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Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae'', written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures. Geoffrey combined existing stories of Myrddin Wyllt (Merlinus Caledonensis), a North Brythonic prophet and madman with no connection to King Arthur, with tales of the Romano-British war leader Ambrosius Aurelianus to form the composite figure he called Merlin Ambrosius ((ウェールズ語:Myrddin Emrys)). He is allegedly buried in the Broceliande forest, near Paimpont in Brittany. Geoffrey's rendering of the character was immediately popular, especially in Wales.〔Lloyd-Morgan, Ceridwen. "Narratives and Non-Narrtives: Aspects of Welsh Arthurian Tradition." ''Arthurian Literature''. 21. (2004): 115–136.〕 Later writers expanded the account to produce a fuller image of the wizard. Merlin's traditional biography casts him as a cambion: born of a mortal woman, sired by an incubus, the non-human from whom he inherits his supernatural powers and abilities.〔Katharine Mary Briggs (1976). ''An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures'', p.440. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-73467-X〕 The name of Merlin's mother is not usually stated but is given as Adhan in the oldest version of the Prose Brut.〔''Bibliographical Bulletin of the Arthurian Society'' Vol LIX (2007) p 108, item 302〕 Merlin matures to an ascendant sagehood and engineers the birth of Arthur through magic and intrigue. Later authors have Merlin serve as the king's advisor until he is bewitched and imprisoned by the Lady of the Lake.〔 == Name and etymology == The name "Merlin" derives from the Welsh ''Myrddin'', the name of the bard Myrddin Wyllt, one of the chief sources for the later legendary figure. Geoffrey of Monmouth Latinised the name to ''Merlinus'' in his works. The medievalist Gaston Paris suggests that Geoffrey chose the form ''Merlinus'' rather than the regular ''Merdinus'' to avoid a resemblance to the Anglo-Norman word ''merde'' (from Latin ''merda''), for faeces. Clas Myrddin, or ''Merlin's Enclosure'', is an early name for Great Britain stated in the Third Series of Welsh Triads.〔Rhys: Hibbert Lectures, p. 168.〕 The Celticist A. O. H. Jarman suggests the Welsh name ' ((:ˈmərðɪn)) was derived from the toponym ''Caerfyrddin'', the Welsh name for the town known in English as Carmarthen.〔Koch, p. 321.〕 This contrasts with the popular but false folk etymology that the town was named for the bard. The name Carmarthen derives from the town's previous Roman name, Moridunum,〔〔 itself derived from Celtic Brittonic '' *moridunon'', "sea fortress."〔Xavier Delamarre, ''Noms de lieux celtiques de l'Europe ancienne'', Errance, Paris, 2012 (French)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Merlin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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