The Merlin Trilogy by Mary Stewart
The Merlin Trilogy, written by Mary Stewart, reinterprets the legendary story of King Arthur through the perspective of Merlin, his protector and advisor. The series consists of three novels: "The Crystal Cave," "The Hollow Hills," and "The Last Enchantment." In "The Crystal Cave," readers are introduced to Merlin as he navigates his early life, grappling with his identity as the illegitimate son of a Welsh princess and discovering his prophetic abilities. The narrative follows Merlin’s rise to prominence as he aids his father, Ambrosius, in reclaiming the British throne and orchestrates the conception of Arthur.
"The Hollow Hills" centers on Merlin’s guardianship of the young Arthur, who is raised away from the knowledge of his royal lineage. As Arthur matures, Merlin prepares him to claim his destiny, including retrieving the legendary sword Caliburn. Finally, "The Last Enchantment" delves into Merlin's later years, as he grapples with the loss of his magical powers while serving as advisor to King Arthur. The trilogy ultimately explores themes of destiny, power, and the complex relationships between its characters, culminating in Merlin's retreat from public life, leaving behind a legacy intertwined with Arthur's reign.
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The Merlin Trilogy
First published:The Crystal Cave (1970), The Hollow Hills (1973), and The Last Enchantment (1979)
Type of work: Novels
Type of plot: Fantasy—mythological
Time of work: The late fifth century c.e.
Locale: Great Britain
The Plot
The Merlin trilogy tells the King Arthur story from the viewpoint of Merlin, Arthur’s protector, teacher, and adviser. The Crystal Cave focuses on Merlin’s childhood and youth as he struggles to find his father and develop the gift of the Sight, the ability to see visions of events elsewhere or in the future. The novel begins by introducing Merlin as the illegitimate son of Niniane, daughter of a Welsh king. She has refused to tell anyone the name of the man who fathered her child.
Merlin is an outsider at his grandfather’s court because of his birth and strange ways; he is not interested in the war games that preoccupy the other boys and instead studies healing and magic with Galapas, a local wise man. When Merlin’s grandfather dies, the boy flees from his uncle Camlach, who sees Merlin as a threat and wishes to kill him. Through a series of coincidences he attributes to the god who guides him, Merlin discovers that his father is Ambrosius, the exiled rightful king of Britain. Merlin uses his gift of prophecy to help his father regain his throne, which then passes to his uncle Uther when Ambrosius dies. Foreseeing that Uther’s first son will be the king Britain needs to shield it against Saxon invasion, Merlin agrees to help when King Uther falls in love with Ygraine, wife of his chief ally Duke Gorlois of Cornwall. Disguising Uther as Gorlois, Merlin takes him to Ygraine so that Arthur will be conceived during their passion that night. Gorlois dies in a separate attack that same night, and Uther rejects Merlin afterward for his failure to foresee that Uther would be able marry Ygraine honorably one day later.
The Hollow Hills is the story of Merlin’s guardianship of his young cousin Arthur. Still at odds with Uther over the events at Tintagel, Merlin makes peace with the king in order to gain custody of Arthur upon his birth. Uther, fearing that his enemies may try to harm his son, asks Merlin to conceal the boy until he has grown. While Arthur is reared in a noble household, ignorant of his true position as heir to the kingdom, Merlin embarks on a quest to locate the great sword Caliburn for Arthur to find when he comes of age. When Arthur is ten years old, Merlin becomes his teacher; when the boy is fourteen, Merlin takes him to his father, the dying King Uther. The night before his father’s death, Arthur sleeps with Morgause, not knowing that she is his half-sister. She deliberately seduces him in a play for power. Arthur proves himself fit to fight and lead the kingdom in battle. Through the help of Merlin’s magic, Arthur raises the sword from the stone where Merlin has hidden it and is proclaimed High King.
The Last Enchantment covers Merlin’s service to the young king. The magic Merlin used when Arthur raised the sword has burned out his power, and he must adjust to living without it. He spies on Morgause, who uses her pregnancy with Arthur’s incestuous bastard son, Mordred, to plot against her brother. Because of Merlin’s prophecy that Mordred will eventually kill his father, Arthur wishes Merlin to kill the baby, but Merlin refuses. He attempts instead to find Mordred, but he fails because he now lacks the Sight to show him where Morgause has hidden her son.
Merlin eventually returns to Arthur to build the new fortress of Camelot. Still lacking his power, Merlin is unable to fend off Morgause’s attempt on his life. She poisons him, leaving him mad for almost a year and prematurely aged. When he returns to the king’s service, however, Merlin regains his powers of Sight and prophecy, which allow him first to save Arthur’s queen, Guinevere, from an assault and then to acquire an assistant, Nimuë, to whom he passes on his arts. When Merlin apparently dies and is buried in Bryn Myrddin, the cave that has been his home, he has prepared Nimuë to take over his role as Arthur’s adviser. Merlin awakes from his illness trapped in the cave and stripped of all his power, the fate he long ago foresaw for himself, but he escapes after several weeks. He refuses to return to public life, though, and the novel ends with his reunion with Arthur and Nimuë and his retirement back to Bryn Myrddin.