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The True History of Merlin the Magician

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The True History of Merlin the Magician

By: Anne Lawrence-Mathers
Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
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About this listen

A medieval historian examines what we really know about the man who was "Merlin the Magician" and his impact on Britain.

The historical Merlin was no rough magician: he was a learned figure from the cutting edge of medieval science and adept in astrology, cosmology, prophecy, and natural magic, as well as being a seer and a proto-alchemist. His powers were convincingly real—and useful, for they helped to add credibility to the "long-lost" history of Britain which first revealed them to a European public. Merlin's prophecies reassuringly foretold Britain's path, establishing an ancient ancestral line and linking biblical prophecy with more recent times. Merlin helped to put British history into world history.

Anne Lawrence-Mathers also explores the meaning of Merlin's magic across the centuries, arguing that he embodied ancient Christian and pagan magical traditions, recreated for a medieval court and shaped to fit a new moral framework. Linking Merlin's reality and power with the culture of the Middle Ages, this remarkable book reveals the true impact of the most famous magician of all time.

©2012 Anne Lawrence-Mathers (P)2023 Tantor
17th Century Great Britain Arthurian Genetics Magic Users

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To be honest

I don’t know where this book is going? Is the author saying Merlin was a real person or not? Or is this just another plod through recognised sources?

The narrator is usually very good with other books but she is plodding her way through it sounding as bored as I feel!

For a trip through sources I can recommend it. As for anything new…there is not.

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