other knights who had been on like quest would arrive there the same day as himself. And all this came to pass as Merlin had said. Merlin is frequently introduced in the tales of chivalry, but it is chiefly on great occasions, and at a period subsequent to his death, or magical disappearance. In the romantic poems of Italy, and in Spenser, Merlin is chiefly represented as a magical artist. Spenser represents him as the artificer of the impenetrable shield and other armor of Prince Arthur (Faery Queene, Book I. Canto vii.), and of a mirror, in which a damsel viewed her lover's shade. The Fountain of Love, in the Orlando Innamorato, is described as his work; and in the poem of Ariosto we are told of a hall adorned with prophetic paintings, which demons had executed in a single night, under the direction of Merlin. The following legend is from Spenser's Faery Queene (Book III. Canto iii.): CAER-MERDIN, OR CAERMARTHEN (IN WALES), MERLIN'S TOWER, AND THE IMPRISONED FIENDS. Forthwith themselves disguising both, in straunge Of name Caer-Merdin called, they took their way: Whenso he counselled with his sprights encompassed round. And if thou ever happen that same way It is a hideous hollow cave (they say) To enter into that same baleful bower, For fear the cruel fiends should thee unwares devour. But standing high aloft, low lay thine ear, The cause some say is this. A little while In the mean time, through that false lady's train, * Buried under beare. Buried under something which enclosed him like a coffin or bier. CHAPTER IV. ARTHUR. WE shall begin our history of King Arthur by giving those particulars of his life which appear to rest on historical evidence; and then proceed to record those legends concerning him which form the earliest portion of British literature. Arthur was a prince of the tribe of Britons called Silures, whose country was South Wales, the son of Uther, named Pendragon, a title given to an elective sovereign, paramount over the many kings of Britain. He appears to have commenced his martial career about the year 500, and was raised to the Pendragonship about ten years later. He is said to have gained twelve victories over the Sax ons. The most important of them was that of Badon, by some supposed to be Bath, by others Berkshire. This was the last of his battles with the Saxons, and checked their progress so effectually, that Arthur experienced no more annoyance from them, and reigned in peace, until the revolt of his nephew Modred, twenty years later, which led to the fatal battle of Camlan, in Cornwall, in 542. Modred was slain, and Arthur, mortally wounded, was conveyed by sea to Glastonbury, where he died, and was buried. Tradition preserved the memory of the place of his interment within the abbey, as we are told by Giraldus Cambrensis, who was present when the grave was opened by command of Henry II. about 1150, and saw the bones and sword of the monarch, and a leaden cross let into his tombstone, with the inscription in rude Roman letters, “Here lies buried the famous King Arthur, in the island Avalonia." This story has been elegantly versified by Warton. A popular traditional belief was long entertained among the Britons, that Arthur was not dead, but had been carried off to be healed of his wounds in Fairy-land, and that he would re-appear to avenge his countrymen and reinstate them in the sovereignty of Britain. In Warton's Ode a bard relates to King Henry the traditional story of Arthur's death, and closes with these lines. "Yet in vain a paynim foe Armed with fate the mighty blow; O'er the fainting hero threw Her mantle of ambrosial blue, There he reigns a mighty king, His knightly table to restore, And brave the tournaments of yore." After this narration another bard came forward who recited a different story. "When Arthur bowed his haughty crest, Bore him to Joseph's towered fane,* And the long blaze of tapers clear, And deep entombed in holy ground, It must not be concealed, that the very existence * Glastonbury Abbey, said to be founded by Joseph of Arimathea, in a spot anciently called the island or valley of Avalonia. Tennyson, in his Palace of Art, alludes to the legend of Arthur's rescue by the Fairy queen, thus: "Or mythic Uther's deeply wounded son, In some fair space of sloping greens, Lay dozing in the vale of Avalon, And watched by weeping queens." |