The Vita Merlini, to give it its short title, is an epic poem (carmen heroicum) of 1,529 lines in Latin dactylic hexameter by the British cleric and scholar Geoffrey of Monmouth (c.1095—c.1155). It tells of Merlin’s life as a wild man of the woods following his traumatic experience at the Battle of Arfderydd in 573, when he went mad after witnessing the death of Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio, whose bard he had been.

Read More