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