Merlin
The Welsh Wizard of the Wilderness
As is the case with most legends, many myths are also based on real-life events. For instance, King Arthur really did live, but he died in the year 539, whereas Merlin died in 612, nearly a century later. So, King Arthur didn’t know Merlin, at all. Since that’s out of the way, I can move on to what really matters. To begin with, Merlin’s name is derived from the Welsh Myrddin Wyllt, which translates to “Merlin the Wild”. More importantly, according to old folklore, Merlin reincarnated from the hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes, who had been an avatar of the deity Lugh, long before that. As such, Merlin could evoke these and other spirits to make use of their supernatural powers.
Merlin was an extremely devout Druid, which was a member of the high-ranking professional class in ancient Celtic cultures. Along with being religious leaders, they were also legal authorities, adjudicators, medical professionals, political advisers, and keepers of lore. While the Druids had to be literate, they were prevented by doctrine from recording their knowledge in written form, thus they left no written accounts of themselves. To make matters worse, the speculations and accusations about Druids from other cultures, such as the Romans and the Greeks are highly suspect, to say the least. This is particularly true of the accounts of Merlin.
