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Tales of the Enchanted Islands of the Atlantic

T >> Thomas Wentworth Higginson >> Tales of the Enchanted Islands of the Atlantic




When Kigva, the wife of Pryderi, saw this, she sorrowed so that she cared
not if she lived or died. No one was left on the island but Manawydan and
herself. They wandered away to other lands and sought to earn their
living; then they came back to their island, bringing with them one bag of
wheat which they planted. It throve and grew, and when the time of harvest
came it was most promising, so that Manawydan resolved to reap it on the
morrow. At break of day he came back to begin; but found nothing left but
straw. Every stalk had been cut close to the ground and carried away.

Going to another field, he found it ripe, but on coming in the morning he
found but the straw. "Some one has contrived my ruin," he said; "I will
watch the third field to see what happens. He who stole the first will
come to steal this."

He remained through the evening to watch the grain, and at midnight he
heard loud thunder. He looked and saw coming a host of mice such as no man
could number; each mouse took a stalk of the wheat and climbed it, so that
it bent to the ground; then each mouse cut off the ear and ran away with
it. They all did this, leaving the stalk bare, and there was not a single
straw for which there was not a mouse. He struck among them, but could no
more fix his sight on any of them, the legend says, than on flies and
birds in the air, except one which seemed heavier than the rest, and moved
slowly. This one he pursued and caught, put it in his glove and tied it
with a string. Taking it home, he showed it to Kigva, and told her that he
was going to hang the mouse next day. She advised against it, but he
persisted, and on the next morning took the animal to the top of the Mound
of Arberth, where he placed two wooden forks in the ground, and set up a
small gallows.

While doing this, he saw a clerk coming to him in old, threadbare
clothes. It was now seven years since he had seen a human being there,
except the friends he had lost and Kigva who survived them. The clerk bade
him good day and said he was going back to his country from England, where
he had been singing. Then the clerk asked Manawydan what he was doing.
"Hanging a thief," said he; and when the clerk saw that it was a mouse, he
offered a pound to release it, but Manawydan refused. Then a priest came
riding up and offered him three pounds to release the mouse; but this
offer was declined. Then he made a noose round the mouse's neck, and while
he did this, a bishop's whole retinue came riding towards him. The bishop
seemed, like everybody else, to be very desirous of rescuing the mouse; he
offered first seven pounds, and then twenty-four, and then added all his
horses and equipages; but Manawydan still refused. The bishop finally
asked him to name any price he pleased. "The liberation of Rhiannon and
Pryderi," he said. "Thou shalt have it," said the bishop. "And the removal
of the enchantment," said Manawydan. "That also," said the bishop, "if you
will only restore the mouse." "Why?" said the other. "Because," said the
bishop, "she is my wife." "Why did she come to me?" asked Manawydan. "To
steal," was the reply. "When it was known that you were inhabiting the
island, my household came to me, begging me to transform them into mice.
The first and second nights they came alone, but the third night my wife
and the ladies of the court wished also to accompany them, and I
transformed them also; and now you have promised to let her go." "Not so,"
said the other, "except with a promise that there shall be no more such
enchantment practised, and no vengeance on Pryderi and Rhiannon, or on
me." This being promised, the bishop said, "Now wilt thou release my
wife?" "No, by my faith," said Manawydan, "not till I see Pryderi and
Rhiannon free before my eyes." "Here they are coming," said the bishop;
and when they had been embraced by Manawydan, he let go the mouse; the
bishop touched it with a wand, and it became the most beautiful young
woman that ever was seen. "Now look round upon the country," said the
bishop, "and see the dwellings and the crops returned," and the
enchantment was removed.

"The Land of Illusion and the Realm of Glamour" is the name given by the
old romancers to the south-west part of Wales, and to all the islands off
the coast. Indeed, it was believed, ever since the days of the Greek
writer, Plutarch, that some peculiar magic belonged to these islands; and
every great storm that happened among them was supposed to be caused by
the death of one of the wondrous enchanters who dwelt in that region. When
it was over, the islanders said, "Some one of the mighty has passed away."



VII

MERLIN THE ENCHANTER


In one of the old books called Welsh Triads, in which all things are
classed by threes, there is a description of three men called "The Three
Generous Heroes of the Isle of Britain." One of these--named Nud or
Nodens, and later called Merlin--was first brought from the sea, it is
stated, with a herd of cattle consisting of 21,000 milch cows, which are
supposed to mean those waves of the sea that the poets often describe as
White Horses. He grew up to be a king and warrior, a magician and prophet,
and on the whole the most important figure in the Celtic traditions. He
came from the sea and at last returned to it, but meanwhile he did great
works on land, one of which is said to have been the building of
Stonehenge.

This is the way, as the old legends tell, in which the vast stones of
Stonehenge came to be placed on Salisbury Plain. It is a thing which has
always been a puzzle to every one, inasmuch as their size and weight are
enormous, and there is no stone of the same description to be found within
hundreds of miles of Salisbury Plain, where they now stand.

The legend is that Pendragon, king of England, was led to fight a great
battle by seeing a dragon in the air. The battle was won, but Pendragon
was killed and was buried on Salisbury Plain, where the fight had taken
place. When his brother Uther took his place, Merlin the enchanter advised
him to paint a dragon on a flag and bear it always before him to bring
good fortune, and this he always did. Then Merlin said to him, "Wilt thou
do nothing more on the Plain of Salisbury, to honor thy brother?" The King
said, "What shall be done?" Then Merlin said, "I will cause a thing to be
done that will endure to the world's end." Then he bade Utherpendragon, as
he called the new king, to send many ships and men to Ireland, and he
showed him stones such as seemed far too large and heavy to bring, but he
placed them by his magic art upon the boats and bore them to England; and
he devised means to transport them and to set them on end, "for they shall
seem fairer so than if they were lying." And there they are to this day.

This was the way in which Merlin would sometimes obtain the favor and
admiration of young ladies. There was a maiden of twelve named Nimiane or
Vivian, the daughter of King Dionas, and Merlin changed himself into the
appearance of "a fair young squire," that he might talk with her beside a
fountain, described in the legends as "a well, whereof the springs were
fair and the water clear and the gravel so fair that it seemed of fine
silver." By degrees he made acquaintance with the child, who told him who
she was, adding, "And what are you, fair, sweet friend?" "Damsel," said
Merlin, "I am a travelling squire, seeking for my master, who has taught
me wonderful things." "And what master is that?" she asked. "It is one,"
he said, "who has taught me so much that I could here erect for you a
castle, and I could make many people outside to attack it and inside to
defend it; nay, I could go upon this water and not wet my feet, and I
could make a river where water had never been."

"These are strange feats," said the maiden, "and I wish that I could thus
disport myself." "I can do yet greater things," said Merlin, "and no one
can devise anything which I cannot do, and I can also make it to endure
forever." "Indeed," said the girl, "I would always love you if you could
show me some such wonders." "For your love," he answered, "I will show you
some of these wondrous plays, and I will ask no more of you." Then Merlin
turned and described a circle with a wand and then came and sat by her
again at the fountain. At noon she saw coming out of the forest many
ladies and knights and squires, holding each other by the hand and singing
in the greatest joy; then came men with timbrels and tabours and dancing,
so that one could not tell one-fourth part of the sports that went on.
Then Merlin caused an orchard to grow, with all manner of fruit and
flowers; and the maiden cared for nothing but to listen to their singing,
"Truly love begins in joy, but ends in grief." The festival continued from
mid-day to even-song; and King Dionas and his courtiers came out to see
it, and marvelled whence these strange people came. Then when the carols
were ended, the ladies and maidens sat down on the green grass and fresh
flowers, and the squires set up a game of tilting called quintain upon the
meadows and played till even-song; and then Merlin came to the damsel and
asked if he had done what he promised for her. "Fair, sweet friend," said
she, "you have done so much that I am all yours." "Let me teach you," he
answered, "and I will show you many wonders that no woman ever learned so
many."

Merlin and this young damsel always remained friends, and he taught her
many wonderful arts, one of which was (this we must regret) a spell by
which she might put her parents to sleep whenever he visited her; while
another lesson was (this being more unexceptionable) in the use of three
words, by saying which she might at any time keep at a distance any men
who tried to molest her. He stayed eight days near her, and in those days
taught her many of the most "wonderful things that any mortal heart could
think of, things past and things that were done and said, and a part of
what was to come; and she put them in writing, and then Merlin departed
from her and came to Benoyk, where the king, Arthur, rested, so that glad
were they when they saw Merlin."

The relations between Merlin and Arthur are unlike those ever held
towards a king even by an enchanter in any legend. Even in Homer there is
no one described, except the gods, as having such authority over a ruler.
Merlin came and went as he pleased and under any form he might please. He
foretold the result of a battle, ordered up troops, brought aid from a
distance. He rebuked the bravest knights for cowardice; as when Ban, Bors,
and Gawain had concealed themselves behind some bushes during a fight. "Is
this," he said to King Arthur and Sir Bors, "the war and the help that you
do to your friends who have put themselves in adventure of death in many a
need, and ye come hither to hide for cowardice." Then the legend says,
"When the king understood the words of Merlin, he bowed his head for
shame," and the other knights acknowledged their fault. Then Merlin took
the dragon banner which he had given them and said that he would bear it
himself; "for the banner of a king," he said, "should not be hid in
battle,--but borne in the foremost front." Then Merlin rode forth and
cried with a loud voice, "Now shall be shown who is a knight." And the
knights, seeing Merlin, exclaimed that he was "a full noble man"; and
"without fail," says the legend, "he was full of marvellous powers and
strength of body and great and long stature; but brown he was and lean and
rough of hair." Then he rode in among the enemy on a great black horse;
and the golden dragon which he had made and had attached to the banner
gave out from its throat such a flaming fire that the air was black with
its smoke; and all King Arthur's men began to fight again more stoutly,
and Arthur himself held the bridle reins in his left hand, and so wielded
his sword with his right as to slay two hundred men.

There was no end to Merlin's disguises--sometimes as an old man,
sometimes as a boy or a dwarf, then as a woman, then as an ignorant clown;
--but the legends always give him some object to accomplish, some work to
do, and there was always a certain dignity about him, even when helping
King Arthur, as he sometimes did, to do wrong things. His fame extended
over all Britain, and also through Brittany, now a part of France, where
the same poetic legends extended. This, for instance, is a very old Breton
song about him:--

MERLIN THE DIVINER

Merlin! Merlin! where art thou going
So early in the day, with thy black dog?
Oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi!
Oi! oi! oi! oi! oi!

I have come here to search the way,
To find the red egg;
The red egg of the marine serpent,
By the seaside, in the hollow of the stone.

I am going to seek in the valley
The green water-cress, and the golden grass,
And the top branch of the oak,
In the wood by the side of the fountain.

Merlin! Merlin! retrace your steps;
Leave the branch on the oak,
And the green water-cress in the valley,
As well as the golden grass;
And leave the red egg of the marine serpent
In the foam by the hollow of the stone.
Merlin! Merlin! retrace thy steps;
There is no diviner but God.

Merlin was supposed to know the past, the present, and the future, and to
be able to assume the form of any animal, and even that of a
_menhir_, or huge standing stone. Before history began he ruled in
Britain, then a delightful island of flowery meadows. His subjects were
"small people" (fairies), and their lives were a continued festival of
singing, playing, and enjoyment. The sage ruled them as a father, his
familiar servant being a tame wolf. He also possessed a kingdom, beneath
the waves, where everything was beautiful, the inhabitants being charming
little beings, with waves of long, fair hair falling on their shoulders in
curls. Fruits and milk composed the food of all, meat and fish being held
in abhorrence. The only want felt was of the full light of the sun, which,
coming to them through the water, was but faint, and cast no shadow.

Here was the famous workshop where Merlin forged the enchanted sword so
celebrated by the bards, and where the stones were found by which alone
the sword could be sharpened. Three British heroes were fated to wield
this blade in turn; viz., Lemenisk the leaper (_Leim_, meaning leap),
Utherpendragon, and his son King Arthur. By orders of this last hero, when
mortally wounded, it was flung into the sea, where it will remain till he
returns to restore the rule of his country to the faithful British race.

The bard once amused and puzzled the court by entering the hall as a
blind boy led by a greyhound, playing on his harp, and demanding as
recompense to be allowed to carry the king's banner in an approaching
battle. Being refused on account of his blindness he vanished, and the
king of Brittany mentioned his suspicions that this was one of Merlin's
elfin tricks. Arthur was disturbed, for he had promised to give the child
anything except his honor, his kingdom, his wife, and his sword. However,
while he continued to fret, there entered the hall a poor child about
eight years old, with shaved head, features of livid tint, eyes of light
gray, barefooted, barelegged, and a whip knotted over his shoulders in the
manner affected by horseboys. Speaking and looking like an idiot, he asked
the king's permission to bear the royal ensign in the approaching battle
with the giant Rion. The courtiers laughed, but Arthur, suspecting a new
joke on Merlin's part, granted the demand, and then Merlin stood in his
own proper person before the company.

He also seems to have taught people many things in real science,
especially the women, who were in those days more studious than the men,
or at least had less leisure. For instance, the legend says of Morgan le
fay (or la fée), King Arthur's sister, "she was a noble clergesse (meaning
that she could read and write, like the clergy), and of astronomy could
she enough, for Merlin had her taught, and she learned much of egromancy
(magic or necromancy); and the best work-woman she was with her hands that
any man knew in any land, and she had the fairest head and the fairest
hands under heaven, and shoulders well-shapen; and she had fair eloquence
and full debonair she was, as long as she was in her right wit; and when
she was wroth with any man, she was evil to meet." This lady was one of
Merlin's pupils, but the one whom he loved most and instructed the most
was Nimiane or Vivian, already mentioned, who seems to have been to him
rather a beloved younger sister than anything else, and he taught her so
much that "at last he might hold himself a fool," the legend says, "and
ever she inquired of his cunning and his mysteries, each thing by itself,
and he let her know all, and she wrote all that he said, as she was well
learned in clergie (reading and writing), and learned lightly all that
Merlin taught her; and when they parted, each of them commended the other
to God full tenderly."

The form of the enchanter Merlin disappeared from view, at last--for the
legends do not admit that his life ever ended--across the sea whence he
came.

The poet Tennyson, to be sure, describes Nimiane or Vivian--the Lady of
the Lake--as a wicked enchantress who persuaded Merlin to betray his
secrets to her, and then shut him up in an oak tree forever. But other
legends seem to show that Tennyson does great injustice to the Lady of the
Lake, that she really loved Merlin even in his age, and therefore
persuaded him to show her how to make a tower without walls,--that they
might dwell there together in peace, and address each other only as
Brother and Sister. When he had told her, he fell asleep with his head in
her lap, and she wove a spell nine times around his head, and the tower
became the strongest in the world. Some of the many legends place this
tower in the forest of Broceliande; while others transport it afar to a
magic island, where Merlin dwells with his nine bards, and where Vivian
alone can come or go through the magic walls. Some legends describe it as
an enclosure "neither of iron nor steel nor timber nor of stone, but of
the air, without any other thing but enchantment, so strong that it may
never be undone while the world endureth." Here dwells Merlin, it is said,
with nine favorite bards who took with them the thirteen treasures of
England. These treasures are said to have been:--

1. A sword; if any man drew it except the owner, it burst into a flame
from the cross to the point. All who asked it received it; but because of
this peculiarity all shunned it.

2. A basket; if food for one man were put into it, when opened it would
be found to contain food for one hundred.

3. A horn; what liquor soever was desired was found therein.

4. A chariot; whoever sat in it would be immediately wheresoever he wished.

5. A halter, which was in a staple below the feet of a bed; and whatever
horse one wished for in it, he would find it there.

6. A knife, which would serve four-and twenty men at meat all at once.

7. A caldron; if meat were put into it to boil for a coward, it would
never be boiled; but if meat were put in it for a brave man, it would be
boiled forthwith.

8. A whetstone; if the sword of a brave man were sharpened thereon, and
any one were wounded therewith, he would be sure to die; but if it were
that of a coward that was sharpened on it, he would be none the worse.

9. A garment; if a man of gentle birth put it on, it suited him well; but
if a churl, it would not fit him.

10, 11. A pan and a platter; whatever food was required was found therein.

12. A chessboard; when the men were placed upon it, they would play of
themselves. The chessboard was of gold, and the men of silver.

13. The mantle of Arthur; whosoever was beneath it could see everything,
while no one could see him.

It is towards this tower, some legends say, that Merlin was last seen by
some Irish monks, sailing away westward, with a maiden, in a boat of
crystal, beneath a sunset sky.



VIII

SIR LANCELOT OF THE LAKE


Sir Lancelot, the famous knight, was the son of a king and queen against
whom their subjects rebelled; the king was killed, the queen taken
captive, when a fairy rose in a cloud of mist and carried away the infant
Lancelot from where he had been left beneath a tree. The queen, after
weeping on the body of her husband, looked round and saw a lady standing
by the water-side, holding the queen's child in her arms. "Fair, sweet
friend," said the queen, "give me back my child." The fairy made no reply,
but dived into the water; and the queen was taken to an abbey, where she
was known as the Queen of Great Griefs. The Lady of the Lake took the
child to her own home, which was an island in the middle of the sea and
surrounded by impassable walls. From this the lady had her name of Dame du
Lac, or the Lady of the Lake (or Sea), and her foster son was called
Lancelot du Lac, while the realm was called Meidelant, or the Land of
Maidens.

Lancelot dwelt thenceforward in the castle, on the island. When he was
eight years old he received a tutor who was to instruct him in all
knightly knowledge; he learned to use bow and spear and to ride on
horseback, and some cousins of his were also brought thither by the Lady
of the Lake to be his comrades. When he was eighteen he wished to go to
King Arthur's court that he might be a knight.

On the eve of St. John, as King Arthur returned from the chase, and by
the high road approached Camelot, he met a fair company. In the van went
two youths, leading two white mules, one freighted with a silken pavilion,
the other with robes proper for a newly made knight; the mules bore two
chests, holding the hauberk and the iron boots. Next came two squires,
clad in white robes and mounted on white horses, carrying a silver shield
and a shining helmet; after these, two others, with a sword in a white
sheath and a white charger. Behind followed squires and servants in white
coats, three damsels dressed in white, the two sons of King Bors; and,
last of all, the fairy with the youth she loved. Her robe was of white
samite lined with ermine; her white palfrey had a silver bit, while her
breastplate, stirrups, and saddle were of ivory, carved with figures of
ladies and knights, and her white housings trailed on the ground.

When she perceived the king, she responded to his salutation, and said,
after she had lowered her wimple and displayed her face: "Sir, may God
bless the best of kings! I come to implore a boon, which it shall cost you
nothing to grant." "Damsel, even it should cost me dear, you should not be
refused; what is it you would have me do?" "Sir, dub this varlet a knight,
and array him in the arms he bringeth, whenever he desireth." "Your mercy,
damsel! to bring me such a youth! Assuredly, I will dub him whenever he
will; but it shameth me to abandon my custom, for 'tis my wont to furnish
with garments and arms such as come thither to receive chivalry." The lady
replied that she desired the youth to carry the arms she had intended him
to wear, and if she were refused, she would address herself elsewhere. Sir
Ewain said that so fair a youth ought not to be denied, and the king
yielded to her entreaty. She returned thanks, and bade the varlet retain
the mules and the charger, with the two squires; and after that, she
prepared to return as she had come, in spite of the urgency of the king,
who had begged her to remain in his court. "At least," he cried, "tell us
by what name are you known ?" "Sir," she answered, "I am called the Lady
of the Lake."

For a long way, Lancelot escorted the fairy, who said to him as she took
leave: "King's son, you are derived from lineage the most noble on earth;
see to it that your worth be as great as your beauty. To-morrow you will
ask the king to bestow on you knighthood; when you are armed, you will not
tarry in his house a single night. Abide in one place no longer than you
can help, and refrain from declaring your name until others proclaim it.
Be prepared to accomplish every adventure, and never let another man
complete a task which you yourself have undertaken." With that, she gave
him a ring that had the property of dissolving enchantment, and commended
him to God.

On the morrow, Lancelot arrayed himself in his fairest robes, and sued
for knighthood, as he had been commanded to do. Sir Ewain attended him to
court, where they dismounted in front of the palace; the king and queen
advanced to meet them; each took Sir Ewain by a hand, and seated him on a
couch, while the varlet stood in their presence on the rushes that strewed
the floor. All gazed with pleasure, and the queen prayed that God might
make him noble, for he possessed as much beauty as was possible for man to
have.

After this he had many perilous adventures; he fought with giants and
lions; he entered an enchanted castle and escaped; he went to a well in
the forest, and, striking three times on a cymbal with a hammer hung there
for the purpose, called forth a great giant, whom he slew, afterwards
marrying his daughter. Then he went to rescue the queen of the realm,
Gwenivere, from captivity. In order to reach the fortress where she was
prisoner, he had to ride in a cart with a dwarf; to follow a wheel that
rolled before him to show him the way, or a ball that took the place of
the wheel; he had to walk on his hands and knees across a bridge made of a
drawn sword; he suffered greatly. At last he rescued the queen, and later
than this he married Elaine, the daughter of King Pelles, and her father
gave to them the castle of Blyaunt in the Joyous Island, enclosed in iron,
and with a deep water all around it. There Lancelot challenged all knights
to come and contend with him, and he jousted with more than five hundred,
overcoming them all, yet killing none, and at last he returned to Camelot,
the place of King Arthur's court.

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