints’
Lives from c. 1100 (Cadog, Carannog, Illtud, Padam ) : the church then
and later showed some resistance to the legend. In two o f these Lives
A rthur holds or takes part in a large form al assembly. T he one in Vita
S. Cadoci is actually held on the banks o f the river Usk. Fairly early tradi­
tions linked Arthur with south-west England, but he is not in Dumnonian
genealogies. Excavation at South Cadbury, Som ., has revived interest in
possible Arthurian operations in south-west England (e.g. Badon), but
w ill not solve the problem o f origins and m ain area o f activity. Ashe (1968)
does not seem very relevant on this.
O ne solution, taking account o f older allusions, would put A rthur in
north-east England, and Bromwich (T T P , 375) suggested that he was a
11-2
164 L I P E O F M E R L IN

possible opponent o f the establishment o f the kingdom o f D eira. T h is

would explain the paradox o f early fame as an anti-Saxon leader and lack
o f association with genealogies in those parts where the luxuriance o f later
traditions would make it most expected. It is interesting that the H RB
(9. if.) and VM (1077-94) accounts, which differ in detail, put A rthur’s
first youthful cam paign in the country north o f the Hum ber. Sim ilarly,
Nennius, whom Geoffrey knew, listed the first battle as on the G lein,
sc. the G len, Northum berland (the Glem , in Lines., is another reading).
T he final battle o f Cam lan is now w idely accepted as taking place by
H adrian's W all, near Birdoswald.
W ithin the V M narrative, A rthur has no role outside the M orgen
passage, where he in effect helps to stretch the times o f V ortigem ’s seer
into the era o f M erlin Calidonius, survivor o f Arfderydd. O ne aspect o f
A rthur's northern aura m ay have helped. A rthur’s Scottish batde, Cat Coit
Celidon in Nennius, and Arfderydd shared an association with Celyddon-
Calidon, a Scottish forest with a location so vague that the word hardly
indicated more than ‘ a w ild place up north'. Ardent is in fact given as an
Arthurian battle in an M S o f the Irish Nennius, according to Todd (1848,
1 10), though van Ham el did not note it. Generalisation o f a story facili­
tates new associations, and this would help Geoffrey to knit Vortigernian
M erlin Ambrosius with the M yrddin-original o f Arfderydd, especially as
Arfderydd in Geoffrey's day appears to have had no very firm placing in
time. (See N N C A L ID O N on the forest.)
T he name A rthur (which is taken to be derived from Rom an Artorius)
was also the name of, among others, the son o f A idan m ac G abrain. A idan
was a contem porary o f Rhydderch H ael and perhaps had British connec­
tions through his wife. There is no indication that Geoffrey knew this. H is
own father, however, was an A rthur; and by a double irony Geoffrey o f
Anjou's posthumous son was, also. Natus est Arturus filius Gauffridi ducis
Britanniae, desideratus gentibus.

AR W YSTLI
VM 1401-2 in altis / montibus Argustli
Young M erlin was hunting in the mountains o f Argustli when he found the
poisoned apples which drove M aeldin mad. Arwystli does not have special
connections with VM themes, and was probably used as a m ountain tract
well known by name to Geoffrey. It has, however, several features o f
im portance. It was the west region o f Powys (v. Caradoc, Hist. Wales,
s.a. 1 158), and would have been part o f or on the edge o f V ortigem 's
home territory. In the sixteenth century Arwystli (Pumlumon (Plynlimon)
to Caersws) was under the king’s lordship; Strata Florida abbey had large
pastures there (Sm ith, i960, vol. 3).
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 165
T h e Pumlumon fawr peaks (Plynlimon fawr on maps) are the source o f
both the Severn and the W ye. T he W ye comes from Pumlumon Arwystli
and flows down past M onmouth. It had once been a lead-m ining area,
and there was a route through: see R C A H M M ontgomeryshire, No. 539.

A S IA
VM 1330 fines Asie
Bird list (stork), Isid. 12. 7.

ASPH ALT LAK E

VM 1214 Asphaltite lacu
T a ct emended from G V s A falcique lacu, in accordance with Springs list,
Isid. 13. 13. T he Dead Sea, Palestine: Pliny, 5. 15. I5 § 7 i, etc., and
Diodorus Siculus 19. 98. T h e river Is, near Babylon, had a reputation for
throwing up to the surface lumps o f bitum en (Herod. 1. 179), and there
w ere others.

B A R IN T H U S
VM 930 Barintho (-incho in Leland’s Assertio)
Brown (1901) found connections between A rthur’s navigator Barinthus
and a sea god and underworld messenger. St Barri {Life, David, 39-40) rode
from W ales to Ireland and m et Brendan, who was living on a whale. This
relates him to M anannân m ac L ir who rode a sea-horse in the same waters.
Brown mentioned the giant Bran (in Branwen daughter o f U fr ), who walked
to Ireland, and Irish sources with Barinthus as other-world emissary.
Zim m er (1889) took Barinthus as an epithet-nam e: /r. Ban-find (or
Firm-ban) = white-topped, fair-haired: cf. white-topped waves, perhaps.
In Corm ac’s Glossary (O'Donovan-Stokes) M anannân m ac L ir was
human, a m erchant o f M an, the best pilot in west Europe, knowledgeable
about the heavens and the weather. Scoti and Brittones called him sea-god
and son o f the sea.
Brendan {Life, Plummer) met Barrintus/Barrfind, abbot o f K ilbarron.
Barrintus had visited his son on an island monastery and they had sailed
thence through a mist to an island called Land o f the Saints, an island o f
promise. It was full o f blossom and heavy with fruit and the stones were
jew els. T h ey travelled through it for fifteen days, were told they had spent
a nightless year there, and returned to the monastery. Barrintus went
home after telling the story: he did not accom pany Brendan on his
voyages.
E arly sea-god myths m ight give a resonance to the name, but Geoffrey
probably used or adapted a m odem source, either a version o f the
Navigatio Brendani such as that by Benedeit in Norm an-French, c. 1100-20,
166 L I F E O F M E R L IN

or something based on the m erchant-navigator in Corm ac. Brown thought

he m ight almost have had Corm ac before his eyes as he wrote, but the
reference is not close or specific enough for that; and Geoffrey m anaged
to include knowledge o f seas as w ell as o f heavens in his note o f Barinthus.
Benedeit’s poem in particular is not very likely to have been the source:
the name there is Barinz (W aters, 1928).

BLAD U D
VM 871 (868-74) Sic Blädüdus, Black’s emendation o f M S Sic
ac blandus.
T h e longer account o f Bladud is in H RB 2. 10, where he is put four
generations after Ebrauc, founder o f York, who had a son Bladud (2. 8).
He is also father o f Lear (Leir) on this scheme. T h e warm baths at Bath
in H RB were m erely for public use, and not specifically for women or
m edicinal. Croon (1953) suggested that Geoffrey had drawn directly on
Solinus (Collect. 22. 10) rather than from a continuing tradition. Con­
tinuity o f tradition would be hard to prove, though Nennius (H B 67)
mentioned the bath, and the Anglo-Saxon poem The Ruin probably
refers. See also N N A L A R O N .
Levis (1919) collected the legends and iconography, and gave the alter­
native legend relating Bladud to baths at Keynsham thought effective for
leprosy. This is only traced back to 1697 (Pierce’s Memoirs) and m ay be a
late graft. Keynsham is seven miles from Bath; but Croon thought the
original cult was not related to the bath but connected with Iron A ge
occupation o f neighbouring hills, e.g., Little Solbury, which m ay preserve
the sun-god name, Sul. Sayce (1890) had suggested that a pre-Rom an and
pre-Saxon legend survived in the Bladud story through the inhabitants o f
W alcot (now part o f Bath), the name indicating a remnant o f British
population. (Cf. Ekwall, i960: O E W alacot, W ealacot, ‘ cottage o f the
serfs or o f the W elsh’ .) Bleidiud occurred as a personal name in Cornw all
in the tenth-eleventh century (Stokes, 1872, 336).
Bladud’s activities in HRB included nigromantia (a neologistic hybrid
probably conveying ‘ dark arts' rather than precisely necrom ancy), and
a (fatal) attem pt to fly. These, with curative associations, m ay relate
Bladud to M orgen— somehow.

B O E O T IA
PM 1194 tellus Beotica
Springs list, Isid., 13. 13, who names no place for these two springs.
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 167

BO OTES
VM 1493 frigida regna Boote (boetes C V )
T h e constellation A rctophylax containing the star Arcturus. Here the
reference is m erely to the far geographical north. See T ext. Comm.

BOREAS
VM 427 frigidus atrox.. .Boreas
544 gelidus Boreas
T he north wind as indicating winter here.

BR EST
VM 924 Bristi
Part o f M orgen's flying itinerary, with Chartres and Pavia (? Paris).
There is no British source; it could have a Breton origin. Loomis’s sugges­
tion that it means Bristol (see J . J . Parry, ad loc.) has not been assessed;
if true, it would change views on the origin, but two o f the three names at
least are continental.

B R IS E IS
VM 195 BrisHs
D aughter o f Brises, ruler o f Lemessos, captured in its sack by Achilles.
Taken from Achilles by Agamemnon, and the cause o f their quarrel in
the Iliad. T he allusion is to O vid, Heroides, Letter 3, Briseis's appeal to
Achilles. Elsewhere in O vid, H ippodam ia; but not the Hippodam ia o f
Iliad 2. 742.

Bristi: B R E S T

B R IT A IN
VM 859 Britannia
Islands list, Isid., 14. 6. First and best, in the VM account; but Isidore
does not say that it is best, and his description is more com pact. T he VM
description is more in tune with the even more detailed account in HRB
1 .2 , and looks back to Nennius and Gildas rather than to Isidore. Geoffrey
used ‘ Britannia’ and ‘ A lbion ’ for the island; the polity was usually
personalised.

B R IT O N S
VM 58 Britones (fighting Scots at the VM battle)
580 0 rabiem Britonum (opening o f first prophecy)
168 L I F E O F M E R L IN

965 Britones (Second prophecy, time o f Saxon invasion)

1525 Vos ergo Britanni (Geoffrey to his contemporaries)
1529 Gesta Britonum (title by which H RB known c. 1150)

B R I T T A N Y and B R E T O N S
VM 687 de partibus Amoricanis
967 ab Armorica {ab Armorico. . .temone C V )
970 Armoricosque oiros
1043 *nfinibus Amoricanis
1083 Armorico regi
1496 Armoricanus aper
Brittany plays a part in the VM narrative itself only in that Taliesin has
returned from a visit to Gildas (687). It is then mentioned in the prophecy
as the place whence the deliverer Conan w ill appear (967 : there is a doubt
about the exact reading) and w ill form a Celtic alliance (970); in the
'h istorical' recapitulation as the refuge for U ther and Aurelius Ambrosius
(1043); and, later, as the kingdom o f Arthur's kinsman and ally H oel
(1083). T h e last reference (1496) is to contem porary history - the rescue
o f M atilda in 1141 by the Count o f Penthiivre: see Text. Comm, on 1485 fr.
T h e political situation at the time o f VM was that Geoffrey o f A njou
had ousted Stephen and had been Duke o f Norm andy since 1143.
Brittany was under pressure and later, in 1167, Geoffrey o f Anjou mounted
an expedition. {Draco Nomumnicus records the surge o f local patriotism in
face o f this.) Brittany subsequently passed into Angevin hands. T h e VM
references are broadly in line with defensive Breton patriotism, o f course,
and the end o f Ganieda’s prophecy (lines 1511-15) reflects Geoffrey o f
Monmouth’s anti-Angevin attitudes, doubtless. But little direct political
allusion can be read into the VM references to Brittany.
See N N A R T H U R on Draco Normannicus and the Breton version o f
Geoffrey's death o f Arthur, and on Arthur's rise as a C eltic deliverer.

BRU TUS
VM 632 in diademate Bruti (ref. to Athelstan: N N A N G LE S)
972 renovato tempore Bruti (coming o f the deliverers)
1018 Bruti. . .ab cuda (expulsion o f Vortigern by Saxons)
T he legend o f the founding o f Britain by Brutus occupies Book 1 o f H RB.
In summary, the fugitives from T ro y under Aeneas setded in Italy. Brutus,
great-grandson o f Aeneas, was expelled from Italy for accidental parricide.
H e went to Greece and thence, with other descendants o f Trojan w ar
survivors, sailed west at an oracle’s bidding. He landed in Cornwall and
established a new state in the virtually em pty island. T he legend is in
Nennius, H B 8-10.
 NAM E N O T E 8 IN D E X 16 9

In VM this legend is m erely a background, a thought o f a pristine

golden age which w ill be renewed when the national saviours Conan and
Cadw alader come again.

B U D IC
VM 1044 cum rege Budico (Biduco in C V )
See T ext. Com m .; the change to Budico is because o f Budicius in HRB 6. 8
and 9. 2. Budic was the guardian o f U ther and Ambrosius in Brittany, and
father (in HRB) o f H oel, Arthur's ally; in VM the relation is not stated.
Stokes (1870-2) quoted O .W . and O .Bret. Budic (Bodicus in Gregory o f
Tours), and gave the m eaning as ‘ victorious’ .

CAD W ALAD ER
VM 967-8
donee ab Armorica veniat temone Conanus
et Cadualadrus Cambrorum dux venerandus
See T ext. Comm, on dux', there is no alternative to Cambrorum.
T h e tradition o f the future deliverers goes back to Conan's reputation
in Armes Piydein and to other W elsh prophecy (T T P , 292-3 and N N
C O N A N ). In H RB 12. 17 Cadw alader, the last British king, goes by
angelic direction from Brittany to Rom e: deliverance is to be when his
relics return to Britain. Bede used Caedualla for Caedw alla o f Wessex and
for Cadw allon, Cadwalader’s father (H E 4. 12, 15F. ; and 2. 20, 3. 1). As
Caedw alla died on a pilgrim age in Rom e in 669, Geoffrey probably used
an existing confused tradition. T h e angelic direction m ay be Geoffrey’s
own method o f joining two traditional pieces o f information, the death o f
the king in Rom e and the prophecy o f deliverance: cf. the angelic direc­
tions to G urthiem in his Life, which Geoffrey probably knew.
T he mystery is how Cadw alader acquired the saviour role, but it was
probably taken over from his father. Cadw allon achieved more than any
British king o f the age against the Saxons o f the north and killed Edwin.
His defeat and death in battle soon afterwards would turn more than usual
hopes on the son. Cadw alader even acquired the epithet Vendigeit (blessed)
from his father (T r. 55) ; it had patriotic overtones. His own name is taken
as ‘ battle leader’ (cat, gwaladr: T T P 292). His reputation m ay be a record
o f a hope unrealized but lingering. Nothing concrete is known; he was
probably active, keeping the hope alive, but had no m ajor achievements
against the Saxons.
M urder is obscurely alluded to in poetry, but Ann. Cambr. noted his
death in the epidemic o f 682. Lloyd (H. Wales, 1. 230) thought he m ight
have died, as a monk in his own Llangadwaladr, in the m ajor epidem ic o f
664; for H B 64 puts his death in the reign o f O swi, who died in 671.
170 L I F E O F M E R L IN

In VM the patriotic concern o f Conan and Cadw alader appears to be

pan-Celtic, including Scots, rather than the usual W elsh-British-only
leadership. See T ext. Comm, on this.

CAERLEON
VM 624 Urbs Legionum
Caerleon was a centre o f Geoffrey's interest in HRB: an archbishopric was
assigned to it and Arthur's court placed there. Geoffrey seems to have had
personal connections. O n this see * Intro. 5 ; and, for its influence on W elsh
traditions, Triads 51, 85, 94. N N G W E N T is also relevant. The remains
o f the Rom an legionary fortress o f I sea (legions X II, X III and X IV )
were the nucleus o f this romance o f an earlier magnificence. Because o f a
discrepancy, this VM couplet, 624-5, maY be interpolated: see T ext.
Comm. See also N N A R T H U R on Caerleon in Vita S. Cadoci.

C A L ID O N
VM 132 inter dumosos saltus nemoris Calidoms
241 nemus et patulas Calidonis prefero quercus
244 mea me Calidonis habebit / silva ferax nucibus
250 silvas Calidonis
275 glandes Calidonis amene
1255 in Calidone novum silvis erumperefontem
1281 Calidonis opes viridi
1288 ex Calidone mea
There are unnamed references passim. VM 275, 1288 establish Calidon as
a feminine noun: spelling is consistent.
Calidon in VM corresponds to Coed Celyddon in the M yrddin poems, as
the retreat o f the w ild man. It is not possible to determine a precise
referend for the w ild m an's original retreat, if there was one, and the
forest name has been a source o f difficulties in m any other contexts. (For
an extended discussion: Clarke, B., 1969.)
T he Romans met the Caledonii in the first century a .d . in the Central
Highlands. Tacitus, Agric. 29 fr., describes the confrontation and the diffi­
culty o f progress in the forests. E arly reference by Lucan (c. 62-5) and
afterwards by others shows that ‘ Caledonian’ became a literary stereotype
denoting distance, density and difficulty o f progress on a near-legendary
border o f empire. T he Hercynian Forest, stretching eastwards from
Germ any towards the steppes, was com parable and was established
earlier in the Rom an m ind: cf. VM 1381-3.
Ptolem y’s second century m ap-making confirmed the Caledonian
placing; and the m ediaeval writers broadly agreed. In the sixteenth
century Boece (Sc. regn. descr. f. 11. 32) gave the bounds as from Stirling-
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X I 71

M enteith to A tholl and north-west to Lochaber : he associated the w ild

white cattle with it, and they m ay have been relics o f Rom an times. (See
Anderson, 1968, on the history o f Scottish forests.)
In 1072 W illiam I took an expedition to the T a y and crossed the district
o f Calathros or Calaterium in the Carse o f Falkirk, adjacent to the southern
tip o f the old Caledonian Forest (the T or W ood south o f Stirling). This
district took on for Normans a heroic quality rather like that o f the
Caledonian Forest for a Rom an im agination. Geoffrey mentions it in the
prophecies o f HRB 7. 4 and in a quasi-wild-man passage in HRB 3. 12.
Between the Romans and the later m iddle ages the name is virtually
unknown. A part from the wild-m an context, it occurs in Arthur's battle,
Cat Coit Celidon (HB 51). T h e probability is that the name had ceased to
indicate an exact area b y the time the northern traditions about Arf-
derydd and Arthur were being established in W ales. It now m erely
conveyed the general m eaning o f ‘ a far northern forested p lace’, thus
facilitating structural transformations and transfers within traditional
history or, in a simpler term, confusion. This probably applies to Cait Coit
Calidon, which led to Arfderydd once (it has been said) being listed as
Arthurian.
Arfderydd (NN) very likely took place near Arthuret, Cum berland.
There is much accessible forest, but there is no serious evidence about
where the Arfderydd fugitive m ight have fled. T h e early thirteenth
century Fergus touches on the wild-m an theme, shows knowledge o f VM ,
and is set in the same area, but its wilderness (la Nouque(s)tran) does not
help here. (NN M E R L IN .)
T h e feeding habits attributed to the various C eltic w ild men in the
forest help comparisons and contrasts between the stories. A ll have a
vegetarian diet. Lailoken fed on plants and (it is implied) grass, roots and
leaves. M yrddin complains o f the loss o f summer corn, but there is little
food reference: he does not eat apples, even in Afallennau. M erlin in VM
speaks o f grass, naturally springing crops, herbs, leaves, roots, root crop»
(turnips). Berries, apples, nuts and acorns are mentioned. It is an arcadian
list o f likely foods, vague in detail. (Cf. the island monastery visited by
Barinthus (NN, and Life o f Brendan (Plummer) chs. 28-38). T he brethren
lived only on apples, nuts and roots o f herbs.)
There are no meals in the short Ealadhan passage in BS. Suibhne’s own
Irish list is not unlike M erlin’s, but it is much more specific, with m any
plant names, and much more intim ately fam iliar with the natural scene.
There is, however, one feature which marks a distinct Irish tradition.
Suibhne depends on watercress and brooklime more than anything in his
forest wanderings; and references to cress and brooklime can be found in
Irish contexts from tenth to fifteenth century (v. E C N P). It is grown at Tech
17 2 L I F E O F M E R L IN

Moling and by the erenachs o f other churches in BS. From this and from a
reference by Caoilte in the near-contemporary Acallamh na senàrach, it m ay
be thought that there was an Irish fashion for the cultivation o f these
plants at the end o f the twelfth century. (St G w ynllyw and his wife
Gwladus, doing penance, lived on barley bread and ashes, garnished w ith
‘ cresses from the stream ’ (VSBt 179), but it is a doubtful W elsh exam ple;
caricesfontanee would be more likely to be sedge, rushes, and they are part
o f a punishment, not a regular diet.)
There is a special point about these plants. T h ey have little nutritive
value but help to m aintain physical tone, being relatively rich in vitam in C
and other vitam ins and minerals. T hey were gathered w ild in more
m odem times for anti-scorbutic properties (e.g. by Anson’s men in
Central Am erica in 1742). This Irish cultivation contrasts with Anglo-
Saxon habits. T he leech-craft recipes using cress and brooklime were for
salves or specific medicines; most o f the latter involved boiling, which
would destroy vitam in C . T h e northern European tradition (alive until
recently and probably still so) was the tapping o f spruce and birch trees in
spring for the ju ice, which has similar properties (Br. med. J ., 1966, 2,
1450). But the distinction relevant here is that between the Irish and
W elsh-British, m arking a literary difference in the wild-m an theme.

Cam bri: W ELSH

C A M E R IN U S
VM 14 (in dedication)
From O vid, Ex Ponto, 4. 16, 19. A n Augustan epic poet not otherwise
known. According to O vid, his subject was T roy after the defeat o f
H ector: quique canit domito Camerinus ab Hectore Troiam.

CAM LAN
VM 929 bellum Camblani
Amt. Cambr.y s.a. 537, has: Gueith Camlann in qua Arthur et Medraut cor­
ruerunt. T he battle is not in Nennius but is in Triads, 30,51 ( Weith Camion ;
the T riad derives from H R B), 53, 59 and 84. See T Y P , 160-2.
Geoffrey (HRB 11. 2, ad fluvium Camblani) put Arthur's last battle in
Cornwall, on the river Cam el (Cam elford). There are m any ‘ C am ’ river
names, and it is probable that Geoffrey knew no more than we do and was
interested by a name which was suitable and in a part o f the country which
he took to be Arthur's native area. Lot (190 1,16) accepted the Cam el, but
Jackson (1945, 56) and Ekwall (1928, 66-7) rejected it because o f lack o f
support from early forms.
Recent views are in favour o f die area o f the Hadrian’s W all cam p o f
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X <73

Birdoswald or Cam boglanna. This was suggested by O . G . S. Crawford

(1935, 279fr.; from unknown Brit. *Cambolanda = ‘ crooked enclosure’)
and b y P. Diverres (1934)» who noted that Amboglanna was formerly the
fashion. Jackson accepted the place but derived it from * Camboglanna
( = ‘ crooked ban k'). Collingwood (1937, 324) accepted Birdoswald.
H ardly any, if any, o f Arthur's fighting is demonstrably in the south.
Diverres, while putting forward Cam boglanna, was evidently still con­
sidering Skene's suggestion o f Camelon on the Antonine W all.
Although Geoffrey’s solution o f the location problem is generally
rejected, it is o f interest that, both in HRB and VM , his M SS tended to
retain a central -b- in the spelling.

C A M P A N IA
VM 1199 Campana regione
Springs list, Isid. 13. 13 (Campania). T he coastal region south o f Rome.

C A R L IS L E
VM 614 UrbsLoel
6 14 -15 form a couplet in a textually disturbed section o f the first prophecy.
Carlisle was a royal court and the capital o f Scodand at the time o f VM
and for much o f Geoffrey’s m aturity.

C araoti: C H A R T R E S

CEYLO N
VM 902 Tapröbäna
Islands list, Isid. 14. 6 (Taprobane). See T ext. Comm, on details o f lines
902-5. See also N N IN D IA .

CH ARTRES
VM 924 Camoti
See N N B R E ST.

Chesney, Robert de: R O B E R T

C H IO S
VM 1 193 defonte Chios
Springs list, Isid. 13. 13 (in Chio insula). T he island had anciently a Helen's
Spring, but also springs o f brackish and o f warm water. T he last m ight
acquire the reputation o f causing lethargy.
*74 L I F E OF M E R L IN

C H R IS T
VM 87 Celt Christe deus
723 qui sine fine regit Christus qui cuncta creavit
1058 Christoque volente triumphant
1516 Christe, tuo populo fer opem

CH R YSE
VM 900 Crisse
Islands list, Isid. 14. 6. See A R G Y R E .

C I C E R O ’S S P R I N G
VM 1 186 fans alter qui Ciceronis / dicitur
Springs list, Isid. 13. 13 (Jons Ciceronis). According to Pliny, praef. 3 1, 2,
3 §6, it was in Cicero’s villa at Puteoli (Puzzuoli, near Naples) ; the town
was a coastal spa.

C IR E N C E S T E R
VM 593 Kaerkeri (kaerkeii C V )
See T ext. Comm. 590-5 on the siege by Gormund and on the question
whether this passage proves the existence o f a contem porary version o f
HRB different from those now available. This use o f birds to convey
com bustible materials was thought by some to have been a native Ciren­
cester tradition before it became associated with the continental epic o f
Isembard and Gormund. (As a complement, Jules Verne (1863, Five weeks in
a balloon, ch. 30) used the m otif in an A frican setting.)

C L IT O R IU S
VM 1 192 lacus Italie [1iictonus]
Emended to Clitorius by J J P : see T ext. Comm. Springs list, Isid., 13. 13
(ex Clitorio lacu Italiae). A n Um brian Clitorius is said to have only one
reference, in Paul Diaconus. Hülsen (Pauly), referring to a spring b y
K leitor in A rcadia, says that Isidore was probably confused with Clitum ­
nus (q.v.). T he single reference could be valid: but neither Isidore nor
Geoffrey place this one in U m bria, so that it m ight be another one
altogether. Isidore attributes different properties to Clitorius and
Clitumnus.

C L IT U M N U S
VM 1210 Clitumnus lacus est quem continet Umbrica tellus
Springs list, Isid. 13. 13 (C. lacus in Umbria). T he Clitum nus was an
Um brian river and had a powerful spring, near Spoleto. C aligula used it
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 175

(Suet. Cal., 43). Pliny Epp. 8. 8 gave a description. See C L IT O R IU S

above.

1. C O N A N (Aurelius Conan)
VM 434 nepos scelerata sorte Conanus
1 133 violavit cuncta Conanus
A urelius Conan o f HRB 11. 4-6. H e there took the throne b y murdering
his unde Constantine (NN ), A rthur’s successor, and the heir, another
uncle: nepos refers to both; he was followed after two years by Vortiporius.
T h e second reference in VM 1132-5 closes M erlin’s second prophecy,
m aking Conan contem porary with the prophecy. O n Geoffrey’s scheme
A rthur had died in 542, or had at least left the kingdom ; Constantine had
died in the third year o f his reign (HRB 11. 4). Conan’s reign would be
c. 545-7, and the prophecy c. 546-7. T h e story o f M erlin Calidonius
should put the date w ell after 573 (Arfderydd). T he discrepancy suggests
th at in the twelfth century Arfderydd had no close dating attached to it.
(See N N A R T H U R .) Geoffrey would probably have been influenced by
a firm tradition, though in any case under no great constraints in a poem
o f this kind when m aking two legendary characters into one.
T his Aurelius Conan m ay have been derived from an actual sixth-
century ruler o f Powys, Cynan G arw yn, about whom there is an early
bardic eulogy (B T 45-6). In T riad 39 he is owner o f one o f the Three
C h ief Steeds: T Y P 318-19. H e m ight have been at Arfderydd (T r. 44).
M rs Bromwich did not believe in a connection between Geoffrey’s
Aurelius Conan and Cynan Garwyn.

2. C O N A N (M eiriadoc)
VM 967 Conanus
Conan and Cadw alader (NN) are the two leaders who are to return and
save Britain, according to W elsh prophetic convention. In H RB 5. 9 -16
M axim ian ( = Maximus) offered kingship o f the new state o f Brittany to
Conan M eiriadoc in return for help and as consolation for not obtaining
the British crown. In the Dream o f Maxen Conan was the actual taker o f
B rittany (and Rome) but still king by gift o f M axen ( = M axim us).
T Y P (316-18; T r. 35) noted that these accounts arose from the tradition
that M axim us had drained Britain o f manpower and that this explained
the migrations to Brittany. H RB 6. 4 refers to this tradition. T h e m ain
migrations were 100-200 years later than M agnus M axim us’s operation
c. 383 (see NN S E G O N T IU M ), but M axim us’s men m ay have set a
precedent before raids on Britain led to the more massive evacuations.
Breton traditions preserved more interest in immigrations from the
Dum nonian areas, but Conan continued to be remembered in Brittany.
176 L I P E OF M E R L IN

T h e Breton-British ancestry o f St Guennolé includes Conan’s sisters,

while St G urthiem , who is relevant to VM sources, was credited w ith
K enan among his forebears.
Conan’s role as deliverer has been identified as arising from a political
situation o f the tenth century, when Bretons fled to Britain and were
helped to return ( 7T P , 317-18 ). Cyrum, founder o f the Breton line, was
spoken o f as a deliverer in Armes Prydein (c. 930) ; and this sentiment
remained in W elsh prophetic verse for the next two hundred years.
Geoffrey took this Cynan as the Cynan M eiriadoc he had m et in a
Dumnonian genealogy (Jes. Gen. X I), where he is Cynan map Eudaf Hen.
A local reference m ay have influenced Geoffrey, for E udaf is y aril Ergyng
ac Teuas, lord o f Archenfield and Ewias, near M onmouth, and the same
as O ctavius, lord o f Gwent (Gewissi) in H RB 5. 8-9.
M eiriadoc is now a township near St Asaph; but, if it then existed, this
should have had no special significance for Geoffrey at the time o f H RB.

CO N STA N S
VM 982
In H RB 6. 5-9 and 8. 2 Constans was the eldest son o f Constantine, the
first post-Roman king. H e was a monk but was made king and m anipu­
lated and then murdered by Vortigern. His death occasioned the return
o f Aurelius Ambrosius and U ther from Brittany. In T riad 5 1’s reference to
the m urder he is Custennin Vychan m. Custennin Vendigeit (‘ C . the L ittle’).
H istorically, there were two Constantine-Constans father-son pairs.
This Constans must refer to the son o f the Constantine m ade emperor in
407 while in Britain. O f this Constans, Orosius (Hist, advers. pagan, (c. 418)
7. 40) wrote, Adversos hos Constantinus Constantemfilium suum - pro dolor! - ex
monacho Caesarem factum .. . misit: Against these (rebels) Constantine sent
his son Constans - a monk made Caesar, alas! H e was killed (7. 42) at
Vienne. Bromwich suggested that Geoffrey's immediate source was Bede
H E i. i i . Seé N N C O N ST A N T IN E .

C O N S T A N T IN E
VM 4 3 3,112 8 Constantinus
In VM this Constantine is the occasion o f M erlin's first appearance as a
seer, but as an interpreter o f signs about the present, not as a prophet.
There are three Constantines in Geoffrey’s work, all relatable to historical
figures in a recognizable w ay; their names and those o f their relatives m ake
them a confusing group in detail.
(1) H RB 5. 6-8, etc. H istorically, he became emperor in 312, having
been proclaim ed in Britain, and died in 337. This is Constantine the G reat.
(2) H RB 6. 4, 5, etc. H istorically, this one was elected by troops in
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X I 77

Britain in 407 and was killed at Ravenna in 4 11. In H RB he cam e from

Brittany as the first post-Roman king; he was succeeded b y his son
Constans (NN ). He was father o f U ther and grandfather o f A rthur: the
A rthurian genealogy has no known support. H e is Custemin Vendigeit in
T ria d 51.
(3) O nly this third one is Constantine in VM . In HRB 11. 2-5 he is son
o f Cador o f Cornw all, Arthur's adviser. H e succeeded A rthur (542) and
put down rebellion by Saxons and M odred's sons; was murdered by
Aurelius Conan (NN) and buried within Stonehenge. M algo o f the
Venedoti (sc. M aelgwn Gwynedd) is given as a contem porary: M aelgwn
died c. 550.
T h e corresponding historical figure is presum ably Custennin Corneu,
o f the Dumnonian line (v. T Y P , 314). H e is the first o f the five princes
attacked by Gildas {De excid. 28), who accused him o f killing the two royal
children (cf. HRB account o f death o f M odred's sons) and for doing so as
an abbot, sub sancti abbatis amphibalo. (A misunderstanding about the cloak
apparently led to the creation o f A lban's confessor Am phibalus in
H R B 5. 5.)
K in g Rederech’s son in Jocelin (ch. 33) is Constantine. This does not
appear to tie up with anything else: see N N R O D A R C H .

C O R IN T H
VM 901 Corinthus
See T ext. Comm, on m eaning o f line: the comparison is not in Isid. 14. 6
(Islands). T he proverb about the difficult harbour entrance was : où ttccvtôç
dv 5pô$ êç KöptvBov £06' ô ttAoüç, ‘ N ot everyone can navigate into C orinth'.
H orace (Ep. 1. 17. 36) changed the sense with Non cuivis homini contingat
adire Corinthum.

C O R N IS H
VM 586 Comubiensis apri (Arthur)
969 Comubienses (pan-Celtic pact)
C f. also N N A R T H U R , C A M L A N , M O D R E D .

C U M B R IA , C U M B R IA N S
VM 32 rex quoque Cumbrorum Rodarcus
122 Rodarchi regis Cumbrorum
597 Cumbros and 598 Cumbria (war with Scots)
In 969 there is a variant, Cumbros for Cambros; the latter is preferable, and
Cum brians are not to be included in the C eltic pact when Conan and
Cadw alader return. T hey cannot be included under Scotos, presum ably,
who are enemies in the m ain VM battle and in 597-8, after Rodarch’s
13 CLK
178 L I F E OF M E R L IN

death. T he name comes from the W elsh Cymry, being used to speak o f the
loose federation o f the British, ‘ the allies’. This and the fact that in m uch
o f Geoffrey’s time it was an undifferentiated part o f the sub-kingdom o f
south Scotland would not have helped Geoffrey in his vagueness, but he
m ay have been fam iliar w ith the claims o f the bishop o f Glasgow to a
K entigem ian see stretching to Yorkshire. Jackson (1955) listed the sources
for the early history o f Cum bria.

C Y Z IC U S
VM 1198
Springs list, Isid. 13. 13, an even more laconic entry. Cyzicus was a city
and is still a town (Chiziko, etc.) on the Anatolian side o f the Propontis;
its known products included oysters, m arble and couches.

D aci: D A N E S

D AED ALU S
VM 923 quasi Dedalus
A comparison for M orgen’s flying. She used actual wings, novis.. .pennis
m eaning either ‘ strange’ or ‘ new, fabricated*. Daedalus appears in O vid
and V irgil, and nothing useful seems deducible about sources for VM ,
since he would have been m et in the course o f schooling.

DANES
VM 650 D ad (invaders before the Normans)
1199 Dacos (conquered by Arthur)
Parry says that Dad was common for the Danes at the period o f VM . T his
is reinforced by the probability that Geoffrey is referring to Canute and
his son two lines later. Classically, the D ad were a bellicose nation
occupying an area approxim ating to H ungary-Rom ania.

D E IR A
VM 1499 Deyri (men o f Deira)
D eira was the southern o f the two main English kingdoms o f northern
England, the other being Bernicia to the north o f it. D eira, essentially the
Yorkshire W olds, was developing from the fifth century. See Parry ad loc.,
* Intro. 7, Text. Comm, to VM 1498 fr , and N N U R IE N , on the northern
batde whose memory was connected in W elsh tradition w ith the battle o f
Coleshill in 1150, if Parry is right that this is the reference here. T he name
D eira has been thought to have an ultim ately W elsh origin; Nennius’s
Dear is said to be the oldest form. It occurs variously in the Gododdin. (See
I. W illiam s, 1938, 82 and 340; cf. Lloyd, 1939» 178-9.)
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 179

Dem etae: W A L E S

D EM OPH OO N
VM 193 cum non Demophoon per tempora pacta rediret
From O vid Heroides, Letter 2 (Phyllis). T ext. Com m ., 191-5. H e was the
son o f Theseus and Phaedra, and was at Troy. He is not the Demophoon
o f Aeneid 11.

D ID O
VM 191 Sidonia Dieb
From O vid, H eroides, Letter 7. T ext. Com m ., 191-5. Elissa, queen o f
Carthage, o f Tyrian origin and sister to Pygm alion. H er suicide followed
Aeneas's departure to fulfil his destiny; but this connection with the
T rojan m yth about Britain did not make her fam iliar here, and she
becam e ‘ D iadem a' in Triad 50. N N A EN E A S.

D IO N E
VM 802 stella Diones
H ere the planet Venus (q.v.), but originally the name o f Aphrodite’s
m other. T he usage is not due to Geoffrey, but is found in, e.g., O vid ’s
Fasti.

[D R U M E L Z I E R ]
D rum elzier, ten miles SW o f Peebles, acquired the tradition o f being the
place o f M erlin’s burial. T he site ‘ M erlin's G rave' is suitably mysterious;
it is exactly located 200 yards N W o f the church on a haugh on the right
bank o f the Tw eed at N T 134345 (R C A H M Inv. Peebl., 1967, No. 90),
bu t there is nothing there. It m ay recall the finding o f a Bronze A ge cist,
like those from Drum elzier Cairn. The tradition assumes the identity o f
Drum elzier with Dunm eller in the Lailoken texts. (B records Lailoken's
burial east o f M eldred’s oppidum.) It m ay be so, but there are difficulties.
Bower's abridgem ent o f Laibken A (Scotickronicon 3. 31; mid-fifteenth
century) mentions M eldred and oppidum Dunmeller near the Tw eed, as the
original does. But Bower had changed Trauedis to Tuedae, and there are
other minor differences to suggest that he was not dependent on Titus A
xix for his knowledge o f the legend. He distinguished V ortigem 's M erlin
from Lailoken (not a distinction in the original), but did not apparently
know Geoffrey's M erlin Calidonius. In both Bower and A , Pausail Burn
was not distinguished from Tw eed, and the latter's bank was called
praeruptam. It is not so on this stretch; but Pausail’s bank, rounding the
church, is exceptionally high and steep (torrens Possédés is in B ).
A prophetic tradition grew up, probably in the early seventeenth
12-2
i8 o L I F E OF M E R L IN

century (but not published till 1715: v. W ard, 1893), about the grave a t
the confluence N W o f the church. T he prophecy (about Tw eed and
Pausail meeting at M erlin’s grave when Scotland and England had one
king) was held fulfilled by a flood or river shift in 1603 when James V I
became also James I o f England. Perhaps this was the period when the
Bronze A ge cist was in fact found, and joined on to the existing local
Lailoken-M erlin legend.
Lailoken B also says that Dunm eller is thirty miles from Glasgow.
Drum elzier is decidedly more (and *30 m iles’ m ay be a transfer from the
Kentigern legend; it is the distance the coracle travelled to Culross at
K entigem ’s birth). But Drum elzier is at the nearest point Tw eed gets to
Glasgow and at the start o f what was a m ajor Tw eed-C lyde route from a t
least neolithic times. There are six Iron A ge forts within 2-3 miles (Inv.
Peebl. Nos. 120, 146, 275, 286, 313, 320) and m ediaeval sites, but no
candidate for M eldred's oppidum. Nos. 313 and 320 are nearest, o f the fort
sites; little is known o f fort re-occupations, but o f these two only 320
(Tinnis) has a ruin o f a m ediaeval castle, o f the fifteenth to sixteenth
century.
There is no firm explanation o f the ‘ D un ’ and ‘ Drum* conflicts in the
name. But there m ay have been two ecclesiastical sites in the district. Gunn
(1931 ; cf. 1910) collected the church’s history, though uncritically on early
tradition. T he first evidence is in Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis (Innes,
1843). T h e present structure is in small part pre-Reform ation. T he dedi­
cation is to K entigern; but D r James Bulloch o f Stobo (persnl. commnctn.)
thinks Cuthbert more likely. Neighbouring Kingledoors had a Cuthbert
chapel ; and a hermit, Christin, was a witness there on boundaries
c. 1200. From the same source, other names o f that time include Gylm ihhel
son o f Bridoc (Kingledoors) and Gylis son o f Buht (Dunmedler) ; they
suggest an expected G aelic element in the population then.

DUM BARTON
VM 612 Corrwt urbs Alclud
T he capital o f Strathclyde, o f which Glasgow was the ecclesiastical centre.
Chadwick (1949, xxiii) suggested that its acquisition o f status was due to its
having been the seat o f a Romanised fam ily to which was entrusted a large
measure o f power at the end o f the Rom an period or soon after. O n
Dum barton as Rhydderch’s seat, see Adam nân, 22a, about Roderc who
reigned in petra CU>ithey which Anderson explains as a translation o f the
Irish Ail-Cloithe, 'rock o f Clyde*. Bede H E 1. 12 refers to the ruins o f a
fortress at the end o f the Antonine wall. T riad 54 recalls Aeddan V radaw c’s
raid on Rhydderch H ael’s court at Dum barton.
T he VM reference is part o f a loose prophetic sequence, and is not
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X l8 l

related to VM ’s Rodarch, who in the poem is king o f Cum bria, though

G eoffrey probably had no precise intentions in this naming. Dum barton
is mentioned a number o f times in the History: in H RB 2. 7 (Ebrauc
founds it), 3. 17 ,8 . 19, 9. 3, 5 ,6 (Arthur and H od in Scotland) and 9. 15.
T h e reading o f the couplet is uncertain (v. T ext. Comm.) and the sense
unexplained. Dum barton had suffered under attacks by the Piets in the
eighth century and later by the Norse. T he couplet m ay refer to traditions
about these disasters.

E P IR U S
VM 1231 Epiri defonte
Springs list, Isid., 13. 13. See T ext. Comm. Epirus was the north-west
province o f Greece, now in A lbania.

[E S S IC H ]
Lailoken’s battle madness was caused by a bright sky vision o f menacing
armies shaking lances while a voice proclaim ed his guilt. This is different
from the im plied explanations about M yrddin, and m ight indicate a
Scotic dem ent. There is no evidence; but the only island tradition o f
daytim e ghostly armies seems to be that connected with Essich M oor,
Dores, Inverness. (It is sufficiently rdevant to include, the references being
hard to get.) There are traces o f apparent early Irish links and a supposed
connection w ith M oluag o f Lism ore; so, though distant, the area was
inside the C d tic com munication network. Suibhne’s breakdown (Battle
o f Mag Rath and B S) included m enacing aerial phantoms, but no heavenly
proclam ation o f guilt.
T h e tradition is chiefly recorded in the recollections o f James Gow o f
Erchit (1803-1903: Fraser-Tytler, c. 1921 ; cf. M ’Culloch). A n occurrence
c. 1830-40 is asserted ( 7V. Gael. Soc. Inv., 4, 1891, 143); but Fraser-Tytler
claim ed records back 'in to antiquity*. Since the spectacle is reported as
appearing under natural conditions in the wilds, it could be old, but it has
not been studied scientifically. In 1870-1 it is said to have caused news­
paper speculation as to its being a m irage o f Franco-Prussian fighting.
(1870-1 was a year o f portents; the aurora was particularly bright, gold
was found in Caithness, and in June 1871 (Inverness Courier) the Isle o f M ay
becam e a whole-day shifting m irage o f 800-ft. high cliffs with trees, houses,
etc., but no people.) Appearances within the last generation are asserted,
and variants were still in local circulation in 1966.
T he apparition consists o f bodies o f men advancing in the mist from the
east in close formation, w ith cavalry; some even bind up wounds. Cyclists
have ridden through detached horsemen, and it is not an overhead scene,
as Lailoken’s was. A M ay dawn is favoured.
182 L I F E OF M E R L IN

Records o f early British sky portents, apart from eclipses and com ets,
include M atthew o f Westminster's note {Flores hist. i. 388, Rolls) s.a. 776:
visa sunt in caelo rubea signa post occasum solis et horrenda. His star-dragon
s.a. 497 (1. 251) is connected with H RB 8. 14, however. In 795 (1. 401)
Danish invasion was preceded by a portent: fulmina abhominanda et
dracones per aera ictusque ardentes volitare videbantur. The Annals o f Ulster had
aerial dragons s.a. 745 (O ’M aille, 1910, 18). See T riad 37 and T T P 93 if.
on Celtic dragons.

E T H IO P IA
VM 1188 Etfnopes
1202 Ethiopum tellus
Both locus (1188) and fans (1202) are in the Springs list, Isid. 13. 13; but
fonte Rubro in Isidore seems to be a name, 'R ed Spring’ .

E U R Y D IC E
VM 373 Euridice
A detail from an unknown version o f the legend; and a corrupt text,
possibly an interpolation.

T H E F IS H E S
VM 804 Pisces
T h e constellation, or the twelfth sign o f the Zodiac, w hich relates to
February and M arch. I f the latter, the cold season is m eant.

FLAN D ERS
VM 621 Ruthenus
T he identification is due to Alanus de Insulis. Classically the Ruteni were
in Aquitanian G aul (Dép. Aveyron) ; the name has now moved to eastern
Czechoslovakia. T h e VM reference, 'm an o f Flanders', has not been
explained, and it is among the couplets whose order has been disturbed.

F O R T U N A T E IS L E
VM 908 Insula pomorum que Fortunata vocatur
Islands list, Isid. 14. 6, where the phrase is Fortunatarum insulae. See T ext.
Comm. 908-40 for discussion and quotation. Geoffrey’s equivalent island
in HRB i i . 2 is insula Avallonis. This raised the tangled problems o f
whether Avallo was a name or indicated 'island o f apples', and how it was
related, if at all, to the shadowy figure o f Avallach, who was very early in
some W elsh genealogies and next to m ythical ancestors. O n the references
to Tnys Avallach (? 'ap p le island’) in T riad 51 and to Modron vetch Avallach
in T riad 70, and Ebrauc's son Aballac in HRB 2. 8, and Glastonbury, see
 NAM E N O TE S IN D E X 183

discussion in T Y P 266-8. It was not considered that avallack was a

W elsh-Brittonic adjective at all. Chotzen (1948) had thought that
Avallach, whether a m an's name or not, m ight have been borrowed from
the Irish abhlach, an adjective referred to an other-world governed by
M anannân m ac Lir. The Fortunate Isle o f VM , though called ‘ island o f
ap p les', does not raise these unsolved questions acutely. (See N N
B A R IN T H U S for a Celtic ‘ Fortunate Isle’ .)

FREN CH
VM 595, 678 Gallos
1 1 10 Gallorum populos
1 106 fines GaUorum
L in e 595 refers to Gorm und and K in g Lewis: T ext. Comm. 590-5.
L in e 678: see T ext. Comm. 672-80; the role o f the French here is un­
known. Lines 1100 and 1106 refer to A rthur’s continental cam paign.
G eoffrey's m ain categories in France are Normans, Neustrenses, Bretons,
Armoricani, etc., and French, Galli, who are either ‘ all others in France'
or ‘ the French’ without discrimination.

FRO LLO
VM 1 100 ceso Frollone
Frollo in H RB (sometimes FloUo) and here was the governor o f France
under the Romans at the time o f A rthur’s continental cam paign. In
H RB 9. i i Frollo defended Paris against siege and eventually fought a
single com bat with A rthur to decide the outcome. T he fight is a lengthy
set-piece ending in Frollo's death.

GADES
VM 893 Gadibus Herculeis adjungitur insula Gades
T h e m ain Gades was the large settlement at the mouth o f the G uadal­
quivir (Cadiz). ‘ H erculean’ refers to the ‘ Pillars o f H ercules' (Herculis
columnae : Straits o f G ibraltar) and to the fact that a small island in the bay
was Erytheia, where Hercules had to come to kill three-bodied Geryon.
Gadis insula (Isid.) does not seem to be the same as Erytheia: if it were, the
adjective m ight apply to the insula Gades rather than to the main Gades, as
here. Isidore explains that the Gadis insula was 120 yards o ff shore and
that the Phoenicians {Tyrii) called it Gadir, which m eant ‘ enclosed',
septam’, the Phoenician word appears to have meant a hedge.
184 L I F E O F M E R L IN

G alli: F R E N C H

G A N IE D A
VM 122 Rodarc h i.. .qui Ganiedam / duxerat uxorem
185 Collacrimatur e i . . .Ganieda
689 It Gataeda domum
1464 Remanent tres et Gataeda
There are m any references to her as illa, regina, soror.
Ganieda’s name and part o f her character are from M yrddin's sister
Gwenddydd in Cyfoesi and Afallermau. In this tradition she was hostile to
M yrddin because o f the loss o f her son and daughter through him, as he
felt. H er husband is in doubt: Jarm an translates the Afallenttau line as
‘ Gwasawg the supporter o f R hydderch' (Skene, F A B W 1. 371, had 'th e
firmest supporter o f Rhydderch ’). Gwasawg m ay be both the husband and
the steward searching for M yrddin: 'Sw eet-apple tr e e .. .the steward
approaching it w ill not succeed in obtaining its fine fruit.’ (This has been
taken as m eaning that the steward was trying to deprive M yrddin o f
sustenance, the fruit. But surely M yrddin is the fine fruit here.) Gwenddydd
appears to belong to Rhydderch’s court, while M yrddin is attached to
Gwenddolau: this would not be unusual, given British dynastic customs.
In VM G anieda is plainly Rodarch’s wife. T h e role she plays in relation
to the adultery story looks back to the lea f tale o f Lailoken B {* Intro. 2,
twelfth century/Exotic), set in M eldred’s court. But the ancient fish-and-
ring story, also oriental, is told in connection with a supposed adultery o f
Rederech’s wife in Jocelin’s Kentigem, to provide the saint with a m iracle.
(Rederech’s wife is regarded as British, from her nam e: Jackson, 1958,
319-)
Though constructed from these pieces, Ganieda is after M erlin the
best-realised character in VM . She dominates Rodarch’s court in the first
h alf o f the poem. She is made to display intelligence and practicality over
her brother's affairs and the kingdom, a robusdy resourceful w it and
w orldly power o f self-preservative manœuvre over the adultery, suitably
feminine feeling to share with the prophet's wife, and supra-feminine gifts,
by customary standards, in uttering prophecy.
For a 'fa iry mistress' view o f G anieda: Paton, 1903a.

GARAMANTES
VM 1233 fons Garamantum
Springs list, Isid., 13. 13. See Text. Comm, for Giraldus's quotation o f this
item from another author: it does not make clear how the hot and cold
phases relate to night and day. T h e Garam antes, round the Fezzan area
in the SW o f m odem L ibya, were known in Rom an times as a political
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 18 5

force; they are mentioned by V irgil, L ivy and Pliny. But earlier, Hero­
dotus (4. 183) had discussed them in his review o f N orth A frica. (See also
Craw ford, 1947.)

G EO FFR EY OF M ON M OU TH
VM 1526 Gaufrido de Monemuta (monumeta C V )
T h e reference is in the coda to VM and appears to be authentic. See
* Intro. 6 and 7 on this and on the circumstances. See *Intro. $ for bio­
graphical details and for the personal background o f the poem.

Gewissi: G W E N T

G IL D A S
VM 688 sapientis dogmata Gilde
G ildas wrote De excidio et conquestu Britanniae c. 530-40, after a period o f
relative peace. See M orris (1966, 150 fr.) on Gildas and fifth-century
history. Internal evidence indicates that he lived at a centre o f political
and ecclesiastical news: Davies (1967) suggested the monastery o f
Llantw it M ajor, Glam organ. This is broadly supported by an analysis o f
his latinity (Kerlouégan, 1968). His w riting was found to be bookishly
correct, elaborate, with poor rhythms and an old-fashioned manner,
indicating perhaps that he was cut o ff from the spoken sources. This m ay
not be an entirely safe deduction about a crabbed w riter: his own nagging
m oralistic disposition, as it seeps through, m ight have had a marked effect
in developing his personal style, even if he lived am ong fresher Latin
speakers.
Johnstone (1948) discussed the theory o f a dual Gildas, one the founder
o f the monastery o f Ruys and the other the writer. L ot (1900) suggested
that the early eleventh century Breton Vita Gildae (W illiam s, 1901)
inspired the present reference to Taliesin's visit. T he Life describes G ildas's
retreat N W o f Q uiberon B ay: it refers (ch. 19) to his book, written at the
request o f monks, qui ad eum e Britanniis venerant. Geoffrey drew on G ildas’s
description o f Britain {De excid. ch. 1) for H RB, and the Life quotes some
o f this. There is also the point that the Life describes how one o f G ildas’s
brothers built him self a monastery, while two other brothers and a sister
built themselves a group o f oratories in the remotest part o f the country.
Com pare the last sequence o f VM , where Taliesin, M aeldin, M erlin and
his sister Ganieda announce their intention o f settling down as a com­
m unity o f Christian contemplatives in the forest.
186 L I F E O F M E R L IN

GORGADES
VM 898
Islands list, Isid., 14. 6. See Text. Com m ., 898-899. Isidore says that they
are O cean (Adantic) islands facing a promontory called Hesperu Ceras,
two days sail from the m ainland.

GREEK
VM 1374 barbarus an Greats
M erely a detail o f the diomeds* entry, Birds list, Isid., 12. 7.

GU EN D O LOEN A
VM 170 lugubris Guendoloene
171 lacrimantis Guendoloene
172 morientis Guendobnene
356 absentem Guendoloenam
384 datam.. .Guendoloenam
423 Guendobena datur
363, 387, 441, 455, 457, 458, 459 Guendobena
Guendoloena, M erlin's wife, is a new character without direct antecedents.
M yrddin’s girl under the apple tree in Afalletmau m ay have suggested
M erlin's discarded mistress in the M aeldin episode (NN ), and it is not a
m arital im age, though it could have suggested a discarded wife too. T h e
name is also new for such a character: H RB 2. 4-6 has Guendoloena,
ruthless daughter o f Corineus, founder o f Cornw all, but she has no likely
connection. 'G w en ' as a woman's name, however, is old. 'G w en T eir
Bronn’ (G. o f the three breasts) has been connected with a ninth-century
reference to St Guennolé’s mother as Alba trimammis (Le M en, 1875; see
T T P , T r. 78). (Perhaps an earlier C eltic triple goddess was changed b y
Latin contact into a three-breasted legendary woman.) Guennolé has a
connection with VM (NN G W E N D D O L A U ), and ‘ G w en’ could have
come from m aterial about this saint. Suibhne’s wife Eorann in B S was
probably derived in part from Guendoloena, since there are in both poems
a double return and a re-m arriage. (Gwendoloena is A rthur’s prophetic
queen in the Geoffrey-influenced early thirteenth century De Ortu
Waboarùi.) Guendoloena plays little real part in the story; her role is that
o f faithful tearful dependant, consoled by Ganieda. M erlin’s rough dis­
carding o f her is made up for by a gift o f a herd o f deer, with M erlin
riding the stag at the head. Guendoloena’s new husband is unidentified,
and when he is killed, she disappears from the story. His killing b y
having a stag's horn thrown at him m ay be drawn from the story o f
M aelgwn’s son Rhun being hurt on the head by having an ox horn
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 18 7
«

thrown at him : the story was known at St Asaph’s a little later (NN
M A E L D IN ).
H er first appearance is as the subject o f the searching minstrel’s song to
touch M erlin's heart— as Loingseachan catches Suibhne by telling sad
news from home, though Loingseachan did not use music, despite a
m usical reference in B S 36. This song is o f interest in being somewhat
against the general style o f the poem. Its tone is extrem ely sentimental,
w ith emphasis on Guendoloena’s beauty and her (and Ganieda’s) grief,
and is in fact effective for its place in the narrative. It is also elaborately
wrought, as though Geoffrey had been at special pains over it. There are
alliterative sequences (me.miseret misere morientis Guendoloene), and repetition
o f the nam e.Jt closes three consecutive lines. Sim ilarly in 455-9 Guendo-
loena is named four times: there is a total o f thirteen namings, as against
four for G anieda, the more central character. Several classical parallels o f
wom anly distress are assembled. T he dol- words for sorrow (dolor, doleo,
dolesco) occur five times. It seems very possible that ‘ Guendoloena ’ caught
the author's ear as fitting for the ‘ damp sorrowing w ife' he had planned
for the searcher’s song, and indeed for M erlin. The adulterous wife o f
Rederech in Jocelin’s Life o f Kentigem is called LanguuethjLangueth, ap­
parently from a real Brittonic name. T he BM M S, however, has Lem-
guoreth, which could be an im itative coining after VM . T h e form was used
in a saccharine toned-down verse re-telling o f the fish-and-ring story in this
century (Eyre-Todd, 1922).
W hether the searcher's song was entirely Geoffrey's or (e.g.) made use o f
popular song m aterial is unknown. T he lam ent for Rodarch has some
affinities with it: see T ext. Comm. 693-727.

Guennolous: G W E N D D O L A U

Guielandus : W A Y L A N D

G W EN D D O LAU
VM 27 Guennoloum Scocie qui regna regebat
T h is king opposed Rodarch and Peredur in the VM battle; and this
derives from the tradition that the northern king Gwenddolau died at
Arfderydd (NN) ; but he was not king o f Scocia or Strathclyde. H e is
mentioned in Triads 6, 29, 32 and 44 (T Y P 379-80). From these it is
gathered that he was a son o f Ceidiaw (of the north), had a war-band
which loyally fought on after his death, had two birds (obscure) ; he also
had a m agic chess-board (obscure). In B B C 99, 11-12 (T Y P 379) he is
‘ a pillar o f poetry' (patron? poet?). In Hoianau (Skene, FABW , 1. 483;
T Y P 380) he is a king o f the north, generous, a collector o f booty and now
188 L I F E O F M E R L IN

dead. His death at Arfderydd is mentioned in Ana. Cambr. (B). M yrddin

has been assumed to have been under his patronage; and Jarm an (1959)
wished to explain M yrddin’s distress as a consequence o f Gwenddolau’s
defeat. His name m ay be preserved in Carw inley Burn (N N A R F ­
D E R Y D D ).
A latinization o f his name does not seem to occur outside VM . G eoffrey
probably took Guermolous from the GuennobeusjGuenmoloeus (editions differ on
the reading) in the note on relics appended to the Vita S. Gurthierm, w hich
he probably knew: see N N V O R T IG E R N . This name is that o f S t
Guennolé o f Landévennec, Brittany, who had a tradition o f British
ancestry. (See Thom as, 1887; L e M en and E m ault, 1836; L e M en, 1875.)
It is not possible to make plausible a theory that Guennolé is Gwenddolau
after transformation into a Breton m ilieu, as can be argued o f G urthiem
and Vortigem .
T he real interest o f Guennolé for VM is two-fold. (1) His m onastery
was thought to have started on the lie de Seins (Sena). There it was known
as ‘ T ib id y’, interpreted as 'H ouse o f prayer*. But its earlier name was
Theopepigia or Thopopegya (the latter in the Landévennec cartulary). T h e
name is evidendy Greek, possibly to be translated 'G o d establishment*
(7x1*1yvuui) and related to the foreign cult which m ay have been on the
island: see N N M O R G E N .
(2) Guennolé had a more domestic interest for Geoffrey. Guennolé
him self lived only in Brittany, but two brothers were born in Britain, and
he has strong associations through Cornish dedications to W inwaloe
(Doble, 1940). His sister’s name, Chreirbia, had Welsh connections ( T Y P ,
311). O ne o f Clém ent’s hymns (if authentic) calls him 'Britigena*. O ne
brother returned from Brittany and was in W ales, first as warrior and later
in a monastery. Now, this brother was Guethenoc, whose Breton cult was
centred on the abbey o f St Jacut, an enclave o f D ol (Doble, 1940). It is no
great stretch o f im agining to assume that the parallel was seen in (and by)
Guihenoc, or W ihenoc, the first seigneur o f Monmouth and founder o f its
priory, who came from near D ol. Guennolé-W inwaloe, the much more
famous saintly brother, was obviously fam iliar. In fact, one o f the founda­
tion possessions o f M onmouth priory was the church at W onastow, two
miles away. It is in the original eleventh-century charter o f the priory as
ecclesiam Sancti Wingaloei. This and related forms o f the name recur in local
and papal confirm atory documents to near the end o f the twelfth century
(M archegay, 1879, 1879a; cf. W ade-Evans, 1910, 74).
So Geoffrey did not take his name from there, but probably from the
Guermoloeus at the end o f the m odem (1120-30) Life o f St Gurthiem; and
this also strengthens the case for believing that the early VM episode o f
the finding o f M erlin by the traveller and the messenger is connected w ith
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 189
an episode in the Life. Though only a detail, Guennolous is technically a
brilliant piece o f tradition-joinery, synthesising a newer local reverence
(for the founder o f the priory) w ith an ancient but vague legend, and in
line w ith the W elsh handling o f traditional prophecy.

GW ENT
VM 986 Vortigemus enim consul Gewissus
1499-1500 quo commere Deyri / Gewissique
A region associated with Erging (Archenfield, north o f M onmouth) and
Euas (Ewias, Herefordshire), and apparently considered to stretch to
Gloucester. V ortigem and E udaf (O ctavius: H RB 5. 8) were closely
connected with it; see also HRB 6 .6 ,7 .4 , and cf. 8 .10 (M erlin Ambrosius’s
spring). HRB 4. 14-15 tells about Gewissa, Claudius’s daughter, and her
m arriage to the British king Arviragus as part o f a peace settlement and
about the founding o f Gloucester; this story is relevant to the theme o f
G eoffrey’s pride o f locality. Later the name o f the people was applied to
W est Saxons in the same area. Bede’s {HE 3. 7) gens Occidentalium Saxonum
qui antiquitus Geuissae uocabantur looks back to the earlier British usage (see
Plum m er's note, n, p. 89, on Bede). Parry (on VM 986), giving the Welsh
names for Gwent as Gwennwys and Gwenhwys, added that ‘ even today’
the dialect is called Givenkwyseg. See also N N U R IE N , V O R T IG E R N .

H E N G I S T and H O R S A
VM 1004 Horsus et Hengistus
1023 bellator corruit Horsus
1033 soror H engisti.. .Return
1058 Hengistumque necant
In H RB and VM Hengist and Horsa are the leaders o f the Saxon mercen­
aries introduced by V ortigem : failure to control them was the basis o f his
black reputation, on the British view. T h ey were also concerned in
V ortigem 's m arriage to a Saxon woman and in the massacre o f a British
peace delegation. T he H R B jV M account conveys the essence o f a British
tradition about the period, i.e. the emotional polarizations left behind. So
the exact nature o f this episode and its placing in the m iddle o f the fifth
century are not urgent for VM. (For a view o f the chronicle o f events:
M orris, 1966, p. 160 ff.)
T h e correspondences between the main accounts and Geoffrey's
sequence and allusions are: H B 44 gives the battle o f Derguentid, that o f
Episford/Rithergabail (where Horsa and Catigem died) and the coastal
battle by sc. Richborough. T h e A jS Ckron had the battles o f Crayford,
Aylesford (death o f Horsa) and W ippedesfleot, an estuary. T he British
seem to have lost the first and won the third, the second being undecided.
19° L I F E O F M E R L IN

Geoffrey’s equivalents in H RB 6. 13 are: Derewent, Epifford (death o f

Horsa and Catigem ) and a seashore battle. The siege o f Thanet (NN)
follows. T he British under Vortim er won all the battles. He was then
killed by Renwein. T h e massacre o f the delegation was later; and H engist's
death was later still, in north England at the hands o f Aurelius, after the
killing o f V ortigem . In VM , the massacre is given first, then V ortim er’s
campaigns. T he siege o f Thanet follows ‘ m any clashes’ and Horsa’s death.
Vortim er’s death and the rest are as before. V ortigem ’s (second) w ife is
Hengist's daughter in H RB, his sister in VM (NN R E N U A ). See T ext.
Comm. 1021-9.
T he VM version m ay convey Geoffrey's second thoughts about the shape
o f events in this period, i.e., represent a revision o f H R B; but the VM
version consists o f brief allusions in quasi-prophetic verse, and it is not
possible to be sure.

H E S P E R ID E S
VM 895
Islands list, Isid., 14. 6. T h ey are here in VM switched in order w ith the
Gorgades, so that the Hesperides and their golden apples take the place o f
the Fortunate Isle, VM*s island o f apples, which ends the VM list. Isidore’s
account explains the name as from Hesperides, a city in M auretania, and
places the islands beyond the Gorgades, sitae sub Athlanteum litus in intimos
maris sinus. The story o f the dragon guarding apples is said, Isidore adds,
to be derived from the distant view o f a very winding estuary. T he dragon
story is stressed as being fiction: finguntfabular.

HOEL
VM 1083, 1087
Arthur sent for help to H oel, K in g o f Brittany, as a kinsman (1085). T h e
relevant points are made in T ext. Comm, to lines 1044 and 1083; the
latter notes the HRB account o f H oel’s Scottish cam paign. In HRB 11. 1
Hoel took over the continental cam paign against Emperor Leo when
A rthur cam e back to deal with M odred.

Horsa: H E N G I S T

H UM BER
VM 605 and 1079 trans Humbrum
T he first reference is in prophecy about the post-Rodarch/Rhydderch
period, foreseeing Scottish incursions. T he second relates to the supposed
invasion ab Angla into north England at the start o f A rthur’s career. T he
Hum ber plays a considerable part in establishing HRB*s basic picture o f a
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X Ï9 1

British-versus-Anglo-Saxons confrontation. In the Description o f Britain

(HRB i. 2) Hum ber is one o f the three great rivers o f the island. It is
then frequently used in describing political partitions, e.g., H RB 2. 15
(Lear and his sons-in-law), 3. 1 (Brennius and Belin), etc., including 11. 1
(M odred’s promise to the Saxons). T he region beyond the Hum ber is
usually fairly undifferentiated; but in 8. 3, where the Saxons withdraw
north across the Hum ber, there is a firmer distinction than elsewhere
between Scotland and Northum bria; the Saxons are said to have wild
Scotland behind them as a further refuge. T he Humber was the northern
boundary for the Saxon ‘ Bretwalda ’ high-kings, fifth to ninth century.

Hyberius Lucius: L U C I U S H I B E R I U S

H YPERBOREAN S
V M 1336 in Hiperboreo. . .tractu
Birds list, Isid., 12. 7 (in Hyperboreis partibus). T he Hyperboreans were a
legendary people o f the far north, thought o f originally as rem arkable for
happiness and goodness. T h ey are mentioned in the Hom eric hymns,
Pindar, etc.; and Herodotus (4. 32-36) discussed the ancient traditions
about them at length. T h ey were untraceable in Herodotus’s time, but
m ay be a survival o f an earlier age’s information about a distant nation.
T h ey later shrank to being a literary indicator for ‘ the far north’, as here;
but Isidore’s allusion to them m aking music along the shore suggests a
cheerful culture in accordance with the tradition.

ID U M A E A
VM 1223 Fons Ydumaeus
Springs list, Isid., 13. 13 (where named lob in Idumaea) ‘ Idum aean’
indicated Jewish or Palestinian. See T ext. Comm.

IN D IA
VM 1216 Indica tellus
1282 quasfert India gemme
The first reference is to Syden; Springs list, Isid. 13. 13 (in Indis Syden).
T h e second is a twelfth century comparison; Geoffrey’s M erlin is listing
things less liked than Calidon, though, o f course, Geoffrey’s usage m ay be
entirely conventional, not reflecting any current awareness o f India. (But
see * Intro, a (twelfth century/Exotic) on the Indian precursor o f the VM
adultery story, in Éukasaptati.) Taprobane, Chryse, Argyre and Tiles,
which are in the VM islands list, are also noted in Isidore’s entry on India
in 14. 3. 5.
192 L I F E OF M E R L IN

IR E L A N D , IR IS H
VM 679 Hibemenses.. .vertet
887-8 I n s u la ..H ib e m e n s is
1096 (submisit. . . ) Hibemenses
Line 679, in a prophetic passage, has raised a query as to whether the
reference is to the invasion o f Ireland by H enry II (Sextus), which w ould
upset the dating o f VM if true. See T ext. Comm, for another interpreta­
tion, to which m ay be added that sim ilar apparent references to H enry II
have been read into HUB, whose period is quite firm.
T he second reference is from the Islands list, Isid., 14. 6; see T ext.
Com m, on a discrepancy. T h e other reference is an Arthurian conquest.

IT A L Y
VM 1 186 in Italia fora alter (Cicero’s)
1 192 locus Italie Clitorius
Both in Springs list, Isid., 13 .13 . N N C IC E R O ’S SP R IN G , C L IT O R IU S .

JU D A E A
VM 1214 Asphaltite lacu Judee
Springs list, Isid., 13. 13. T he Dead Sea: N N A S P H A L T L A K E .

K aerkeri: C I R E N C E S T E R

(Urbs) K aerloytcoyt: L I N C O L N

Kaerperis: P O R C H E S T E R

K aerw en: W I N C H E S T E R

K am bri: W E L S H

[K E N T I G E R N ]

? VM 698 (Rodarch) Tractabat sanctum justo moderamine clerum

T h e VM line seems to refer to the tradition o f the deference o f the king to

the church in Strathclyde in the day o f Rhydderch and K entigem and for
long afterwards. Tw o twelfth-century Lives o f K entigem , the ‘ Herbertian*,
m id-century, and that b y Jocelin o f Furness, c. 1180, are m ain sources and
reflect the growth o f Glasgow as a see from c. 1115 under the Normans;
and there m ay have been an im portant short biography based on G aelic
traditions o f K entigem (Jackson, 1958).
But the life o f K entigem (Mungo) is a m ixture o f legend with an un-
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X I93
certain quantity o f fact. His mother, who in one (suppressed) account bore
him parthenogenetically, was supposedly daughter o f a king o f Lothian.
H e turned her adrift in a coracle for her pregnancy (a common Irish type
o f punishment: Byrne, 1932). K entigem was then bom at Culross and
brought up by Servanus (Serf) north o f the Forth. He performed boyhood
m iracles, including the restoring o f the head o f a decapitated bird. H e later
established him self near Glasgow and lived to a great age— which m ay be
the origin o f the ascendancy o f bishop over king in Strathclyde. H e died,
according to Ann. Cambr., in 612.
T w o aspects o f Kentigern have a bearing on V M : (1) The story that he
spent time in N . W ales in exile and was responsible for the initiation o f
G eoffrey’s see, St Asaph, through his pupil Asaf; and (2) his connection
w ith Lailoken, whose legend influenced VM centrally. It seems not un­
likely that knowledge o f (2) cam e to Geoffrey through work concerned
w ith (1).
(1) Jocelin’s account (ch. 22 f.) o f the W elsh exile was a twelfth-century
fabrication (see * Intro. 5). But councils o f the church held in Paris in the
period 549-59 had the signature Gonot(h)igemus or Cunautegemus o f Senlis,
as well as that o f Saffaracus, a bishop who was deposed (M ansi, 1763,
9. 138, 739, 747). M orris (1966, n. 114) connected this with K entigem on
the ground that Saffaracus and the cleric whom K entigem (aw ay from
Glasgow) refused to consecrate are the only two recorded sixth-century
cases o f homosexual offences. So K entigem m ay have spent time abroad,
and this could come to appear as exile.
T he ‘ Welsh exile*, however, m ay be a church rationalization o f fugitive
hints about K entigem in N orth W ales. Such hints could include:
(i) Parallelisms between the legends o f K entigem and Taliesin, e.g., their
births. Taliesin was early established in North W elsh tradition; this would
facilitate K entigem ’s association. It is Taliesin who tends to take K enti-
gem ’s natural place in VM . (ii) Parallels between K entigem and W inefride
(NN) at H olywell include m iracles o f a sudden spring and replacem ent o f a
decapitated head, (iii) Some name confusions with V ortigem ’s fam ily.
Can{t)egimus appears for Catigem (Vortigem ’s son) in some Nennius M SS,
though they are late as known. A W elsh HRB (Griscom) twice has
Kyndaym for Catigern where K entigem would make no sense. Catigem ’s
supposed niece, M adrun, had an almost com plete W inefride legend
attached to her daughter, (iv) St Asaph had a tradition (separate from
Jocelin’s story o f ‘ Prince M elchon’) o f a link between M aelgwn and
K entigem (NN M A E L D IN ). There m ay have been enough threads for
twelfth century tradition-makers o f St Asaph to think there was a basis
for a belief that K entigem had been in N . W ales.
(2) K entigem is protector o f Lailoken, the North British version or
13 CLM
194 L I F E OF M E R L IN

original o f M yrddin-M erlin, and is to die in the same year (Lailoken A ).

Rodarch’s court in VM seems to come directly from M eldred’s court in
Lailoken B . Geoffrey must be presumed to have known the close connection
o f K entigem with the wild man. Y et VM ends with a form o f the resolution
o f the wild-m an story through saintly reconciliation which excludes
K entigem . It is probable that K entigem was deliberately kept o u t
because the political situation touching on the new see o f St Asaph’s w as
still sensitive when VM was written: see * Intro. 5 on this.
K entigem seems to have been a focus o f legends across and along the
Clyde-Forth line which divided the G aelic and British populations. H is
tradition was apparently affected by the spread o f G aelic influence into
the Lowlands in the century and a h alf before VM , and Lailoken B is
evidence o f this.
T he rarity o f the name K entigem (sc. ‘ chief lord ’) supports the inter­
pretation o f the Paris Gonothegimus, etc., as referring to him. Also, it is
thought that the W elsh form had been applied to no other person: T Y P ,
320. Four Irish women called ‘ C a(i)ntighem ’ were mentioned b y Todd
(1848, 212), but do not appear to be connected, though one (d. 622) was
a younger contem porary on the Four Masters’ dating.

[L A I L O K E N ]
Lailoken is the wild man o f South Scodand as he survived in North British
and apparendy also in G aelic tales. Relations in such tales with Rhydderch
and K entigem tended to make his locale Glasgow or Lothian: the real
reason for a special connection with Drum elzier (NN) is unknown. T he
im plied dating and the detail o f the legend make it likely that he is in fact
the same fugitive after Arfderydd as M yrddin was to the W elsh. In the
non-prophetic stanzas o f the poems which preserved M yrddin (especially
AfalUnnau and Hoianau) there are allusions, not in the Lailoken fragments,
which make some sense o f the episode— the fugitive’s reasons for flight and
breakdown (killing o f sister’s son) and the nature o f the relations w ith
Rhydderch— especially when considered with the relevant Triads.
T he two fragments translated in Appendix I are the surviving narrative
sources. Lailoken A m ay be a portion o f the H erbertian Life o f Kentigem.
It is literate, clear and even elegant, and seems to give a full account o f
K entigem and Lailoken; but an awkwardness in the m iddle suggests that
the latter half, which deals with Lailoken as a nuisance at K entigem ’s
services, is a separate tradition about a Glasgow eccentric to which the old
(non-christian) tradition o f the Arfderydd fugitive had been joined by a
hagiographer, whether the Herbertian writer or an earlier one. (See also
N N ESSIG H on the Lailoken A breakdown.)
Lailoken B is inelegant but lively. It contains rhym ing jingles which do
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X *95

not qualify as verse but m ight have been chanted or intoned. Its origins
seem to be in orally transmitted Scotic tales. Each version, as we have
them , is aware o f the other story. T he ‘ M erlinus ’ references in both must
b e assumed to be additions later than VM .
T h e extent to which VM drew on these and any extra tales then extant
m ust be mosdy decided on internal evidence; but it is prim a-facie likely
th at Geoffrey was in a position to see the m aterial. T he pious resolution o f
th e wild m an’s distress and wandering is in A in essentials and could have
helped to give Geoffrey the framework for his poem, especially if he was
pondering on his own com ing election as a bishop at the time. B , or a close
version, almost certainly provided the pivotal court sequence o f VM ,
including part o f the characters o f Rodarch and Ganieda and o f M er­
lin in his captured-prophet aspect, and also, in part, the triple-death
prediction.
T h e name has not been explained convincingly; there are m any possible
leads. Jarm an (1939 and 1951; cf. T Y P 470) decided that the name
Lailoken belonged to the north and lost its status as a proper noun when
the story was transferred to the W elsh tradition, and acquired (late) an
uncertain new m eaning o f ‘ ?tw in ’ as llallogan in the M yrddin poems,
chiefly Cyfoesi. T he new personal name o f M erdin-M yrddin grew out o f
purely Welsh associations.
T he im plication is that the Lailoken tradition preserved an early layer
o f the Arfderydd tradition as the AfaHetmau stanzas did, though these latter
have more substance as evidence o f what the wild-m an episode was about
originally. O ne speculative possibility is that Lailoken’s name was from his
place o f origin, and that it referred to a northern Romano-British estate
settlement called after one o f the Lollius fam ily. This fam ily can be
expected to have acquired some stakes in the country from the time o f the
vigorous and even momentous governorship o f Lollius Urbicus in the
north, c. 140. There is a Gaulish exam ple o f a village called Laliacensis
after this fam ily. In Buile Shuibkne 48, Alladhdn the British m adman says
th at he is the son o f a landholder (Mac brughaidh mi).
T h e Irish writer o f the Buile Shuibkne, c. 1200, named his North British
w ild man Ealadhan on first mention and then Alladhdn (BS 46 fr.). He
was probably assimilating ‘ Lailoken’ to the Irish allaid, 'w ild ’ , for the
purposes o f the incident in his story. There is a distinct possibility that he
saw V M and the Lailoken m aterial at Glasgow. It is worth noticing that
this writer described Ealadhan as a land-owner’s son, but difficult to see
how its relevance to the hypothesis about Lailoken just mentioned could
be tested.

(Urbs) Legionum : C A E R L E O N
13*2
19 6 L I F E O F M E R L IN

L E IC E S T E R
VM 630 in Urbe Ltyri
See T ext. Comm, on the slaughter o f the monks in an early seventh
century British-Saxon clash; Geoffrey attributes to Leicester w hat is
otherwise related o f Chester. In H RB the place is Kaerleir and Legecestria.
H RB 2. 11 records its alleged foundation on the R iver Soar by K in g Lear»
later buried there (2. 14).

L E IN U S
VM 1204 Fons Leinus (lentus C V )
Springs list, Isid., 13. 13 (in Arcadia). See N N A C H A E A .

LEO
VM 1 104-5 Leonis / induperatoris (Legnis C V )
Leo in HRB and VM commanded the Romans with Lucius H iberius
(NN) against A rthur in France. See T ext. Comm, on reading, and for
H RB references. Leo (emperor 457-474) was in fact m ostly occupied w ith
cam paigning in the east.

(Urbs) Leyri: L E I C E S T E R

L IN C O L N
VM 12 fe lix Lincolnia
1479 Kaerloytcoyt
VM 12 refers to Robert de Chesney’s election as bishop. VM 1479, in
G anieda’s prophecy, concerns the M atilda-Stephen conflict in 114 1,
when Stephen was captured at the battle o f Lincoln: see T ext. Comm. In
HRB it is Kaerliudcoit, etc., and Lindocolinum. A symbolic 'Snake o f Lincoln*
occurs in the prophecy o f H RB 7. 4. T he British name appears to m ean
'F o rt o f the grey wood*.

(Urbs) Loel: C A R L I S L E

L U C IU S H IB E R IU S
VM 1104 Hyberio Lucio
A rthur’s opponent in his 'continental cam paign*: H RB 10. He has no
known direct validity, but probably conveys a historical truth about the
Vandals or similar groups in France in the sixth century: see discussion in
T ext. Comm, on VM 590-5. See T ext. Com m ., VM 1104, on the reading
Hyberio, which is relevant to the supposition that the Vandals’ route from
A frica was through Spain (Hiberia).
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X *97

Lucius is a procurator in H RB 9. 15. This rank was originally an

im perial appointment, for provincial finance officers or other depart­
m ental heads, and afterwards for minor governors. It had been replaced
b y rationalis in the fourth century. T itle and character m ay be entirely
G eoffrey's speculation or from a Breton version o f a resistance to bar­
barians claim ing Rom an authority.

M AGER
VM 15 et Macer
O ne o f the Augustan poets o f O vid, Ex Ponto 4. 16. 6 (Iliacus Macer) and
2. 10. i o ff. His epic dealt with some o f the pre-Iliad Trojan m atter. H e
w as supposed to have been the same as the M acer related to O vid's wife
w ho travelled with O vid in Sicily.

M A E L D IN
VM (1387fr.) 1452-3 Maeldinus, wan nomine tali / dictus erat
M aeldin was o f royal fam ily, an intim ate o f M erlin's youth. A fter eating
the poisoned apples left by M erlin's discarded mistress, he wandered for
the rest o f his life until m eeting M erlin here and being cured by drinking
a t the spring. His madness was entirely due to the poison and would be
classed as an 'organic psychosis': he had been insightlessly deranged all
the time. He provides a reflection o f the m ain plot by being a w ild man
who finally comes under saintly protection, in this case that o f an ex-wild
m an, M erlin; cf. M yrddin’s remark in AfalUnnau, ‘ I have been wandering
w ith madness and madmen'. (See N N M E R L IN for W alter M ap's story o f
a w ild man found during a mountain hunt.)
M aeldin does not occur elsewhere, but partial antecedents would be
expected. The most popular clue has been the Irish name M aelduin. It is
not uncommon: there are six in the genealogical poems o f Flann M aini-
strech (M acN eiil, 1913), and it is attached to a seventh century figure, son
o f Cennfaeladh the Festive at M agh Rath.
M ost attention (Paton, 1903 a) has been given to the Voyage o f M ael
Duin. T he relevant chapters (Stokes, 1888-9) are: ch. 7— M ael D uin
plucked island apples which each lasted forty nights; ch. 10— full-fruited
golden apples were found which prevented hunger and thirst; ch. 29—
M ael D uin plucked from trees great berries (bolca mora), squeezed out the
ju ice, drank and was in a coma with red foam round his lips for twenty-
four hours. T he crew gathered more berries but diluted the ju ice with
w ater. There is no parallel to M aeldin here: (i) there is no deliberate
poisoning; (ii) there is foam ing at the m outh, but only during tem porary
intoxication or sedation; (iii) apples are not the cause. Even if apples had
been the cause, further support would be needed, for ‘ apple-power’ had
198 L I F E O F M E R L IN

a wide currency. Later, it tended to have a double form— for inflicting and
for relieving distress: e.g., Cam pbell, 1860-2, and M acD ougall, 1891,
recorded tales. A poisoning story about K in g M aelduin’s daughter in
the Dream o f Mac Conglitme (M eyer, 1892) is not close and is satirical,
though some version earlier than the twelfth century m ay have been
closer.
T he most natural origin o f the setting is M yrddin’s girl under the apple
tree in Afallennau. For the character in this setting M aelgwn Gwynedd has
some claim s: and ‘ M aeldin’ is at about the remove from an original nam e
that Geoffrey seems to have favoured. H e also fits in that his and M erlin’s
youth (on VM time) would fall in the earlier sixth century; not that the
issue is historical, except that in fact Geoffrey put his K in g M algo close to
his historical place in time, in H RB.
M aelgwn was a target for Christian spite for turning back after con­
version, it was alleged. H e becam e a ‘ bad kin g' in saints' lives, without
losing his other reputation, as also in HRB 11. 7. Gildas {De excid. 33-6)
set this pattern. He attacked M aelgwn’s bards, too, for their yelling offres
and their foaming phlegm {spumanti flegmate). Com pare (1) M aeldin’s
entrance in VM 1389-90: howling in the forest and foaming at the m outh
{spumabat) ; (2) the behaviour o f M erlin’s companions on being poisoned:
biting, screaming, and foaming at the mouth {spumant), in VM 1417-22.
Foam ing at the mouth and very loud unrestrained vocalization are
common to the three extracts.
A M aelgw n-K entigem link attaches to twelfth century St Asaph’s and
Llandaff. Notes on the Triads {T YP) speak o f Rhun, M aelgwn’s son,
being attacked and his attacker taking sanctuary with K entigem . T h e
tradition seems to have come from St Asaph’s, surviving in a thirteenth
century Latin version (Jackson, 1958, 317) ; it would probably have been
part o f the K entigem -N orth W ales m aterial collected for the St Asaph’s
see. T he M aelgw n-K entigem connection asserted in Jocelin’s Life o f
Kentigem (ch. 23-31) is later than VM and has no historical solidity, but
points in the same direction. (Incidentally, it is Rhun who puts a sleeping
powder in a drink for Elphin’s wife, in Hanes Taliesin.)
M aelgwn is in LL as Mailconum regem Guenedotie (p. 107) and Mailcun
(p. 1 18; O.W elsh form, not Norm an as in Jocelin). There are two docu­
ment witnesses, laicus Mailcon (p. 209) and Maildun (p. 232). (See
* Intro. 5 on Geoffrey’s relation to LL.)
T w o love tales later in the VM era, from other cultures, include
poisoning by a slighted woman and derangement in a forest setting.
Neither involves apples. T hey are:
(1) Finn and his band were met at a ford by a girl who expressed her
love for Finn. H e rejected her, but accepted her mead. He went into a
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 199

frenzy, with bitter taunting o f his men. Recovery was slow. (O ’G rady,
1892, 2, 220-2.)
(2) In the epic W olfdietrich (M idd. H igh Germ ., c. 1225: Robertson,
1959, n) the hero rejected Else as uncouth. W ith m agic powers she drove
him mad and beastlike to the forest. H e was cured by bathing in a spring.
Else bathed, too, and became adequately attractive.

M A R IU S
VM 15
O n e o f the Augustan poets from O vid, Ex Ponto 4. 16. 24. H e is not other­
wise known. See T ext. Comm, on the possibility that Geoffrey was mis-
rem em bering Marius for the Marsus who goes with M acer and Rabirius
in O vid.

M ARS
VM 431 radius Martis
T h e red ray o f the planet M ars starts o ff M erlin's prelim inary divination.
(M ars = 'm ilitary force’ is also used elsewhere, as in 1484.)

M A R S ID E
VM 1220 Fons quoque Marside (marsidie C V )
Springs list, Isid., 13. 13 (Marsidae fons)

M azoe: M O R G E N ’S S I S T E R S

M EM NON
VM 1378 Memnonis ad tumulum (Mentionis C V )
Birds list, Isid., 12. 7. See T ext. Comm, to i378ff. Memnon was the son
o f Tithonus and Aurora and was king o f Ethiopia. H e was killed by
A chilles at Troy. Aurora was said to have changed him on his funeral pyre
into a bird, the Memnonides being created in the same w ay (O vid,
Metam. 13, 600ff.). T he m orning dew was explained as a weeping for him,
and the lute sound made by his statue near Thebes on being touched by
the sun in the m orning was interpreted as his greeting to his mother. (O vid,
Fasti, 4. 714, etc.) It is not clear why Memnon was made the object o f
these sentimental and, it is probable, popularly widespread legends. His name
m eant ‘ steadfast ’ or ‘ patient ’ and became an Athenian word for a donkey.

M enevia: S T D A V I D ’S
200 L I F E O F M E R L IN

M E R L IN
Merlinus is named in VM a, ao, 31, 38, 63, 117, 124, 129, 140, 144, 208,
221, 285, 320, 347, 478, 732, 941, 958, 979, 1143, 1296, 1298, 1442. H e is
never M erlinus Calidonius or M erlinus Silvester («tris) in VM , except in
copyists' notes; but he is silvester homo in VM 80.
See * Intro. 1 and N N L A IL O K E N on the relation o f M erlin Ambrosius
and M erlin Calidonius/Silvester to the legends o f the W elsh and northern
w ild men, and * Intro. 3 and 5 on M erlin's probable relation to the author
in VM .
M yrddin seems to carry the story o f the Arfderydd w ild man better,
while Lailoken is likely to have preserved a version o f his name. B ut
although the W elsh political prophet m ay owe most to the deranged
battle fugitive, some o f his status seems to come from that M erdin— who­
ever he was— who belongs to a view o f British beginnings preceding
Geoffrey's work. Enweu Treys Prydein is a pre-Geoffrey pseudo-learned
com pilation apparently em balm ing some old elements ( T T P , cxxvf.).
O ne o f these was the three-part division o f the island. E T P T r. 4 placed
the crown at London with coronets in the north, in Cornwall and at
Aberffraw . This is echoed in the separation o f Cornwall at the T rojan
settlement {HRB 1. i6 ff.), which was based on London (New T roy), and
in Lear's division o f the island (HRB 2. 11). Under the influence o f the
Historia, Aberffraw tended to be substituted b y Caerleon {TTP, T r. 1).
The other hint on M erdin seems to be that found in E T P T r. 1. Britain
was so named after Prydein's conquest; on its first settlement it had
become ‘ T he Island o f H oney’ . Before settlement it was ‘ M erdin's
Precinct’ (clas Merdin). No history has been attached to these fragments o f
pre-Geoffrey origin-traditions.
T he connection o f M yrddin with Carm arthen (Caer Fyrddin: M yr-
ddin’s Fort) had taken place by the time o f H RB 6. 17 (the finding o f
M erlin Ambrosius there). Carm arthen has developed its M erlin legendary
associations— M erlin's W alk and his underground workshop, etc.— but
the base o f these does not seem to be much more than the popular etymo­
logy. T h e more accepted derivation is as an indication o f a fort near the
sea— Caer with Moridunum. (See Evans, 1967, under M O R I-; and cf.
Jubainville, 1868, who discussed the point and also exposed Villem arqué's
(1862) Breton 'M a rzin '.)
Merlinus as a name is unattested before Geoffrey and seems certainly a
coining by him. T he entries in Corm ac's Glossary (O ’Donovan-Stokes,
1868) on mer (a m adm an), relating it to the blackbird (merulus) because
the blackbird goes alone, and on meracht (madness, error, or possibly
solitude) are not apparently relevant.
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 201

T h e m ediaeval literary efflorescence in which M erlin was subsequently

developed was traced in A LM A (Loomis, 1959). Particular note m ay be
m ade o f Fergus, c. 1209, because it has a distraught wanderer, a wilderness
‘ where M erlin lived for m any years’ (Legge, 1963; cf. R itchie, 1952), and
a focus on the Esk not for from Arthuret. (C f. N N G A L ID O N , A R F -
D E R Y D D .) W alter M ap in the twelfth century had a hunting anecdote
about the finding o f a w ild man by a spring in the Black M ountain. There
w ere altogether three o f these men, penitents not madmen: a Frenchman,
an Englishman and an Irishman (Scotus). T h ey are as reminiscent o f the
desert ascetics as o f VM .
T h e anthropological or folk-lorist study o f the w ild forest man legend
since VM m ay be more im portant in the long run, but has not been
system atically attem pted; Bernheimer (1952) collected a m iscellany o f
European and other examples. In this country the ivy-leaved Hombre
Salvagio, who in 1575 made Q ueen Elizabeth’s horse rear in a night forest,
cam e directly from the M erlin legend (Nichols, 1823, 1. 436fr.). A n
English M erlin's writings (Heywood, 1641) had a vogue in the seventeenth
century and, like M yrddin at Carm arthen, this M erlin found a local
habitation at Marl-burrough. (The ultim ate in the English direction must
be H . M artineau's (1845) M erdhin, who was a Saxon farmer in the
Fens.) Tyson in 1699 classified the orang-utan as Homo Sylvestris, and there
have been actual w ild men. Peter the W ild Boy (from Germany) in the
eighteenth century is one o f the best-known through being under royal
charity though he is not a good instance. Nixon, the Cheshire ploughm an
in the reign o f James V I/I, is o f more interest. As an actual case he m ay
even be quite unauthentic, but it is im portant that when his story reached
print supposedly after several generations o f a fam ily's traditions, it
contained decided features o f the classical C eltic wild-m an legend. H e was
said to have been near-mute, kept as a fool on an estate. Then, in a state
o f rapt possession, he delivered political prophecy covering a century
ahead. He predicted his own death as a prisoner o f the king, and died
so.
Custom ary figures in processions, etc., such as leaf-dressed Jack-o’-the-
green, are known from at least the sixteenth century. Inn signs are some­
tim es indicators o f a wild-m an m otif, e.g., some instances o f The Green Man
and The Woodman (wude): cf. T ext. Com m ., 1131-1253. (wude (mad) has
been etym ologically connected, not firm ly, with Latin vates.) T he trappings
o f M erlin’s C ave at K ew in the eighteenth century, with prophecies and
resident poet-librarian (Stephen D uck), had close connections with
G eoffrey's prophet, though the idea o f the Cave itself m ay be due to
continental Arthurian feedback from Orlando Furioso, Book 3, through
H arington. There seem to be numerous items o f this order which aw ait
202 L I F E OF M E R L IN

collection, sorting and a theoretical frame. Such almost subterranean

traces could be as significant as literary elaborations in carrying a m yth
or legend-form through quiescent phases.

M E T H IS
VM 1284 dulcis Methidis uve
A luxury less desirable than Calidon. Untraced. A n early geographical
fragm ent mentions M etis, an unknown Ethiopian city.

M IN E R V A
VM 736 socia dictanto Minerva
M inerva here stands for scientific knowledge; see translation.

M ODRED
VM 1108 infidus custos Môdridus desipiensque
1125 Mödridi duo nati
T he accounts o f the A rthur-M odred cam paign in H RB 11. 1 and VM
differ: see Text. Comm. n o 8 f. M odred’s mother in HRB is variously
Aurelius Ambrosius’s sister (9.9) and Arthur’s sister (9 .1 1 , im plied). This,
and the use o f the eponymous king o f Lothian for father, and the fact that
M odred is not a villain before Geoffrey, tend to make him responsible for
M odred as a traitor and opponent o f Arthur. In the earliest reference, in
Ann. Cambr. s.a. 537, Arthur and Medraut fell at Cam lan but were not said
to be opposed. See T Y P 464-5 on the good reputation o f M odred in the
twelfth century and later, among Welsh poets.
Geoffrey probably derived his form o f the name from Breton or Cornish
sources. Sim ilar names in Cornwall included Tedion Modredis {c. 1000;
Stokes, 1872, 335) and Tre-Modret (in Dom esday; Loth, 1892, 491).
(Geoffrey has Môdrëdus in VM : earlier Medraut was accented on the
second, eleventh century Modret on the first syllable.) This m ay explain
Geoffrey’s preference for Cornw all, instead o f the north, for the last
cam paign and the site o f Cam lan.
Norm an traditions m ay have contributed to the creation o f M odred as
a traitor. Gospatric, earl o f Northum berland, was deposed for treachery by
W illiam I in 1072. He was the son o f M aldred, Duncan I's brother, whose
connections were prim arily with the English and Lothian. His own son,
summus dux Lodonie, joined and fell during the invasion o f England by
D avid I in 1 138 - this m ay or m ay not have been before the first issue o f
H RB. M odred’s Saxon allies in HRB could derive from these associations.
M eldred, the regulus o f Lothian in Lailoken B , should not have influenced
the creation o f M odred, since Geoffrey probably did not meet Lailoken B
until well after HRB appeared. M eldred m ay have derived independently
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 203

from Duncan’s brother M aldred; or he m ay even relate back to the

original M edraut o f A m . Cambr., for its northern m aterial very likely came
from Strathclyde or Cum bria) and Cam lan (NN) probably took place not
fa r from Lothian.
Geoffrey, then, seems to have known the original Ann. Cambr. A rth u r-
M edraut connection (without a narrative attached), but not the other,
contem porary W elsh view o f M edraut as hero. He took the name from a
south-west source, however, and centred his final Arthurian cam paign
there. But in interpreting the relationship between Arthur and M odred
h e was influenced— having no guidance at all in old traditions about
A rthur and M edraut— by Norman traditions about the treacherous
northern earl, connected with Saxons (English) and son o f M aldred o f
Lothian, whose name was similar.

M ORGEN
VM 916-40
T h e function o f this passage in the poetic structure is to help join the
M erlin-Am brosius figure from a supposedly pre-Arthurian period to the
m ain post-Arthurian M erlin-Calidonius. M erlin- Calidonius, it turns out
(975fr.), remembers it all very well.
M orgen raises several problems— the origin o f her name and attri­
butes, and the identity o f her sisters, who have practically no attributes.
N o earlier character is an exact fit, but there are numerous possible or
faintly possible origins for the name. Geoffrey, writing for a small sophisti­
cated audience, had few compulsions to adhere to traditional forms closely
in this sort o f composition: philological arguments w ill not be decisive.
T his applies particularly to the sisters' names, which are dealt with in a
separate note.
M orgen in relation to a dying Arthur seems Geoffrey's invention. But
the m atrix o f the legend— an island queen o f m agical powers receiving a
royal hero— was available from at least the time o f the C irce-A eaea-
Odysseus story {Odyss. 10). Evidence for movement o f this ‘ carrier-m yth’
from the east M editerranean to post-Roman Britain and Ireland, where
new local forms developed, can be thought believable. T he route includes
Ita ly and the île de Seins (Sena)y which in M ela (first century a . d .:
3. 6, 48) had nine virgins who could raise storms, transform themselves,
cure and tell the future.
Some legendary or historical characters who have names near enough to
M orgen in Geoffrey’s terms but are unlikely to have determined this
Circe-styled character in VM can be listed briefly. Some have one or
other attribute, e.g., sanctity or learning, which could be thought relevant.
I. Mätrona, Modron, Maponos (and Madrun). Celtic deities o f N . Britain:
204 L I F E O F M E R L IN

T Y P 461 f. Madrun, granddaughter o f Vortigern (Gould, LBS, 3. 398) m ay

derive from Matrona.
2. Maugan, Mauern, Méwan, etc. E arly W elsh or Breton saints: W ade-
Evans, 1950. Maugannius (HUB 9. 15) and Maugantius, V ortigern’s con­
sultant (HRB 6. 18) m ay be included here.
3. Morgan{t), etc. Fairly frequent in early British tradition, as kings, etc.
Morcant, a northern leader o f Rhydderch's time ; Morken (Jocelin), northern
tyrant. H RB 3.19 has a king, Morgan. In HRB 2. 15 Goneril's son
Morgan was killed at a W elsh village so called: cf. M argam , below.
4. Mongin. Seventh century king o f U lster, focus o f story-cycles.
5. Marbhdn. T he hermit (M eyer, 1901; E C N P 1).
6. (a) Mogain, etc. Saintly virgin m artyrs; and {b) M uirgen, abbot o f
Glenuissen. {Martyr, o f Gorman, Stokes, 1895.)
7. T he Morrigan. Irish batde deities: v. TYP , 461 on Loomis’s equation
o f M orgen with these and with M odron.
8. Muirigen. A noble who resisted M aedoc, M oling’s predecessor at
Ferns.
9. Muirgen. Son o f Senchan Torpeist, he collected the Tdin from the
grave o f Fergus M ac Roigh.
10. Morgan = M argam . Cistercian abbey founded by Geoffrey's H RB
patron in 1147; known later for efficient charity. A personification, w ith
name change, o f an institution to point to its sanctity, power and plenty is
inherently unlikely, even if it had these by 1150.
M ore interesting is the fam ily o f Mugan, queen to Conchobar at the
Feast o f Bricriu {Fled Bricrend: Henderson, 1899). Conchobar’s grandfather
was Amorgene, seer to the im m igrant group, the sons o f M ile: his birth
and childhood were wonderful in the Taliesin manner. M ugan’s daughter is
the im portant one: she, Fedelm, could change her shape. M ore than one
o f M orgen's attributes can be found in this com plex: (i) learning and
sanctity o f a non-christian kind— Conchobar was son o f a druid, grandson
o f a seer; (ii) sim ilarity, not close, o f names; (iii) shape-changing; (iv) a
repertoire o f nine shapes. H ie shape-changing tends to connect the over­
seas group here with the westward-moving Circe m yth. In HRB and VM
only M erlin Ambrosius has this power {HRB 8. 19: in helping U ther to
seduce Ingem ).
T he closest approach to a parallel is Muirgein in the Death o f Eochaid mac
M airid (Best and Bergin, 1929, 94-100 (text); Crowe, 1870; O 'G rad y,
1892). Eochaid's child Liban was almost the sole survivor o f a flood o f
Lough Neagh. Liban, after a year under w ater, becam e a wanderer, h a lf
salmon, h alf woman, for 300 years, with a pet dog as an otter after her.
She was caught o ff Antrim , taken to a monastery behind two w ild stags,
was baptized and died there. She has three names, probably reflecting a
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 205

long history for the tale. T w o are apposite: (i) Muirgein (‘ sea birth ’— gein
mor in mara muirgein) : this is the most directly plausible explanation o f the
nam e M orgen, though the character lacks healing attributes, (ii) M uirgeilt:
geilt was the normal word for the Irish wild man and for literal grazing
(cf. the eastern w ild men, ßooicol). This aspect o f Liban ties the character
m ore closely to the wild-m an legend. She wandered homeless for long after
a disaster, became a w ild creature (half-salmon) and later rode behind
w ild stags (cf. V M 451 ff.). In her song she com plained bitterly o f winter
w eather, a common sentiment in wild-m an and ascetic poetry. She died
under a saint’s protection. Muirgeilt is explained as ‘ sesL-geilt’ in the story,
and embodies a whole m arine wild-m an tale in her name.
Suibhne dies in similar circumstances after his wounding by the herd
M ongân. His wife had looked after Suibhne (a king) for a year. The
elements are differently arranged, but there is care o f a king about to die,
and his fatal wound. The Irish writer o f B S saw VM , probably, and the
wom an’s name, Muirghil, m ay suggest his recognition o f the Muirgein-
M uirgeilt character in M orgen.
Rhys (1891; cf. Lot, 1900) drew attention to Liban-M uirgein in this
connection. Ghotzen (1948) linked two other fie s aquatiques called Liban.
(1) Daughter o f A ed A brat in Serglige Con Culainn: related to M anannân,
she invited a hero to follow her to the other world, and is presumably in
the ancestry o f Thom as o f Ercildoun’s queen o f Elven. (2) D aughter o f
Eochu m ac Eogainn, in Acallam na Senàrach (O ’G rady, 2. 184-5). This
w ork is twelfth century (Dillon, 1948), and at least before the last quarter
o f the century (K nott and M urphy, 1966). As Caoilte and the king o f
U lid ia watched, Liban swam towards the shore (back stroke, side stroke,
treading water, and sitting on a wave as on a rock). She said she had
been in the water a hundred years. H er presence helped the hunting. She
is evidently a version o f the later part o f the M uirgein story. T he Liban
w ho was wife o f Teigue (O ’G rady, 1892,2. 386 ff.) is connected with a sea
voyage but seems not to be related to the others, or not closely.
Both the Feast o f Bricriu and the Death o f Eochaid mac M airid occur in the
Labor na h-Uidre, put together at the beginning o f the twelfth century. It is
possible that Geoffrey, not known and not likely to have had Irish, met
these parts o f the Labor through one channel or another: see also the note
a t the end o f N N M O R G E N ’S SIST E R S.
As an addendum : there are one or two instances o f a M orgen character
very soon after VM , before the rise o f M orgain L e Fay. (1) In Draco
Normannicus, Morganis nympha perhennis looked after Arthur and made him
im m ortal; she was his sister (NN A R T H U R ). (2) In Chrétien de Troyes’s
Erec et Erode Arthur sends to his sister Morgue or Morgana for a wound­
healing plaster o f rem arkable powers. (3) In Gereint son o f Erbin in the
206 L I F E O F M E R L IN

M abinogion, a tale not unconnected with Erec et Enide, A rthur’s physician

is male but named Morgan Tad, and he has a team o f assistants, as M orgen
does. (San M arte quoted Villem arqué’s explanation o f Breton M organ as
*sea-woman* (Meerfrau) ; he also quoted the view that M organ T ud repre­
sented Pelagius ( = oceanic, in Greek). These need not be pursued.)
In summary, M orgen-related motifs can be detected m oving round a
number o f C eltic stories; but the present most practical solution is to see
in Geoffrey’s M orgen substantially Liban-M uirgnn-M uirgeilt providing a
new form for the Circe myth.

M O R G E N ’S S I S T E R S
VM (916-28) 927-8:
Moronoe, Mazoe, Gliten, Glitonea, Gliton,
Tyronoe, Tinten cithara notissima Tinten
T h ey are only a background to M orgen and, apart from Thiten’s lyre and
their being taught astrology, have no characters. Nine sisters are spoken o f
in VM 916: only eight, including M orgen, are named. There is no h ill
explanation o f the number nine. T he nine Muses (a firm number only
post-mediaevally), the nine divisions o f A rghialla or the surviving bands
o f the Fianna (nine each) do not seem relevant. The tie de Seins, Brittany,
had nine virgins, which is more significant (NN M O R G E N ). T he nine
attendant girls in The Spoils o f Annum are also to the point, especially i f
Annwn here was an elysian island rather than hell; and if Geoffrey heard
or saw this early poem, he m ay not have grasped much more than modern
commentators but needed only to notice that a band with A rthur had gone
overseas to an unusual island staffed with girls. Continuity in legend w ith
earlier Sena is possible, and the availability o f this sort o f group in a
suitable context further demonstrated, though without individual
characters. A part from M orgen, seven are nam ed; the ‘ seven daughters
o f the sea who fashion the threads o f the sons o f long life’ in an early Irish
rhetoric (M eyer, 1913) m ay be connected, but this would need support.
Circe’s attendants were subordinate, not co-rulers, but embodied
natural forces, such as wells and rivers. There were five, but this is un­
im portant to the tale. M aelduin and his men reached an island with queen
and girl attendants (ch. 28) where they were offered im m ortality: crew
and women numbered seventeen. (O ther voyagers (Snédgus and M ac
R iagla: 7) found an island with king and no girls. It is relevant to the
theme because it also had Elijah and Enoch; as the only two in the Bible
who do not die, they convey the im m ortality motif.)
No explanations for the names have been established. Parry (1925)
ignored them. Paton (1903) offered two invalid suggestions and noted that
Lot (1900) was at a loss. Lot referred to the perplexity o f San M arte
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 207

(1853). M ichel (1837) was silent. As a group they have a Greek look, but
convincing analogies, classical or other, are hard to find.
Môrônoê. N o suggestions. O nly apparent sim ilarity, Mororwc, seventh
century bishop in Ireland ( T.B.Lecan, Atkinson, 1896, 133; Kenney,
1929, i. 421; Chadwick, 1942). He conveys sanctity and learning; but
arbitrary choice and adjustment would have to be assumed— this would
be quite proper for Geoffrey in such a composition.
Mäzöe. No suggestions. I f Irish connections are possible, it can be noted
th at Mageo was M ayo in Irish, and an Irish g can look very like a Latin
Z. M ayo was a centre o f learning, but early Mageo na nSachsan was the
English h alf o f a divided monastery (Bede, H E 4. 6).
G Uten; Glitônëà; Gliton. O nly suggestion (Paton, 1903) : C lytie; daughter
o f O cean, she had an affair with Helios (O v. Metam. 4. 204fr.). The VM
ending was to be explained as influenced by M orgen. Circe was daughter
o f Helios, granddaughter o f O cean. But Clÿttê, with these quantities, is at
a good distance: Paton seems to have assumed a spondee.
Klette was wife to K in g Cyzicus in Apollonius Rhodius {Argon. 1. 976,
1063, 1069) : on her suicide a fountain o f nymphs’ tears was named after
her.
In Acallamh na Sendrach, Caoilte tells o f ‘ Cliodhna’s w ave’, about an
arch-ollam h’s three daughters. Cliodhna was accidentally drowned by a
casual wave upsetting a boat. T he name occurs in three forms in this short
passage: Clidna, Cliodhna, Cliodna. (The oddness o f a trio o f names in VM
asks for explanation.) But (1) T he girls were Tuatha D é DanaaxCs three
treasures o f spinsterhood and chastity; (2) they had legendary eastern
connections, w ith India and Eolus (cf. Odyss. 10. if., before C irce);
(3) ‘ Cliodhna’s w ave’ remained in common speech from this pathetic
anecdote. (The Acallamh is twelfth century: N N M O R G E N .)
Tyrönöi. No suggestions. But Tyro (Tupco) o f Odyss. 11. 235 is possible.
Odysseus m et her in Hades, the next adventure after Circe. As Perseis, she
was daughter o f O cean and o f sun, like Circe, in Cicero’s reference to
C irce worship {De nat. dear. 3. 19).
I f Moronâc were plausible, this name could be from a locative adjective
o f Tyrone— but it would not be the Irish form, and this is not a helpful
lead.
Tinten. Paton decided for Thëtis. But in the twelfth century Thetis was
known by her classical name, as ocean nymph and as mother o f Achilles.
T hiten would not recall her qualities, and her lyre would be an added
confusion. Tëthys (accus. Tethyn, O vid, Fasti 5. 81) was wife o f O cean and
m other o f sea nymphs and river gods. She is frequent in Latin verse and
prose; a couplet about Caledonia in Lucan mentions her.
‘ Teite’s wave ’ was a similar wave to Cliodhna’s, apparently on the same
2 o8 L I F E O F M E R L IN

(Cork) coast but not, like Cliodhna’s, one o f Ireland's three ‘ arch-w aves'.
There is reference to a dûn (and Teite was an Icelandic m ale nam e), but
the story is o f the loss o f T eite, daughter o f Ragam ain, with m any girl
friends while surf-riding: the shore was trdgh Théite (O ’G rady, 1892,
2. 200). T he lyre, cithara, remains a mystery and m ay turn out to be the
clue.
T he personal element in Geoffrey's names m ay here frustrate perm a­
nently a conventional solution about sources. Allow ing for this, some
suitable classical allusions m ay after all be present. Otherwise there is only
a tenuous hint o f acquaintance with Irish names. This, added to the m ore
likely link in the case o f M orgen (NN , at end) m ay mean that G eoffrey
possibly saw some Irish m aterial or was shown it by visitors or returned
travellers and had it explained. Assuming Geoffrey was based at L lan d aff
at a suitable period o f his life, contacts between that part o f south W ales
and Ireland were old, and sea access, by the evidence o f the Llantw it M ajor
breakwater (Davies, 1967), was still easier in the twelfth century than
later.

M oronoe: M O R G E N 'S S I S T E R S

NORM ANS
VM 654 N e u s t r e n s e s A n g l o s invadent
15 11 Iteque Neustrenses
Line 654 (first prophecy) appears a reference to the conquest under
W illiam I. Line 1511, however, relates to the twelfth-century incursions
from France in the interest o f the empress M atilda and her son H enry (II)
in the years im m ediately before the composition o f VM . See Text. Com m .
15 11 ff., and *Intro. 3.

North W elsh: W E L S H

N O R W E G IA N S
VM 1098 Norwegenses trans equora lata remotos
Am ong Arthur's foreign conquests. T he Norwegian cam paign in H RB
9. 1 1 comes at the point where Geoffrey’s vision o f Arthur was acquiring
its wings; and the expedition to Norway, preceding that to France, is told
at some length.

ORKNEY
VM 878 Orchades
Islands list, Isid., 14. 6.
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 209

O RPH EU S
VM 14 licet Orpheus et Camerinus
[371] [uelut orpheus olim]
T h e first reference is to Orpheus as bard, along with the Augustan poets
o f the dedication. T he second is to an unknown version o f the story o f
Eurydice (N N ), and the tact is doubtfid.

OXFO RD
VM 1474 Cemo Ridichenam. . . urbem
See T ext. Com m. 1474fr.

P A V IA
VM 924 sive Papie
See N N B R E ST and Text. Comm. According to Parry, Papia was some­
tim es ‘ Paris*.

PEREDUR
VM 26 dux Venedotorum Peredurus \ and 31, 68
In VM Peredur and M erlin are Rodarch’s allies against Gwenddolau; and
Peredur’s role in the poem is confined to trying to restrain M erlin’s grief
after the battle. In tradition, Peredur and his brother G w rgi were
northerners o f the dynasty o f Coel Hen. T h ey were at Arfderydd, by
T riad 44, but died in 480 {Ann. Cambr. : Guard et Peretur moritur), their war-
band having deserted them at Gaer Greu (Tr. 30). From other references,
they were models for the royal brothers Peredurus and IugeniusjVigenius o f
H RB 3 .18 . Outside VM they are usually a pair, but Peredur seems to have
had more literary individuality. T h e allusions o f T riad 44 suggest that
their tradition in W ales was fairly elaborate.
This Peredur is the Peredur map Eliffer Gosgorduavr o f T r. 8, 30,44, etc.:
T I P 491-2. It was Peredur map Efrawc Iarll who became the Perceval o f
British and French romances; and he m ay have been fictional from the
start. Pokom y (1951) suggested that the tide o f ‘ a m agistrate from Y o rk ’,
Pr{a)etor ab Eboraco, generated P{e)redur (m)ab Efrawc. Since Peredur
occurs early elsewhere, this only means that one o f them at any rate m ay
have been so derived. There could have been a blind misunderstanding
over Praetor ; but the first assumption must be that Peredur was an existing
nam e to which the Rom an title was assimilated as it became less fam iliar.
Ebrauc is in HRB 2. 7, 8 as founder o f York (and apparently o f Dum ­
barton, Edinburgh and Stirling), and as ancestor o f Bladud (V M 868ff.)
and Lear. There is no Peredur among his m any children in H RB 2. 8.
In HRB 3. 18 a Peredur, brother o f Eridur, ruled Scotland and then the
14 CLM
210 L I F E OF M E R L IN

whole kingdom. These HRB references im ply the northern genealogy.

The Peredur map Eridur, with the status o f a city governor, at A rth u r’s
court at Caerleon {HRB 9. 12) possibly retains a hint o f a York or northern
connection, but is more probably quite derivative.

P H Y L L IS
V M 194 miserrima Phillis
O vid Heroides, Letter 2 : Phyllis, daughter o f the king o f Thrace, and
Demophoon (NN ). See T ext. Comm. 191-5. She was turned into an
almond tree.

PH O EBUS
VM 557 ignivomum cum Venere Phebum
567-8 Phebusque per astra / altius ascendit
In 557, the sun as an object o f divinatory scrutiny; in 567, the simple sun.

PO R CH ESTER
VM 618 Kaerperis
Am ong the couplets o f a textually disturbed prophetic passage: not
elucidated. In HRB the town is Kaerperis and Porcestria. In HRB 4. 12, 14
the main Rom an invasion began with Claudius landing there, as did a
later attem pt to reinstate Rom an authority, 5. 8. Porchester is not after­
wards mentioned and is no help to VM here, unless there is an im plication
that this unsatisfactory passage o f couplets contains a large number o f
references to the decay o f British towns after the Rom an withdrawal, and
so has been im planted from elsewhere. T he ostensible period is, foggily,
post-Rhydderch, not im m ediately post-Roman.

R A B IR IU S
VM 15 magnique Rabirius oris
O vid, Ex Ponto 4. 16. 5 {magnique Rabirius oris). A n Augustan poet o f whom
a few fragments survived. He had written o f the fate o f Anthony.

R E A T IN E M A R S H E S
VM 1212 inque Reatina.. .palude
Springs list, Isid., 13. 13. T he Reatine Marshes were in Sabine country
north o f Rom e: named from the town Reate (modern R ieti).

RENUA
VM 1033 soror H engisti.. .Rénua
In VM Rënua occurs in the second, pre-Arthurian ‘ prophecy’, as sister
o f Hengist and poisoner o f Vortim er. T he Saxon wife o f V ortigem is
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 211

Hengist’s unnamed daughter in H B 37 and his named daughter in

H RB 6. 12, 14. There is no particular point to be made about the change
to sister in VM .
Nennius seems to be the only reason for believing in a historical figure.
T h e name and its origins are in doubt. HRB has Renwein, Rowen, etc.
Chadw ick (1907) suggested an original (Saxon) Hrothwyn. VM*s Rénua is
unique. In T r. 59 there is Ronwen, m eaning, if W elsh, 'F a ir L an ce’ or
related to 'rh aw n ’ (horsehair): (Tatlock, 1950, 146f.; TYP, 499). Bron-
w en, who also m arried a foreigner as part o f an unfortunate political pact,
has been discussed in connection with Ronwen; there is only one o f
each.
A m ythological interpretation has been put on Renwein giving V orti-
gem a cup in the betrothal scene o f H RB. There were Irish occasions when
a goddess handed a cup to a high-king sym bolically (O 'R ah illy, 1943,
T Y P 499). But the HRB scene is not parallel. T he cup-handing (given
m erely as an interesting toasting custom) came before V ortigern fell in
love and before a political deal over K ent. Nennius is explicit that Hengist
plotted with his daughter to get V ortigem and his interpreter drunk first,
and succeeded: et saturati sunt nimis, ‘ and they were thoroughly soaked’ .
H RB elaborated but kept close to the m ain line: e.g., in HRB V ortigem
had mixed his drinks— diverso genere potus inebriatus— cf. Nennius’s vinum
et siceram, 'w ine and spirits’ . Both have the devil entering V ortigem ’s
heart, Geoffrey adding a gloss about the girl’s paganism.
W elsh poets called Ronnwen mother o f the English nation. This is an
argum ent about the prim acy o f the W elsh-British. For, this w ay, V ortigem
w ould be the father o f the English in the island.
T h e story o f Renua-Renwein poisoning Vortim er conflicts with the
account in Nennius o f his death in battle against the Saxons in K ent. In
H RB he specified burial on a bronze pyram id, but was buried in London.
A tradition about an unusual burial is hinted at in T r. 37R. V ortigem
‘ disclosed the bones o f Gwerthefyr the Blessed (Vortim er) for the love o f
a wom an: that was Ronnwen the pagan woman {Ronnwen baganes) ’ .

R IC H B O R O U G H
VM 620 Urbs Rutupi
In K ent, and the chief official Rom an port o f entry to Britain. In H RB 4 .9
(Caesar’s landing), 4. 16 and 11. 1 (Arthur’s landing). It was the likely
site o f the coastal battle referred to in A/S Chron as that o f W ippedesfleot and
in Nennius 44 as juxta lapidem tituli qui est super ripam Gallici maris ; and this
last probably meant the Rom an monument, later a look-out, at R ich-
borough (NN H E N G IST ). (Lucan’s reference to Richborough in relation
to the Caledonians is quoted in Clarke, 1969, 191.) T he present passage,
14-2
212 L I F E O F M E R L IN

however, is that o f the disturbed couplets: cf. N N H E N G IST , P O R

C H E ST E R , T H A N E T .

(Urbs) Ridichena: O X F O R D

R O BE R T DE CH ESN EY
VM 2-3
Tu corrige carmen,
gloria pontificum calamos moderando Roberte.
Robert de Chesney is the dedicatee o f VM in lines 2-18. He was the fourth
bishop o f Lincoln, from Decem ber 1148 to 1166, when he died. H e was
English, o f a Norman fam ily, and he seems to have been a canon o f
St George’s, O xford, while Geoffrey was there. H e becam e archdeacon o f
Leicester young, and impressed contemporaries by his simple hum ility. His
lack o f practical sense became evident later than the time o f V M : simplex
quidem homo et minus discretus, wrote A lan, biographer o f Becket. He was
said to have disposed o f cathedral possessions as dowries for nieces, to have
lost control o f St Albans abbey (but this m ay have been inevitable), and
to have created a m ajor scandal by pawning the ’ ornaments’ o f Lincoln
cathedral to Aaron, a well-known Jewish financier o f the day, as security
for loans towards a large new palace, completed two centuries afterwards.
He helped to consecrate Thom as Becket but was detached from his
interest by H enry II.
But at the time o f his appointment to Lincoln he was popular after the
arrogance o f Alexander (N N ), and this is the mood still (c. 1150) reflected
in the dedication o f VM , which echoes contem porary accounts. Thus,
R alph de D iceto (Abbreo. Chronic., s.a. 1147 for 1148) : vir simplicitatis et
humilitatis magnae de communi totius ecclesiae Lincoltdensis assensu creatus est
Lincolniensis episcopus. H enry o f Huntingdon (Hist. Angl., 8. 28, s.a. 1 148)
referred to him as juvenis omni laude dignus and used the phrases a clero et
populo cum summo gaudio annuente and a clero et populo cum devotione susceptus
est (cf. VM i i , clerus populusque petebant). H enry also added a prayer for
wisdom : juventutem eius foveat (Deus) rore sapientiae. This could be a good-
natured blessing, or it m ay betray an anxious appreciation o f Robert’s
weak side, noted later by A lan (see above), who had less reason to see him
favourably.
Robert’s name latine was de Querceto (Oakwood), and this is o f interest
in view o f M erlin’s parable o f the oak tree: see Text. Com m ., 1270-8. The
terms o f the parable are such that it would be difficult to read into it, in
addition to its obvious meaning, a friendly foreseeing o f a fine old age for
the young bishop.
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 2 13

RODARCH
VM 31-2 Venerat ad bellum Merlinus cum Pereduro / rex quoque
Cumbrorum (Cambr-) Rôdarcus
121-2 ab aula / Rôdarchi regis Cumbrorum
Named in VM 212, 226, 244,270, 281,286,294,340,485,503,
523
596 Rodarchus moritur
(684 morientem visere regem
690 defunctumque ducem repent)
693 Funera Rodarchi (700 Largus erat)
730 Rodarchus largus
The Polychronicon M SS R , J , T nearly always write Rodarthus,
according to Parry’s readings; but see comment in * Intro 8.
(p. 48).
Usage in the present edition is to have *Rodarch ’ for Geoffrey's
semi-fictional character in VM and to write ‘ Rhydderch ’ for
all other references to the traditional-historical ruler o f
Strathclyde.
R odarch is the king o f the Cum brians in VM . His adjective largus is for
the standard epithet Hael (generous) applied to the real Rhydderch. See
T T P on the Rhydderch o f Strathclyde, o f the northern dynasty o f Dyfnwal
H en. He was Riderch in O.W elsh and Nennius (H B 63), Rederech in
Jocelin; he was Rodercus in Adam nân (1. 15), within a century o f his
death. Jackson (1958) said that the British form would have been Rodercost
pronounced ‘ rotSerch- There is no apparent place where Latin Rodarchus
or Rodarcus is used to mean Rhydderch and provide a source for Geoffrey.
There is a Rederchius in the pre-Rom an king-list o f HRB 3. 19, between
Redion and Samuil Penissel. T he king is not mentioned by name in Lailoken
A . T he Yarrow Stone inscription (Jackson, p. 113 m RCAH M Selkirkshire,
N o. 174) refers to an early sixth century king, not to Rhydderch, and
Parry’s note to V M 698 no longer holds. A variant Latin form coined by
Geoffrey for a composite literary character (and leaving a tracer which
indicates the character’s partial origin) is likely.
By HB 63, Rhydderch was active about 570, and his connection with
Arfderydd is possible. I f it was so, he seems not to have been directly
involved but only through a (fam ily?) link with the M yrddin-original :
N N A R F D E R Y D D . In the M yrddin poems Rhydderch is the deranged
m an's pursuer; it is not always sure whether present fear or old delusion is
meant. Predictions about Rhydderch's death go back to Adam nân, but in
that case it was reassuring. T he more positive prediction in Lailoken A
puts the king’s and K entigem ’s death in the same year. K entigem died in
214 L I F E OF M E R L IN

612, according to Annales Cambriae: see N N on his relation with the king.
T he death o f Jocelin’s Rederech was not connected with K entigem ’s but
later.
There was a secondary W elsh tradition about his grave in ‘ A bererch’
(Afon Erch, Caerns.?: T T P 505). His son in Jocelin is Constantine, but
this does not seem significant for the Constantines o f HRB and VM .
T riad 79 attributed a daughter, Angharad Ton V elen; there is no equi­
valent in VM , though Ganieda makes a vague reference to children. (In
Geoffrey’s day, Iowerth o f Caerleon’s wife was an Angharad.)
In VM Rodarch has Rhydderch’s traditional personality as a brave,
upright and liberal, if here unim aginative, ruler. He unbends cheerfully
at one point (V M 532), and he is also solicitous to the captive M erlin:
M eldred o f Lailoken B was almost undoubtedly an influence here. But
Rodarch in VM is secondary in im portance and remains fairly wooden;
and the exigencies o f the plot caused Geoffrey to m odify the traditional
Rhydderch character further when Rodarch (unlike M eldred) was allow ed
to be gullible over his wife’s adultery. Rodarch's death is not actually
foretold in VM , but foreknowledge in M erlin is im plied. He, in the wilds,
tells Ganieda to go home because Rodarch has just died.

ROM E, ROM ANS

VM 1 101 Romana potestas
1 102 Romanos
In 1101, the Senate. O n France and Frollo, see HRB 9. 11— the tribune
Frollo was in charge and governed it under the Emperor Leo. In 1102, the
Rom an arm y under Lucius Hiberius (N N ), the cam paign dealt w ith in
HRB Bk. 10.

(Urbs) R utupi: R I C H B O R O U G H

Ruthenus: F L A N D E R S

Sabrina: S E V E R N

S T D A V I D ’S
VM 622 Menia Meneoie
T he reference has not been explained. But VM 623 (the long-lost pall)
m ay be another allusion to the disputes about an archbishopric in W ales.
Geoffrey was clearly on the side o f L landaff in opposing the creation o f an
archbishopric at St D avid’s— which m ay for a short time have held a title
c. 1133. From this attitude perhaps sprang Geoffrey’s own story, which he
quite possibly believed or came to believe in, about the ancient arch-
 NAM E N O TE S IN D E X 215
bishopric o f Caerleon. The ‘ prophetic’ sentence in HRB 7. 3, that ‘ St
D avid ’s w ill be clothed in the robes o f Caerleon*, m ay refer to this period
in the eleven-thirties, when St D avid’s seemed to have won its point. (Since
the period was evidently short, it m ay be relevant to the dating o f the
Book 7 prophecies.)
In H RB 11. 3 D avid dies at his own St D avid’s; it is carefully « p lain ed
th at he happened to be especially fond o f it. But he is described as ‘ A rch­
bishop D avid o f Caerleon’ . A ll this m ight indicate that lines 622-3 are in
fact by Geoffrey (and 620-1, too, since there is apparent continuity). But
lines 624-5 arc doubtful on other grounds: see T ext. Comm.
SAXONS
VM 627 Saxonia reges
631 Saxo
948 gens Saxona
1001 Saxona gens
1 1 18 Saxonibus
A ll these allusions refer to the critical period o f struggle between
Saxons and British in the fifth and following centuries which is the core
o f G eoffrey’s history, here condensed as prophecy.
SCOTLAN D, SCO TS
VM 27 iScocie.. .qui regna regebat
60 invadunt Scotos
597 discordia.. .Scotos et Cumbros.. .habebit
605 Scotorum cunei
610 Scote
613 Scotus
969 pariter Scotos Cambros...
1095 subm isit.. .Scotos
1510 vaccarum Scotie
Line 27, Scotland as the kingdom o f Guennolous (NN G W E N D D O LA U ).
T h e rest o f the references occur in the prophetic-historic sections. In 969
the Scoti are to be brought into the broad alliance to be formed by the
C eltic national deliverers. Line 1095 is a victory o f A rthur’s, after HRB
9. 6-7. Line 1510 refers to the famines o f the civil wars o f Stephen’s reign:
see * Intro. 2 (twelfth century).
SE G O N T IU M
VM 235 in urbe Sïgini
616 Urbs Sïgini et tunes et magna palatia
V M 235: Rodarch’s offer o f cups m ade by W ayland in Segontium. The
association o f W ayland and Segontium has no tradition. Here (1) they
2 l6 L I F E O F M E R L IN

together convey antique richness, and (2) Segontium is a 'giant-w ork' : see
N N W A Y LA N D . VM 616-17: M erlin’s first prophecy— the town is to lie
in ruins till the W elsh regain their territory. T he text is not certain.
Segontium, the Rom an station on the edge o f Caernarvon, stirred
m ediaeval and later im agination as impressive in ruin. It is now tidier and
looks the barracks it was. For its history - R C A H M W ales, Caems., i960,
2. 1 127; for its archaeology-W heeler, 1923. It was probably built c. 77-6,
during A gricola's operations against the Ordovices and Anglesey (T ac.
Agric. 18), and first re-built in stone in the early second century.
Nennius (H B 25) put the burial o f Constantine the G reat's son Q ,.
Constantinus there. O ther m ediaeval uses o f the station include two
M abinogion tales, Macsen WUdig and Branwen daughter o f Llÿr. T he M acsen
tale refers to the taking o f British troops to the continent by M agnus
M axim us (M acsen). This m ay be related to the final Rom an evacuation
o f Segontium c. 380-90. This is its most im portant time for British tradi­
tional history. T he occasion provides a point o f blam e for the weakening
o f the British before the post-Roman incursions by Saxons: see H RB
5. 14-16 and 6. 4, and also Gildas, De excidio, ch. 14fr

SEVERN
VM 592 ultra / Sabrinam
624 inque tuo, Sabrina, sinu
Severn is one o f the three great rivers in the Description o f Britain,
H RB i. 2. The first reference above is in the first prophecy, at the tim e o f
Gorm und’s supposed invasion. T he second is part o f a couplet in the same
section; its authenticity is doubted because it places Geoffrey's Caerleon
on Severn.

SIC IL Y
VM 1205 duo Sycilie fontes
1284 segetes Sicule
1205: Springs list, Isid., 13. 13. 1284: an example o f a good less desirable
than Calidon.

(Urbs) Sigeni: S E G O N T I U M

South W elsh: W E L S H

STYX
VM 1221 Srix fluvius
[373] [Stigias. . .harenas']
1221: Springs list, Isid., 13. 13; and see N N A C H A E A . [373]: Corrupt
passage referring to Eurydice’s crossing the Styx. T he Styx o f 1221 was a
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 2 17

ch ill river, classically in A rcadia, which caused death when drunk. But it
was also (line 373) the river o f the underworld itself by which the gods
swore (C ic. De not. dear. 3, 17, 43) and where Charon’s ferry plied.

SYD EN
VM 1216 stagnum Syden
Springs list, Isid., 13. 13 {Sideri). See also IN D IA .

TAGUS
VM 1283 quod habere Tdgus per littora dicitur aurum
A pparently first known for golden sands, but its reputation for gold, even
i f a misapprehension, grew early. O vid, Metam. 2. 251— the gold in its
streams melted when Phaethon crashed. M artial, 1. 49, m erely says,
‘ golden T agu s'. In Isidore there are both sands and gold: 13. 31. 33,
fluoius harems auriferis copiosus, and 14.4. 29, Tagus aurum trahens. In VM this
gold is less desirable than Calidon.

T A L IE S IN
VM 685, 689 Thelgesinoque, -umque
733» 977» 11 79» *45^ Telgesinus
T h e role played b y Taliesin in VM can be summarised as: (1) H e was a
partial substitute for K entigem in the resolution o f the wild-m an theme,
since it was im politic to use K entigem . (2) H e helps to join the ' M .
Am brosius’ and ‘ M . Silvester/Calidonius’ halves o f M erlin by his story
o f looking after Arthur. (3) He is the vehicle for some traditional scientific
inform ation included for entertainm ent-education: cf. Parry's edition,
A ppendix, and Hanes Taliesin for com parable examples, and the discussion
o f Geoffrey's twelfth century sources in the Introduction (*Intro, a).
For detail on his historical-legendary standing in early W elsh poetry
and tradition, see T Y P 509-11, Taliesin, and references.

Taprobana: C E Y L O N

TH AN ET
VM 875 Thanatos
1022, 1026 Thanatum
875: Islands list, Isid., 14. 6 ( Tanatos). See T ext. Comm.
1022, 1026: Vortim er’s battles against Hengist and Horsa. N N
H E N G IST and Text. Comm. 1021-9.
T h e Isle o f Thanet, K ent, was originally separated from the m ainland
b y a tidal channel, the W antsum. This was closed through m ediaeval
land-reclam ation and silting at the southern end, by Sandwich. T h e
2 l8 LIFE OF MERLIN

R . Stour, drainage works and meadows occupy its space: it was said to
have been navigable by small boats to the sixteenth century. A reputed
original landing place for Hengist was at Ebbsfleet, 4 miles north o f
Sandwich. Between these lies Richborough (NN ), chief port o f the Rom an
province and the probable scene o f the coastal battle between British and
Saxons in H B 44 and HRB 6. 13, etc.

T(h)elgesinus: T A L I E S I N

TH ESSALY
VM 1207 fiumna Thessalie
Springs list, Isid. 13. 13.

Thiten: M O R G E N ’S S I S T E R S

TH U LE
VM 8 11 Ultima. . . Thule
Islands list, Isid. 14. 6 {Thyle)', see Text. Comm. The identification o f
Thule, the northern lim it o f the Rom an world-picture, is disputed:
Iceland and Shetland (M ainland) are leading candidates. In Isidore it is
indicated as being north-west from Britain, and so he probably had
Iceland in mind. It lies nearly on the A rctic circle, in fact, which fits the
information about the solstice.

T IB E R
VM 1 184 A lbu la .. .rafiax Romae
Springs list, Isid. 13. 13. By Isidore’s time (v. Text. Comm.) the river
T iber had become confused with sulphur springs called A lbula at T ib u r
(modern T ivoli). T hey were m edicinal, for drinking and immersion. Three
remain as small lakes (Bagni di T ivoli). Allusions in the first century
include M artial 1. 12. 2: Canaque sulphureis Albula fumat aquis.

T IL E S
VM 906 Tiles temo producit vere
Islands list, Isid. 14. 6. In the Indian O cean. See T ext. Comm, and
N N IN D IA .

T R O G O D Y T IS
VM 1229 Trögöditis {Rogotis C V )
Springs list, Isid. 13. 13 {Trogodytis). T he Trog(l)odytae, cave dwellers,
appeared in various parts o f the world in ancient writers and, no doubt, in
fact; the Caucasus, the R ed Sea (Strabo 786), the ‘ land o f the N aba­
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 2 19

taeans' (which would include Petra) are mentioned. So, too, are various
parts o f A frica. Herodotus (4. 183), for exam ple, wrote o f cave dwellers
in the neighbourhood o f the Garam antes (NN ). But the Ethiopian case
seems to have been the best known, classically.

TROY
VM 1380 ducem Troiam marte peremptum
See N N M E M N O N .

Tyronoe: M O R G E N ’S S I S T E R S
U M B R IA
VM 1210 Umbrica tellus
See N N C L IT U M N U S .
U R IE N
VM 1499 colle sub UrgetAo quo convenere Deyri
Gewissique simul magno regnante Cohelo
U rien was a northern British ruler who led campaigns against Theodoric
and others in Northum bria. Rhydderch is said (H B 63) to have been in
the alliance. Nennius adds that another member, M orcant, killed U rien:
cf. Jocelin’s (ch. 22) evil tyrant, M orken, who opposed Kentigern. T he
M en o f the N orth genealogy took both U rien and Gwenddolau back to
Coel Hen. Jackson (LH EB, p. 439) derived Urien from, ultim ately,
British *ôrbogênos = ? o f privileged birth. HRB made Anguselus o f
Scotland and Loth o f Lothian (NN M O D R E D ) brothers o f Urien.
According to Bromwich ( T Y P , 518) U rien’s Northum brian expeditions
were traditional narrative in W ales b y the ninth century, and poems to
U rien and his son O w ain are thought to be early among the Taliesin
poems (Jackson, 1955). T he ‘ men o f D eira’ in VM probably look back
to the Northum brian tradition, but Geoffrey need only have known this
in relation to the northern battle o f Argoed Llwyfein, its tradition revived
b y the battle o f Coleshill in the district o f Argoed, Flint: v. * Intro. 7. Coel
is mentioned here as an ancestor o f U rien and because o f a reference in
B T 35; the Gewissi for no obvious reason outside local patriotism on the
part o f Geoffrey.
O ther occurrences o f the name in HRB are: (1) 7. 4 (prophecy) : a bos
montanus w ill be burnt in cacumine Uriani; (2) 3. 19: U . son o f Andragius, in
an early king list; (3) Urbgennius, governor o f Bath, and Urianus o f
M oray were at A rthur’s court in HRB 9 .12 . Urianus and Iwenus (Owain)
both occur in the Arthurian section o f H RB, but their development in later
romance is thought to be due also to Chrétien de Troyes drawing inde­
pendently on W elsh m aterial about O w ain (Yvain).
220 L I F E O F M E R L IN

U rien’s exact kingdom is uncertain. T h e kingdom o f Gore (or Goore)

in M alory ( i. 8) is unknown; but there is a forest o f Gorriende (though
other readings are discussed) near Carlisle in Fergus (c. 1210), which drew
largely from Chrétien and local knowledge. In M alory the king o f G ore
is Uriens (Uryence).

UTH ER
VM 984, 1044 Uter et Ambrosius
1064 germanus ei successitjunior Uter
1068, 1074 pater Uter
VM 982-1074 is M erlin’s recapitulation for Taliesin o f British history from
the early post-Roman period through the historically unacceptable
Arthurian genealogy to A rthur’s accession. U ther is treated m ainly as in
HRB 6-8, but Arthur's cam paigning starts during U ther’s illness in VM ,
after his death in HRB.
W hile U ther as Arthur's father does not seem to antedate Geoffrey, he
was connected with Arthurian traditions by or in the tenth-eleventh
century: T Y P 521. There is a relevant poem in BBC, 9 4 ,6 -7 ; and another
poem in B T mentions Uthyrpen (in m argin: Dragon) and has a reference to
Arthur. T h e Colloquy o f Arthur and the Eagle (I. W illiam s, 1925), which
im plied that U ther was the father o f Arthur, was written about the same
time as VM , but it is thought to have drawn on an independent tradition.
In T riad 28 U ther is a great enchanter, and there m ay have been a
source for Geoffrey's presentation o f U ther’s change o f person and
personality to seduce Ingem , Arthur’s mother, in HRB 8. ip f. ; but the
drug-m agic is im puted to M erlin. Loth (1925, 1932), Vendryes (1927)
and N itze (1943) believed in an earlier U ther as m agician.
But Bromwich, T Y P 522, pointed out that ‘ all the references to Uthyr
in early poetry have at one time or another been taken to be the adjective
uthr\ uthr means te rr ib le ', and the am biguity, if it is am biguity, m ay be
responsible for A rthur’s occasional reputation for cruelty. A gloss on two
thirteenth-century Nennian M SS, added to the Arthurian battle list, ran:
Mab Uter Britannice, filius horribilis Latine, quoniam a putrida sua crudelisfu it,
‘ British Mab Uter, in Latin terrible son, because he was cruel from his
boyhood’ . M oreover, Mab Uther was not applied to Arthur exclusively.
Loth (1925) noted that it was used o f M adawc, where it fitted as a
description. He was also Madog ab Uthur in a poem (Myv. Arch., 131,
col. 1), when Arthur was talking to a nephew.
T he second part o f Uther’s name, Pen(n)dragon, is to be taken as ‘ C h ief
D ragon’, i.e. a king or general: v. T Y P , 93fr. van Ham el said, ‘ C h ief o f
dragons’, and Geoffrey took it as ‘ Head o f a dragon’ {caput draconis) in
H RB 8. 17. T he possibility that U ther Pendragon was really only a W elsh
 NAM E N O T E 8 IN D E X 221

titu lar epithet for Arthur has not been canvassed, but m ight be made
plausible.
Uthir as a personal name occurs, variously spelt, in the Irish Colloquy o f
the two sages (Stokes, 1905), attached to the father o f Adnae, a poet. It is
also in W alter M ap’s De nugis curialium (2. 26; M ap, ed. James, 1914, and
trans., H artland and James, 1923). M ap was an enthusiast for Hereford­
shire, which early on included Erging and M onmouth and Gwent
(v. * Intro. 5). So there would be a chance that Geoffrey drew U ther from
the private tradition-well he had in that area. But M ap’s story is an inter­
national tale with (?) local names; and Cadolanus.. .filius U ther.. .in
Gesligair has to be compared with an actual landowner o f the time, Cad-
w allon ap Ifor Bach, lord o f Senghenydd, which included G elli G aer.
(J. E. Lloyd in H artland and James, i09n.). M ap had a reputation for
being the author o f the stories o f A rthur (though he does not mention him
in De nugis). So this occurrence o f Uther, in the solitary fourteenth-century
M ap M S, m ay have to be excluded from the evidence.

Venedoti: W A L E S

VENUS
VM 436 summa Vinus
557 cum Vênere Phebum
In both cases Venus is spoken o f in connection with M erlin’s divinatory
activities. Cf. VM 802, where Venus, not in such a context, is called
‘ D ione’s star'.

V I R G I N ’S U R N
VM 370 [uirginis uma]
See T ext. Comm.

V O R T IG E R N
681 Hec Vortigemo cecini
986 Vortigemus enim consul Gewissus
1051 Vortigemum per Cambrica regnaJugantem
V ortigem is not directly involved in the VM narrative and appears only
as part o f the allusions to H RB history. In this he is the ‘ proud tyran t’
who allowed the Saxons to get a hold on Britain. H e belongs to the M erlin
Ambrosius story, itself a legend with old roots. (See * Intro, a (twelfth
century/Exotic) on this.) M erlin Calidonius shows no intim ate interest in
the patron o f his alter ego; but the relation o f V ortigem and captured
prophetic M erlin Ambrosius is in part a wild-m an situation paralleling
those o f R odarch-M erlin Calidonius, Rederech-Laloecen (in Jocelin’s
222 L I F E OF M E R L IN

Kentigem), M eldred-Lailoken and, to a lesser degree, Rhydderch H ael—

M yrddin. V ortigem ’s other significances here are that he seems to h ave
generated traditions local to the Monmouth area, among other places,
and that the source o f one section o f VM is probably an extension o f the
British-W elsh V ortigem tradition, and also that his tradition m ay h ave
been indirectly connected with the K entigem -A saph traditions in w hich
the twelfth century church was interested.
T he main account o f V ortigem in Nennius {HB 31-49) is distorted b y
religious prejudice springing from anti-Pelagianism because Vortigem w as
rightly or wrongly suspected o f being a Pelagian supporter (cf. HRB 6. 13
and Bede, H E 1. 17-2 1). It was perhaps reinforced by political attitudes
at Bangor in Nennius’s day, c. 800 (Chadwick, SEBH , 90f.). But Nennius
does at least record accounts o f the last o f V ortigem alternative to death
in a miraculous conflagration for defying Germanus. These allow the
possibility that, historically, V ortigem (Gwrtheym Gwrtheneu: T Y P
392 ff.) escaped from Britain and left another reputation in Brittany as
G urthiem , later a saint. Arguments for the identification o f V ortigem and
G urthiem were given by Chadwick, SEBH , 34-46. A part from the
Nennius passage, they depend on Vita S. Gurthiemi, an attached note on
relics found on the island o f ‘ Groe* in the eleventh century, and Vita
S. Ninnoce: these are all in the cartulary o f Quim perlé, written by Gurheden
c. 1 127-30 (M aître and Berthou, 1904). T he connection o f the description
o f the finding o f G urthiem with the discovery-of-M erlin scene in VM is
noted in * Intro. 1.
The Vita Gurthiem. has also a description o f Gurthiem , when living in
the w ild, regularly bathing in the river and praying in distress on a large
rock on the bank. T he Glasgow scene o f Lailoken A shows Lailoken fre­
quenting a large rock overlooking the river M olendinar and interrupting
services with noisy prophecies and cries.
A further relevance o f the attack in Nennius is that the story o f the
charge against V ortigem o f Satan-inspired incest with his daughter to
produce (St) Faustus transmits the incubus and wonder-boy motifs which
appear in the H RB 6 story o f M erlin Ambrosius in com bination with a
wild-m an situation.
Consul Gewissus in VM 986 (cf. HRB 6. 6) relates V ortigem to the Gwent
area, which included Gloucester and Monmouth (with Erging-Archen-
field) : cf. the later Saxon Hwicce in almost the same parts. V ortigem ’s
Nennian genealogy {HB 49) went back to a supposed founder o f Gloucester,
Glovi, as G urthiem ’s went back to Glou. Genoreu, the name o f V ortigem ’s
final castle, is written very variously, sometimes in versions which m ay be
related to ’ Gwrtheneu’ , such as Goronw. Geoffrey took it to be Ganarew,
Erging, on Mans Cloartius, which is apparently a scribal variant on
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 223

‘ Doartius for Little Doward H ill. (‘ Doartius ’ does not occur in published
H RB M SS} but Parry’s (1937) Brut has Mynyd Denarth or Deu Arth. T he last
is probably responsible for the sleeping-Arthur tradition which became
attached to a cave, o f prehistoric occupation, between G reat and Litde
D oward.) The spring Galabes, by which M erlin Ambrosius was found in
retirem ent (HRB 8 .10 ), like Gurthiem and like M erlin Calidonius in VM ,
was in Gwent.
Another and shadowy connection that V ortigern has with VM comes
from traditions which put his final career and castles in North W ales
(H B 4.0ft.). His alleged great-grand-daughter Tegiw g (daughter o f M adrun
daughter o f Vortim er) had the W inefride legend attributed to her. (See
N N W IN E F R ID E on the connection o f W inefride with the A saph-
K entigem -Taliesin com plex o f legends and traditions.) The M adrun-
T egiw g story is in Baring Gould LB S 3. 398 (cf. T Y P 458-60 on M adrun),
though the sources are vague. W inefride retired to Gwytherin on the upper
R . Elw y, but neither that place nor neighbouring Llangem yw has been
shown to have had a tradition o f a connection w ith G w rtheym Gwrtheneu
or with the casde at Genoreu.

V O R T IM E R
VM 1017 Vortïmêrus
1031 fit Vortimerus rector venerandus
Eldest son o f Vortigern and said to have taken over the kingdom when his
father was driven out, he defeated the Saxons but died post modicum
intervallum (Nennius); V ortigem returned. T he gist o f the story is in
H B 43-4. In HRB 6. 13L , Vortim er's death was by poison from Hengist's
daughter, V ortigem ’s second wife: here in VM she is Hengist’s sister.
D ying, he ordered burial on top o f a pyram id at the Saxons’ usual landing-
place, to deter them, but was buried in London.
Vortim er (Gwerthefyr Vendigeit) appears in T riad 37R, where V ortigem
*disclosed his bones ’ for love o f Ronnwen : N N R E N U A . This is a variant o f
T riad 37, which says that his bones were buried in the chief ports o f the island.
T Y P 386-8 quotes I. W illiam s’s derivation o f the name from O . W elsh
Guort(h)emir, from * Vortamorix ( = ‘ above’ (su p erl.)+ ‘ kin g’). Vortim er
was father o f M adrun, a character o f doubtfid authenticity but relevant to
the traditions o f N. W ales and St Asaph's: N N W IN E FR ID E . He had an
area named after him in LL 201 : Gurthebiriuc, ‘ the land o f V ortim er’ ; and
there was a church near M onmouth. So, like V ortigem , he m ay have
started some local traditions available to Geoffrey. There is little other
extant Welsh reference to Vortim er (T Y P ), which m ay tend to con­
firm that he was never a m ajor national figure. But later poets took to the
idea o f a monumental burial in a port, and located it at Dover.
224 L I F E OF M E R L IN

W ALES, W ELSH
V M 601, 603 Kambria
1051 Cambrica regna
599 (as emended), 617, 968, 969, 1507 Cambri (K -)
‘ South W elsh' = the Demetae ( VM 21), o f whom M erlin was king and
bard-prophet (vates) and law -giver: cf. VM 1262. This 'kingdom ' w ould
include Carm arthen, with which M erlin was associated in popular ety­
m ology by Geoffrey’s day (HRB 6. 17). In HRB M erlin was die son o f the
incubus demon and the daughter o f the king o f the Dem etae.
‘ N orth W elsh’ = the Venedoti, ruled by Peredur (V M 26). This m ay be
taken as an equivalent o f Gwynedd as the most im portant kingdom o f the
area. T he historical-traditional Peredur belonged to the north o f Britain:
see N N .

W AYLAN D
VM 235 Guielandus
W ayland is the smith o f north European m ythology who is known in
Britain as an archetypal craftsm an; the legends to which he belonged are
not w idely fam iliar there. The three sources o f the W ayland legends were
summarized by Souers (1943). (1) Deor*s Lament: the earliest, but only
allusive (trans, in M itchell, 1965). (2) Vçlundarkvida, c. 900. Volund the
captive craftsman who escaped and soared aw ay, after taking revenge.
(3) Pidreksaga, c. 1250. V elent, a metal-worker trained by dwarfs, escaped
in a hollow log with a glass window. T he story o f imprisonment, revenge
and soaring aw ay followed.
His skill was related especially to swords, and he m ay m ark an advance
in iron technology: see T . Davidson, 1958, for a theory. T h e W ayland
story was circulating in France in the twelfth century (Tatlock, 1943) ; and
the gift o f arms from H enry I to his son-in-law, Geoffrey o f Anjou, included
an ancient sword by 'G alan n us'. Geoffrey’s son H enry (II) was invading
England, m arrying Eleanor o f Aquitaine and becom ing Stephen's heir in
H 47-53, so the VM reference c. 1150 m ight have had a topical flavour,
whether meant or not. K in g Alfred had referred to W ayland as a
m etal-worker in a comment on the levelling o f death inserted in his
Boethius: ‘ W here now are the bones o f that famous and wise goldsmith
W eland?’
W ayland’s other tradition in Anglo-Saxon poetry was as indicating
'w ork o f giants' (H. R . E. Davidson, 1958). This went with the notion o f
an underground workshop— such as occurs in the local M yrddin legend at
Carm arthen: dwarfs play a part in both traditions, too. Sim ilarly, an
invisible smith haunted 'W ayland’s Sm ithy’ . (This is a m egalithic
 NAM E N O T E S IN D E X 225

cham bered long barrow in Berkshire: for its archaeology, see Atkinson,
1965)
T h e location o f W ayland at ruined Segontium (NN) fits in with this
second tradition as w ell as with the tradition o f the fine m etal craftsman.
Together, they convey a sense o f antique splendour and awe. But the fact
that the gifts Rodarch presses on M erlin in VM are goblets m ay be a relic
o f the narrative o f W ayland’s imprisonment. Before escaping, he made
goblets from the skulls o f the young sons o f his captor.

W IN C H E S T E R
VM 1485 Kaerwen
See T ext. Comm, on the reading and on the eventsof 1 141 at W inchester. In
H RB,w here there are m any references, the city is K aergueint at its founding
(by R ud Hudibras) in H RB 2. 9. Later it was also Guintonia (W in-).

[W IN E F R ID E ]
T h e relevance o f this supposed seventh-century saint to VM lies in (1) the
apparent links between her legend and K entigem ’s and St Asaph; and in
(2) the prominence in the legend o f a healing spring, as in the final
saintly sequence o f VM ; and in (3) the appearance o f her legend just
before VM . T he legend is in the Life o f Winefride by Robert o f Shrewsbury,
where the remains were forcibly taken from H olywell, Denbighshire, in
1138, thus providing the presumed occasion for the Life. It is in two
twelfth-century M SS: see W ade-Evans, 1944, 288-309. H all (1965) gave
a full account o f the legend and w ell. Its cures (Analeci. Bollard., v i, 1887,
305-52) were not specially related to madness, however, unlike the VM
spring. It was visited for all complaints, and even for a pilgrim age o f
prayer for the success o f the Gunpowder Plot. M ost o f the record is from
the seventeenth century. T he chapel is known from 1093; the original
spring no longer flows.
In the story, W inefride was niece to St Beuno and lived in Tegeingel
(approxim ately Flintshire). She escaped seduction but was beheaded by
her pursuer. T he head struck the earth and a spring burst out: but Beuno
joined her head on, and she lived to run a nunnery at Gwytherin on the
upper Elw y (St Asaph lies on the lower reaches), dying in 660. T he spring
and the replacement o f the severed head relate her to the K entigem legend
(N N ). A further local link is that M adrun, V ortigem 's grand-daughter,
was also connected with the area, and her daughter acquired the W inefride
legend. T he reality o f both M adrun and W inefride is doubtful, and
W inefride was first denounced by a bishop o f St Asaph (Fleetwood, 1713).
It is the legend and its possible appearance o f authenticity in the twelfth
century which are more important.
15 C L If
226 L I F E OF M E R L IN

(Fons) Ydum æ us: I D U M A E A

ZEM A
VM 1 190 fontem qui vulgo Zëma vocatur
Springs list, Isid., 13. 13 (Zamae fons)', see T ext. Comm. There w ere
anciently two places o f note in Num idia called Zäm a. (1) T h e tow n
(mod., Zam ra) where Scipio defeated H annibal (Livy, 30,29) ; and (2) the
other, Z ama regfo (mod., Jam a), known for the residence there o f J u b a,
the Num idian king who supported Pompey.
 A P P E N D IX I

Lailoken A
KENTIGERN AND LAILOKEN
(Titus A xix, ff. 74-75* = Pt. I, V ita M erlini silvestris)

D uring the period that St K entigem used to go into the wilderness it

happened that one day, while he was praying in a lonely wood, a naked
m adman, hairy and com pletely destitute, came rushing w ildly by him. H e
was known as Lailoken, and some say he was M erlyn, who was an extra­
ordinary prophet o f the British; but this is not certain.
It is said that when St K entigem saw him he accosted him in this
fashion: (I adjure you by the father, the son and the holy spirit, whatever
kind o f being you are, to speak to me if you are in any degree o f God and
believe in G od, and tell me who you are and w hy you wander alone in this
lonely place and keep com pany with the beasts o f the wood.’
T he madman at once checked his course and answered, ‘ I am a
Christian, though unworthy o f so great a nam e.2 I suffer much in this
lonely place, and for m y sins it has been ordained that m y destiny is to be
am ong wild things, since I am unworthy to meet the punishment for m y
sins among men. For I was the cause o f the slaughter o f all the dead who
fell in the battle - so w ell known to all citizens o f this land - which took
place in the plain lying between Lidel and Carwannok.3 In that fight the
sky began to split above me, and I heard a tremendous din, a voice from
the sky saying to me, “ Lailochen, Lailochen, because you alone are
responsible for the blood o f all these dead men, you alone w ill bear the
punishment for the misdeeds o f all. For you w ill be given over to the angels
o f Satan, and until the day o f your death you w ill have communion with
the creatures o f the wood.*' But when I directed m y gaze towards the
voice I heard, I saw a brightness too great for human senses to endure.
I saw, too, numberless m artial battalions in the heaven like flashing
lightning, holding in their hands fiery lances and glittering spears which
they shook most fiercely at me. So I was torn out o f m y own self and an
evil spirit seized me and assigned me to the w ild things o f the woods, as
you see.’
1 Ward wrongly gives 74~75b.
* tanti nominis reus; but criminis has been suggested.
1 In Bower’s Scotichronicon abridgement, Carwanolow.
[827] 15-2
228 L I F E O F M E R L IN

W ith these words he darted o ff into an isolated area o f the forest known
but to the wild beasts and birds. St K entigem was much moved by his
distress and prostrated him self on the ground, saying, ‘ Lord Jesus, this is
the unhappiest o f unhappy men, with the life he leads in this foul w ilder­
ness, like a beast among beasts, a naked fugitive feeding only on plants.
Beasts o f the w ild have bristles and hair as their natural covering and fields
o f grass and roots and leaves as their proper food. O ur brother here is as
one with us in naked form and flesh and blood and frailty, but lacks a ll
that human nature needs, save only the common air. How then does he
live am ong the beasts o f the wood in the face o f hunger, cold and constant
fasting?*
So the pious protector K entigem wept w ith tears o f compassion pouring
down his cheeks, as he gave him self to his accustomed solitary discipline
more strictly, for the love o f God. He also supplicated the Lord w ith
urgent prayers on behalf o f that man o f the woods, that filthy, unhappy
and possessed man, so that the disasters and tribulations which he was here
suffering in the flesh should count in m itigation for his soul in the future.
But it is said that after this madman had come in a number o f times
from the wilderness, he took to sitting on a certain steep rock which stands
up above the stream o f the M olendinar practically within sight o f Glasgow,
on the north side o f the church o f that same place; and he m any times
disturbed St K entigem and his clerics at their task o f divine contem pla­
tion. For he predicted much o f the future there, as if he were a prophet.
But because he used never to repeat w hat he had foretold (though it was
extrem ely obscure and virtually unintelligible), nobody cared to believe
him. But they remembered some apparently idle remarks and committed
them to writing. But on the day on which the madman was due to leave
the miseries o f this world, he came as usual to the rock mentioned, w hile
St K entigem was celebrating an early mass. H e was w ailing and shouting
and in a loud voice asserting his demand to be entitled to be fortified by
him with the body o f Christ before he took his passage from this world.
W hen St K entigem could no longer tolerate his disrespectful shouting,
he sent a cleric to tell him to be silent. T he poor but blessed1 man answered
him with m ild piety, saying, ‘ Pray, sir, go to St K entigem and beg him by
the grace o f his charity to deign to fortify me with the Lord’s viaticum ,
since through him I shall, vile as I am , today pass to blessedness.’
But when the bishop heard this from the mouth o f his cleric, he smiled
gravely on those around who were urgently beseeching him on behalf o f
the possessed and shouting man, and said, ‘ Has not this poor m an often

1 felix probably in the main refers to the good fortune of imminent passing. Cf. the
beatific endings ascribed to early desert ascetics, andfeliciter transibo at the end o f Lailoken’s
request.
 A PPE N D IX I 229

m isled all o f you, and some o f the others, with his words, and passed m any
years o f his life as one possessed am ong the w ild creatures o f the woods,
and not known Christian communion? Consequently I do not feel it really
desirable to grant him the office. But g o ’ (he said to one o f his clerics) ‘ and
ask him w hat death he w ill die and if he w ill die today.’
So the cleric went and spoke to the madman as he had been bidden by
the bishop. T he madman answered him, ‘ Because today I shall be stoned
and die by clubs.*
T h e cleric then went back to the bishop and told him w hat he had
heard from the madman. T he bishop told the cleric to go back, saying
that it was ‘ because I do not believe this story that he w ill die thus. But
let him say more truly when and by w hat form o f death he w ill die.’ T he
bishop said this to see whether the poor man m ight be found to be truthful
and consistent in w hat he said, at least on the last day o f his life. For he
never said the same things twice but m ade indirect and conflicting
predictions.
So, when asked again by the cleric, the madman said, ‘ T oday m y body
w ill be pierced b y a sharp stake, and thus w ill m y spirit fail.* T h e cleric
went back once more to the bishop and said w hat he had heard from the
madman.
T h e bishop called his clerics together and said, ‘ You yourselves have
ju st heard w hy it is I hesitate to grant his request— it is because he
preserves no logic in any o f his sayings.’ His clerics then said, ‘ Revered
father, lord, do not be angry with us if we beg once more on his behalf
for your indulgence. Let him be tried yet a third time in case he is capable
o f proving him self rational over some one o f his sayings.’
So the bishop, sending a cleric for the third time, asked the poor
blessed man w hat form o f end his life would have. The madman answered
thus: ‘ T oday I shall be sunk in water and so end m y life on earth.’ T he
cleric was highly indignant at this answer and said, 'Brother, you are a
lying fraud, and you are acting stupidly and foolishly in asking a holy and
honest man to fortify you with that food o f the spirit which m ay be given
only to the just and faithful.’
T h e poor man, mad but already blessed, recovered his senses through
the Lord and at once began weeping afresh, saying, 'O h wretched that
I am , Lord Jesus, how long shall I suffer this awful fate? How long shall
I be racked with all these tortures? And why am I rejected only by your
believers when I have been directed here by you? See, they do not believe
m y words, though I have told them nothing but what you have inspired
in m e.’ Turning to the cleric, he said, ‘ I most eam esdy beg the bishop
him self to come to me, for I am this day above all others consigned by the
Lord to his protection, and let him bring with him the sacred viaticum
230 L I F E O F M E R L IN

which I ask» and he w ill hear the m atter which G od has deigned to convey
to him through m e.'
T he bishop came, yielding to the weight o f entreaties from his clerics;
and he brought with him the bread and the sacramental wine. As he
approached, the poor blessed man clim bed down from the rock and fell
on his face at the bishop's feet, breaking forth into a speech in this vein:
'H a il, reverend father, knight elect o f the highest king! I am that poor
harmless man who once met you in the wilderness when m y fate was to be
a lonely straying wanderer, still given over to the angels o f Satan. But
when I was adjured b y you through the living and true God in the name
o f the trinity, I described the reason for m y misfortunes. Y ou were, if you
recall, touched with pity for m y trials and tribulations, and poured out
tearful prayers to the Lord that for me he would turn into eternal jo y all
the unhappy distress which I was then suffering in the flesh, truly recalling
the words o f the apostle who said that the sufferings o f this time here are
not the equal o f the future glory which w ill be revealed among the elect o f
God. Because the Lord listened to your prayers and had m ercy on me, he
has today sent me (now restored to m y own self and to G od the father
alm ighty, as befits a Christian believing in the catholic faith) to you in
particular before the other elect, strengthened by these signs so that you
w ill believe what I say, for the purpose that you w ill send me to him today
after I have received o f his sacred body and blood.'
W hen St K entigem the protector heard that this was he who once
appeared to him in the wilderness— and much more that is not written in
this short book— he was fairly convinced, and overcome with pity; tears
coursed down his cheeks. T he poor man was weeping and urgently
begging for the grace o f G od, and K entigem replied in a kindly w ay,
saying, 'Behold, here is the body and the blood o f our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the true and eternal salvation o f the living who believe in him and
the everlasting glory o f those who keep themselves worthy o f him. So who­
ever is worthy to receive this sacrament w ill live for ever and w ill not die,
but whoever receives it unworthily w ill die w holly and w ill not live. If,
then, you feel yourself worthy o f such a gift, here is that o f Christ set upon
the table. But approach in the fear o f G od, to accept him in all hum ble­
ness. M ay Christ him self yet receive you, for I am afraid either to give to
you or to withhold.’
T he poor blessed man im m ediately washed in water, faithfully con­
fessed the one G od in the trinity, hum bly approached the altar and w ith
a clear faith and true devotion received the protection o f the boundless
sacrament. As he saw it, he lifted his hands to heaven and said, ‘ I give you
thanks, Lord Jesus. For now I have attained the most holy sacrament w hich
I desired.' Then, turning, he said to St K entigem , 'L o rd , if m y earthly
 A P P E N D IX I 231
life ends today (for which you have accepted m y word), then the most out­
standing king o f Britain, and the most holy o f bishops, and the most noble
o f lords shall follow me within this year.*
T h e bishop replied, ‘ Brother, do you remain still in your foolishness?
H ave you not thrown o ff irreverence? G o, then in peace, and the Lord be
w ith you.’
As soon as he had received the pontifical blessing, Lailoken rushed aw ay
like a wild goat breaking out o f the hunter’s noose and happily seeking the
undergrowth o f the wilderness.
But since things ordained by the Lord cannot be passed over as though
they need not happen, it came to pass that on the same day he was stoned
and beaten to death b y some shepherds o f K in g M eldred, and in the
moment o f death had a fall, over a steep bank o f the Tweed near the fort
o f Dunm eller, on to a very sharp stake which was stuck in a fish pool.
H e was pierced through the m iddle o f his body w ith his head bent
over into the shallows, and so yielded his spirit to the Lord as he had
prophesied.
W hen St K entigem and his clerics realised that all this had apparently
fallen out as that possessed man had predicted for himself, they believed
and were afraid that w hat he had foretold about the rest would certainly
happen. T h ey all began to trem ble and the tears ran profusely down their
cheeks. T hey all began to praise the name o f the Lord in all things, he who
is m arvellous and blessed to his saints for ever and ever. Amen.

Lailoken B
MELDRED AND LAILOKEN
(Titus A xix, fT. 75-75b = Pt. 2, V ita M erlini silvestris)

It is said that Lailoken was once captured by K in g M eldred1 and held,

bound with thongs, in his fort Dunm eller so that the king m ight get to
hear something new from him. H e in fact remained fasting for three days
and, though approached by m any, gave no one at all an answer.
Then on the third day the king was in his court, sitting on the high seat,
when his wife cam e in to him, gracefully wearing on her head a tree-leaf
which had been caught up in her shawl. W hen the king saw it, he pulled it
o ff and in pulling broke it into tiny pieces. A t the sight o f this, mad
Lailoken began to laugh loudly. K in g M eldred, seeing that he was more
cheerful than usual, went over to him with a flattering rem ark and saying
1 Regulus: sub-king, chief.
232 L I F E O F M E R L IN

charm ingly, 'L ailo k , m y friend, tell me, I beg, w hat that laughter
meant— that d ear burst o f laughter which you have left tingling in our
ears— and I w ill set you at liberty to go where you wish.*
Lailoken im m ediately replied to this with, 'Y o u caught me and ordered
me to be bound with thongs, because you were eager to hear some new
oracle. So then, I ’ll put you a new problem about a new m atter. Sweetness
was distilled from poison, and bitterness from honey. But neither is so,
though both rem ain true. There, I have put the question. T ell me the
answer if you can, and let me go free.’
T h e king replied, 'T h is problem is really difficult and I don't know how
to untie the knot. So tell me something more understandable, and the
original arrangement w ill stand.'
But Lailoken offered another problem like the first. 'W rong m ade good
out o f ill, and honour reversed it again. But neither is so, though both
rem ain true.'
T h e king said, ‘ D o not go on talking in riddles. T ell us plainly w hy you
laughed, and the answers to the question you put, and you w ill be free
from your bonds.'
Lailoken answered, ' I f I speak plainly, it w ill distress you, but it w ill be
the beginning o f fatal trouble for m e.' The king replied, ‘ However it is to
turn out,’ he said, ‘ we want to hear this, nevertheless.’
So, addressing the king, Lailoken said, 'N ow , as you are a skilled ju d ge,
tell me your opinion on one m atter, and then I w ill obey your com m and.’
T h e king answered, 'S tate the case quickly and you'll hear the opinion.'
Lailoken said, 'O n e who grants an enemy the highest honour and one
who causes a friend the greatest distress— w hat does each o f them deserve?’
T h e king answered, 'R etributive justice.’ ‘ Y ou have judged rightly,' said
Lailoken. 'A ccordingly, your wife has earned a crown and you the worst
possible death.'
'B u t,' said the king, 'this isn't "N o t so, though both stay tru e", and all
your evasion ends in obscurity. So I beg you to expound these questions,
and I w ill give you anything you ask within reason.'
Lailoken answered, 'I ask one thing which can certainly be granted
(apart from m y freedom), and that is that you convey m y body for burial
to the east side o f this fort, in a place more fitting for the grave o f a faithful
friend who has died, not far from the spot where Pausayl burn falls into
the river Tweed. For it w ill happen that in a few days I shall die a triple
death. But when the confluence o f the two rivers comes up to m y tom b,
the marshal o f the British race w ill defeat the foreign race.’ B y this rem ark
he referred to the nun o f the British and to the fact o f the future integration
o f their divided condition. H e held forth on this and on other matters,
explaining more precisely what they wished to hear. T h e king and his
 A P P E N D IX I 233

w ife and their court agreed to the request about his burial, and swore an
oath to send him away, free and unharmed, where he wanted to go.
Lailoken stood with his bonds removed, ready to run off, and began in
this fashion: ‘ W hat is bitterer than a woman’s spite, which from the
beginning has been infected with the poison o f the serpent? Y e t w hat is
sweeter than the decisions o f law whereby the meek and humble are
protected from the spite o f the ungodly? Now, this your wife today be­
stowed the highest honour on her enemy, while you tore a faithful friend
to pieces. But neither case was so, because in doing what you did you
yourself thought you were doing good, while she was entirely ignorant o f
the honour she was bestowing on an enemy.
‘ T he second riddle is like this one. E vil made good at that moment when
a worthless woman honoured her betrayer. Honour did ill when a just
m an killed his faithful friend. But neither case was so, because both people
were unaware o f what had been done.
‘ For a litde earlier, while the queen was com m itting adultery in the
king’s garden, the lea f o f a tree fell on her head, to betray her and make
her adultery known to the king. And this leaf, caught up in her shawl,
was w hat the queen honoured by carrying it into the hall in front o f
everybody. As soon as the king saw this lea f he at once plucked it off, and
in plucking it o ff he broke it into little pieces. This is how the woman
bestowed honour on an enemy who was going to give aw ay her treachery,
and how the king did an injury to the friend who made it less likely that
the crime would escape him .’
W ith these words Lailoken went o ff to the trackless wastes o f the
wilderness, and no-one followed him. A ll alike began to doubt and to
wonder. The adulteress, in tears, was scheming to deceive and began to
soothe the king with honeyed words. ‘ M y lord, noble king, do not believe
w hat this madman has said, since, it should be realised, the only aim o f his
conjectures was to get him self released and sent away. So, m y lord, here
I stand ready with suitable witnesses to clear m yself o f the charge brought
against me. Y ou yourself heard, as we did, how that wicked fraud said he
was to die three times, which is plainly impossible. Death cannot be
repeated in one already dead— and so both things are obviously similar
sorts o f lie. W hat is more, if he were a true prophet or seer, he would
never let him self be captured or bound by those from whom he would
later wish to escape. Consequently, if you do not go after him , you w ill
appear to be conniving at the insult to me and at the harm done to your
kingdom. As an honourable king loves justice, so you ought not to let such
a great offence go unpunished, or it m ay happen that the honour o f the
kingdom w ill be affected because he has been spared.’
T he king’s reply to this was, 'Stupidest o f women, if I do take the
234 L I F E O F M E R L IN

trouble to fall in with your suggestion, you w ill be found to be the foulest
o f adulteresses. But he is a true prophet. For he said “ I f I explain plainly
what you ask, the outcome for you w ill be a sad one, but it w ill be the
beginning o f fatal trouble for m e.” O ur trouble is already clear enough,
while the sad outcome for him lies hidden till it shall come to pass.'
A t these words his wife burst into greater floods o f tears; and because
she had not got what she wanted, she began secretly to plot the death o f
Lailoken. Then, several years after, on that day on which he had been
fortified with the holy viaticum , Lailoken happened to be crossing the
plain near the castle o f Dunm eller at sunset. H e was discovered by several
shepherds who had been set on him by that evil woman.
As he had predicted and as it is recorded above, so we have heard was
his end accomplished. It is said that the king handed over his lifeless corpse
for burial in just that place which he had chosen while he lived. N ow that
fort is some thirty miles from the city o f Glasgow. In its plain Lailoken
lies buried.

Pierced by a stake, suffering by a stone and by water,

M erlin is said to have met a triple death.
 APPENDIX II
AFALLENNAU
Three narrative stanzas translated by A . O . H . Jarm an

Sweet-apple tree which grows in a glade,

Its peculiar power hides it from the men o f Rhydderch;
A crowd by its trunk, a host around it,
It would be a treasure for them, brave men in their ranks.
N ow Gwenddydd loves me not and does not greet me
— I am hated by Gwasawg, the supporter o f Rhydderch—
I have killed her son and her daughter.
D eath has taken everyone, w hy does it not call me?
For after Gwenddolau no lord honours me,
M irth delights me not, no woman visits m e;
A nd in the battle o f Arfderydd m y torque was o f gold
Though today I am not treasured by one o f the colour o f swans.

Sweet-apple tree with gentle flowers

W hich grows hidden in the woodlands;
I have heard tidings since early in the day
T h at Gwasawg the supporter o f .. .has been angered,
T w ice, thrice, four times in one day.
0 Jesus! would that m y death had come
Before I became guilty o f the death o f the son o f Gwenddydd.
Sweet-apple tree which grows on a river bank,
T h e steward, approaching it, w ill not succeed in obtaining its fine fruit;
W hile I was in m y right mind I used to have at its foot
A fair wanton maiden, one slender and queenly.
For ten and forty years, in the wretchedness o f outlawry,
1 have been wandering with madness and madmen.
N ow I sleep not, I tremble for m y lord,
M y sovereign Gwenddolau, and m y fellow-countrymen.
A fter enduring sickness and grief in the Forest o f Gelyddon
M ay I be received into bliss by the Lord o f Hosts.

[235]
 ABBREVIATIONS

* Intro. Numbered section o f the Introduction

ALM A Arthurian literature in the middle ages (Loomis, ed., 1959)
Arm. Bret. Annales de Bretagne
BBC Black Book o f Carmarthen (Evans, 1906)
B B CS Bulletin o f the Board o f C eltic Studies
BS Buile Shuibhne (O ’K eeffe, 1913)
BT Book o f Taliesin
CRSRB Conf. Christianity in Rom an and Sub-Rom an Britain: C on­
ference, Nottingham , 1967 (Barley and Hanson, ed.,
1968)
CW % Transactions, Cum berland and W estmorland Antiquarian and
Archaeological Society; 2nd series
ECN P Early Celtic Nature Poetry (Jackson, 1935)
É t. Celt. Études Celtiques
FA B W Four Ancient Books o f Wales (Skene, 1868)
HB Historia Brittonum (Nennius)
H RB Historia Regum Britanniae
Jocelin Life o f Kentigem (Forbes, 1874)
LB S The Lives o f the British Saints (Gould and Fisher, 1907-13)
LH EB Language and history in early Britain (Jackson, 1953)
LL Liber Landavensis (Evans, 1906)
M igne PLfPG M igne, Patrologia Latina/Graeca.
NN Name Note(s)
PSAS Proceedings, Society o f Antiquaries o f Scodand
RCAH M R oyal Commission o f Ancient and Historical Monuments
Rev. Celt. Revue Celtique
SEBC Studies in the early British Church (Chadwick, ed., 1958)
SEBH Studies in early British history (Chadwick, ed., 1954)
TDG* Transactions, Dumfriesshire and G allow ay N atural History and
Antiquarian Society; 3rd series
TYP Trioedd Ynys Ptydein (Bromwich, 1961)
VM Vita M erlini
VSB Vitae sanctorum Britanniae (W ade-Evans, 1944)
Y Cymmr. Y Cymmrodor

[236]
 REFERENCES

E D I T IO N S , G E O F F R E Y O F M O N M O U T H
Vita M erlini
Black, W . H . 1830. De vita et vaticiniis M erlini Calidonii carmen heroicum.
London.
Faral, É. 1929. Vita M erlini ( = Pt. 2, 341-401 (commentary) and Pt. 3
(text) o f La Légende arthurienne). Paris.
Gfroerer, A . F. 1840. Gaufridi de Monumeta Vita M erlini ( = pp. 363-412
o f Prophetae veteres, etc.). Stuttgart.
M ichel, F. 1837. Gaufridi de Monemuta Vita M erlini. Paris.
Parry, J. J . 1925. Vita M erlini ( = 1 0 (3), University o f Illinois Studies in
Language and Literature). Urbana.
San M arte (A. Schulz). 1853. D ie Sagen von Merlin. H alle.

Historia Regum Britanniae

Commelinus, Hieronymus. 1587. Rerum Britannicarum.. .scriptores vetu­
stiores. . .Historia Regum Britanniae. Heidelberg.
Giles, J. A . 1844. Galfredi Monumetensis Historia Britonum. London.
Griscom, A . 1929. The Historia Regum Britanniae o f Geoffrey o f Monmouth.
New York-London.

G ENERAL REFERENCES
Adam nân. AdomnatCs Life o f Columba. A . O . and M . O . Anderson, eds.,
London, 1961.
A elian. Varia Historia (TTondAii Moropfcr). R . Herche, ed. Leipzig, 1866.
A lcock, Joan P. 1965. C eltic water cults in Rom an Britain. Archaeol. J .
122, 1-12 .
Anderson, A . O . : see Adam nân.
Anderson, M . L . 1967. A history o f Scottish forestry. I. From the Ice Age to the
French Revolution. C . J. Taylor, ed. London.
Apollonius Rhodius. The Argonautica. R . C . Seaton, trans. London, 1922.
Apophthegm ata Patrum Aegyptiorum (Verba Seniorum). M igne, P L , 73,
cols. 851-1024. (1004-14 = Rosweyd V I, libell. 3, De conversatione
optima diversorum sanctorum.)
Arm strong, A . M ., M awer, A ., Stenton, F. M ., Dickins, B. 1950-2. The
place names o f Cumberland. 3 vols. Cam bridge.
[237]
238 L I F E O F M E R L IN

Ashe, G ., ed. 1968. The questfor Arthur's Britain. London.

Atkinson, R ., ed. 1896. The Yellow Book o f Lecan. Dublin.
Atkinson, R . J . G. 1965. W ayland's Smithy. Antiq. 39, 126-33.
Bagnal-Oakeley, W . 1886. Monmouth. Archaeol. Cambr. s. 5, 3, 12-27.
Barley, M . W . and Hanson, R . P. C ., eds. Christianity in Britain, 300-700
(CRSRB Corf.). Leicester.
Barnes, H . 1908. O n the batde o f Ardderyd. CW *, 8, 236-46.
Bede. Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum. G. Plummer, ed. O xford, 1896.
De natura rerum. M igne, P L , 90, cols. 187-278.
Benedeit: see W aters, 1928.
Bemheimer, R . 1952. W ild men in the Middle Ages. Cam bridge, Mass.
Best, R . I. and Bergin, O . J . 1929. Lebor na Huidre. Dublin.
Birley, E. 1954. T he Rom an fort at Netherby. CW 2, 53, 6-39.
Black, W . H . : see above, Editions, Geoffrey.
Blake, B. 1955. The Solway Firth. London.
Boase, T . S. R . 1966. K in g Death. ( = Gh. v i, 203-44, in Evans, ed., 1966.)
Boece, H . 1526; 1574. Scotorum historiae. Paris.
Bromwich, Rachel. 1961. Trioedd Ynys Prydein. Cardiff.
Brooke, C . 1958. The archbishops o f St D avid's, L landaff and Caerleon-
on-Usk. Ch. 4, 201-42, in Chadwick, SEBC.
Brown, A . C . L . 1901. Barintus. Rev. Celt. 22, 339-44.
Brown, T . 1963. H oly and notable wells o f Devon: Part v . Trans. Deo. Ass.
95» I 3I - 4-
Brugger, E. 1906. L'enserrement M erlin. Studien zur M erlinsage.
Z tschr.f. französ. Sprache u. Litt. 30, 169-239.
Bulman, C . G . 1966. Arthuret church and parish. CW 2, 66, 179-89.
(Rev. ed. with R . E. Firth; K endal, n.d.)
Burn, A . R . 1953. Agricola and Roman Britain. London.
Byrne, M ary E. 1932. O n the punishment o f sending adrift. Ériu, 11,
97-102.
Calder, G . 1917. Auraicept na nEces (The Scholars' Prim er). Edinburgh.
Cam pbell, J. F. 1860-2. Popular tales o f the West Highlands. Edinburgh.
Caradoc o f Llancarvan. The history o f Wales. Powell and W . W ynne, eds.
M erthyr T ydfil, 1812.
Chadwick, H . M . 1907. The origin o f the English nation. Cam bridge.
1949. Early Scotland. Cam bridge.
Chadwick, Nora K . 1942. G eilt. Scott. Gael. Stud. 5, 106-53.
ed. 1954. Studies in early British history (SEBH ). Cam bridge,
ed. 1958. Studies in the early British church (SEBC). Cam bridge.
1961. The age o f the saints in the early Celtic church. London.
1966. The Druids. Cardiff.
Chadwick, O . 1959. Western asceticism. London.
 REFERENCES 239
Chambers, E. K . 1927; 1964. Arthur o f Britain. London (repr. Cam bridge).
Chotzen, T h.-M .-T h. 1948. Em ain A blach-Ynys A vallach-Insula A val-
lonis-Ile d’Avalon. É t. Celt. 4, 222-74.
Chrétien de Troyes. Erec et Emde. M . Roquet, ed. Paris, 1952.
Cicero, M . T . De natura daman ad M . Brutum. Edinburgh, 1858.
Clarke, B. 1969. Calidon and the Caledonian Forest. BBCS, 23, 191-201.
Clarke, B. F. L . [1968]. Monmouth parish church (St Maty the Virgin).
Gloucester.
Clouston, W .-A . 1869. . . .Eastern.. .stories from the Russian, Tamil and
Urdu. (Glasgow.)
Collingwood, R . G . 1926. Liddel Strength. C W 2, 26, 390-7.
and M yres, J . N . L . 1937. Roman Britain and the English settlements.
(ist ed. 1936). 2nd ed., Oxford.
Collingwood, W . G . 1926. R ockcliff Cross and the Knowes o f Arthuret.
C W \ 26, 378-89.
Corm ac: see O ’Donovan, 1868.
Coxe, W . 1801. A historical tour in Monmouthshire. London.
Crawford, O . G . S. 1935. Arthur and his battles. Antiq. 9, 277-91.
1947. Christian N ubia: a review. Antiq. 21, 10-15.
Cronne, H . A . and Davis, R . H . C . 1968. Regesta regum Anglo-Norman-
norum. V ol. 3: Regesta regis Stephani, etc. Oxford.
Croon, J . H . 1953. T he cult o f Sul-M inerva at Bath. Antiq. 27, 79-83.
Crowe, J. O ’B. 1870. Ancient lake legends o f Ireland: 1. Aided echac m aic
mairedo. The destruction o f Eochaid son o f M airid. J . hist. arch. Ass.
Ireland, s. 4, 1, 94-112.
Curwen, J . F. 1910. Liddel M ote. C W 2, 10, 9 1-10 1.
Dasgupta, S. N . and D e, S. K . 1947. A history o f Sanskrit literature. Classical
period. V ol. 1. Calcutta.
Davidson, H . R . E. 1958. W eland the Smith. Folklore, 69, 145-59.
Davidson, T . 1958. Notes concerning the W ieland saga. Folklore, 69,193-5.
Davies, W . H . 1967. Post-Roman W ales. CRSRB Conf.
D avis, R . H . C . 1967. King Stephen 1135-1154. London.
D iceto, Radulphus. Abbreviations chronicorum. W . Stubbs, ed., 2 vols.
London, 1876.
D illon, M . 1948. Early Irish literature. Chicago.
Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica. F. V ogel, T . Fischer, eds. (1888-
1906). Stuttgart, 1964.
Diverres, P. 1934. Cam lan. BBCS, 7, 273-4.
D oble, G . H . 1940. Saint Wimvaloe. (c. 1925.) 2nd ed. Long Compton.
Douglas, G . 1894. A history o f the Border counties: Roxburgh, Selkirk, Peebles.
Edinburgh.
Ekwall, E. 1928. English river names. Oxford.
240 L IF E O F M E R L IN

Ekwall, E. i960. Concise dictionary o f English place-names. 4th ed. O xford.

Étienne de Rouen (Draco Normannicus) : see Om ont, 1884; H ow lett,
1884-5, 2>m *
Evans, D . Ellis. 1967. Gaulish personal names. Oxford.
Evans, Joan, ed. 1963. The flowering o f the Middle Ages. London.
Evans, J . G ., ed. 1893. The text o f the Book o f Han Ddo. Oxford.
ed. 1906. The Black Book o f Carmarthen. Pwllheli.
Eyre-Todd, G . 1922. The legend o f Languoreth. Glasgow.
Faral, É. : see above, Editions, Geoffrey.
Fleetwood, W . 1713. The Life and Miracles o f St Wenefrede.. . ; with some
Historical observations thereon. London.
Forbes, A . P. 1874. Lives o f S. Ninian and S. Kentigem. Edinburgh.
Fraser-Tytler, N . c. 1921. Tales o f old days on the Aldoarie estate (Extracts).
(Dores.)
Gaster, M . 1905. T he legend o f M erlin. Folklore, 16, 407-27.
Gfroerer, A . F. : see above, Editions, Geoffrey.
Gildas, De excidio Britanniae. H. W illiam s, ed. London, 1899 ( = Part 1).
Giles, J. A . : see above, Editions, Geoffrey.
G inzberg, L . 1913. The legends o f the Jews. V ol. 4. Philadelphia (1909-38).
Giraldus Cambrensis. Itinerarium Kambriae et Descriptio Kambriae. J . F .
Dim ock, ed. (Vol. 6, Rolls ed.). London, 1868.
Gleadow, P. 1968. The origin o f the zodiac. London.
G oodall, W ., ed. 1759. Johannis Fordern Scotichronicon (with Bower’s addi­
tion). 2 vols. Edinburgh.
Gould, S. B. and Fisher, J . 1907-13. The lives o f the British saints. 4 vols.
London.
Graham , Rose. 1929. Four alien priories in Monmouthshire. J . B rit.
Archaeol. Ass., n.s. 35, 101-21.
G rant, A . 1892. Scottish origin o f the M erlin m yth. Scott. Rev., O ct.
32I~37*
Griffiths, M argaret E. 1937. Early vaticination in Welsh, with English
parallels. T . Gwynn Jones, ed. Cardiff.
Griscom, A . : see above, Editions, Geoffrey.
Gunn, G. 1910. The ministry o f the presbytery o f Peebles, AD sgS-igro. Peebles.
1931. The book o f the Church o f Drumelzier, AD iggi-iggo. Peebles.
Haddan, A . W . and Stubbs, W ., eds. 1869. Councils and ecclasiastical docu­
ments relating to Great Britain and Ireland. V ol. 1. Oxford.
Ham el, A . G . van. 1932. Lebor Bretnach (Irish Nennius). Dublin.
Harris, I., pub. c. 1815. Prophwydoliaeth Myrddin. Abertawe.
Harris, S. M . 1956. Liturgical commemorations o f W elsh saints (II).
St Asaf. J . Hist. Soc. Ch. Wales, 6, 5-24.
Henderson, G ., ed. 1899. Fled Bricrend. The Feast o f Bricriu. London.
 REFERENCES 24I

H enry o f Huntingdon. Historia Anglorum ( a c 55-AD 1154). T . Arnold, ed.

London, 1879.
Herodotus. Historiae. C . Hude, ed. 2 vols. Oxford, 1926.
H igden, R . Polyckronicon. C . Babington, ed. 9 vols. London, 1865-86.
H ildebert o f Lavardin. Carmina quaedam indifferentia. M igne, P L , 171, cols.
1441-6.
Hodges, J. G. 1927. T he blood-covenant am ong the Celts. Rev. Celt. 44,
109-56.
Homans, G . C . 1942. English villagers in the thirteenth century. Cam bridge,
Mass.
1951. The human group. London.
Honorius o f Autun (Augustodunensis). De imagine mundi. M igne, P L y 172,
cols. 115-88.
H ooke, S. H . 1963. Middle Eastern mythology. London.
H orace. Opera. £. C . W ickham , ed. Oxford, 1900.
H ow lett, R ., ed. 1884-5. Chronicles o f the reigns o f Stephen,, Henry II, and
Richard I. 2 vols. London.
Innes, C . ( 'C .I .'). 1843. Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis. 2 vols. Edin­
burgh.
Isidore o f Seville. Etymologiae (Origines). W . M . Lindsay, ed. 2 vols.
Oxford, 1911.
Jackson, K . H . 1935. Studies in early Celtic naturepoetry (ECN P). Cam bridge.
1940. The m otive o f the three-fold death in the story o f Suibhne G eilt.
In R yan, 1940, 535-50.
1945. O nce again Arthur's battles. Mod. PHlol. 43, 44-57.
1953. Language and history in early Britain (LH EB). Edinburgh.
1955. T h e Britons in Southern Scotland. Antiq. 29, 77-88.
1957. T he names in the Yarrow Stone inscription. RCAM , Selkirkshire,
No. 174 (p. 1 13).
1958. Sources for the life o f St K entigem . Ch. v i in Chadwick, SEBCy
273- 357-
1961. The international popular tale and early Welsh tradition. Cardiff.
Jam es, J . W ., ed. 1967. Rhigyfarch : Life o f St David. Cardiff.
Jarm an, A . O . H . 1939. Lailoken a Llallogan. BBCS, 9, 8-27.
ed. 1951. Tmddiddan Myrddin a Taliesin. Cardiff,
ed. 1951a. Peiryan V aban. BBCS, 14, 104-8.
1959. The W elsh M yrddin poems. Ch. 3 in Loomis, A LM A , 20-30.
1960. The legend o f Merlin. Cardiff.
1966. Sieffre 0 Fynwy: Geoffrey o f Monmouth. Cardiff.
Johnstone, P. K . 1948. D ual personality o f Saint Gildas. Antiq. 22, 38-40.
Jones, E. D . 1946. The Book o f Llandaff. Nat. Lib. Wales J . 4, 123-57.
Jones, F. 1954. The holy wells o f Wales. Cardiff.
16 CLM
242 L I F E O F M E R L IN

Jones, G . and Jones, T . 1948. The Mabinogion. London.

Jones, T ., ed. 1955. Brut y Tywysogion. Cardiff.
1964. The early evolution o f the legend o f Arthur. (1958; trans.
G . M organ.) Nottingham Mediaev. Stud. 8, 3-21.
Jones, W . L . 1899. Geoffrey o f Monmouth. Trans. Cymmr. Soc. 1898-9,
52- 95 -
Josephus, Flavius. Opera Omnia. S. A . N aber, ed. V ol. 5, 1895: ’Iou5ccïk6s
iréfepos. Leipzig (1888-1906).
Jubainville, H . d’A . de. 1868. M erlin, est-il un personnage réel; ou, les
origines de la légende de M erlin. Rev. des Quest, hist. 5, 559-68.
Kenney, J . F. 1929. The sourcesfor the early history o f Ireland. I: ecclesiastical.
New York.
Kerlouégan, F. 1968. Le Latin du De Excidio Britanniae de Gildas. (Barley
and Hanson, 151-76.)
K nott, E. and M urphy, G . 1966. Early Irish literature. London.
K rappe, A . H . 1925. The sparrows o f Cirencester. Mod. Pkilol. 23, 7 -16 .
Leach, H . G . 1911. D e libello M erlini. Mod. Pfdlol. 8, 607-10.
Legge, M . Dom inica. 1963. Anglo-Norman literature and its background.
Oxford.
Leland, J. 1544. Assertio inclytissimi Arturii regis Britanniae. London. (See
M ead, 1925.)
Commentarii. A . H all, ed. Oxford, 1709.
Le M en, R .-F. 1875. Sainte Guen Teirbron (Alba Trimammis) et Saint
Cadvan. B ull. Soc. Archtol. Finistère, 2, 104-13.
(R .-F.-L.) and Em ault, E . 1836. Cartulaire de Landévennec. M élanges
historiques, V ol. 5 (533-600). Paris.
Levis, H . G . 1919. The British king who tried tofly. London.
Lewis, C . S. 1964 (paperback, 1967). The discarded image. Cam bridge.
Lindsay, 19 11: see Isidore.
Lloyd, J . E. 1939. A history o f W ales (19 11). 3rd ed. London.
1942. Geoffrey o f Monmouth. Eng. hist. Rev. 57, 460-8.
Loomis, R . S., ed. 1959. Arthurian literature in the Middle Ages. A collabora­
tive history (ALMA). Oxford.
Lot, F. 1898. Gormond et Isembard. Recherches sur les fondements
historiques de cette épopée. Romania, 27, 1-54.
1900. Études sur M erlin. Les sources de la Vita M erlini de Gaufrei de
Monmouth. Ann. Bret. 15, 325-47 and 505-37.
1901. Nouvelles études sur la provenance du cycle Arthurien (X V : L a
bataille de Cam lan). Romania, 30, 16-19.
Loth, J . 1887. Chrestomathie Bretonne. Arm. Bret. 2,378-436 and 515-70.
1892. Des nouvelles théories sur l’origine des romans Arthuriens. Rev.
Celt. 13, 475-503.
 REFERENCES 243

1925. Sur l'historicité d’A rthur d'après un travail récent. Rev. Celt. 42,
306-19.
1932. L a légende d’Arthur fils d’U ther Pendragon. Rev. Celt. 49,132-49.
Lucanus, M . A . De beüo avili (Pharsalia). C . Hosius, ed. Leipzig, 1905.
M cCow n, G . G. 1922. The testament o f Solomon. Leipzig.
M ’Culloch, J. D . n.d. Essich and its traditions. Aberdeen.
M acD ougall, J. 1891. Folk and hero tales. London.
M ackaile, M . 1664. M offet-W ell. . .also, the O yly-W ell.. .at St Catharine’s
Chappel in the Paroch o f Libberton. Edinburgh.
M acN eill, J. 1913. Poems by Flann M ainistrech.. . Arcfdvium hiberrncum,
n, 37- 99-
M aître, L . and Berthou, F. 1904. Cartulaire de l’Abbaye de Sainte-Croix de
Quimperlé. (ist ed. 1896.) 2nd ed. Rennes.
M ansi, J. D . et al. 1763. Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio.
V ol. 9. Florence.
M ap, W alter. De Nugis Curialium. M . R . James, ed. (text). O xford, 1914.
De Nugis Curialium. S. H artland, M . R . James, ed., tr. London, 1923.
M archegay, P. 1879. Chartres anciennes du Prieuré de Monmouth en Angleterre.
Les Roches-Baritaud.
1879 a. Les Prieurés anglais. Les Roches-Baritaud.
M artial. M . Valerii M artialis Epigrammaton Libri. W . G ilbert, ed. Leipzig,
1886.
M artineau, H arriet. 1845. Forest and game law tales (Merdfdn). London.
M atthew o f Westminster. Flores historicarum. H . R . Luard, ed. V ol. 1.
London, 1890.
M awer, A . and Stenton, F. M . 1926. The place-names o f Bedfordshire and
Huntingdonshire. Cam bridge.
M axw ell, H . E. 1912. The early chronicles relating to Scotland. Glasgow.
M ead, W . E ., ed. 1925. The famous history o f Chinon. ..(a n d ).. .Leland’s
Assertio inclytissimi Arturii. London.
M egaw, B. R . S. 1949. T he Barony o f St Trinian's in the Isle o f M an.
TDG*, 27, 173-82.
M ela, Pomponius. De chorographia. G. Frick, ed. Leipzig, 1880.
M eyer, K ., ed. 1892. Aisling M eic Conglinne. Dublin,
ed. 1899. Stories and sayings from Irish M SS. n. The song o f the old
woman o f Beare. Otia Merseiana, i*'i 19-28.
ed. 1901. King and hermit. Dublin.
1913. Learning in Ireland in thefifth century. Dublin.
M ichel, F. : see above, Editions, Geoffrey.
M itchell, B., ed. 1965. The Battle o f Maldon. London.
M orris, J. 1966. D ark A ge dates. In Britain and Rome; essays.. .E . Birley.
K endal.
244 L I F E O F M E R L IN

Morris-Jones, J . 1918. Taliesin. T Cymmr. 28.

Nash, D . W . 1858. Taliesin; or the Bards and Druids o f Britain. London.
Neilson, G . 1899. Annals o f the Solway until A .D . 1307. Glasgow.
Nennius. Historia Brittoman (H B). T . Mommsen, ed. Berlin, 1898. (See
Todd, 1848, and van Ham el, 1932.)
Nichols, J . 1823. The progresses and public processions o f Qyeen Elizabeth.
London.
Nicholson, E. W . B. 1906. T h e Vandals in Wessex and the Battle o f
Deorham. T. Cymmr. 19, 5 -17 .
Nicolson, W . Miscellany accounts o f the diocese o f Carlile, with the TERR IERS
delivered to me at my primary visitation. R . S. Ferguson, ed. (= C W 2
E xtra ser., 1). London, 1877.
Nigellus. Speculum stultorum. (In T . W right, 1872.)
N itze, W . A . 1943. M ore on the Arthuriana o f Nennius. Mod. Lang.
Notes, 58, 1-8.
O ’Donovan, J ., ed. 1842. The Banquet o f Dun na nGedh and the Battle o f
Mag Rath. Dublin.
and Stokes, W ., ed. 1868. Sanas Chomudc: Comae*s Glossary. Calcutta.
O ’G rady, S. H . 1892. Silva Gadelica. London.
O ’Keeffe, J. G ., ed. 1913. Buile Shuibhne ( The Frenzy o f Stdbhne). London,
ö M ü lle, T . 1910. The language o f the Annals o f Ulster. M anchester.
Om ont, H . 1884. Le Dragon Normand et autrespoèmes d*Étienne de Rouen. Rouen.
O ’R ahilly, T . F. 1943. The names Ércirrn and Ériu. Ériu, 14, 14-21.
1946. Early Irish history and mythology. Dublin.
Orosius, Paulus. Historiae adversum paganos. G. Zangmeister, ed. Leipzig,
1889.
Ordericus V italis. Historia ecclesiastica. M igne, P L , 188, cois. 17-984.
O vid. Opera. R . M erkel, ed. 3 vols. Leipzig, 1908-10.
O wen, W . 1870. The Myvyrian Archaiology o f Wales, (ist ed. 1801) 2nd ed.
Denbigh.
Paris, P. 1868. Les Romans de la Table Ronde (Vol. 1). 3 vols. Paris.
Parry, J. J . 1924. A n Arthurian parallel. Mod. Lang. Notes, 39,307-9.
(For Parry, J . J . 1925, see VM editions list, above.)
1925a. T h e date o f the Vita M erlini. Mod. Philol. 22, 4 13-15.
19256. Celtic tradition and the Vita M erlini. Philol. Q,. 4, 193-207.
ed. 1937. Brut y BrenHnedd. Cam bridge, Mass.
Parry, T . 1955. A history o f Welsh literature. H . I. Bell, tr. O xford.
Paton, Lucy A . 1903. Studies in the fairy mythology o f Arthurian romance.
Cam bridge, Mass.
1903a. M erlin and Ganieda. Mod. Lang. Notes, 18, 163-9.
1907. The story o f Grisandole: a study in the legend o f Merlin. Cam bridge,
Mass.
 REFERENCES 245

Phillim ore, £ . 1888. T he Annales Cambriae and Old-W elsh genealogies from
H arleian M S 3859. T Cymmr. 9, 141-83.
1886. A fragment from H engwrt M S No. 202 (x v » Gwasgardgerd
verdin). T Cymmr. 7, 89-154.
Pierce, J. 1697. Bath memoirs. 2 pts. Bristol.
Pliny, C . (M inor). Epistulae. M . Schuster, ed. Leipzig, 1952.
Pliny: C . Plinius Secundus. Naturalis Historia. L . James, ed. 2nd ed.
Leipzig, 1870.
Plummer, G ., ed. 1922. Bethada Ndem nÉretm: Lives o f Irish séants. 2 vols.
Oxford.
Plutarch. Moralia, v (F. C . Babbitt), xn (H. Cherniss, W . G. Helm bold).
Loeb ed. London, 1936, 1957.
Vitae Parallelae. (Numa, m. 2.) G. Lindskogand K . Ziegler, eds. Leipzig,
1926.
Pokom y, J . 1951. Z u keltischen Namen. Beitr. z. Namenforsch, n (1), 33-9.
Potter, K . R ., ed. 1955. The deeds o f Stephen (Gesta Stephani). London.
Price, J . 1573. Historiae Brytarmicae defensio. 2 pts. London.
Ptolem y. Geograpkika. G. M üller, ed. Paris, 1883-1901. (See Stevenson,
1932O
R aby, F. J . £ . 1953. A history o f Christian-Latin poetry.. .to the close o f the
Middle Ages, (ist ed. 1927.) 2nd ed. Oxford.
Radcliffe-Brown, A . R . 1924. T he mother’s brother in S. A frica. S. Afric.
J . Sä. 21, 542-55.
Reiss, E. 1968. T he W elsh versions o f Geoffrey o f Monmouth’s Historia.
Welsh Hist. Rev. 4, 97-127.
Rhigyfarch (David). See W ade-Evans, 1914; James, 1967.
Rhys, J . 1888. Lectures on the origin and growth o f religion as illustrated by Celtic
heathendom ( = H ibbert, 1886). London, Edinburgh.
1891. Studies in the Arthurian legend. Oxford.
Riley-Sm ith, J. S. C . 1967. The Knights o f St John in Jerusalem and Cyprus,
c. 1030-1310. London.
R itchie, R . L . G . 1952. Chrétien de Troyes and Scotland. O xford.
Robertson, J. G . 1959. A history o f German literature. 3rd ed. Edinburgh.
Ross, Anne. 1967. Pagan Celtic Britain. London.
R G A H M , Scotland: Midlothian. Edinburgh, 1929.
R C A H M , Scotland: Peeblesshire. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1967.
R G A H M , W ales: Caernarvonshire. 2: W est, i960; 3: Lleyn, 1964. London.
R G A H M , W ales: Montgomery. London, 1911.
R G A M , Scotland: Selkirkshire. Edinburgh, 1957.
Runcim an, S. 1951. A history o f the Crusades. V ol. 1. Cam bridge.
R yan, J ., ed. 1940. Féilsgribhinn: Eàin Mhàc N éill. D ublin.
Saewulf. De dtu Ierusalem. W . R . B. Brownlow, ed. London, 1892.
246 L I F E O F M E R L IN

Salter, H . E. 1919. Geoffrey o f Monmouth and Oxford. Eng. Hist. Rev.

34, 382-5.
San M arte: see above, Editions, Geoffrey.
Sayce, A . H . 1890. The legend o f K in g Bladud. T Cymmr. 10, 207-21.
Schmidt, R . 1894. D ie Çukasaptati (textus simplicior) aus dem Sanskrit über-
setzt. K iel.
Skene, W . F. 1865. Notice o f the site o f the battle o f Ardderyd or A rderyth.
PSAS, 6, 9 t—8.
1868. The four ancient books o f Wales (F A B W ). Edinburgh.
Slocombe, G . i960. Sons o f the Conqueror. London.
Sm ith, Lucy T . 1964. The itinerary o f John Leland {1535-53). 5 vols.
London.
Sm ith, W . 1894. Dictionary o f Greek and Roman biography and mythology.
G . E. M arindin, ed. London.
Solinus, Caius Julius. Collectanea rerum memorabilium. T . Mommsen, ed.
Berlin, 1894.
Souers, P. W . 1943. T he W ayland scene on the Franks cabinet. Speculum,
18, 104-11.
Stevenson, L ., ed. 1932. Geography o f Claudius Ptolemy. New York.
Stokes, W . 1872. The manumissions in the Bodmin Gospels. Rev. Celt. 1,
332 45- -

ed. 1888-9. T h e voyage o f M ael Duin. Rev. Celt. 9, 447-97 and 10,
50 95
- -

ed. 1895. The martyrobgy o f Gorman: Filire Hiu Gormdin. London,

ed. 1905. The colloquy o f the Two Sages (Im m acallam in dâ Thuarad).
Rev. Celt. 20, 4-64.
and Strachan, J ., ed. 1903. Thesaurus pcdaeoftibernicus. V ol. 2. 3 vols.
Cam bridge (1901-10).
Strabo. The Geography o f Strabo (Geographica). H . L . Jones, ed. 8 vols.
L o n d o n ,1917-32.
Suetonius. Vitae Caesarum. M . Ihm , ed. Leipzig, 1908.
Tacitus. De vita Agricolae. R . M . O gilvie, ed. O xford, 1967.
Tatlock, J. S. P. 1943. Geoffrey o f Monmouth’s Vita Merlins. Speculum, 18,
265-87.
1950. The legendary history o f Britain. Berkeley.
Taylor, A . J . 1951. Monmouth Castle and Great Castle House, Monmouthshire.
London.
T aylor, R . 1911. The political prophecy in England. Colum bia.
Thom as, A . 1887. Saint Corentin. Quim per.
Thompson, A . H . ed. 1935. Bede, his life, times and writings. London.
Thurneysen, R . 1946-9. A grammar o f Old Irish (1909). D . A . Binchy,
O . Bergin, tr. 2 vols. Dublin.
 REFERENCES 247

T odd, J . H . ed. 1848. The Irish version o f the Historia Britonum o f Nennius.
(Additional notes, A . Herbert.) Dublin.
Twysden, R . 1552. Historiae Anglicanae scriptores X : Chromcon Johannis
Brompton Jordalensis (cols. 1022-43). London.
Vendryes, J . 1927. Chronique: xvm . Rev. Celt. 44, 236-7.
V ictoria County History, Cum berland. J . W ilson, ed. 2 vols. London,
1901-5.
Villem arqué, H . de la. 1862. Myrdhinn, ou Venchanteur Merlin. Paris.
V irgil. P. Vergili Maronis Opera. O . Ribbeck, ed. Leipzig, 1895.
V ogt, F. 1880. Die deutschen Dichtungen von Salomon und Markolf. I: Salomon
und Morolf. H alle.
W ade-Evans, A . W . 1910. Parochiale W allicanum . T Cymmr. 22, 22-124.
1914. Vita Sancti David per Ricemarchum. Stow-on-the-W old.
1944. Vitae sanctorum Britanniae et genealogiae. Cardiff.
1950. W ho was Ninian? TD G Z, 28, 79-91.
W ard, H. L . D . 1883. Catalogue o f Romances in the Department o f M SS in the
British Museum. V ol. 1. London.
1893. Lailoken (or M erlin Silvester). Romania, 22, 504-26.
W aters, E. G . R ., ed. 1928. The Anglo-Norman Voyage o f St Brendan
(Benedeit). Oxford.
W heeler, R . E. M . 1923. Segontium and the Roman occupation o f W ales.
T Cymmr. 33.
W hitelock, Dorothy, ed. 1961. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. London.
W ieruszowski, Helène. 1966. Mediaeval universities: masters, students, learning.
New York.
W illiam o f M almesbury. Degestis region Anglorum. W . Stubbs, ed. London,
1887-9.
W illiam o f Newburgh. Historia rerum anglicarum. H . C . Ham ilton, ed. 2 vols.
London, 1856.
W illiam s, C . A . 1925, 1926. O riental affinities o f the legend o f the hairy
anchorite. Urdu. Illinois Stud. Lang. lit . Pt. 1: 10 (2) (1925), 189-242.
Pt. n (Christian): 11 (4) (1926), 429-510.
1935. The Germ an legends o f the hairy anchorite. Univ. Illinois Stud.
Lang. L it. 18 (1), 1-79.
W illiam s, G . 1962. The Welsh churchfrom Conquest to Reformation. Cardiff.
1967. Prophecy, poetry and politics in mediaeval W ales. Paper, Celtic
Congress, Edinburgh. (Welsh version, Taliesin, 1968.)
W illiam s, H . ed. 1901. Vita Gildae (Ruys). London. (= Pt. 2; see Gildas
for W ilhams, 1899 = Pt. 1.)
W illiam s, I. ed. 1925. Ym ddiddan Arthur a’r Eryr. BBCS, 2(4), 269-86.
ed. 1928. Y Cyfoesi a’r Afallennau yn Peniarth 3. BBCS, 4 (2), 112-29.
ed. 1938. Canu Aneirin. Cardiff.
 L IF E O F M E R L IN

1952. W ales and the North. CIV1, 51, 73-88.

ed. 1955. Arnes Piydein 0 Llyfr Taliesin. Cardiff.
W ortham , B. H ., tr. 1911. The enchanted parrot: a selection from the <Suka
Saptati\ London.
W right, T . 1836. O n the Anglo-Latin poets o f the twelfth century. For. Q,.
Rev. 16, 386-407.
ed. 1872. The Anglo-Latin satirical poets and epigrammatists o f the 12th
century. 2 vols. London.
Zenker, R . 1896. Das Epos von Isembard und Garmund. H alle.
Zim mer, H . 1889. Keltische Beiträge II: Brendans M eerfahrt. Ztschr.f.
deutsch. AU. u. deutsch. L it. 33, 129-220.
 GENElRAL INDEX

Namesfrom the poem not given here w ill befound listed in the Name Notes (N N ).

Aberffraw 200 Athelstan 143, 159

Adamnân 180, 213 Augustine 8, 143
Adélard of Bath 7 Aurelius Ambrosius NN, viii, 3,20,148-9,
Aeddan (Aidan) 137, 164, 180 168, 202
Aelian 14 Avallon 17, 182
Afallennau 1, 3, 16, 38, 47, 138, 140, 171,
184, 186, 194-5, 197-8, Appdx II Bangor 33, 222
Africa, Africans NN, 20, 141-2 Banquet o f Dm na nGedh 22
Alanus de Insulis 141, 182 Bardsey 31, 33
Alexander, bishop of Lincoln NN, 18, 19, Batik o f Mag Rath 22
28, 36, 38, 41, 136, 153-4, 212 Bede 8-10, 180, 189
Al-Farghani 10 Benedeit 29, 165-6
Angharad Bernard, bishop of St David’s 33
(1) d. ofU chtryd 30,214 Bemicia 40, 178
(2) Angh. Ton Velen 214 book production 29-30, 42
Anglesey 141 Book o f Taliesin 4, 20, 40, 220
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 20, 142, 143, 189, Bootes NN, 11, 154
211 Boreas NN, 11
Annwn ( The Spoils o f Annum) 206 Brenhineddy Saesson 35, 223
Apophthegmata Patrum Aegyptiorum 2 Britain NN, 3, 4, 11, 141-2, 146, 176-7,
Apples, a. trees 23, 138, 147, 171, 182-3, 203, 211, 222
>97 -« Brittany NN, 3,4,20,23,28-9,142,175-6,
Apuleius (De deo Socratis) io, 144, 158 188, 206, 222
Arabs NN, 7, 10, 11, 145 Brut (Gwentian) 26, 30, 33
Archenfield (Erging) 3, 26-7, 31, 163, Bruty Tyivysogion 35
176, 189, 222 Brutus NN, viii, 14, 20
Arfderydd NN, 1 -3 ,2 5 ,4 9 ,13 7 ,16 4 ,17 1, BuUe Sfutibhne 5, 22, 23-4, 195
>94 - 5 » 200, 209, 213, Appdx II
Argoed (Llwyfein) 40, 219 Cadwalader (-dr) NN, 17-18, 20, 148,
Ariconium 27 162, 175
Armes Ptydein 17, 18, 47, 148, 169 Caerleon (Urbs Legionum) NN, 29-32,
Arthur NN, vii, 2, 4, 9, 17, 19, 20, 21, 142, 163, 200, 214-15
23 » 30 » 3 *» 4 ». >40 » >44 » >4 «. >54 » >59 » Caithness 29, 181
161-2, 186, 190, 196, 202-3, 2>0, 220, Calidon NN, vii, 22-3, 151, 164, 191
223 Camerinus NN, 38, 137
Arthur, father of Geoffrey 26, 30, 164 Camlan NN, 164, 202-3
Arthur, of Anjou 164 Canterbury 31, 33, 34
Arthuret 161-2, 201 Caradoc of Llancarvan 32
Arviragus 189 Caredc 20, 141
Asaf (St Asaph) 33-4, 193, 222-3 Carmarthen 200, 224
Ashmedai 13 Celyddon (Coed) 2,25,138,170, Appdx II

[249]
250 G E NE R AL I ND E X

Ceneu 40 Elgar the Hermit (LL) 33

Cennfaeladh 9 Elwy, river 33, 223, 225
Chartres NN, 10 Emreis Wledig: Aurelius Ambrosius
Chester 20, 33, 143, 196 encyclopaedias 7-8, 145
Chrétien de Troyes 140, 205, 219-20 Enweu Tnys Prydein 200
Cicero 207, 217 Eochaidh Aincheas 24
Circe 203-7 Eorann 23, 140, 186
Cirencester NN, 19, 20, 141-2 Erging: Archenfield
Claudius 189, 210 Essich NN, 49
Colcshill (Consyllt) 21, 40, 154, 178, 219 * Estone des Bretuns 29
Conan, Aurelius NN, 20, 140, 148, 149 Etymologiae (Origines) : Isidore
Conan Meiriadoc NN, 17-18,20, 148,162 Eurydice NN, 11, 139
Constans NN, 20, 148» 158
Constantine NN, 20-1, 140, 175, 176 Faunus 14
Constantinople 7 Feast o f Bricriu 204-5
Cornwall NN CO R N ISH , 4, 21, 148, Fergus 171, 201
168, 172, 177, 186, 200, 202-3 Finn 198-9
cress 23, 171-2 fish and ring story 12, 14, 184
crusades 6-7 FitzHubert, Robert 6
Cugua 24 FitzOsbem* William 26-7
Culhwch and Olwen 163 Fortunate Isle(s) NN, 7, 8, 146, 147
Cumbria NN, viii, 3, 18, 22, 151, 203 Four ancient Books o f Wales (FABW) 1, 4,
Cyfoesi 1-3, 16-17, 47, 141, 142, 184, 195 47» *84
Cynan: Conan Meiriadoc Furness 34
future deliverer 17, 20, 162-3, *69»
Daedalus NN, 11 175-6
daemons (demons) 10, 144, 158-9
Danes NN, 20, 148 Gaimar 29, 141
David I 6, 202 Galabes 3, 223
Death o f Eochaid mac Mairid 204 Ganieda NN, 2, 13, 18, 19, 21, 22-3, 40,
decapitated head motif 3, 193, 225 50, 139, 144, 150, 153, 168, 186-7, *95>
De excidio et conquestu Britanniae 146, 158, 196, 214
177» *85, 198, 216 Gavril 13
De imagine mundi 8, 10 Gawain 2, 163
Deira NN, 164, 219 Geoffrey of Anjou 154, 163-4, *88, 224
Demetae: Wales Geoffrey of Monmouth NN, * Intro, i, 2
De natura deorum 207, 217 (sources), 3 (prophecy), 5 (life, career),
De natura rerum 9, 10, 144 5-7 (author of VM). VM 1-18, 1525-9.
diomeds 8, 152-3 Treatment of names viii, 49, 200; o f
Dol 27, 188 material 146, 147, 149-50, 151, 152-3.
Donnan 23 Work on exiled churchmen 141-2.
Doward Hili 223 HRB-VM differences 32, 149, 163-4,
Draco Normannicus 162-3, I68, 205 190. See refs, in NN on Alexander,
Dream o f Mac Conglinne 198 Arthur, Brittany, Camlan, Hengist,
Drumelzier NN, 49, 194 Kentigem, Lailoken, Modred, Morgen’s
Dublin 17, 148 sisters, Robert de Chesney, St David’s,
Dubricius (Dyfrig) 31-2 Uther, Vortigem, Vortimer.
Dumbarton NN, 24, 29, 149, 209 Gesta Britonum (= HRB) vii, 23, 36, 155
Dunmeller 24-5, 179-80 Gesta Stephani 6, 143
Dyfed: Wales Gewissa 189
Gewissi: Gwent
Ealadhan 24, 138, 139, 171, 195 Gilbert, bishop of St Asaph’s 33, 42
Egypt 2 Gildas NN, 4, 28, 143, 158, 167, 168, 177,
Eigg 23 198
 G EN ER A L I N D E X
Giraldus Cambrerais 8, 17, 34, 38, 149,
151, 158
Glasgow viii, 3, 24, 29, 34, 140, 178, 180,
*92 - 3 » >94 - 5 . 222, Appdx I
Glastonbury 36, 45, 163
Gloucester 29, 189, 222
Goddeu 40
Gododdin 163, 178
Godstow 26, 28, 32
Gormund 20, 141-2, 174, 216
Gospatric 202-3
Grosseteste, Robert 37-8
Guaire Mac Congail 140
Guendoloena NN, 22, 50, 138, 139, 140,
>43 . >84
Guennolé 4, 50, 176, 188-9
Guennolous 4, 22, 50, 188-9
Guihenoc: Wihcnoc
Gulfridus (LL) 33
Gunnlaugr 19
Gurthiem 3, 138, 169, 176, 188, 222-3
Gwasawg 25, 140, 184, Appdx II
Gwasgargerdd Fyrddin yn y bedd 1
Gwenddolau NN, 4, 25, 50, 143, 160-1,
184, 186, 219, Appdx II
Gwenddydd 2, 25, 47, 50, 184, Appdx II
Gwent (Gewissi) NN, 3, 20, 26, 176, 219,
221, 222-3
Gwrgi 137, 209
Gwrtheym: Vortigem
Gwynedd 22, 224
hairy anchorite legend 2
Hamo, of Lincoln 8
Hanes Taliesin 4, 217
Hebrides 23, 163
hell to, 144
Hengist NN, 20, 210-11, 217-18, 223
Henry (II), of Anjou 6, 18, 31, 35, 37,
40, 154, 163, 192, 208, 224
Hercynian forest 153, 170
Herefordshire 27, 35, 221
Heroides: Ovid
Hildebert of Lavardin 5, 12, 139
Historia Brittonum viii, 47, 158-9, 189
historia, estorie 30
Historia Regum Britanniae (HRB ; Gesta
Britonum) vii, 3, 4, 17, 19, 20, 23,
*Intro. 5, 38, 46, 47, 155
Hoianau 1, 16, 138, 161, 187, 194
Honorius Inclusus 8
Horace 38, 177
Horsa NN H EN GIST, 20, 148
house in forest 140-1,153
«S»
Humber NN, 29, 164, 191
Ile de Seins 188, 203, 206
India NN, 7, 12-13
Iowerth, of Caerleon 30, 214
Ireland NN, 2, 4-5, 8, 23-4, 37, 146,
203-8, 211
Isembard and Gormund 141-2, 174
Isidore 4, 8, 9, 49, 145-7, >49-53. >67
James VI/I 161, 180, 201
Jerusalem 7
Jocelin 5, 12,33, 34,139,184, 192-3, 204,
213-14
John, bishop viii, 178
John, king 16, 37-8, 154
John of Seville 10
Kentigem NN, viii, 2, 3, 24, 33, 34, 41,
42, 141, 143, 144, 154, 180, 184, 198,
217, 222-3, 225
Lady o f the Fountain, The 140
Lailoken NN, viii, 3, 5, 13, 24-5, 38, 42,
49. >37. >4>. >60, 171, >79-80» 181,
>93 ~4 . 22,-2
Lailoken A and B tales 2, 3, 5, 12, 17,
24 - 5 . 44 . >39 . >4 >. >43 . >79 "8 o. >84,
>93 - 5 . 202, 213-14, 222, Appdx I
Landévennec 4, 188
laugh, leaf, adultery story >2-14, 22, 25
Lavinia 14
Lear 196, 209
Leicester NN, 20, 143, 212
Leland 36,45
Leo, emperor NN, 142, 214
Liban 138, 204-5
Liber Landavensis (LL) 31-4, 198
Liber prognosticon 19, 157
Life o f David 165
Life o f Gildas (Ruys) 4, 143, 185
Life o f Kentigem (Jocelin) 5, 12, 14, 139,
184, 187, 192-5, 198, 219, 221
LifeofTeilo 31, 33
Lincoln NN, 8-9, 19, 28-9, 30, 36-8,
40->, >54 . >57 » 2,2
llallogan 2, 195
Llandaff *Lntro. 5, 198, 208, 214
Llantwit Major, Glam. 185, 208
Lodewicus 141-2
Loingseachan 23, 187
Lollius Urbicus 195
Lothian 3, 163, 193, 194, 202-3
Lucius Hiberius NN, 142, 196, 214
252 G E NE R AL I N DE X
Lucius, king 32
madness vii, 2, 18, * Intro. 4, 150, 153,
160 ,164,181,194-5, «97-9» 200-2, 213,
Appdx I, II
Madoc ap Maredudd, king 40
Maddin NN, 19, 23, 50, 153, 164, 185,
186
Maelduin 197, 206
Maelgwn 137, 140, 177, 186, 193, 198
Magh Rath, 9, 23, 197
Magnus Maximus (Maximian; Macsen)
175, 216
Maildun (LL) 33, 198
Maldred, of Lothian 202-3
Man, Isle of 34, 165
Mandeville, Geoffrey de 6
Map, Walter 201, 221
market-place tales 11-12, 14, 22, 140
Matilda, empress 6, 18, 20, 29, 40, 143,
*54» «57. 208
Maud, wife of Henry I 29, 154
medicine, Greek 7, 150
Meldred 12-13, 24-5, 139, 179-80, 184,
194, 202, 214, Appdx I
Merlin Ambrosius (HRB) NN AM BR O ­
SIUS, vii-viii, 3, 13, 17, 19, 21, 29, 37,
41, 158, 164, 200, 203, 221-3
Merlin Calidonius (VM) NN M ERLIN ,
vii-viii, 2, 3, 7, 12-14, 18-21, 22-3, 38,
4«. 50, 151, 162-4, «79-8o» 185, 186-7,
188, 203, 209, 214, 217, 221-3, 225;
brothers 22, 137; grave 179-80; king
«37» «5«» 224; old 151; silvester homo
138; Merlinûs 19
Merlùtûs Spd 19
Midas 14
Minerva NN, 11
Modred NN, 2, 4, 21, 149, 190, 191
Moling 3, 24, 140-1
Monmouth 4, 26-7, 31, 165, 188, 189
Moralia'. Plutarch
Morgen NN, 4, 8, 9, 11, 17, 23, 45, 50,
146, 162, 163, 166, 167, 178; cf. 33,
fil i
Muirgein 138, 140, 204-6
Muirghil 24, 205
Mung&n 24
Muses i i , 137, 206
Myrddin vii-viii, 1-3, 16, 25, 38, 42, 47,
50, 141, 181, 184, 186, 194-5, 200-2,
213, 222, 224; Merdin 200
Neckham, Alexander 138
Nennius viii, 14, 17, 158-9, 164, 167, 178,
193, 2 11, 213, 222; Irish 159, 164
Neoplatonism 2; cf. daemons
Nicholas ap Gwrgant, bishop of Llandaff
26
Nigel, bishop of Ely 143, 153, 157
Normans NN, 6, 18, 20, * Intro. 5, 143,
«54 . *9 2»202-3
North Britain 3, 34, 219-20
Northumbria 159, 164, 191, 202-3, 219
Numa Pompilius : Plutarch
oaks 151, 171, 212
Ordericus Vitalis (Hist, eeeles.) 19
Orosius (Hist, advers. paganos) 8, 176
Orpheus NN, 11, 137, 139
Ovid (Ex Ponto, Fasti, Heroides, Metamorph.)
««» «37» »38-9, «56, «67, 172, 179, 197,
199, 207, 210, 217
Owain 17, 219
Owein Gwynedd 40
Owen ap Garadoc, of Caerleon 30
Oxford NN, 7, 28-9, 31-3, 150, 153-4,
212
Paris 7, 28-9, 147, 183, 193-4, 209
Paris, P. 38
Parry, J .J . 4, 9, 10, 20, 21 *Intro. 6, 7, 8,
«38 , «39 , *54
Pausail Bum 25, 179-80
Peirian Faban 1, 137
Percival 209
Peredur NN, 22, 50, 137, 187, 224
Picus 14, 153
Plato (Apology, Symposium) 144
Plutarch (Moralia, Numa) 10, 14, 163
Polycrates 12
possession 18, 150, 153
Price, Sir John 45
Prophecies o f Merlin (Prophetiae M erlini;
HRB 7) 18-19, 21, 28, 30, 37, 38, 42,
46, 136, 145, 157
prophecy 14, *Intro. 3, 23-5, 140-1, 142,
«5 «, «53
Quimperlé 3, 157, 222
Rahere 26
Ranulf, earl of Chester 40, 154
Red Book o f Hergest 35
Renua NN, 148, 190, 223
Rheged 40
Rhuddlan 34, 151
Rhun, son of Maelgwn 140,198
 G E NE R A L I N D E X 253

Rhydderch H ad a, 3, aa, 35, 50, 137, Theodoric the Flamebearer 40, 219
14a, 14 4 ,16 0 -1,16 4 ,18 0 ,18 4 ,19 0 ,19a, Theopompus 14
194, ao4, 313-14, aaa, Appdx II Thuriae of Skalholt 19
Richard I 143 Triads, Welsh {TYP) passim
Richard, bishop of St Asaph's 33 triple-death motif 3, 4-5, 11-12, 22, 24,
Robert de Chesney NN, 38-9,36-7,40-2, *39 » *4 *. *43 » *95
136, 15'. >96 Trojans viii, 156, 168, 179, 200
Robert of Gloucester 29, 30 Tweed, river 25, 179-80, Appdx I
Rodarch, king of Cumbria (VM) NN, 3, Turn Gelwydd Teg 139
»3» >9» 20, 23-3, 50, 143, 151, 184, 187,
»95* 209, a is , aai, 335 Uchtryd, bishop of Llandaff 30-2
Roger, bishop of Salisbury 143, 153, 157 Urban, bishop of Llandaff 31-3
R o lf (Radulphus) of Monmouth a8, 37 Urien NN, 40
Ronan 33-4 Uther NN, 20, 148-9, 158, 168, 177
Ronnwen: Renua
Vandals 141-2, 196
Saewulf 7 Vaughan, Robert 137
St Asaph's viii, *Intro. 5, 37, 40-2, 149, Venedoti: Wales
«54 . «76» «87, *93 » *98 , 233, 225 Venus NN, 10
St David’s 31, 33 Vita S. Gwrthierm 3, 188, 222
St Florent de Saumur 37 Vita S. Cadoci 163
St George’s, Oxford 28, 33, 37, 3 13 Vortigem NN, vii, 3, 13, 17, 19, 20, 27,
saint, resolution through 3, 3, 194, 195 3 *. 34 » *48, *49 » *58» *64, *76, *88,
St Trinian's 34 *89» *93» 204, 210-11, 223, 225
Sakhr 14 Vortimer NN, 148, 190, 210, 217, 223
Saxons NN, 20 ,3 3 ,27,14 1-2,159,16 2-4, Voyage o f Maeliuin 140, 197
169,189,191,210-11,216,217-18,221-3 Voyage o f St Brendan 29, 165-6
Scotland NN, 12, aa, 34, 143, 191, 309
Segontium NN, 139, 325 Wales NN, 2, 3, 4, 20, 22, * Intro. 5, 148,
Silenos 14 163, 165, 193
sister's son bond 2, 194 Walter, archdeacon 28-9
sleeping hero 17, 163, 223 Walter L ’Espec 29
Solinus 8, 145, 147, 166 Wayland NN, 11, 139, 215-16
Solomon 13, 14 Westminster 34
Southampton 29 Whale, The 9, 145
Spain 7, 137, 142 Whithorn 34
springs 149-51, 197, 335 Wihenoc (Guihenoc) 27, 188-9
stag-riding 140 wild-man theme 2-3, 12, 14, * Intro. 4,
Standard, battle of the 6 4*, 138, 194-5, 200-1
Stephen vii, 6, 16, 20, 21, 28, 30, 34-5, William I 171, 202, 208
37» 38, *43» *53» *54» *57» *68, 196, 224 William de Conches 10
Stonehenge vii, 177 William of Malmesbury 2, 142, 163
Strathclyde viii, 3, 23-4, 140, 151, 161, William of Newburgh {Hist. rer. Anglic.)
180, 187, 192-3, 203, 213 18, 38, 150
Suibhne 3-5, 23-4, 139, 140, 141, 171, Wiltshire vii
181, 186-7, 205 Winchester NN, 40, 149, 154
Sukasaptati 12-13, 191 Winefride NN, 34, 149, 193, 223
Syria 2 Wolfdietrich 199
Wonastow 188
Tdin B i Frdich 12
Taliesin NN, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14, 16, 19, 20, Yarrow Stone 144, 213
23» 28, 34, 40, 41, 47, 50, 143, 150, 158, Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin 1,16 ,4 7, *37
162, 168, 185, 193, 220, 223 York 33, 145, 166, 209-10
Theobald, archb. of Canterbury 33, 34 Yvain 140