Merlin, the elusive wizard known for his magical abilities, is a central figure in British mythology, specifically Arthurian legend. He now emerges from the shroud of mystery and appears on the fifth commemorative coin from our Myths and Legends collection.
Merlin's story begins when King Vortigern decided to build a castle on the Salisbury Plain. However, the construction went wrong, everything the masons built during the day fell down overnight. The soothsayers advised the king that the castle would stand if a boy, born without a father, was sacrificed on the site. This boy was Merlin, whose father was to be The Devil or a pagan god. Merlin discovered that the castle could not stand because two dragons lay under the ground at the site and were fighting each other. Using magic, Merlin then dealt with the dragons, later entering the service of Uther Pendragon, whom he allowed to beget a son (the future Arthur) with Igraine, who was married to another man. After Pendragon's death, he cared for Arthur, raising him and supporting his rule with magic and wise counsel. Various stories are told about Merlin's death, one of which states that he did not die but was deprived of his magical powers by the sorceress Viviana and imprisoned in an enchanted forest.
