The Anglo-Norman Verse Prophecies of Merlin

The Anglo-Norman Verse Prophecies of Merlin introduction History Wace chose not to include Merlin's prophecies in the Roman de Brut, the translation ofGeoffrey ofMonmouth's Historia regum Britanniae which he completed in 1155, because, as he says, he did not understand them: 'Ne vuil sun livre translater/ Quant jo nel sai interpreter' (7539—40) (? do not want to translate his book,/ For I do not know how to interpret it').1 In keeping with his image of cautious historian, Wace claims it would be a disservice to his public ifhe were to translate the prophecies and make errors in the process. Thus, he prefers silence to misinformation: 'Nule rien dire ne vuldreie,/ Que si ne fust cum jo dirreie' (7541-42) (? would not want to say anything,/ Lest it were not as I would say it'). Wace had reasons for this omission, probably political in nature, but they cannot be addressed fully here.2 What needs to be emphasized is Wace's self-consciousness as an editor when he decides to alert his audience to the existence ofthe prophecies. His decision not to include them also reminds us of the differences between the concept ofa text in his age and in our own, and ofthe editorial processes so often used by writers ofhis period whose idea ofa translation often included translating, collating, and adapting material drawn from multiple sources.3 In an attempt to make Wace's Brut more 'complete,' three redactors inserted complete versions ofMerlin's prophecies—that is, translations into Anglo-Norman verse of the Latin text, the Prophetia Merlini (PAi)—into the Brut (Anglo-Norman MSS D, L, and A). There is also a copy added to a fragment of the end of the Brut (B, also Anglo-Norman), another in an anonymous Anglo-Norman Brut (H), two others not associated with any Brut poem (F and O, also Anglo-Norman), and one fragment of the prophecies (Anglo-Norman MS London, British Library, Additional 48212).4 These Anglo-Norman verse prophecies (henceforth the ANP) can be seen to belong to the earliest ofthe three written traditions ofMerlin's prophecies, as proposed by Caroline Eckhardt in her edition ofa fifteenth-century English 2 ANGLO-NORMAN VERSE PROPHECIES OF MERLIN commentary on the Prophetia Merlimi Referring to the early Latin texts of the PM, Eckhardt cites three modes of transmission to characterize these early traditions: i) as part of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae (=Historia), 2) as a text independent of the Historia, and 3) as individual predictions cited in other works. She calls this tripartite early development the 'Historia tradition,' since 'whatever the setting, it is Geoffrey's Merlin prophecy from the Historia, a limited and generally stable text, that is being transmitted.'7 Eckhardt identifies two other Merlin traditions which are more loosely related to Geoffrey's text. The first, which she calls the post-H'istoria tradition, involves the production of prophecies attributed to the Merlin figure popularized by Geoffrey; Geoffrey himself participated in this tradition through the Vita Merlini, a poem in which some ofthe prophecies from the Historia are reproduced with new elements.8 Other participants in this post-Historia tradition include Richard ofIreland, to whom are attributed the French prose Prophesies de Merlin, around 1276, and the anonymous author of the 'Six Last Kings' prophecy found in the English Brut chronicles of the thirteenth century.9 Closely related to, but not exactly a subset of, what Eckhardt calls the post-Historia tradition, is a range of texts which participated in the wider interest in Merlin, texts of large political interest but where that interest was not necessarily generated by the Historia; these include the Welsh poem, 'Gwasgargerdd Myrddin' (c. 1163), a political prophecy supposedly uttered by Myrddin from the grave, and the ProphetiaMerlini (c. 1153-54) ofJohn ofCornwall, whose commentary was based on prophecies many of which did not come from Geoffrey.10 Lastly, Eckhardt signals a third tradition of prophetic material associated with Merlin or the non-Historia tradition: this tradition, which belongs to romance and not to historiography or political writing, includes Robert de Boron's Merliti and other texts which emphasize the characterization ofMerlin as enchanter...