A carved wooden statue of Merlin stands in Carmarthen town centre. A mythical Celtic shaman, he was a constant in British folklore between the 5th and 15th centuries. There were reports of him in various guises up and down the west coast from Cornwall to the Scottish isles. Strongest evidence suggests he hailed from Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales.

 Picking the bones out of the legend… he was probably a soldier driven insane by war. Today, we recognise this as post-traumatic stress. In his ‘madness’ he roamed the countryside in rags, lived off whatever he could forage, talked to trees and animals, and cursed gods and kings with equal intensity. It appears that living as a hermit immersed in nature allowed him to recover, and he eventually became a healer and sage to the local population.

His mystique grew from there and he was mentioned in stories, sagas and poems over the years until he evolved into the ‘supernatural magician’ we know him as today. This legend still continues in the various literary and cinematic interpretations of him. Not bad for a poor lad traumatised by war. He’s left a far more significant footprint on the world than any of the despots he was fighting for and against.

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war-torn back streets…

an acned soldier

checks his safety catch