I have loved King Arthur tales since I was a small child, and as I grew older I became somewhat obsessed with the Matter of Britain. By far my favorite Arthurian author is Mary Stewart, whose first person account of Merlin' childhood, The Crystal Cave was a wonder. I have reread her works many times over the years, always finding new delights and insights.
English author Mary Stewart has
written over a score of novels, many of them romance or mystery books, but she
is best known for her magnum opus, the Merlin Trilogy, comprising The Crystal
Cave (1970), The Hollow Hills (1973), and The
Last Enchantment (1979). Armed with exhaustive research and a
vivid imagination she broke through the extremely crowded field of Arthurian
fiction with a series that ranks as among the very best, indeed possibly the
best, modern work in that field.
The conceit of Stewart’s work is
that she takes Merlin, the perennial background character and plot device of
Arthurian legend and transforms him into a dynamic and fascinating leading man.
Her research is thorough, and she traces the threads of Merlin’s story through
myth and legend while placing
him firmly within the context of the post-Roman
Northern European world. Specifically, she shows an understanding of the
historical phenomenon of the ‘holy man’ or ‘holy hermit’ that allows her to
create a believable, approachable Merlin, beginning with his youth in Wales and
closing with his slow fade into obscurity at the height of Arthur’s
reign. All narrated by the ancient wizard himself, to an unknown listener
(a precursor, if you will, of the modern "documentary" sitcom style
found in shows like The Office or Modern Family).
In fact her use of
the ‘holy hermit’ really struck me when I first began to study the history of
Late Antiquity under Dr Gregory at Ohio State in the early 1990s. When
reading "The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity"
(1971) by Peter Brown I immediately noticed was how well Merlin in Stewart's
trilogy fit the mold. I don't believe Brown influenced Stewart;
The
Crystal Cave was out in 1970 after all! But I do think she
tapped into the same sources and threads in the jumbled, chaotic, partially
destroyed records of late Antiquity that Brown was using as a historian.
Or perhaps as I slowly transformed theologically from a fairly conservative,
orthodox Roman Catholic into a broad minded theist I was exceptionally
sensitive to the comparison. I know my primary attraction to Late Antiquity was
the holiness that I sensed in the tales from that period. This is a
typically long-winded way of saying that as I get older, I recognize Stewart’s
Arthurian novels as some of the works that shaped me theologically. (Susan
Cooper's The Dark is Rising series was also influential.)
In The Crystal Cave the
story of Merlin’s origin and early life is told, as Britain suffers from Rome’s abandonment, treacherously weak kings, and the onslaughts of Saxon
invaders. Each of the famous legends of Merlin’s childhood life are
addressed and explained in a highly plausible manner, and life in 5th century
Britain is depicted vividly. But at its heart this is a bildungsroman,
or ‘coming of age’ story
and the supernal maturity and knowledge of Merlin does
not lessen its impact.
The Hollow Hills presents the story of Arthur’s rise to power, from
Merlin’s point of view. Again the legendary events are followed and explained,
and Stewart takes great care in presenting a believable ‘historical’ foundation
for the legends. It is quite clear how much fatherly love Merlin has for
Arthur, an aspect of the story that I find touches me more now that I am a
father myself than it did when I first read these books years ago. The
great battles and politics that mark the opening of Arthur’s reign create a
dramatic, compelling story and Merlin is the perfect guide to these events.
In
The Last Enchantment we
see the coming of Mordred and Merlin’s fading finale. Ironically, the closer
Merlin the narrator gets to his present situation the less clear the story
becomes. In this later reign Merlin has truly stepped to the side of most
events, and the climatic battles and bright hopes of the earlier volumes have
been replaced by the sedate meditations of age and the final follies of one’s
antiquity. Stewart grants Merlin a measure of dignity in his downfall that
is sadly missing from so many Arthurian tales, and also removes the taint of
misogyny from Nimüe’s role. The volume is bitter-sweet, of course, and
does not follow Arthur’s tale to its own conclusion.
In a fourth book, The Wicked Day, Stewart brings that portion of the tale to a close. It suffers from the loss of Merlin; he's an excellent narrator and such greatcompany for the
reader. Mordred narrates
The Wicked Day and he is less
enjoyable, in part because he keeps part of himself hidden from the reader as
he narrates, Merlin might as well but is less obvious. This hidden aspect of
Mordred is necessary for the story, but it leaves the reader, accustomed to intimately knowing the narrator, somewhat bereft.
The last of her Arthurian works is
The Prince and the Pilgrim. Certainly not to the same level as the earlier works, it feels far more like a romance, in the modern sense. It is a pleasant read about two minor characters from the Matter of Britain, but it seemed a bit rushed. Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable, self-contained story from the period. I wish she had written more on the Grail Quest, she seemed to set it up in the earlier books but left that story untold. A pity.
For gamers, like myself, these books
provide excellent examples of royal politics and dynastic quarrels as well an
excellent view of Britain in the 5th century, a historical period perfect for
an RPG campaign. Merlin himself serves as an excellent template for a
mystic, mage, or even a certain type of priest character. But perhaps the
most useful aspect for typical fantasy game-masters is the explanations later
pagan religious beliefs and rituals. In the modern world, surrounded by
the dominant monotheistic religions it is difficult for us to imagine living in
the sort of polytheistic and poly-religious culture of the typical fantasy
campaign. 5th century Britain was such a culture, and as imagined by
Stewart and presented through the eyes of the wise man Merlin the game-master
has an excellent example to follow while depicting his own polytheistic
cultures.
Stewart’s prose is detailed yet
never boring, and she is often extremely moving. Merlin leaps to life
under her skilled pen. She has just the right blend of history and
legend, and creates a masterful portrait of the ‘Matter of Britain,’ the tale
of Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot. If you love Arthurian tales, or just
enjoy solid fantasy or historical fiction, immerse yourself in these tales and
you won’t be disappointed.
All views in this blog are my own
and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.
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