Merlin only existed when he wanted to exist.

I think it's a lot simpler to say: Geoffrey heard of Arthur the king and Myrddin the prophet, but without learning much genuine tradition / history about either. He then borrowed stories from other unrelated characters and used them to pad out his new narrative.

What's quite remarkable about the evolution of Ambrosius Aurelianus in Gildas into Ambrosius Merlinus in Geoffrey of Monmouth, is we see euhemerisation (or something like it) in action. In Gildas' time, the existence of Roman Britain would still have part of the collective memory - the institutions, modes of governance, customs, and origins of its monumental works would have been common knowledge to most people. However, over time, it's likely that this awareness will have faded somewhat. While the educated elites of Anglo-Saxon England were still well aware of their Roman predecessors, we know that the attribution of ancient monuments (including Roman ruins) to supernatural beings such as giants was circulating at this time as well. Considering this, it's really not too surprising that the attribution of Ambrosius' paternity in Gildas (to a Roman Consul) should become in Geoffrey's writing with Ambrosius Merlinus being "fatherless" because he was sired by an incubus. Interestingly, Geoffrey also peoples Britain, prior to the arrival of Brutus, with giants - who were themselves the descendants of similar unions (between the mortal Albina and her sisters, with incubi).

When we consider that, in the Medieval mind, incubi were understood as a type of fairy rather than purely as infernal beings stricto sensu, we start to hear the echo of the notion in Irish Sagas of the Sidhe as an earlier race of people who once ruled the land, with great occult powers, who created various features in the landscape. It feels to me like we see here a repeating strain of authentic popular belief in the Celtic world filtering into the interpretation of the historical record by Geoffrey.

I think it’s helpful to list the dates of the primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. Bede and Gildas carry more weight than Monmouth because they are older. That combined with the quantity of Arthur-like legends is why I think King Rhydderch Hael and Myrddin Wyllt make more sense as contenders. But we are filling lots of gaps no matter which Arthur contender we choose.

Good that the Merlin topic has received its follow-up :)

when are you and cambrian chronicles gonna team up for a video or a podcast?

The Crystal Cave is a really fun story of Merlin :)

Great topic on merlin.

One of the best channels on YouTube thank you sir

🎶…and that’s what makes the world…go…round…🎶

Really fun vid! I read The Quest for Merlin by Nikolai Tolstoy and was procided a very different view of what I had in mind for Melrin, as many of us do. Was a while ago so not sure how its stood up.

Always fascinating! Thank you! Hyped! 👍

I notice that  the British for Ambrose is Embresguletic, now Gwledig is apparently an honorific given to some ancient Welsh kings, Cambrian Chronicles has a video on it titled "The Royal Title that No One Can Remember". Aha I see you mention the title, later in the video.

There's also something in my head about the red/white dragon story having something to do with the different Pythagorean triangles used to approximate the Beltane rising sun angle in the UK and Europe, but it's not in either of the books I thought it might be so maybe I just made that up.

Caleb, are you familiar with Graham Phillips' work on Authurian history? I would love to hear you discuss his hypotheses.

Tim Clarkson, a very decent writer on "dark age" Britain (especially Scottish), wrote a book ten years ago called "Scotland's Merlin" that I found very interesting. It attempts to get to the truth of his existence and is worth reading. Yes, Lailoken figures in his obscure way.

We do know what Wledig means, it’s actually very simple. Wledig is the soft mutated form of Gwledig, soft mutation of G is to drop the G. So what this also tells us is that Wledig was being used as an epithet, not a name because names tend to preserve the unmutated form.
Y wledig would be the technical epithet, y (the) but when using it as a title/epithet you would drop the definite article Y (the) and so the mutated Wledig is preserved.
Gwledig = Gwlad + -ig
The i of the ig suffix causes i inflection. This mutates the preceding vowel. So A becomes E.
The -ig suffix is the Welsh suffix that denotes a person or object with the characteristics of the root word.
Gwlad is the Welsh word for a country.
So Gwledig basically means of/from a country; having a country; sovereign. As a substantive, it therefore means A Sovereign. So Macsen Wledig (y wledig) means Macsen the Sovereign.
It was primarily used after the demise of the Roman Empire to show they were sovereign from the Roman Empire. So Wledig would be the epithet/title of the ruler of the sovereign country. So Emrys Wledig would have been Emrys the sovereign ruler.

As for Emrys, that name is Em + Brys
Em = basically means a rarity, a jewel, a gem. But in more literal terms, it means a coherently encompassed and internally ordered whole whose perceptible character manifests through responsive relation. Hence the narrowed dictionary glosses.

Brys = hasty, quick, speedy, fleet etc or more literally it means recurrently activated centred continuity characterised by uninterrupted progression and established as continuously realised activity.

So Emrys literally means one whose coherent relationship with the whole is carried into continuously realised and uninterrupted action or integral relational coherence united with continuously realised, recurrently activated, and uninterrupted dynamic progression, something along those lines.

The earliest historical referent associated with Emrys Wledig is distinguished precisely by the combination of relation and action. According to the surviving tradition, he was drawn into conflict by the desperate condition of his people and became the leader under whom victory was achieved. His defining characteristic was therefore not action in isolation, but sustained action undertaken in responsive relation to a threatened collective whole.

Now this can also be narrowed semantically to a dictionary gloss meaning immortal. If we express Emrys as a coherently integral identity whose realised presence is continually renewed and proceeds without cessation through changing conditions, that aligns naturally with immortality.
Coherent identity — it continues to remain itself;
Internal continuity — its existence does not disintegrate;
Successive renewal — its presence is continually reactivated;
Unbroken progression — its continuity does not terminate;
Sustained actuality through transition — it remains realised despite changes of condition.

The reconstruction does not literally encode “incapable of dying.” Rather, it expresses the positive underlying principle from which that negative formulation follows - Existence remaining coherently itself, continually realised and renewed without cessation.

And so hence the Latin Ambrosius, from the Greek Ambrose meaning immortal.

So Emrys would have been given the epithet Emrys as a result of being the leader who won a war that was not expected to have been won, out of adversity came victory and to the victor we name him Emrys Wledig. So this would not have been his actual name, so being Teithfallt is very possible.

Then we have Myrddin (Merlin) Emrys. Myrddin = Myrdd + -in
-in is a Welsh suffix which forms nouns characterised by the root.
Myrdd means infinity; a myriad or more literally, it means one distinct identity characterised by the manifold recurrent courses of outward reality as they progress towards their resulting conditions.

So as an epithet/name it means the distinct one in whom the manifold progressing courses of outward reality are coherently identified.

Now if we take the dictionary gloss meaning, it would be the infinite one. But when taking the literal definition, the distinct one in whom the manifold progressing courses of outward reality are coherently identified, this can be interpreted as one who is prophetic, the one who identifies the multiple realised courses progressing towards their resulting conditions, a foreseer.

This aligns strongly with Myrddin’s earliest distinguishing role as a prophet. Prophecy concerns the courses of outward events, the succession of rulers, the recurrence of conflict, the changing condition of peoples, and the results towards which those developments progress.

So Myrddin Emrys could be glossed as meaning the Immortal Prophet.

Winterbourne Arthur


The historical reconstruction you’ve been exploring would look very different. It begins around AD 500 with the Brittonic kingdoms: Gododdin around modern Edinburgh, Rheged in Cumbria and southwest Scotland, Strathclyde, and Elmet. Then comes the 536 volcanic winter: sunlight dims, temperatures fall, harvests fail, famine spreads across Europe, and the Justinian plague follows within a few years. Paleoclimate research strongly supports a severe volcanic event beginning in 536 that caused years of global cooling.
Rheged becomes strategically important because grain agriculture collapses while cattle remain a more reliable food source. Cattle raids become matters of survival rather than prestige. This creates a believable military and political setting for Arthur leading Brittonic forces.
One intriguing clue is Y Gododdin, where the famous comparison appears: “He fed black ravens, though he was no Arthur.” This is generally considered the earliest literary reference to Arthur, although some scholars think the line may have been inserted later. Historians such as Tim Clarkson and Alistair Moffat have argued that Arthur may have had strong connections to the Old North—Gododdin and Rheged—rather than southern England. This remains a minority but respected hypothesis.

Your reconstruction has many cinematic strengths: a real climatic disaster, collapsing post‑Roman Britain, competing Brittonic kingdoms, Anglian expansion, survival through cattle wealth, Arthur as a northern war leader, Merlin reimagined as a northern bard or prophet, and an ending with Camlann around 537 and the collapse of Brittonic unity. It would resemble The Last Kingdom or Gladiator, but set in post‑Roman Britain with modern archaeological and genetic evidence rather than medieval legend.
If there was a historical Arthur—or several war leaders whose stories were later combined—he would have lived through one of Britain’s darkest periods. The Roman administration had disappeared. Kingdoms were competing to survive. The climate deteriorated after the 536 volcanic event. Famine and disease threatened entire communities. Families and alliances determined whether a kingdom endured or vanished.
Against that backdrop, the story becomes less about a king in shining armor and more about impossible choices: protecting people, forging alliances, and confronting betrayal. The Arthur–Mordred conflict resonates because it reflects a recurring human tragedy: the greatest threat to a society can come from internal division rather than external enemies. Civil conflict can destroy what years of sacrifice have built.
Placed among the northern Brittonic kingdoms—Gododdin, Rheged, Strathclyde—the setting becomes grounded in recognizable realities: warriors who are also farmers, cattle representing wealth and survival, hill forts instead of castles, Roman roads falling into disrepair, and bards preserving memory because few people could write. This version doesn’t diminish the legend; it makes it more compelling because extraordinary people are responding to ordinary human needs.

Merlin is officially forgotten he's died his last death his name is lost in the wind now

About king Arthur, i've got a book by Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman, "King Arthur" from 1992. They identify Arthus with a certain Owain Ddantgwyn, king of Gwynedd and Powys, who was called Bear - Arth in briton language, Ursus in latin. About him knowing magic, maybe he was just well educated and was able to read, write and calculate?
Now i'm wondering if there's a special meaning to the name Merlin (in wich form ever) in the old briton language?

JENGO is the FIRST REAL LIFE AFRICAN MERLIN I'm watching from WOODSTOCK GEORGIA Blessings and HUGS to you MARANATHA 👑💜🔯