Robert de Boron's "Merlin"

Robert de Boron's Merlin portrays Merlin as the prophet of the Holy Grail, a role he was to repeat in the Vulgate cycle. This set of manuscripts fleshes out the role of Merlin as advisor: He tells Uther to establish a knightly fellowship (Round Table, anyone?), and he assures Uther that his true heir will be revealed as the one who could draw the sword from the stone. Finally, Merlin's infatuation with the Lady of …

…esents him as the artificer of the impenetrable shield and other armor of Prince Arthur ("Faery Queene," Book I., Canto vii.), and of a mirror, in which a damsel viewed her lover's shade. The Fountain of Love, in the "Orlando Innamorata," is described as his work; and in the poem of "Ariosto" we are told of a hall adorned with prophetic paintings, which demons had executed in a single night, under the direction of Merlin.