View source for Merlin

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[[File:Merlin (illustration from middle ages).jpg|right|thumb|250px|Merlin]]
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'''Merlin''' is a [[legend]]ary character. He is best known as the [[Magician|wizard]] in the [[King Arthur|Arthurian legends]]. He was King Arthur's guide. Merlin is always a mysterious figure. He rarely gives his reasons for the things he does.  Merlin was probably first written about in [[Wales|Welsh]] [[legend]]. His story is based on parts of several different real and fictional characters. Merlin is usually said to be one with nature, being the source of his enormous power. The Lady of the Lake enchanted him.

== Merlin Media ==
<gallery widths='160px' heights='100%' mode='traditional' caption=''>
File:Nuremberg chronicles f 138r 5.jpg|{{lang|la|italic=no|Merlinus}} (Merlin) in the ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' (1493)

File:Merlin and the Knight.png|An illustration of Merlin as a druid in ''The Rose'' (1848)

File:Merlin by Louis Rhead.jpg|''Merlin, the Enchanter'' by [[Louis Rhead]] (1923)

File:Beguiling of Merlin.jpg|[[Lady of the Lake]] in ''[[The Beguiling of Merlin]]'' by [[Edward Burne-Jones]] (1874). The depicted episode in its various tellings became a major inspiration for [[Romanticism|Romantic]] authors and artists of the late 19th century.

File:Bradamante at Merlin's Tomb by Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard, High Museum of Art.jpg|''Bradamante at Merlin's Tomb'' by [[Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard]] (1820)

File:Stamp British Honduras 1948 5c.jpg|[[HMS Merlin (1796)|HMS ''Merlin'' (1796)]] on a 1948 stamp
</gallery>
== Other websites ==
*{{wikiquote-inline}} 
*{{Commons category-inline|Merlin (legendary figure)}}
*{{Wikisource-inline}}

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[[Category:Arthurian legend]]
[[Category:Characters in written fiction]]