A Book of Merlin
A Classic Anthology of Merlin Legends, Arthurian Tales, Prophecies, and Poems
Published on 3. April 2018
Book
Hardback
142 pages
978-1-5154-2172-6 (ISBN)
Description
A Book of Merlin gathers classic tales, poems, prophecies, and literary retellings devoted to the most enduring wizard in the Arthurian tradition. Before Gandalf, Dumbledore, and the modern fantasy wizard, there was Merlin: prophet, magician, counsellor to King Arthur, guardian of secret knowledge, and one of the central figures in the Matter of Britain. Across medieval romance, Victorian poetry, literary fantasy, and Arthurian retelling, Merlin stands at the border between history and enchantment, Christian legend and older myth, royal destiny and private doom.
This Wilder Publications anthology brings together a wide-ranging selection of Merlin literature, including "Merlin's Youth" by George Parker Bidder; "The Prophecies of Merlin, and the Birth of Arthur" by Sir James Knowles; "Merlin" by Beatrice Clay; "The Prophecy of Merlin" by Anne Bannerman; "The Wisdom of Merlyn" by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt; "Wise Merlin's Foolishness" by U. Waldo Cutler; poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson; "The Story of Merlin" by Howard Pyle; "Merlin and Vivien" and "Merlin and the Gleam" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson; "Excalibur" by Sir Thomas Malory; and works by William Wordsworth, Sallie Bridges, George Darley, Geoffrey Junior, Robert Buchanan, and others. From prophecy and kingship to Avalon, Excalibur, Vivien, Arthur, and the long afterlife of British legend, A Book of Merlin offers a substantial gathering for readers of Arthurian literature, folklore, classic fantasy, mythic poetry, and the legendary roots of the modern wizard.
More details
Language
English
Target group
Children/juvenile
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
367 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5154-2172-6 (9781515421726)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
The selections in A Book of Merlin draw on a broad range of writers, poets, scholars, and retellers who helped preserve and reshape the Merlin legend for modern readers. Sir Thomas Malory and Sir James Knowles stand near the centre of the English Arthurian tradition, presenting Merlin within the larger cycle of Arthur, Excalibur, prophecy, kingship, and the Round Table. Howard Pyle brought Arthurian legend to a wide popular readership through vigorous narrative retelling, while Alfred, Lord Tennyson gave the legend some of its most influential poetic form in the nineteenth century.The anthology also includes literary treatments by Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Wordsworth, Anne Bannerman, Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, George Parker Bidder, Beatrice Clay, U. Waldo Cutler, George Darley, Sallie Bridges, Geoffrey Junior, Robert Buchanan, and others. Taken together, these works show Merlin not as a single fixed character, but as a figure continually remade: seer, enchanter, counsellor, poet, trickster, doomed lover, and symbol of the ancient imaginative power behind Arthurian romance. The collection is especially suited to readers interested in Arthurian legend, British folklore, classic fantasy, medieval romance, Victorian poetry, and the literary ancestry of the modern wizard.