Merlin: The Historical Figure―Scientist, Humanist, and Counselor to Kings

Camelot tetralogy

by Norma Lorre Goodrich

A bestselling author and professor brings the historical figure of Merlin to life--the Merlin who prophesied his own death and was a counselor to kings as well as a scientist, humanist, and man of mystery.

Genres: Arthurian, History, Nonfiction, Mythology, Historical, Magic, Literature

400 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1988

About the author

Norma Lorre Goodrich, a prolific author, was an Arthurian scholar known for her unconventional theory that King Arthur was Scottish -not English or Welsh. She was a professor of comparative literature and writing for many years at the University of Southern California and the Claremont Colleges.

Reviews

[Hal Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess there are worse reasons to become an academic than to try to give weight to your pet readings of your favorite characters. I feel like in this book I was constantly coming across sentences like: "Merlin wouldn't do that!"

And then there's this quote: “The Prose Lancelot…contains a reputable, authentic telling of Lancelot’s childhood, except when it insists he was ‘taught’ by ‘mermen.’” (p. 304)

Obviously the Prose Lancelot, a work of fiction, contains no such thing. (The reputable and authentic part, I mean, not the mermen.)

“So, what actually transpired when Merlin and the Lady of the Lake proceeded towards Merlin’s Cave, entered it, and opened the tomb in which he lay down?” (p. 309)

Nothing “actually” transpired, of course. And yet Goodrich really wants us to believe that the historical personage Merlin and the historical personage Lady of the Lake went to a real cave for a real death on a real day in history. Am I just a grump for pointing out that Midas never actually turned his daughter to gold and Icarus never actually flew near the sun and any historicity you care to wring from Geoffrey of Monmouth or the French Vulgate Cycle has to be treated so much more tentatively than this book does? What we have here is something as nonsensical as a flat earth volume, but a whole lot more learned. I mean, Goodrich knows her stuff! She’s just…crazy? Uncritical?

This book is like one of those renaissance texts that says the myth of autochthonous birth came about because witnesses saw some people coming out of a cave and assumed they were born full-grown there (a real theory from Boccaccio); or perhaps more appositely like one of those nineteenth-century mythographies that treats passages in Ovid as reservoirs of astronomical knowledge. It’s Hamlet’s Mill but less interesting (because less audacious). It’s not something I would have expected to have been published in 1988.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The man, Merlin/Saint Dubricius, a wondrous prodigy, has even now supplied history with a retrospective pattern of crisis and human response the we treasure, like his voice form the so very long ago, speaking as a survivor of terrible perils and penance."


My goal today was to finish this book. It look me a while because it is a very scholarly work and got dull at times. But I am a sucker for history, especially this time period. I just love the myth and rich history that lies beneath the Arthurian legends. Needless to say, I have finished this book with lots of knowledge on one of my favorite subjects and figures from history.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books focuses on the literary and "historical" Merlin. I found the book fascinating, but a little hard to follow. The author throws a lot at you. I read this book for general interest and for development of a character so perhaps it is more for an Arthurian scholar. Suffice to say if you have more than a passing interest in Arthurian history and mythology, I recommend this book, just plan on taking a little bit of time with it.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Merlin seeks to bring historical perspective and accuracy to a man of legend and lore, a man most think of as wizard and magician as opposed to a flesh and blood person. The author brings this story to us by way of extensive research and scholarly citations, which makes for a rather dry, if interesting, read. The biggest problem in my eyes with the supposed true-life story is that tales where mermen and magic were a critical element were cited as factual with the exception of those supernatural happenings. This took some credibility away from the historical accuracy in my opinion. Nonetheless, anyone who wants to look deeper into the origins and life story of Merlin outside of the King Arthur legends will find a goldmine of information in this book.

Chapter list:
1. The Names of Merlin
2. The Birth of Merlin
3. The Prodigy
4. Marvelous Merlin
5. The Prophet
6. The Warrior
7. Morgan Le Fay
8. Niniane/Vivian
9. Testing
10. The Murder of Merlin
11. The Voice from Beyond the Grave
12. Eclipse of the Sun

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theu author combines a passion for Merlin with a scholarly research. The result is an invitation to dive in and see Arthur's ally working miracles (including predicting his own death) and writing The Prophecy of Merlin here translated and annotated by the author. Take that invitation and walk in Avalon for a while with other legendary personages of Fifth Century England and Ireland such as Morgan Le Fey ("The Fate") and St. Dubricius.

[Naliza Fahro-Rozi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bestselling author and professor brings the historical figure of Merlin to life--the Merlin who prophesied his own death and was a counselor to kings as well as a scientist, humanist, and man of mystery.

[Gia MarajaLove · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is written like a historical novel, only to lead readers to the realization (I hope) that Merlin wasn't real. I am so disappointed.

[K.C. Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a more appropriate cover than the edition I have.
Well researched.

[Maranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly mostly read this for the chapter on Morgan Le Fay! I read the whole thing, but that chapter was the one that I liked best. Good resource for lovers of Arthurian literature and legend.

[Thomas Gryphon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but very dry account of who Merlin really was.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I found myself thoroughly intrigued by Goodrich's King Arthur, I found Merlin quite beyond belief, however appealing it might be to tie him down to a historical figure.

At the same time, Goodrich is such an engaging writer I chose to forgive Merlin its shortcomings & was still entertained, if not convinced.

[Flint Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having done the hard research, I can see the one massive flaw in Goodrich's methodology. She has read a great deal (in literature) and she is a good writer to capture audience. Her problem, she never bothers to tell the reader how the sources she is using fit in with the sources she ignores. She rarely mentions the other sources. She simply jumps from literature to literature as she takes the reader on a merry ride. If she had any historical knowledge she would have known that "Merlin" was active nearly a century after Arthur (if there was one), that his literary career began when he went insane after a battle, and that his claim to prophecy and later sorcery is based on the legend that he once predicted the deaths of four men.

[Jim Pefferly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent exploration to find the historical Merlin. I like Norma Goodrich. She is a lively writer who follows where the history takes her. I've read too many history based books where an author will bend time, space and reason to fit the theory. Norma sets out on a quest and begins with a theory and sometimes finds that historical documentation, geography, etc takes her somewhere beyond the theory so she follows the leads to where they go rather than BSing her way through.

This book was thorough(sometimes to the point of being academic and dry)but rewarding all the way.

[Reyannan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent writer who bases her beliefs with carefully gathered I historical data. Reads like a textbook, and at that level, it is nicely done. To the skeptics of Camelot and the Arthurian legend........ you have to take a leap of faith occasionally. Some could argue that it is just a revisionists perception of an historical possibility; however, we all bring our own thoughts and prejudices to each new read and often a book read at the age of twenty something takes on a new meaning at forty something.

[Emmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a man named merlin.He has magic powers .He also has is not scared of dragons and any creature in the woods.The problem was that since their was a king the king wanted to do a new castle .But close by, there was a big dragon in a big dark cave.so, then merlin use his pawers to move the dragon to another place.

I like this this book because in some parts it gots mysteries and also it kind of aventuries.I would reccommend this book to people who like magic book and fairytales like merlin book.



i hope you like this book....

[Dominique · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book largely due to the author's insistence tht what she was telling the reader about Merlin was fact, not speculation. I do not consider myself an expert on Camelot, but I do know enough that it is filled with a lot of uncertainty. We do not no for certain when, or even if, Merlin and Arthur lived.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved King Arthur, but found Merlin to be both less revelatory and less convincing. I accept her thesis for the identity of Merlin, but it was so drawn out that I only finished the book to be able to say I finished it.

[Nicole Diamond · Rating 3 out of 5]

If it has one star I liked it a lot
If it has two stars I liked it a lot and would recommend it
If it has three stars I really really liked it a lot
If it has four stars I insist you read it
If it has five stars it was life changing

[Christopher Coleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book but Goodrich takes the Medieval romances a bit too literally and most scholars don't agree with her in most things. Nevertheless, she has some interesting theories regarding Merlin, even if much of it is unprovable. Of just because it can't be proved, doesn't mean its not true.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explores historical clues as to Merlin's true idenity.