The Crystal Cave
Page 45
All the places I describe are authentic, with no significant exception but the cave of Galapas — and if Merlin is indeed sleeping there "with all his fires and travelling glories around him," one would expect it to be invisible. But the well is there on Bryn Myrddin, and there is a burial mound on the crest of the hill.
It would seem that the name "merlin" was not recorded for the falcon columbarius until mediaeval times, and the word is possibly French; but its derivation is uncertain, and this was sufficient excuse for a writer whose imagination had already woven a series of images from the name before the book was even begun.
Where Merlin refers to the potter's mark A.M., the A would be the potter's initial or trade mark; the M stands for Manu, literally "by the hand of."
The relationship between Merlin and Ambrosius has (I believe) no basis in legend. A ninth-century historian, Nennius, from whom Geoffrey took some of his material, called his prophet "Ambrosius." Nennius told the story of the dragons in the pool, and the young seer's first recorded prophecy. Geoffrey, borrowing the story, calmly equates the two prophets: "Then saith Merlin, that is also called Ambrosius..." This throwaway piece of "nerve," as Professor Gwyn Jones calls it, [Introduction to the Everyman ed. of History of the Kings of Britain] gave me the idea of identifying the "prince of darkness" who fathered Merlin — gave me, indeed, the main plot of The Crystal Cave.
My greatest debt is obviously to Geoffrey of Monmouth, master of romance. Among other creditors too numerous to name and impossible to repay, I should like especially to thank Mr. Francis Jones, County Archivist, Carmarthen; Mr. and Mrs. Morris of Bryn Myrddin, Carmarthen; Mr. G. B. Lancashire of The Chase Hotel, Ross-on-Wye; Brigadier R. Waller, of Wyaston Leys, Monmouthshire, on whose land lie Lesser Doward and the Romans' Way; Professor Hermann Bruck, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, and Mrs. Bruck; Professor Stuart Piggott of the Department of Archaeology at Edinburgh University; Miss Elizabeth Manners, Headmistress of Felixstowe College; and Mr. Robin Denniston, of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd., London.
February 1968 — February 1970. M.S.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
EDWIN MUIR'S POEM "MERLIN" is reprinted by permission of Faber and Faber Ltd., from the Collected Poems, 1921-58.
The poem is a free translation of verses appearing in Barzaz Breiz; Chants Populaires de la Bretagne, by the Vicomte de la Villemarqué (Paris, 1867).
The Legend of Merlin is based on the translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain which was first published in the Everyman's Library, Vol. 577, by J. & M. Dent in 1912.
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MARY STEWART, ONE OF THE MOST popular novelists writing today, was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England, but home was wherever her father, a clergyman of the Church of England, was called.
After boarding-school, she received a B.A. with honours in Literature from Durham University and went on for her M.A. At the beginning of World War II, she was asked to return to her Alma Mater as a lecturer, and gave six lectures a week, eked out her small salary by teaching sixth form at a boys' public school, and spent three night-shifts a week in the Royal Observer Corps until hostilities ended.
It was at a dance celebrating V-E Day that she met a young Geology professor named Stewart; within two months they were married. Professor Stewart, F.R.S., is now Head of the Department of Geology in the University of Edinburgh and is on the Council of Scientific Policy. Mrs. Stewart has had a meteoric career of her own, beginning with the publication in 1954 of her first novel, Madam, Will You Talk?, and culminating in this magical story about Merlin, the enchanter: The Crystal Cave. In 1968 she was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.