Merlin Through The Years

I have no idea who the hell this guy is... but he is wearing a wizard costume!

The Arthurian legend is one of the most recognized and celebrated stories around. It’s been told, retold, and reimagined countless times and, as a result, we’ve been exposed to many different takes on the famed character of Merlin. Some of these renditions have been fairly faithful to what most audiences believe to be the "traditional Merlin”, while others have taken a few creative liberties.

Before we talk about all of that, let's take a look at Merlin himself. The man is, of course, a wizard in the Arthurian universe. “I’m a wizard and that’s fucked up.” There, I did it before any of you could. Merlin comes from Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae. He wove together the stories of Myrddin Wyllt (Merlinus in Latin) and Ambrosius Aurelianus to create Merlin Ambrosius, the child of a human mother and incubus father. Merlin started out as a prophet and Geoffrey was never entirely clear on whether Merlin possessed true magical powers or not. His writings can be interpreted either way. Later writers would expand on Merlin, giving him more of the traits that make him famous today. Robert de Boron presented a more magical Merlin and introduced things like the Round Table, the Sword in the Stone, and the Holy Grail into the Arthurian myth. Later authors would expand on these ideas even further with Malory writing Le Morte d’Arthur (The Death of Arthur) which is perhaps the most well known of all Arthurian tales. Here Arthur becomes what most people know him as... the heart of magic in Camelot. But, enough with the history lesson, let’s take a quick look at the many portrayals of Merlin.

This is still the first image that comes to mind when I think of Merlin.

The Sword in the Stone – The famed animated film by Walt Disney gave many children their first glimpse at Merlin. In this one, Merlin is a mentor figure to a young Arthur (or Wart). He's sporting the long white beard and wizard robes many people associate with the character. He becomes a mentor to Arthur and teaches him through a series of shape-shifting lessons. I think Rorie posted the squirrel scene video from this movie somewhere. Anyway, Robert de Boron actually put a lot of emphasis on Merlin’s ability to shapeshift in his work, so he deserves a little credit for that. All in all, it’s a pretty tame and generic version of Merlin as, in the end, it sets up a version of Camelot that most audiences are familiar with.

Fear my metal helmet of pppooowwwweerrr!

Excalibur – First off, Carl Orff’s “O Fortuna” is badassery at its finest. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, play the clip below:

This version of Merlin is a powerful sorcerer who serves as Uther Pendragon’s advisor. He's a little bit younger than our last one, but still has some years on him. This version of Merlin is also a little bit eccentric and at times over-the-top, see “Behold, the swooooooorrrddd ooofff ppppowwwweeerrr!” In this story, Merlin (Nicol Williamson) obtains the mighty sword Excalibur from the Lady in the Lake and gives it to Uther so he can conquer his enemies. He also casts a powerful spell that lets Uther impregnate the Duke of Cornwall’s wife, Ingrayne, which results in the birth of Arthur. Since the movie isn’t told from Merlin’s perspective, he’s more of a character that appears as needed in the narrative. It kind of gives him more of a loner/outside the realms of normal society personality, which many people enjoyed.

Even in forty years, I doubt this one's capable of growing a beard.

Merlin (TV Series) – So, admittedly I’ve only watched a couple episodes, but this is one of the most popular modern Merlin stories. I couldn’t leave it off the list. It’s also one of the few stories that focuses on Merlin as opposed to the other characters of Arthurian legend. It follows Merlin as a young magician who comes to the Kingdom of Camelot during Uther’s reign. He's tasked with guiding and protecting a young Arthur, but the two don’t hit it off immediately which creates some nice conflict in the series. This version of Merlin, played by Colin Morgan, also tries to hide his powers at times. Like most protagonists, the young Merlin has a good heart and seeks to bring good into the world. Sometimes stories that have been done to death can become interesting again when told from another character’s perspective. This is definitely an example of that. It also shows a trend of Merlin getting younger, rather than older in modern interpretations of the legend.

This is an awesome character portrait.

Camelot – The short lived Starz series. Joseph Fiennes plays a Merlin he describes as “sort of a cross between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Donald Rumsfeld.” Merlin is a political powerhouse in this show. Every single move he makes is a calculated step that needs to be made in order to bring a young Arthur into power. But, this Merlin is more than just some wheeler and dealer. There’s also the warrior monk aspect to the character. Merlin is a fighter more than capable of handling his own. And, in this world, magic has an extremely negative effect on those that use it. At the onset, Merlin has given up using his abilities, even if he loves the power he feels when using them. In my opinion, this version of Merlin was the best aspect of the show. It definitely was a little bit different than the grey-bearded sage we’re used to seeing.

King Arthur – Antoine Fuqua’s film was marketed as “The Untold Story That Inspired The Legend.” As a result, Merlin in this film is a lot less wizard and whole lot more "tribal leader". He's party of a group of native Britons known as the Woads. He doesn't have any real powers, except for the "mysticism" associated with people that are labeled as "pagans" in stories like this. He's more of a freedom fighter and uniting force looking to protect his people from the coming Saxon rule. And while Stephen Dillane sports a nice beard in this one, he's not some broken down old man. Again, younger Merlins seem to be all the rage.

There are countless more versions of Merlin in media, but those are a few of my favorites. What about you? Which Merlins do you prefer?