GRAHAM PHILIPS

The Life and Death of Merlin

 

 

Merlin the Magician is arguably the most written about wizard of all time, if we exclude Gandalf, who was probably based on him anyway. Born during an age of darkness in British history, Merlin's meddling magic caused the conception of King Arthur, whom the magician watched over until the royal child came of age, and won the right of kingship by removing the sword Excalibur from the stone. Immortalised in legend and myth, Merlin keeps alive the belief of magic and sorcery having motivated the destiny of our distant ancestors. Yet scholars and historians scoff at the mere idea of his physical existence in Dark Age history, when the Britons fought and won a series of decisive battles against the invading Saxons.

Who exactly was Merlin? Did he even know Arthur of the Britons, and what exactly was his fate? Most important of all, where is he buried? These were the questions which historical writer Graham Phillips sought to answer when he embarked on a historical quest in search of the real Merlin. In the first primary research to be conducted into this enigmatic figure of Dark Age history for a long time, Phillips uncovers persuasive evidence that Merlin was a British warrior and learned advisor to kings who lived and breathed during the last turbulent days of the Roman Empire.


According to ancient legends, recorded during medieval times, Merlin ended his life on Avalon. Although a number of British islands were associated with Avalon in the Middle Ages, such as Glastonbury in southwest England and Anglesey in Wales, Phillips finds evidence that the original Avalon was based on stories of another island, much further away. A 1,500-year-old saga called 'The Voyage of Merlin' tells how Merlin finally left Britain on a boat bound for a mysterious island, far across the Atlantic, where the waters of a magical spring, guarded by two giant serpents, could cure all ills and grant eternal youth. This story, long thought by historians to be fictitious, was, Phillips argues, based on accounts of a real journey to the New World.
The mythical places visited during Merlin's titanic voyage appear to have been provided by someone who had journeyed to North America, making landfall in New England. Here, off the coast of Maine, Graham investigated and found an island that matches the descriptions given of the Isle of Avalon. Native American legends talk of a sacred spring that holds curative and life-preserving properties lying in a valley flanked by two rocky headlands known as the twin serpents.


Supporting Phillips' extraordinary hypothesis is fresh archaeological evidence of early island-hopping trading voyages between Britain and what is today the northeast United States. He discovers both Native American graves in northern Europe and European graves in New England - one of which, he offers, is perhaps the grave of Merlin. Remarkably, this astonishing secret was preserved for centuries, Phillips discovers, in the coded writings of William Shakespeare and in the mysterious works of the early Freemasons.


Graham Phillips is another regular speaker at QuestCon. He is the author of a large number of historical works which challenge accepted views of the past, including KING ARTHUR: THE TRUE STORY (1992), THE SEARCH FOR THE GRAIL (1995), ACT OF GOD (1998), THE TEMPLARS AND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT (2004) and MERLIN, AVALON AND THE NEW WORLD (published by Bear and Company in November 2005). He regularly lectures at colleges and universities worldwide, and is currently working with Shropshire County Council to create a King Arthur trail of sites associated locally with his life and times.


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