''Prophecy of Merlin'' (''Prophetia Merlini''), sometimes called ''The Prophecy of Ambrosius Merlin concerning the Seven Kings'', is a 12th-century poem written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...

s by John of Cornwall, which he claimed was based or revived from a lost manuscript in the

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a List of revived languages, revived language, having become Extinct language, extinct as a livin ...

. The original manuscript is unique and currently held in a

codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

at the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

Synopsis

The text is an example of the popular

prophetic In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...

writings attributed to the

sage Sage or SAGE may refer to: Plants * ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb ** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family ** ''Salvia'', a large ...

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

, which ascribe to the early bard prophecies relevant to the author's time. In this case the prophecies relate to the struggle between

Stephen of Blois Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne ''jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 unt ...

and the

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...

, but the poem also contains local Cornish allusions of great interest.

History

The translations were made sometime between 1141 and 1155, at the request of

Robert Warelwast __NOTOC__ Robert Warelwast (died 1155) was a medieval Bishop of Exeter. Life Warelwast and his successor, Robert of Chichester are often confused.Barlow ''English Church'' p. 93 Warelwast was the nephew of the previous bishop, William Warelwast, ...

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell.

. John of Cornwall undertook to expound the prophecy of

''iuxta nostrum Britannicum''. He produced a poem of 139 hexameters and prose commentary on the first 105 lines. Less than a third of the verse prophecies come directly from '' Prophetiae Merlini'' (c. 1136); the remainder presumably direct translations from Welsh or Cornish. The manuscript attracted little attention from the scholarly world until 1876 when

Whitley Stokes Whitley Stokes, CSI, CIE, FBA (28 February 1830 – 13 April 1909) was an Irish lawyer and Celtic scholar. Background He was a son of William Stokes (1804–1878), and a grandson of Whitley Stokes the physician and anti-Malthusian (1763� ...

undertook a brief analysis of the Cornish and

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

vocabulary found in John's marginal commentary. These notes are some of the earliest known writings in the Cornish language.''Encyclopedia of Literature'' -, Volume 1 By Joseph T. Shipley (page 176
here
/ref>

References

External links

A New Edition of John of Cornwall's ''Prophetia Merlini'', by Michael J. Curley © 1982 Medieval Academy of America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prophecy of Merlin 12th-century Latin books Arthurian literature in Latin Cornish-language literature Cornish folklore Medieval Cornwall

Synopsis

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links