Quick tip when pronouncing anything Welsh, a double d, so DD actually makes a sort of “dth” sound. So “Myrddin” or “Gododdin” should sound like “Myrdthin” and “Gododthin”. For anyone who’s played Elden Ring, this is why characters pronounce Blaidd the Half-wolf’s name like “Blaidth”.
Great comment! My favorite books growing up were the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander, which are retelling of Welsh mythologies. It's a real shame that English rule of the British isles has resulted in the decimation of the other cultures that inhabit it
@@jackievanhelen True. I'm 34 and only now getting to really learn Welsh as, as recently as the 1990s, my mother was spat on for speaking it in public. Edit: You might really enjoy Sharon Penman's Here Be Dragons trilogy (historical semi-fiction), and Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle (King Arthur retold)
Hey! As someone who only knew Welsh was a thing when my last boss got offended when I called him English or British.. I can say.. Interesting but also, who cares?
I live in a town called Marlborough in Wiltshire, England and the local folklore here is that Marlborough translates to Merlin's Town and that his final resting place is here in town in the form of a large man-made iron age mound ! Very cool to think about tho I'm sure there's very little basis
@@HollowR6S well it's not open to the public but I've been to the top and unfortunately the centre of it has been filled with concrete for some reason, not sure how deep. It may be due to a risk of collapse or drainage idk.
I’m very sick I have a flu that’s killing me however this video nursed me to health and I now bench 350 on an off day and I’ve been inducted into Mensa I got a full ride scholarship to MIT
I was about to be like “that don’t make no sense,” but then I realized that he has achieved the ultimate goal of every essayist, regardless of subject. Becoming a sword seller.
Your essays are prefect The tone and pacing - both written and spoken - are ideal. The way they flow with the images is flawless I can't imagine a more thoroughly crafted work
This is genuinely one of the best channels on RU-vid. You are so well researched and your calm yet deliberate delivery as well the eye catching visuals and editing make every video a fascinating dive into a decidedly niche topic
I think it was very appropriate that you contextualized the shift in Merlin's moral presentation within the shift in the moral representation of magic in Europe. That kinda makes questions about the historical person more interesting since the legends about him had to be continually recontextualized in that way instead of retaining a straight-forward, easily communicable narrative.
"Are you sitting comfortably?"...A fleet of golden galleons, on a crystal sea. Are you sitting comfortably? Let Merlin cast his spell. Ride along the winds of time and see where we have been, The glorious age of Camelot, when Guinevere was Queen. It all unfolds before your eyes, As Merlin cast his spell. The seven wonders of the world he'll lay before your feet, In a far-off lands, on distant shores, so many friends to meet. Are you sitting comfortably? Let Merlin cast his spell... From the song "Are you sitting comfortably", written by Ray Thomas and recorded by the Moody Blues off their fourth album 'On the Threshold of a Dream', recorded in April of 1969. This was the Moody Blues first Number One Album in the United Kingdom. 🧙(This was a great video, and a great video needs a great narrator, and your voice more than meets that standard.🙏)
Yo horses, I doubt you’ll see this. But I really think you should make Joan of arc video. Would love for you to give your own breakdown video on her history
I was just talking to my brother about Merlin as he appears in my favorite book series by C.S. Lewis, the Space Trilogy, in the final book, That Hideous Strength. And this pops up, so thank you device that listens. Gonna have to start video over now, was typing and not listening. My bad. Peace!
I realize there's not much chance you'll be able to redo your entire voiceover, but I just started watching this and wanted to give a heads-up that the DD in Welsh is pronounced "TH" and not as a "D" and likewise "dw" is "Doo." Enjoy your content very much regardless!
@@dorkbaitart I think the big issue here is that too many languages use the same alphabet, so words from completely different languages are taken as is without much adaptation of spelling. The result is the lack of consistent rules. There's a whole competition over spelling words.
Oh Exciting new Horses❣️ AND it's about MERLIN, Bless your heart, Michael. Loving this beautiful content You make, Wonderful Wonderful ART❣️ THANK YOU ❣️
I'm honestly of the opinion that this Myrddin character was likely a real person who, after suffering a severe mental break from war trauma, had a profound mystical experience that led him to develop a strong affinity with the magical traditions of the Druids who likely took him in during his state of madness. From there, he became a sort of half-mad evangelist for the ways of the Druids that may or may not have been in line with what the actual Druids believed. As a result, we got things like the Black Book of Carmarthen that remembered his ramblings as poetic mystical truths and a number of oral legends of a half-crazy person who knew a lot of inexplicable things. These would naturally combine into a lore system that would have been rather hot to handle in an early Christian context where this figure has been long revered for reasons antithetical to the new Christian values. Geoffrey of Monmouth, therefore, would have been embarking on a pretty spicy literary endeavor that may have had some fairly powerful backing.
Tip: Always check the pronunciation of words not English in origin, most Wikipedia articles spell out the title in the international phonetic alphabet in the very first sentence...
Love all the Caldwell, Easley and Parkinson paintings. Very fitting that a documentary about the Father of all Modern Wizards contain countless visuals from the tabletop RPG that allowed so many of us to embody the trope that a singular mythical figure managed to capture and beguile the hearts and minds of people for centuries to come. Awesome, 👏🏽
I think we can all agree the best version of all time was in The Sword in the Stone by Disney lol But for real though that was one of my favorite movies growing up. I still love it. I didn’t realize it was it was made in 1963 until I just looked it up. The animation they were able to do back then never ceases to amaze me. Very good video as always! I had never heard this kind of deep dive on this character before. I love the way you cover these topics. No matter what it is I always learn something new while watching you. Great work! 💜
You are such an amazing storyteller from the tome of your voice and how you pace the way you tell your tale Even though I may not be interested at the subject matter,I get enraptured into the video anyways because of how you present it
There may have never been an "historical Merlin" but someone, at some point, definitely believed that someone else, at some earlier point, definitely believed that Merlin actually existed.
My god when I seen the notification for a new drop It made my heart flutter.❤ these videos come in so fucking clutch man, please don’t ever stop, keep Up the great work 🎉 happy new year as well.
I found this channel about a year ago. didn't check on it for the last few month and suddenly he is selling a sword in his merch store?! Can you make a 2 hour video essay on how that came to be?
The way Mallory has the characters just ignore Merlin's prophecies and advice really makes him seem like he's just a rambling old man. "There's going to be a great battle!" "Sure, gramps. So, annyway--"
I love old Arthurian legends and contemplating where fact may have intersected with fiction. I would love more artistic and vague movies like The Green Knight adapted from these stories, especially a Merlin centric one.
Hoping i can maybe add-in some stuff the internet doesn't have: Maerlyn (Maerthyn) was a Bard, the top-end of Classical Druidic practice. The Druids were of all Tribes in a geographical area, but above them all. Druidry as an aboriginal practice was far smarter than we give it credit for, bringing me to the other obvious protagonist; the Romans. The Romans famously went fully after the Druids because Julius Caesar and the Gauls; you can read about this in the odious words of Caesar himself if you want to. Chased the Druids all the way to Britain, didn't get to murder them all. Even after centuries in Britain, the Druidic tendency of the native aboriginal Briton people could not be extinguished, eventually giving us Arthur and his cycle of legends. From "Wales." Merlin's an amalgamation of other, older things. On the one hand, he's Maith Maithonwy and Gwidion; you saw how he takes counsel with Taleisin, the God of Bards. He adds native cred to what Arthur was doing during his Dark Age period; defending the land and the people against the latest set of invaders: the Saxons. This is why he's At All Turns In the Path, gifted with Prophecy but letting Arthur or whoever Choose Their Own Adventure. See, according to Classical Druidry, YOU can see "the Future" but you can't tell nobody when it matters. Sick Cosmic Joke territory. In order for Arthur to Be and to do what Arthur's legends say he did, a representative of the Ancient Spirit of Britain etc. had to (literally) wave a magic stick over Arthur and what he represented at the time: the Old Order, blood and Tradition. Excalibur, given by the Goddess Danu of the Waters (the monks didn't record the Mother Ancestor of all "Keltoi" by name or correctly) as Arthur's badge of Favor or the other story of magic sword from a stone/anvil (indicative of the land and soil connection) both are disclosed by Maerlyn the Seer. Either telling of the story, the High Bard is right there. You pointed out that the degen christian monks at the time, recording "oddities" of the regions they lived in christianized freaking everything. You can but only understate that. Arthur and Merlin are from my Ancestors' part of the world. We do not even have the ability to conceive of the headspace of our Ancestors, the way even in which we perceive "Reality" compared to them has no equivalence. Seriously. Please do not skip about the Headspace or it'll always just be carved rocks. So, deliberate Stories with/about Maerlyn and Arthur and their whole gang can be perennial, eternal. Maybe it's called the "Dark Ages" to hide a bunch of stuff. More'n you're supposed to be able to imagine. Maerlyn was an elected Druid of the Old Ways, probably born to some random family of one of the numerous clans/tribes in Britain. He would have had to demonstrate...aptitude in whatever tests they did with kids back then to snatch up Initiates or Novices. Only more over the 51% line that scientifically brackets randomness. See Also: Nepali/Tibetan Monk selection. To show it's not localized in time or place. The Tale of Arthur's a bunch of tangle. Roman scum were abandoned to the incoming Frisians. The native Britons were conditioned to depend on the red Roman standard but then...is where the Arthur legend is from. Whole thing is DOOM YOU CAN SEE COMING and Yesterday. Legends of my People.
Yeah I'm "neopagan" "reconstructionist" etc. Maybe as you gawk at me I wonder about you. Ready to swallow anything offered without even looking at it. No context. No "How'd This Become That." Certain you spent >90s and nailed your life's attainment for the next 90s< On your fucking "phone." I had and paid for a phone. You got...something else.
Taking an Adderall a few drinks and listening to this is an uniquely blissful experience! Im currently cleaning the house instead of packing for a relatively cross the world trip. Whether my definition of across the world can be invariably inadequate to ones perception of globe trotting, thus it can be debated, wary of this period though i may be, I seek to travel as far as i can in my meager span of life, though I am afraid this will only be my first of many expeditions to come. Now, to the moral of the story, Adderall is goated, and I'm leaving for brazil in the a.m., and I'm flipping hyped!
Also, my bad for not subscribing sooner, I love the narrations, especially the guy who tried to cross the world on his boat whilst lying all the while about his charts and location.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Universe! I just watched 'Merlin' last night. No joke. Gonna finish watching now, I'll be back😁 Merlin was always searching for ONE GENUINELY, GOOD MAN. Which falls in line with God asking to "find one good man" to save the whole. Through my journeys of Merlin, this resemblance keeps lingering in my mind. Which oddly, is so very convenient for our current times🕯 Can't wait for your next work of art💠
Are you able to provide artist names for the art used in this video? Even some would be better than none. Also could you provide a source for the film footage used?
Great video! I’m curious about any lore of Merlin as a Druid. He’s been portrayed as such in fiction and I wonder how Druidism and “wizardry” overlap. Thoughts?
