“The Horse Who Would
Be King” a humorous take on Sword-in-the-Stone Tale
[stories from The Mammoth Book of
Merlin (TMBOM)]
If you need a bit of a break from
too-serious or too-doomed tales from the King Arthur oeuvre, may I
recommend the above story from The Mammoth Book of Merlin (TMBOM)?
Horse-lovers will find it entirely
fitting that Merlin's magical steed engineers a way to not only
create a sword, but fix it so that our humble and hapless sap, I mean
hero, is the one to pull out said sword from said stone.
The noble sword Excalibur is created
from the broad blaze on Merlin's horse – which I find entirely
fitting. Only a noble animal like a horse could possibly create a
noble sword like Excalibur! A sword named after the horse, of course.
And needless to say, our Artie pulls
out the sword and then hands it over Kay without letting anyone know
a thing about it, and then Kay goes around claiming to be The
Rightwise Born King of England, so that Merlin (and his horse) have
to finagle a way to get the sword BACK in the dang stone and gather
everyone around once more for another go at pulling it out. I mean,
it must have been exasperating! Artie, listen up! You are the
Rightwise Born King, so if you have any objections, you can just
stuff it!
So by now you have gathered that this
is a light-hearted take on the old fable of the Sword in the Stone
thing. Arthuriana nuts of all ages can enjoy this one, but especially
those of the female persuasion since many of us fall in love with
horses as young girls, even if they've never ridden one.
“Dream
Reader” introduces readers to a young Merlin just learning his
craft
[stories from The Mammoth Book of
Merlin (TMBOM)]
One of my favorite tales from The
Mammoth Book of Merlin (aka TMBOM) is this one by Jane Yolen called
Dream Reader, which portrays a very young boy who falls in with a
troupe of magicians and other entertainers who help him develop the
skills he later became famous for.
Primary among them are the gift of
dreams that come true. Young Merlin needs help in learning not only
how to interpret the dreams that come to him in the night, but how
much of that interpretation to pass on to The Powers That Be (TPTB).
The dream is the one about the two
dragons who are fighting beneath where a duke tries to build his new
tower. The dragons cause each day's building efforts to fall down.
The elder mage who interprets the dream
for young Merlin offers the ruling family a logical explanation:
“Most likely the Romans built their conduits for their baths there.
With the construction, there has been a leakage underground. The
natural outflow has been damaged further by armies fighting. And so
there has been a pooling under the foundation. Open up the work,
drain the pool, remove or reconstruct the Roman pipes, and the
building will stand.”
The portraits of the dreamy and
starving youth formerly known as Merrillin, of the mage Ambrosius,
the singer Viviane, of the town where the newly-married duke is
building a tower, are all well-drawn. It seems like a very credible
introduction to the young Merlin that ties in smoothly with later
tales.
“The Temptations of Merlin” a
fine tale of a young wizard trying to find himself and his destiny
[stories from The Mammoth Book of
Merlin (TMBOM)]
One of the more satisfying tales from
TMBOM is this one by Peter Tremayne, of a young Myrddin who departs
from a ravaged abbey where he had taken shelter for the night. He is
on a quest to discover the meaning of the curious knot woven into the
scrap of cloth which is the only clue to his real parentage and clan.
While on this quest he meets several
tests and temptations, most of which he flunks. Among other things,
he fails to recognize a young Artio (bear) as the future king who
will unite Britain.
I don't mean to make Merlin sound like
a fumbler and bumbler. He does have several skills or talents. Among
them are a high tolerance for pain and cold, fighting skills both
with and without a sword, a working knowledge of the Druid arts
including healing, horsemanship which includes fighting while on
horseback, a mastery of riddles, gallantry, a kindness to the weak
and injured.
However the poor befuddled wiz fails to
listen to the sounds of nature when he gets lost in his own thoughts.
You know what they say, Merlin, you mustn't let your mind wander,
it's too little to be out on its own. And his adoration of women
makes him too-easy prey for the duplicitous machinations of
characters like Lowri, Centwine's sister.
This flawed character is entirely
believable and sympathetic as he gropes his way through various
encounters once he leaves the shelter of his Druidic brotherhood.
“Merlin Dreams in the Mondream
Wood” brings Merlin as Green Man within sight
[stories from The Mammoth Book of
Merlin (TMBOM)]
Childhood friends look back on a time
when in one's innocence, one could sit by a tree and actually hear
the Green Man – a trapped Merlin – talking to you. What did he
say?, Julie asks. Sara replies, I can't remember.
Sara was orphaned at a young age by her
parents' death, and went to live with an uncle in a large, rambling
house on a wooded lot. Frequently awaking in the night with panic
attacks, Sara would sneak out the next day to nap under the oaks. In
her dreams while she napped, she saw a red-haired boy who lived in
the tree. He said his name was Merlin.
Her uncle encouraged her interest in
Merlin by giving her copies of Le Morte d'Arthur and The Sword in the
Stone.
Eventually, after some months of “tree
therapy” Sara's night terrors grew less frequent and disappeared
completely.
Also eventually she forgets all about
her tree friend – until one day, years later, he again appears in
her thoughts.
What if we befriended a tree, a nice
elder gentlemanly tree, and talked to him (or her) in our dreams?
What would we learn from nature in this unconventional way, that
reading books could never tell us?
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