Merlin is probably most widely known as the wizard who taught King Arthur and enabled him to obtain the famous sword Excalibur, but there is much more to him, he is a man of mystery and magic, revered by some, opposed and denigrated by others.

His name first appears in the writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae, written circa 1136. Monmouth may have based his character on Aurelius Ambrosius, a war hero fighting the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century. The description of Merlin and his life is later taken up again by the poet Robert de Boron, who adds more information about Merlin the man, mentioning his ability to change his shape, describing him as jovial and referring to his connection to the Holy Grail at a time when he was closely associated with King Arthur.

Amongst wizards and warlocks, Merlin has always been the supreme one, a legend to all other magical beings – witches and faeries, trolls, hobbits, dwarves and others.

His arch enemy and bete noir had been (and still is) the cruel sorceress Morgan le Fay, a woman of amazing beauty but of evil disposition, with a desire to dominate. The two are eternally at odds with each other – she is driven by the wish to vanquish and defeat, he is a man of warmth and kindness, who lives by the motto “Do no harm”.

It has been variously, and always erroneously, reported, that Merlin is dead: one story tells that a spell was cast over him so that he could not escape from a tomb, another version puts him into a cave, yet others onto a rock, into an invisible tower or into a tree.

Closest to the truth comes a Breton legend, which tells that Merlin climbed the World Tree and did not return to the mortal world. Hundreds of years ago he did climb this magic tree, retreating from an uncaring, violent and aggressive world, where humans did not tolerate magic and tried to eradicate all signs of it. His departure was also due to a rather embarrassing, self-created problem, to which even he did not have the solution. The World Tree was therefore Merlin’s place of meditation, his refuge and sanctuary.

Until – well, until such time as it was necessary for him to return to the world to help solve a problem. Even though his powers are diminished, the magic community looks to him to guide and support them in their dire need.