Myrddin Wyllt

Myrddin Wyllt Poems

Myrddin Wyllt Biography

Myrddin Wyllt ( Merlinus Caledonensis or Merlin Sylvestris (c. 540 - c. 584) is a figure in medieval Welsh legend, known as a prophet and a madman. He is the most important prototype for the modern composite image of Merlin, the wizard from Arthurian legend. Myrddin Wyllt appears to have been a historical person living in late 6th century Britain, possibly identical to the individual also known as Lailoken. He was probably born sometime around or in AD 540, and is said to have had a twin sister called Gwendydd or Gwenddydd. Myrddin Wyllt is said to have gone mad after a battle at Arthuret between the Christian victor Rhydderch Hael or Riderch I of Alt Clut and the Pagan Gwenddoleu in AD 573. He fled into the forest and lived with the animals. There he is said to have found his gift of prophecy. Myrddin reportedly prophesied his own death, which would happen by falling, stabbing, and drowning. This was fulfilled when a gang of jeering shepherds drove him off a cliff, where he was impaled on a stake left by fishermen, and died with his head below water. His grave is reputed to lie near the River Tweed in the village of Drumelzier near Selkirk, although nothing remains above ground level at the site. The earliest (pre-12th century) Welsh poems that concern the Myrddin legend present him as a madman living a wretched existence in the Caledonian Forest. There he ruminates on his former existence and the disaster that brought him low: the death of his lord Gwenddoleu, whom he served as bard. The allusions in these poems serve to sketch out the events of the Battle of Arfderydd, where Riderch Hael, King of Alt Clut (Strathclyde) slaughtered the forces of Gwenddoleu, and Myrddin went mad watching this defeat. The Annales Cambriae date this battle to AD 572, and name Gwenddoleu's adversaries as the sons of Eliffer, presumably Gwrgi and Peredur. A version of this legend is preserved in a late fifteenth-century manuscript in a story called Lailoken and Kentigern, which probably happened in August 584, after Myrddin, also known as Lailoken, had finished writing his prophecies in July of that year. In this narrative, St. Kentigern meets in a deserted place with a naked, hairy madman who is called Lailoken, although said by some to be called Merlynum or Merlin, who declares that he has been condemned for his sins to wander in the company of beasts. He adds that he had been the cause for the deaths of all of the persons killed in the battle fought on the plain between Liddel and Carwannok. Having told his story, the madman leaps up and flees from the presence of the saint back into the wilderness. He appears several times more in the narrative until at last asking St. Kentigern for the Sacrament, prophesying that he was about to die a triple death. After some hesitation, the saint grants the madman's wish, and later that day the shepherds of King Meldred capture him, beat him with clubs, then cast him into the river Tweed where his body is pierced by a stake, thus fulfilling his prophecy. Welsh literature has examples of a prophetic literature, predicting the military victory of all of the Celtic peoples of Great Britain who will join together and drive the English – and later the Normans also – back into the sea. Some of these works were presented as prophecies of Myrddin; while others such as the Armes Prydein were not.)

The Best Poem Of Myrddin Wyllt

Dialogue Of Myrddin And Taliesin

Myrddin:

How sad with me, how said,
Cedfyl and Cadfan are fallen!
The slaughter was terrible,
Shields shattered and bloody.


Taliesin:

I saw Maelgwn battling-
The host acclaimed him.


Myrddin:

Before two men in battles they gather
Before Erith and Gwrith on pale horses.
Slender bay mounts will they bring
Soon will come the host of Elgan.
Alas for his death, after a great joy!


Taliesin:

Gap-toothed Rhys, his shield a span-
To him came battle's blessing.
Cyndur has fallen, deplorable beyond measure
Generous men have been slain-
Three notable men, greatly esteemed by Elgan.


Myrddin:

Again and again, in great throngs they came,
There came Bran and Melgan to meet me.
At the last, they slew Dyel,
The son of Erbin, with all his men.


Taliesin:

Swifly came Maelgwn's men,
Warriors ready for battle, for slaughter armed.
For this battle, Arderydd, they have made
A lifetime of preparation.


Myrddin:

A host of spears fly high, drawing blood.
From a host of vigorous warriors-
A host, fleeing; a host, wounded-
A host, bloody, retreating.


Taliesin:

The seven sons of Eilfer, seven heroes,
Will fail to avoid seven spears in the battle.


Myrddin:

Seven fires, seven armies,
Cynelyn in every seventh place.


Taliesin:

Seven spears, seven rivers of blood
From seven chieftains, fallen.


Myrddin:

Seven score heroes, maddened by battle,
To the forest of Celyddon they fled.
Since I Myrddin, am second only to Taliesin,
Let my words be heard as truth.

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