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Even those who know little about world history have likely heard of Merlin the Magician. The mythology which has been built up around him has endured for centuries, even though most have no idea exactly where the character of Merlin came from. Also, was Merlin benevolent or malevolent?

So where exactly did the legend of Merlin start, and how exactly is he connected to King Arthur?

According to a fascinating article found on the website Ancient Origins, the story of Merlin is a complex one filled with contradictions and mysteries:

“The powerful wizard is depicted with many magical powers, including the power of shapeshifting and is well-known in mythology as a tutor and mentor to the legendary King Arthur, ultimately guiding him towards becoming the king of Camelot. While these general tales are well-known, Merlin’s initial appearances were only somewhat linked to Arthur. It took many decades of adaptations before Merlin became the wizard of Arthurian legend he is known as today.”

The first mention of Merlin can be found in The History of Kings of Britain, which was written in 1136 AD by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Much of the work is a historical record of English kings, Merlin is found, but as a fictional character:

“Merlin was paradoxical, as he was both the son of the devil and the servant of God.”

Son of the devil and servant of God? That certainly makes Merlin an object of fascination, if for no other reason than such a description makes us question his motives and what role he played in Arthur’s kingdom.

Part Madman, Part Warrior

The character of Merlin was actually a composite of several historical figures who were well-known to readers of the time:

“Geoffrey combined stories of North Brythonic prophet and madman, Myrddin Wyllt, and Romano-British war leader, Ambrosius Aurelianus, to create Merlin Ambrosius.”

Notice the dichotomy once again: Merlin was part madman and part warrior. That alone suggests that his “magic” may have been little more than the rantings of a lunatic who was bent on attaching himself to power. And no one was more powerful than a king.

Ambrosius is of particular interest because he shows up in relation to another British king, Vortigern, who wanted to erect a tower. However, each time Vortigern tried to build the tower, it would collapse. The only way the tower would ever stand required a bizarre ritual:

“(Vortigern) was told that to prevent this, he would have to first sprinkle the ground beneath the tower with the blood of a child who was born without a father. Ambrosius was thought to have been born without a father, so he was brought before Vortigern. Ambrosius explains to Vortigern that the tower could not be supported upon the foundation because two battling dragons lived beneath, representing the Saxons and the Britons. Ambrosius convinced Vortigern that the tower will only stand with Ambrosius as a leader, and Vortigern gave Ambrosius the tower, which is also the kingdom.”

Geoffrey, in his telling of the Merlin legend, notes that Merlin was also fatherless, but he also retained the character of Ambrosius.

Another change Geoffrey makes is that in the story with Merlin and King Vortigern, Merlin’s prophecies are included. Those prophecies point directly to the ultimate crowning of Arthur as king of Britain. And in doing so, Geoffrey introduces the notion that King Arthur was the fulfillment of a prophecy, giving him a magical air.

Merlin, Stonehenge, and Giants?

One of those prophecies was how Arthur came to be. Another explains Stonehenge’s appearance:

“These include the tale of Merlin creating Stonehenge as the burial location for Ambrosius, and the story of Uther Pendragon sneaking into Tintagel where he fathers Arthur with Igraine, his enemy’s wife.”

Merlin the Shapeshifter

The name Merlin is also found in a poem written by Robert de Boron. The poem was written long after Merlin had first been introduced in The History of Kings of Britain. However, Boron’s poem focuses more on Merlin’s magical abilities:

“Boron places special emphasis on Merlin’s shapeshifting powers, connection to the Holy Grail, and his jokester personality.”

Merlin was also shown in some writings as a mentor and tutor to King Arthur, giving him advice on difficult situations facing the kingdom.

Other depictions of Merlin, however, were much less charitable:

“In some tales Merlin was viewed as an evil figure who did no good in his life.”

Today, most of us know Merlin as the benevolent tutor to King Arthur who often used his rapier wit to defuse potentially dangerous situations. Depictions of Camelot almost always place Merlin in a prominent position even though he wasn’t allowed to sit as a Knight of the Round Table.

Over the centuries, Merlin has undergone many manifestations, from good to evil and back again. Despite all of the contradictions found in a close reading of works that deal with Merlin, he remains one of the most fascinating figures in all of mythology.

This informative documentary has more on Merlin

Featured Image Via YouTube Screenshot

A tomb containing a 2,000-old-year old skeleton was recently unearthed in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, and it appears the remains are of an ancient warrior woman who lived during the height of the Roman Empire, according to the Daily Mail:

“She was found in the North Caucasus and is thought to have been of a ‘high-status’ within her community – possibly the wife, sister or mother of a prominent warrior or chieftain.”

Of particular interest to the archaeologists who found the tomb was the jewelry discovered at the same time, including two “very valuable rings” with dark glass centers. Archaeologist Anna Kadieva noted:

“She had two rings on her fingers manufactured with the use of quite a complex technology.”

“Each of them is cast from transparent white glass with golden fibres from the same material, with a dark glass installation in the middle.”

The woman is thought to have been from the Alans warrior people who arrived in Caucasus in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, Ancient Origins reports. The rings were likely “Roman made,” and a description of them highlights just how much work went into producing the items:

“A bright violet amethyst medallion was also discovered and archaeologists found that the beads found on the woman’s shoes were crafted of glass containing ‘carnelian,’ which is an orangey mineral belonging to the Quartz family and widely used during Roman times in engraved gems for signet (or seal) rings for imprinting wax seals on correspondences.”

The Caucasus Connection

Though most of us have heard of the Caucasus region, you may not know that it was once a region of great importance because the isthmus itself is a land bridge between the Eurasian steppes and Western Asia. So it served as a way to pass between Europe and Asia during the days that Rome was the dominant power across much of the known world. It is also a region rich with reminders of the planet’s early history:

“Surveys and excavations carried out by Soviet researchers up until the 1990s revealed the existence of archaeological sites from the beginning of the Holocene, approximately the last 11,700 years of Earth’s history.”

Finding the Origins of Ancient Warriors

Thousands of years ago, the people in the region were equally dispersed along the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas and in the Kura and Arax River basins. And over the past couple of decades, there has been extensive archaeological excavations in the locations that were home to the majority of the population. The results of those international missions have yielded a great deal of new finds.

All of this leads researchers to speculate that the jewels found in the Russian tomb may have been “jewels of war,” Ancient Origins notes:

“Roman soldiers reached South Caucasus at the end of the 2nd century BC and the Kingdom of Colchis was completely destroyed and incorporated into the Roman Empire as the province of Lazicum. The preceding 600 years of South Caucasian history were marked by the struggle between Rome and the Sassanids of Persia, who according to HistoryNet, allied with the Romans in the Roman-Persian Wars.”

In 69 AD, the Roman Empire was in the midst of a bloody civil war, and part of that took place in the Caucus region that is home to the warrior tomb:

“The people of the kingdoms of Colchis (Caucasus) and Pontus, an ancient district in northeastern Anatolia adjoining the Black Sea, staged a major tribal uprising against Roman rule which ended unsuccessfully. These tiny, delicate and rare items of jewelry, found with the 2000-year-old woman’s remains, were all made and worn in these turbulent times when the ‘barbarians’ of northern Europe were being conquered by Rome: artifacts of war.”

Further studies into the finds are planned, but for now, we have a glimpse into history that may well wind up adding even greater illumination to what we know about the Roman Empire and how it came to a sudden end.

Here’s more on the incredible find in Russia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=625IYE6LQeg

Featured Image Via North Caucasus united archaeolog