I'm hoping to start this work back up in earnest in July, so I am taking the opportunity to do some revision of the complete Book I (of a projected seven), which mostly follows the Prose Merlin and I think holds up pretty well, before moving on to revising and completing Book II (The Swords of Destiny) and finally getting to Book III (The Round Table) in July -- if everything goes as planned.
Book I: The Devil's Son
Chapter 1
In all this realm between heaven and hell is found both shadow and light, which wax and wane like the moon, going in and out like the tide. Ever and anon the devils scheme, and ever and anon grace brings new tidings, and men and women are found to serve the ends of both, until the judgment comes.
In ancient days there was fought a great war, culminating in the siege of a mighty city that ruled the regions west of the Hittite Empire, which had long before been founded by Truwis, and his son Wilus, great men whom the people there believed to be descended from the gods they worshipped. Those lands were known in the West as Troia and Wilusa. The people of that land were defeated by the cunning of their foes; their city, Troia or Troy, splendid beyond imagination, was burned; those of its people who were not slaughtered fled. Among these was a prince named Aineias or Aeneas, whose people settled in a land called Latium; there his son, Ascanius, founded the city of Alba Longa and married a local king's daughter, who soon was with child. As the people in that region of the world were much given to divination, Ascanius paid a diviner to read the lightning and thunder so that the future of the child might be known. The diviner consulted the storm and his books and concluded that the child would be a boy and would kill both his parents. In a rage, Ascanius, thinking that the diviner was seeking to foment sedition, slew the diviner, but when the child was born, his mother died in childbirth. The child was named Brutus, and he grew strong and adventurous. But one day, seeking to refine his skills in archery, at which he excelled, the young man accidentally slew his father with an arrow and was banished from those lands.
Wandering far and valiantly, Brutus gathered around him a band of fellows, also of the lineage of the people of Troia and Wilusa. One night he fell asleep on the porch of a temple to Diana and had a dream of a fair island to the north and west. With his men, through many adventures, in Spain and Gaul and Brittany, he eventually came to the island and settled there. This island was known as Albion, and the followers of Brutus who settled there were known as Bruti, and they were founders of the British nation. Brutus divided the island among his three sons, Locrinus, Albanactus, and Camber, and his chief warrior, Corineus, whom he loved as a brother. To Corineus he gave the southwest, and it became known as Kernow, and later Cornwall. Locrinus received the south and east, which became known as Logres, and Albanactus the north, which became known as Alba, and Camber the west, which became known as Cambria. But Brutus himself settled on the river Tamesas in the southwest, which later became known as the Thames, and the region there was called Trinovant, which some interpret as 'New Troia'. These peoples prospered and grew many and fierce, for they fought among themselves but were protected from the wide world as if their island were a fortress on the sea.
But any fortress may be reached, and there came a time when a great power crossed the sea to the island and conquered the peoples there. These new people were also descended from Aeneas, being themselves Latins from the land of Latin, where Aeneas in his travels had finally come; and their chief city was Roma or Rome Under Julius Caesar the Roman legions seized the island in a mighty grip. The strongest tribe in those days was the people of Trinovant, under the King Cassivelanus. Cassivelanus's father, Lud, had built a mighty fortress on the river Thames, known as Caer Lud, which the Romans called Londinium, and from this base they were able to cause great suffering to the Romans. Nonetheless, Cassivelanus was in a feud with his brother, Mandubracius Androgeus, and when the latter allied himself to the Romans, they defeated Cassivelanus. In thanks, Julius Caesar gave to Mandubracius the responsibility of collecting tribute from the tribes of Logres and Cambria. Caesar returned to Rome, and the Trinovantines grew less, but the tribes had discovered that relations with Rome made them wealthy, and they continued to give tribute in exchange for trade and self-governance, so that under Augustus the tribute received from the region was very great.
Eventually the Romans returned to Britain, and the armies of Vespasian defeated the tribes that allied against them. The most powerful of the tribes in those days were the Cantiaci, and the region they ruled was known as Kent. They set up over Kent a king, named Cogidubnus, who ruled the neighboring Regni tribe and had allied with them. But from those days the Romans themselves took an ever greater share of the rule of the island, eventually setting over it three military governors. The senior of these was known in the island as Dux Britanniorum and his junior governors were known as Comes Britanniorum and Comes Littoris Saxonici per Britannia. The Romans grew weak, however, and eventually a general named Magnus Maximus took the Roman armies in Britain and invaded Rome itself. He became emperor, but the island of Britain was then little defended, and was in great disorder until God had mercy.
The times were very dark and shadowed. Tribe fought against tribe, and brother against brother. Foreign peoples raided the coasts of the land. The greatest scourge of all, however, was the Saxons, for there came a time when a usurping king of Kent, named Vortigern, invited a large band of Saxon mercenaries to settle in his kingdom in order to shore up his support.
As those days drew near, the prince of demons, seeing that the shadow was great upon all lands, and wishing to seize again the world which Christ had saved, took counsel with his demons and determined to bring about the kingdom of Antichrist.
Chapter 2
There was in Brittany, in northern Gaul, in a region near to the forest of Broceliande, which is said to stand on the border of all worlds, a wealthy baron who owned many cattle and whose wife did traffic with the fiends. Upon a day the demons came to her and asked her how he might rule the soul of her husband.
"That is no great mystery," said the woman. "There is nothing on this earth for which he cares more than his wealth. Destroy his cattle and he will surely sin."
Then the devil caused a terrible sickness to fall upon the herds, and men marveled to see the cattle drop dead in the fields. The wealthy baron grew furious and took out his anger on one and all. Then the devil caused another illness to take the baron's horses, and, delighted in the wrath this caused, continued to work to destroy him. In the dark of the night, as everyone was sleeping, he strangled the baron's infant son, and the next day, as all the house was in anguish, he whispered in the ear of the baron's wife until she went out to the barn, where she tied a cord around a beam and the other end around her neck and hanged herself. Then in great grief the wealthy baron grew ill, and in great anger he refused confession, unction, and viaticum, and he died and was delivered unto the lands of hell, leaving behind him three daughters.
But the devils spare nothing that they are able to devour, like wicked men but more so. The fiend turned his thought to the destruction of the three young women. He knew of a young man in town, dissolute in ways and half of the devil's party already, and he whispered in the young man's ears until he came to one of the three sisters and spoke the enticing words that the devil put in his heart, seducing her. Then the devil whispered again in his ear, so that he boasted all over town of his deeds. But soon the matter came to the attention of the magistrates, for in those days in that land it was the law that a woman guilty of fornication should be put to death unless she was a prostitute for hire. Then the young man, fearing that he too would be put to death, fled in cowardice, and the young woman was brought before the bench and condemned to be put to death by being buried alive.
As these things were happening, a hermit in the forest, a young man whose name was Blasius or Blaise, hearing of these things, came to the two sisters who remained. They told him all their tale and then one of the sisters said, "And thus, you see, good sir, that the gods hate us."
But Blaise replied, "There is but one God, and God hates no creature; such things can only be the malice of the devil." Then he advised them to keep themselves free from evil deeds, lest they give an opening to their devour, and to pray that they might be delivered. They did not understand him, and so he taught to them creed and catechism. The elder of the two sisters heard him well, and studied in the Christian way, and learned from him how to love and fear God. Then Blaise, having given much thought to the problem, said to her, "In these matters we are outmatched, but, regardless of the devil's doing, I will not leave you without such help and counsel as I can give."
Then the fiend, ill-pleased, whispered in the ear of a woman in the town, who then came to the younger sister and said, "Does your sister love you as she ought? For a woman such as you, who has seen such hard things, surely deserves more joy than is shown in your face."
And the younger sister said nothing, but on a later day the woman asked her again the same question, and she sighed.
"Alas," she said, "my sister and I used to be quite close, but ever since the death of our father she has given all her time to the holy man, Blaise."
"Ah," said the woman, with the devil in her ear, "I know well what this is about, for a woman who has a man has great joy, and a woman without one has none. One as fair in body and face as you could have any man she pleased."
"How can you speak this way," said the young woman, marveling, "seeing that my sister was killed for such things?"
"But your sister had neither counsel nor friend," said the other woman, "and that is all. Listen to me, and you will have delight without penalty. But mark my words: a woman is made for no other end than to have the fellowship and comfort of a man."
And they spoke no more of these matters that day, but the sister thought of them. After a week she asked the other woman about it again.
"The error your sister made was in taking comfort in only one man," said the woman, "for one man may always leave you. But who does not select one, may have many, and comfort and protection at all times, and wealth in great store; and under the law of this land, one who has many men cannot be put to death." With this and other such things, the townswoman persuaded her, and she began to work for the townswoman by giving herself to many men.
All of this was done in secret, and the eldest sister did not yet know anything of it, but such things cannot be kept secret. The rumors eventually reached her ears, and, confronting her sister, learned that it was true. Then she was greatly grieved and told the tale to Blaise, who was astonished, and said, "The devil is busy about you; may God keep you!"
"May he indeed," said the eldest sister, "but how may I protect myself from so great an adversary?"
The Blaise said, "Pray often during the day. As for the night, we are told that the devil hates light, so look always to have a light when you sleep."
And for two years after, she followed Blaise's advice, and the devil did not approach. But he had not ceased to work for her torment, and he whispered in the ear of her sister, until one day the younger sister came to her and they argued, and the younger sister beat her older sister with her hands in wrath. Afterward, the elder sister fell weeping onto her bed with great anger in her heart, and she did not pray and she did not set a light. Then the devil raped her in the night and by devilish art made her to conceive, although she had been a virgin. And the child in her womb was conceived by the devil with the destiny to be the Antichrist.
And the young women on waking, and realize in horror and distress that she had been raped, prayed to the holy Virgin for aid, looked for the man who had done it. Every door in the house, every window in the house, was locked, and no one could have entered anywhere. Then she went at once to Blaise her confessor, who said, "What is the trouble? For you seem greatly afraid." And she told him all her story and asked for penance.
Blaise listened to her, but could not give credence to what she said, for it was something of which he had never heard. Therefore he said, "How can I give absolution if you will not confess honestly?" But she swore that she spoke the truth, and Blaise, baffled, took thought about what to do. Then finally he said, "Whatever may be the case, the only sin on your part which you have told me is that you let anger master you so as to give the devil entrance, for which your penance for that shall be to avoid meat on Saturdays. I understand nothing of this, but my promise holds; whatsoever the devil may do, I will not fail to give you such help and counsel as I can."
Then she accepted her penance, and he blessed her with holy water, and she went home. But from that time Blaise began to have dreams of death and destruction and entire lands laid waste.
It soon became clear to the people of the town that she was with child, and they asked her who the father was. When she did not know, for she had never known a man, they took her for a fool. Then she went to Blaise again and told him of what had happened, and she was so earnest that he marveled. Then he asked her again to tell her whole story, and he wrote it down, including the day and hour at which everything had occurred, and said, "When the child is born we shall know better the truth of these things. But we must beware, for the law of this land is harsh and unyielding. If you are taken captive by the magistrates, send for me and I will give what help I can."
And in a few weeks, as Blaise had said, the judges brought her before the court to answer. Then Blaise came before the court and argued that she should not be judged at all until the child was delivered. This they agreed, but wished her to be held in a strong tower until that time.
"Then let her have two strong women as companions, to help with the delivery, and that she not be worried with anything until she is strong enough again to go about on her own."
So they took her to the tower. But the town was currently receiving refugees fleeing from wars. Among them was a man gone mad from the evils he had seen and they passed him sitting on the side of the road. When he saw her, he gave a great shout, saying, "Do none of you see? She bears the desolation of all things. She bears the Antichrist." And Blaise would ponder this often in the days to come.
Before the young woman was locked in the tower, he said to her, "Do not be afraid, but trust to God. When the child is born, send for me immediately for baptism."
She then lived in the tower until she delivered a son, and Blaise came. And when he entered the room, the infant, not even a day old, spoke, saying, "And are you not the hermit Blaise who wishes to record great things? I will give you things to record that are surpassingly wonderful." Both Blaise and the mother were greatly afraid, the hairs on their arm and neck rising like that of a small animal in the presence of a wolf. It came to Blaise's thought that if this child was the Antichrist, many would be saved if the child were drowned.
Then Blaise took the child, carrying him down to the river nearby. There he baptized him in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and then prayed, "Lord God, if this child is indeed given a destiny by the devil, I ask that he will by your grace instead undo the devil's work."
And the infant said, "The destiny you ask for me is a lonely prison." But Blaise shushed him and carried him back to the mother, who named the boy Merlin.
Chapter 3
The young woman sought to stay in the tower as long as she could, but in ten months it was clear that her time for judgment drew near. Then she took her child in her arms and wept, saying, "Fair son, alas, our time will soon be over, and I will be put to death for your sake. I do not deserve it, but I have no defense, because only God knows the truth."
Then the child, who had not spoken since his baptism, looked long at her and said, "Mother, you will not die because of me." And she was so startled by his speech that she dropped him and he cried. Then the women attending her came running, and when they heard her story, they tried to get the child to speak, but he continued to cry.
She said to them, "Tell him that I will be burned because of my sins."
And when they did, the child stopped crying and said, "You are lying, and you should repent, for you have more sins than my mother, for you are gossips and rumormongers." Then the women went out and told the story everywhere. The mother of Merlin was summoned before the magistrates, and she asked for Blaise, who came. She came weeping, but the child Merlin was merry and laughing as he came to court. Many people also came, out of curiosity.
"Hush, child," said the women, "for your mother will be put to death for you."
"No one in all the kingdoms of all the world can harm her," he said.
The magistrates then asked the child many questions in private, but he gave no answer, merely laughing at them. And the mother, wearing a smock and a mantle, took the young child in her arms and stood in the court awaiting the word of the judges. They questioned her again and refused to believe her, for no woman can have a child without the fellowship of a man, and they passed the sentence of death and began to debate the means.
But at this, Merlin leaped from his mother's arms, and angrily said to the judges, "Her death is not deserved, for she has done nothing wrong, and if you were to put to death even those in this courtroom who are guilty of adultery and fornication, there would be no end of killings. Ask the hermit Blaise, who is blameless in life and deed, if my mother is innocent."
Then Blaise, astonished, told the whole story as he knew it. Then Merlin said, "You have written the very day and hour of all these things happening; bring it forth." Then Blaise brought his writing forth into evidence. Nonetheless, the judges were reluctant to set her free, for it seemed to strange to them.
Then Merlin in anger said to the chief judge, "I know who my father is better than you know who your father is, and your mother knows better the one who is your father than my mother knows the one who is mine." Then, when the judge called him an insolent child, Merlin continued, "By your laws, your mother deserves death more than my mother, for you were the bastard child of a man with whom your mother committed adultery." And the judge grew very wrathful, and demanded that both mother and child be burned, and the other judges did not say nay.
"You shall accomplish nothing," said Merlin, "for you have no power."
Then Merlin and his mother were set in prison for five days. When they were brought before the judges again, this time for false accusation, the chief judge mocked him, saying, "It seems we do have power over her. Now you must apologize for dishonoring a good woman."
"You are not so wise as you think," said the child. "By law, those accused of false accusation may be allowed a test to prove that it was not false. Bring your mother forth and go with her into the final chamber, and I will take counsel with my mother along with God and the hermit." Then, before the judge could speak, he turned to the crowd gathered, and said, "If I deliver my mother from this judge, will you seek any further harm against her?"
Then the crowd, astonished, shouted, "Nay!" And the judges, taken at surprise, had no choice but to allow the test.
Then in a private chamber, the judge asked his own mother who his father might be, and she replied, "Who else could be your father than the one I have said, my husband, who died so long ago?"
Then Merlin said to her, "You shall tell the truth, and not these lies, for I know that his father is still alive."
And she was abashed, and replied with anger, "Who, then, could it be?"
Then Merlin said, "No sooner had the one who begat this judge lain with you than you, teasing him, said that you were perhaps with child. Then he said you should never give birth to his child, for he feared that you were trying to pass off another man's child as his own, and he set down in writing the day and time for future reference. Is this not true? But if you will not acknowledge it, I have many worse things to say." But she would not acknowledge it, so he continued. "At the time that these things happened, you were estranged from your husband, and so to hide the fact of your adultery, you made peace with him. But you continued to lay with the other man, and you were with him just this past night, and he brough you part of the way here.Is this not true? But if you will not recognize it as true, I have things to say that are even worse."
Then the woman was visibly distraught. Then the judge, seeing this, said, "Mother, whoever my father may be, I am your son, and I will act as your son; only tell me whether what this devil-boy says is true." Then she, weeping, acknowledged it.
Then the judge turned to Merlin and asked who his father was.
"My father is a prince of the powers of the air," said Merlin, "as you yourself have thought, and because of this I know your mother's works, because I can know anything done, anything said, anything that has passed. But the good Lord wished to save me from my mother's true penance and the absolution of this priest by the authority of the Church, and because of this I know not only thins that were but things that shall be. And that you may know this, I tell you that the man with whom your mother has lain will, on hearing this, flee for his life, and the devil, whom he has always served, will lead him to water to be drowned."
Then they came forth from the chamber, and the judge told the people that the child had saved the mother by good argument. Then all things happened afterward as Merlin had said, and the judge marveled.
Blaise wondered at all this, and asked Merlin many questions, until the boy laughed and said, "You may ask and I will answer, but at least believe what I say; for I shall teach you the love of Christ and life everlasting, by stories that you shall remember."
"It seems clear that you are indeed the devil's son," said Blaise, "and thus I worry that you are a deceiver."
"By providence, good and evil are mixed in this world," said Merlin, "light intermingled with shadow, and I am the devil's son by origin, but I am christened, and thus adopted a child of God. The devil purposed that Antichrist should come; but God has set me as a wall to prevent it, for as long as I shall live. By nature I know the designs of the devil; therefore by grace I may prevent them. Grace I have received and shall receive, for my mother is a good woman and sacraments I shall have from you. But you must do something for me."
Then Blaise said, "If it is worthy, I will do it."
Merlin replied, "You must write all that I shall tell you in a book. I shall tell you such things as none others know, and those who read shall learn the ways of God. What I shall do shall surpass the ability of men to believe, and therefore you must testify to it in writing."
"I will gladly write it," said Blaise. "But I adjure you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that you never at any point deceive me, or require of me anything against the laws of God."
"This I promise," said Merlin. "And let us begin it, for it is important for you to know the beginning of what will be done."
Then Blaise gathered his writing materials, and Merlin began. "In the days of Augustus, Jesus Christ was born to the holy Virgin Mary far to the east in the holy country of Judea, which was ruled by Herod as a client of the Romans. Recognizing that his time drew near, he gathered with his disciples in an upper room for Passover meal. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke it, saying, 'This is my body, given to you; do this in memory of me.' Then, taking the cup after the meal, he said, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, as often as you drink of it, in memory of me.' Betrayed by Judas Iscariot into the hands of his enemies, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate and was buried in a tomb provided by a rabbi, named Joseph of Arimathea. Christ rose from the dead, and after his resurrection appeared in a great flash of light to Joseph as he was praying on the sabbath. And Joseph fell to the ground, trembling, but was lifted up.
"'Are you the rabbi Elijah?' he asked.
"But Christ said to him, 'I am not Elijah.' And when Joseph asked him who he then was, Christ replied, 'I am Jesus, whose body you asked of Pilate, whose body you wrapped in clean linen, whose body who laid in your own tomb. Peace to you! I give to you a gift in thanks of your kindness.'
"Then Christ gave to Joseph of Arimathea the cup he had blessed at the supper before his betrayal. He became devout follower of Jesus, and was imprisoned; but the cup of Christ sustained him throughout his imprisonment. Eventually, approaching the end of his life, Joseph gave the cup to his son, also named Joseph, and this Joseph became a companion of St. Aristobulus, who on one of his journeys came to the island of Britain, to a land of apple trees known as Avalon, and there founded a monastery and a shrine for the cup, which became known as the Holy Grail. But the regions all around were heathen, and therefore it was kept in secret from generation to generation."
And he spoke of many more marvels, both things that were and things that were yet to come. Then Merlin said, "This book shall be long in the making, for I have many more things that I must tell you. Men shall seek me out to slay me, but shall not, and you shall go to Avalon, where hides the Holy Grail. And there you shall continue to write the things that I shall bring you."
Chapter 4
In Britain in those days there was a leader among those families of Roman extraction who still lived on the island. His name was Constantine, and he was generally recognized as the Dux Britanniorum, or Duke of Britain. He had three sons: Constans, Ambrosius Aurelianus, and Uther. He also had a steward named Vortigern, a clever man on whom he greatly relied. When he died, the young Constans succeeded his father, but he was still quite young. Therefore the lords and barons chose Vortigern to be his regent, and Vortigern did all his will in the land as if he were himself the Duke. A competent men, he calculated very well how to gain the support of the people. However, the cities and towns soon began to be harried by Saxon raiders, and when Constans came to him begging that Vortigern should defend the Roman people of Britain, Vortigern put him off with delaying words. The young Constans, a valiant young man by then, attempted to organize a defense, but it failed completely, as if the Saxons knew beforehand what he would do, and the people began to grumble against the Duke, saying that if Vortigern had led them, they would not have been defeated. Then the lords and barons, whispering in secret, came to Vortigern and offered to recognize him as Duke of Britain.
But Vortigern was not a fool, and with a pious folding of hands, he replied, "My lords, there is already a Duke, whom you yourselves have set me to serve, and I will serve him with honor and devotion for as long as he shall live. Being a man who respects the law, I would not accept the Duchy from you unless our good Constans had died." The barons knew what he was about, and took thought for how Constans might be killed, for they considered among themselves that those who gave to Vortigern the office of Duke would be forever his friends indeed.
Then twelve of them came together to slay the Duke, and few there were who even resisted them. The blood had not yet dried upon the floor when they came to Vortigern saying, "Duke Constans has died; be now our Duke."
Vortigern, however, knowing well how to gauge the moods of the people, responded to them with simulated anger, saying, "You have done a great evil and violated your oaths; flee now lest the people have you put to death."
The cunning Vortigern then gathered an assembly of the people and told them of all this in fair and seemly words. The people were greatly affected by the tale, so that the remaining lords and barons proposed that Vortigern be made Duke of Britain, and this suggestion was made to joyful acclamation by the people. Thus did Vortigern usurp the office with the support of the barons and the people.
There were two noblemen who watched all these happenings with shrewd eye, the elder of whom was named Kyner or Cunerius. To them had been chiefly entrusted the educations of Ambrosius and Uther, whom they had come to love greatly. They suspected that the two boys were in danger, so as soon as Vortigern was acclaimed Duke they fled with them to Gaul, to a place called Benoit. There Ambrosius and Uther would grow to be strong and valiant young men. There too would Kyner have a son of his own, whom he called Ector.
After Vortigern had seized the Duchy, the slayers of Constans came before him in public and accused him of ingratitude. Vortigern, however, feigned that he had never met them before, and as they had confessed with their own mouths to the slaying, ordered that they be executed by being drawn and quartered.
"For," said Vortigern, "it is not for any of us to lay an unkind hand on those who are our superiors. Nor can any man be trusted who will slay his lord; having done it once you would surely do it again."
The men had many powerful friends, and war broke out. The friends of the executed barons raised a great host, but Vortigern fought with cunning and after some time drove them all from the island. When he had done so, he attempted to consolidate his rule. His means of doing so were so harsh that there were many uprisings against him, some of which were able to gain the support of other tribes in the island. Vortigern, however, responded by making peace with the Saxons and the Jutes, whom he offered lands in Britain and generous mercenary pay as soldiers. The Saxons landed in Britain at the Isle of Thanet, in Kent, which was separated from the main island by a very narrow channel; they came in three ships, and their leaders were named Horsa and Hengist, great warriors among their people. They fought for Vortigern, but the numbers of Vortigern's enemies were multiplying, so Hengist and Horsa sent word to their peoples, speaking in bold terms of the worthlessness of the British and the beauty of their lands. The Saxon host began to swell.
Vortigern then began to be afraid for their strength. He went to the British tribes he had defeated with their help, raising them to fight the Saxons, and he also hired bands of Picts from Alba. They fought well, slaying Horsa in battle, but the Saxons waxed in numbers daily, so that Vortigern had to buy off Hengist with even more land; out of fear, he withdrew northward toward Cambria.
Chapter 5
Vortigern, recognizing that he had lost the love of the people and not trusting the Saxons to be appeased, conceived a plan to build a mighty fortress, a castle that could not be taken. He gathered together all the masons and builders in the land and set them to building a mighty tower. But after the tower had begun to rise, there was a great shaking of the earth and the tower fell down. Vortigern had them rebuild it again, but again it collapsed. Again he had them rebuild it, and yet again it collapsed. Then Vortigern thought to himself that there was some cause of this, and being a clever man knew that if he could discover and remove that cause, he could build his castle. He gathered together the wisest men in the land, but no one could tell him the reason for the tower's falling until he threatened them with death if they did not discover it.
Then they, afraid, took counsel among themselves, saying, "This thing is a great marvel; surely it must be resolved by another great marvel."
But one of them said, "I have heard of no marvel on this order, except stories of a boy, seven years of age, who was born without a human father."
Then the wise men came to Vortigern and said, "Lord, in ancient times people would solve these problems with blood. But a great problem requires a commensurate solution. If you wish your tower to stand, you must place in its foundation the blood of a seven-year-old child without a human father."
Vortigern sent out twelve men to search his realm, two by two, for such a child, to bring back the child's blood. They searched high and low, and it happened one day that two of the pairs met together and journeyed on the road together for a while. They soon came to a town in which many children were playing the fields.
One of these children was Merlin, who at that time was seven years old. Merlin's mother and Blaise had deemed it wise to move from Brittany because of the attention that Merlin drew; however wise he might be, the child was prone to mischief. He delighted in illusion and trick, and loved to startle people and make them marvel. Thus they had crossed the water and come to Britain.
Seeing the four knights approach and knowing immediately their aim, Merlin took a stick in his hand and, going up to the child who was closest to them, hit the child on the shoulder, knocking him to the ground, and ran away. The child Merlin had hit began to cry and called him many names, saying among other things that he was misbegotten and fatherless. This caught the attention of the knights and they asked the weeping boy who had hit him. He told them what he knew, which was only that nobody knew who Merlin's father was.
Then Merlin came running up again, laughing, and said, "I am the child you seek, whose blood you are to bring Vortigern."
"Then you must come with us," they said.
"No," said Merlin, "for you might well kill me. But if you will give me your word that you will instead take me to Vortigern, I will tell him the true reason why his tower falls whenever he tries to build it. Let me only take leave of my mother and my teacher." To this they agreed, and Merlin brought them to his house to be fed, and had them tell all the story to Blaise.
As they set out to see Vortigern, Blaise offered Merlin to go with him for safety's sake, but Merlin said, "This is not the best way. Instead, look to find a land north of the River Humber, and I will meet you again there. Do not fear for my sake. This petty chieftain has no power over me, for I am destined to raise up the greatest of all the kings of Britain."
And Merlin said to his mother, "Fair mother, I commend you to Christ, for I am summoned to court and must leave you. And I fear our teacher Blaise must also leave you."
"Fair son," she replied, "surely it would be better if Blaise would stay."
"Alas, no," he said. "It would be much worse; he must go." She knew him well enough to see that he was earnest, so she asked no more questions, giving her leave. Thus Merlin and Blaise both set out, but they went separate ways.
Chapter 6
As Merlin journeyed on the road with the four knights, they overtook a peasant with his cart, and on seeing it, Merlin laughed. When they asked why the boy laughed, he replied, "I laugh because it is funny. This man has bought new shoes, and takes such great pains with his cart, but he will be dead before he reaches home and, although he will wear the shoes, he will wear them not on his feet but on his neck."
The four knights wondered at this, and decided to test it; two followed the carl as he turned down a different road and two remained with Merlin. The two who followed the peasant had hardly done gone half a mile when they found him dead on the road. His cart had been ransacked and his new shoes were hung around his neck, for he had been strangled with the leather thongs used to tie them up. They swiftly rode back to their companions and told what they had seen.
Then one of the knights, a young half-Saxon warrior whose name was Ulf or Ulfius, said, "Surely the men who recommended that this child be slain were not wise, but great fools."
He said this quietly to his companions so that Merlin might hear, but Merlin said, "I thank you, Ulfius, for your good will. Because of it, you shall play a greater part in these matters than you know. You have seen the beginning of great things, and you will see their end."
Some time later, they came across a funeral procession carrying a dead child to church to be buried in the cemetery. Priests went before it singing psalms, and the people who followed it wept with sorrow. When Merlin saw the funeral, he laughed again and said to his companions, "This is truly a wonder."
"What do you mean?" asked Ulfius.
"Do you see the man who follows behind the bier, weeping that he has lost his son?"
"Yes," they said.
"Do you see the priest at the head of the procession?"
"Yes," they said.
"Then know this. The child was not the son of the weeping man but of the singing priest. Go to the mother and ask her why she weeps. When she says that she does so for her son, tell her that it is not her son but the son of the priest, and hear what she has to say."
Two of the knights took the woman aside and did as Merlin had said to do, and the woman, frightened, begged them not to tell her husband of it. They went back and reported the result, and the four knights were astonished.
So they came to Vortigern. Then two of the knights said, "We will go before you to inform Vortigern that we have brought you; but Vortigern had commanded that we bring back your blood, and he may not take it well that we have brought you back alive. We beg you, give us counsel as to what we may say to him."
Merlin replied, "Speak as I tell you and you need have no fear. Tell him that you have found me, but that I claim to know the true reason why his tower falls, and more than that, show him how to make it stand enduringly. Moreover, I shall tell him the true motive of his wise men, who are lying."
The knights then did all that he asked and, returning, brought him to Vortigern. For Vortigern, being a man of schemes, easily believed that others were scheming against him, and, being a cunning man, was forever afraid that others might make a fool of him, and would not put Merlin to death before he had heard what he had to say.
Then Merlin said to Vortigern, "If you give me leave to speak to the wise men, I will show you the truth so that it cannot be doubted."
"If you do as you say," said Vortigern, "I give them to your power; you may do as you wish with them."
Then Merlin spoke to the wise men, asking them why the tower fell.
"We cannot say why the tower fell; we can only tell by divination what will secure it," they said.
But Merlin said, "You think to make the Duke a fool. You knew that you had no answer and that if you did not provide one, he would kill you. You thought instead to delay him, and hoped that I might kill him to prevent him from killing me."
Vortigern, watching all the wise men closely, could tell from their reactions that what Merlin said was true. "Then what is the reason for the falling of the tower?"
"Sir," said Merlin, "beneath the earth here there is a great mass of water and in the darkness beneath it are two great stones. Beneath the stones are two dragons. One is white, the other is red. As you build the tower, it presses downward into the earth, and the stones begin to weigh heavily on the dragons, at which they rise up against the stones, creating a wave in the water and shaking the earth until the tower falls."
"This seems unlikely," said Vortigern drily.
"You may see it for yourself," said Merlin, laughing. "Bring forth your laborers and let them dig deeply."
Then there was a great earth-working, and soon enough the laborers came to the water and could not dig farther. Vortigern was astonished and asked how the water was to be moved.
The child replied, "Make deep ditches all around and draw it off by gutter." And he drew on the ground to show them how this was best done.
They followed the child's plan, and as the water ran out, Merlin said, "When the dragons are uncovered, they will fight a great battle and one will slay the other. For safety's sake, bring your men, and summon people from all over your realm to come. Many should see this wonder, for it is a sign of great things."
Thus Vortigern did, and as the water was drained, they saw the stones.
"We shall solve the problem of the dragons easily," said Merlin. "As soon as they feel each other, the two great worms will fight until one dies."
"Which shall slay the other?" asked Vortigern.
"This is a great secret," said Merlin, "but in secret I will tell you and the four knights who brought me to you." When Vortigern had withdrawn with the four knights and Merlin to a private chamber, Merlin continued, saying, "That you may know that all that I say is the truth, know that the white worm will slay the red worm, but shall be gravely wounded. As for the rest, it must be seen."
Then they pulled up the stones in the early morning, and the people saw the dragons and were afraid, because they seemed fierce and deadly. The dragons sprang up and fought together tooth and claw, scraping and biting in a great noise, until midday. At that time, it seemed that perhaps the red dragon would win, but the white breathed out such a terror flame that the red dragon, screaming, was burned up. The white dragon lay down to rest, but its wounds were so terrible that it died within three days.
"Now you may build your tower, for only the dragons could topple it," said Merlin.
"Tell me the meaning of all this," Vortigern said.
"I will gladly do so, if you honor your promise to give the wise men into my power, and further promise your protection of me before all the people, and guarantee me that no one shall do me harm throughout your realm."
When Vortigern had done this, Merlin pardoned the wise men who had sought his death, on condition that they would do penance for it, and said to all who were assembled, "Hear now the meaning of the dragons. You, O Duke, are the red dragon, and the sons of Constans are the white dragon. You have taken their heritage wrongfully, and thus one of you, the red or the white, must die. You seem to have the upper hand, but by their power they shall burn you. Your tower shall not be finished before you fall."
Then Vortigern was afraid and, being afraid, grew angry. "Where are these children now?"
And Merlin said, "They are even now at sea, with a great host. They will arrive in vengeance within three months."
to be continued
