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Product Description
Product Description
For the first time in English, Mark Walker presents a verse translation of the twelfth-century epic poem by Geoffrey of Monmouth, the originator of many of the Arthurian legends familiar to us today. Here is the original Merlin - a mysterious and mad character inspired by ancient Welsh legends. But he is also a king, a prophet, and a modern Renaissance man. This brand-new translation casts Geoffrey's Latin into accessible English hexameter verse, giving readers a feel for the rhythms of the original. The extensive introduction sets the poem in the context of Geoffrey's life and writings, while each chapter opens with helpful background material. Turn back the pages of time and discover the mythical, magical world of the original Merlin.
About the Author
Mark Walker is the author of three popular Latin books, all published by The History Press. He is also the editor of Vates: The Journal of New Latin Poetry and the author of the epic Amida: A Novel (2004). Mark teaches Latin to adult learners in Buckinghamshire. He holds an MA in Classics from Lampeter University.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This bold English verse translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's little-known but hugely important 12th-century Latin poem "Vita Merlini" deserves credit for bringing a previously obscure work to a wider audience. Older translations of the "Life" are dusty and academic -- for scholars only -- but this one is lively and cracks along at a fine pace, helped by the lilting rhythms of Walker's English take on the hexameter line (think of the rhythm as: "Strawberry, strawberry jam in a strawberry, strawberry jam-jar"!).
Geoffrey's original poem is here divided into short chapters, each prefaced by a paragraph or so of explanation, so the reader doesn't have to get bogged down with footnotes. There are a couple of illustrations and the layout is definitely user-friendly. It's a short book -- the poem itself runs to just 1,200 lines in this English version -- but one packed full of fascinating tales culled from diverse sources or simply invented by the fertile genius of Geoffrey of Monmouth.
The introduction sets the work in the context of what the translator argues is Geoffrey's Humanism, explaining why Geoffrey's Merlin is not the traditional "magical" old pagan druid, but rather a curious observer of nature who seeks to gain understanding of the apparently miraculous world around us.
But that all comes after we have met mad Merlin, the archetypal Wild Man of the Woods derived from ancient Welsh legend, driven mad by the death of his friends in battle. His wanderings and the attempts of his friends and family to entice him back to civilisation form the bulk of the first half of the poem. The latter half has several curious "digressions" into natural history, which this translation persuasively argues are not digressions at all but rather a core part of Geoffrey's plan for the work.
For anyone who wants to meet the "original" Merlin -- before he became the father of Gandalf and Dumbeldore -- this is the book for you.
Geoffrey's original poem is here divided into short chapters, each prefaced by a paragraph or so of explanation, so the reader doesn't have to get bogged down with footnotes. There are a couple of illustrations and the layout is definitely user-friendly. It's a short book -- the poem itself runs to just 1,200 lines in this English version -- but one packed full of fascinating tales culled from diverse sources or simply invented by the fertile genius of Geoffrey of Monmouth.
The introduction sets the work in the context of what the translator argues is Geoffrey's Humanism, explaining why Geoffrey's Merlin is not the traditional "magical" old pagan druid, but rather a curious observer of nature who seeks to gain understanding of the apparently miraculous world around us.
But that all comes after we have met mad Merlin, the archetypal Wild Man of the Woods derived from ancient Welsh legend, driven mad by the death of his friends in battle. His wanderings and the attempts of his friends and family to entice him back to civilisation form the bulk of the first half of the poem. The latter half has several curious "digressions" into natural history, which this translation persuasively argues are not digressions at all but rather a core part of Geoffrey's plan for the work.
For anyone who wants to meet the "original" Merlin -- before he became the father of Gandalf and Dumbeldore -- this is the book for you.
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