Press CTRL+D to bookmark this page!

Prophecies of Merlin the Magician

AMERICAN INDIAN NEWS TICKER!!!

Merlin's Prophecies

"Merlin saith that in England shall be seen strange things, as preaching of

traitors, great rain and wind, great hunger among the common people, great

oppression of blood, great imprisonment of many men and great battle; so

that there shall be few or no quiet place to abide in; the Prince shall forsake

men of the church, Lords shall forsake righteousness, counsel of the aged

shall not be set by; religious men and women shall be thrust out of their

houses; the common people for fear shall not know which way to turn;

parents shall be hated by their children, men of worship shall have no

reverence of others; adultery shall abound among all; with more ill than I

can tell of, from which God us defend."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Luxury shall overspread the land, and fornication shall not cease to

debauch mankind. Famine shall then return, and the inhabitants shall grieve

for the destruction of their cities. In those days the oaks of the forests shall

burn, and acorns grow upon lime trees! The Severn sea shall discharge

itself through seven mouths, and the river Usk burn for seven months!

Fishes shall die in the heat thereof, and from them serpents will be born."

"The baths of Badon [hot springs of Bath] shall grow cold, and their

salubrious waters engender death! London shall mourn for the death of

twenty thousand, and the river Thames shall be turned to blood! The monks

in the cowls shall be forced to marry, and their cry shall be heard upon the

mountains of the Alps."

"The seas shall rise up in the twinkling of an eye, and the dust of the

ancients shall be restored."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The cult of religion shall be destroyed completely, and the ruin of the

churches shall be clear for all to see. The race that is oppressed shall

prevail in the end, for it will resist the savagery of the invaders.

The Boar of Cornwall shall bring relief from these invaders, for it will

trample the necks beneath its feet. The islands of the Ocean shall be given

into the power of the Boar, and it shall lord it over the forests of Gaul.

The House of Romulus shall dread the Boar's savagery, and the end of the

Boar will be shrouded in mystery. The Boar shall be extolled in the mouths

of its peoples, and its deeds will be as meat and drink to those who tell

tales.

Six of the Boar's descendants shall hold the sceptre after it, and next after

them will rise up the German Worm. The Sea-wolf shall exalt the Worm,

and the forests of Africa shall be committed to its care. Religion shall be

destroyed a second time and the sees of the primates will be moved to

other places. London's high dignity shall adorn Durobernia, and the

seventh pastor of York will be visited in the realm of Armorica. Menevia

shall be dressed in the pall of the City of the Legions, and the preacher

from Ireland shall be struck dumb by a child still growing in the womb.

A shower of blood shall fall, and a dire famine shall afflict mankind. The

Red One will grieve for what has happened, but after an immense effort it

will regain its strength. Calamity will next pursue the White One, and the

buildings in its little garden will be torn down. Seven who hold the sceptre

shall perish, one of them being canonised. The bellies of mothers shall be

cut open, and babies will be born prematurely. Men will suffer most

grievously, in order that those born in the country may regain power. He

who will achieve these things shall appear as the Man of Bronze, and for

long years he shall guard the gates of London upon a brazen horse.

Then the Red Dragon will revert to its true habits and struggle to tear itself

to pieces. Next will come the revenge of the Thunderer, and every one of

the farmer's fields will be a disappointment.

Death will lay hold of the people and destroy all the nations. Those who are

left alive will abandon their native soil and will sow their seeds in the fields

of others. A king who is blessed will fit out a navy and will be reckoned the

twelfth in the court among the saints. The realm shall be deserted in the

most pitiful way, and the harvest threshing floors will be overgrown once

more by forests rich in fruit.

Once again the White Dragon shall rise up and will invite over a daughter

of Germany. Our little garden will be stocked again with foreign seed, and

the Red Dragon will pine away at the far end of the pool. After that the

German Worm shall be crowned, and the Prince of brass will be buried.

A limit was set for him, beyond which he was powerless to pass. For a

hundred and fifty years he shall remain in anguish and subjection, and then

for three hundred more he shall sit enthroned. The North Wind will rise

against him, snatching away the flowers which the West Wind has caused

to bloom. There will be gilding in the temples, but the sword's cutting edge

will not cease its work.

The German Dragon will find it hard to escape to its cavernous lairs, for

vengeance for its treason will overtake it. In the end it will become strong

again just for a short time, but the decimation of Normandy will be a

sorry blow. There shall come people dressed in wood and in iron corselets

who will take vengeance on it for its wickedness. This people shall give

their dwelling back to the earlier inhabitants, and the destruction of

foreigners will be clear for all to see.

The seed of the White Dragon shall be rooted up from our little gardens

and what is left of its progeny shall be decimated. They shall bear the

yoke of perpetual slavery, and they will wound their own mother with their

spades and ploughshares. Two more Dragons shall follow, one of which

shall be killed by the sting of envy, but the second will return under the

cover of authority.

The Lion of Justice shall come next, and at its roar the towers of Gaul shall

shake and the island Dragons tremble. In the days of this Lion, gold shall

be squeezed from the lily-Bower and the nettle, and silver shall flow from

the hooves of lowing cattle.

They who have had their hair waved shall dress in woolen stuffs of many

colours, and the outer garment shall be an index of the thoughts within.

The feet of they that bark shall be cut. Wild animals shall enjoy peace, but

mankind will bewail the way in which it is being punished. The balance of

trade shall be tom in half; and the half that is left shall be rounded off.

Kites will lose their ravenous hunger, and the teeth of wolves will be

blunted. The Lion's cubs shall be transformed into salt-water fishes, and

the Eagle of Mount Aravia shall nest upon a summit.

Venedotia shall be red with the blood of mothers, and the house of

Corineus will slaughter six brothers. The island will lie sodden with the

tears of the night-time, and everyone will be encouraged to try to do

everything. Those who are born later shall strive to fly over even the

most lofty things, but the favour given to the newcomers will be loftier

even than that.

Piety will frown upon the man who has inherited goods from the impious;

that is, until he takes his style of dress from his own father. Girded around

with a wild boar's teeth, he shall climb over the mountain summits and

higher than the shadow of the Helmeted Man.

Albany will be angry: calling her near neighbours to her, she shall give

herself entirely to bloodshed. Between her jaws there will be found a bit

which was forged in the Bay of Armorica. The eagle of the Broken

Covenant shall paint it with gold and will rejoice in her third nesting.

The cubs shall roar as they keep watch; they will forsake the forest groves

and come hunting inside the walls of cities. They will cause great slaughter

among any who oppose them, and the tongues of bulls shall they slice off.

They shall load with chains the necks of the roaring ones and live again the

days of their forefathers. Thereafter, from the first to the fourth, from the

fourth to the third, from the third to the second shall the thumb be rolled

in oil.

The sixth shall throw down the walls of Ireland and transmute its forests into

a level plain. The sixth shall unite the different parts into one whole, and he

shall be crowned with the head of a lion. His beginning will yield to his own

unstable disposition, but his end shall soar up towards those on high. He

shall restore the dwellings of the saints throughout the lands and settle the

pastors in places which befit them. Two towns shall he cover with funeral

palls and to virgins he will present virgin gifts. By doing this he will earn

the favour of the Thunderer, and he will be placed among the blessed.

From him there will emerge a She-lynx, and this will nose its way into all

things and strive for the downfall of its own race. Because of the She-lynx

Normandy will lose both its isles and be deprived of its former dignity.

Then the island's inhabitants shall return to it, for a great dissension will

arise among the foreigners.

A hoary old man upon a mow-white horse shall divert the River Periron,

and above the stream he will measure out a mill with his white rod.

Cadwallader shall summon Conanus and shall make an alliance with

Albany. Then the foreigners shall be slaughtered, and the rivers will run

with blood.

The mountains of Armorica shall erupt, and Armorica itself shall be

crowned with Brutus' diadem. Kambria shall be filled with joy, and the

Cornish oaks shall flourish. The island shall be called by the name of

Brutus, and the title given to it by the foreigners shall be done away with.

From Conanus there shall descend a fierce Boar, which will try the

sharpness of its tusks in the forests of Gaul, for it will lop down all the

larger oak trees, taking care to protect the smaller ones.

The Arabs shall dread this Boar and so shall the Africans, for the impetus

of its onslaught will carry it into the remotest parts of Spain. Next after the

Boar shall come the Ram of the Castle of Venus, with golden horns and a

beard of silver. It will breathe such a fog from its nostrils that the entire

surface of the island will be overshadowed by it. In the days of the Ram

there shall be peace, and the harvests will be plentiful because of the

richness of the soil. Women shall become snake-like in their gait, and

every step they take will be full arrogance. The Castle of Venus will be

restored, and Cupid's arrows will continue to wound. The source of the

River Amne shall turn into blood, and two kings will fight each other at

the Ford of the Staff for the sake of a Lioness. All the soil will be fruitful

beyond man’s need; and human beings will fornicate unceasingly.

Three generations will witness all that I have mentioned, and then the kings

buried in the town of London will be disinterred. Famine will return, and

death, and citizens will grieve for their townships. The Boar of Commerce

shall come and call back the scattered flocks to the feeding ground which

they have forsaken. Its breast will be as food to the hungry, and its tongue

will assuage the thirst of those who are dry. From its mouth shall flow

forth rivers which will water the parched gullets of men.

Then a Tree shall spring up on the top of the Tower of London. It will be

content with only three branches, and yet it will overshadow the whole

length and breadth of the island with the spread of its leaves. The North

Wind will come as the Tree's enemy, and with its noxious breath it will

tear away the third of the branches. The two branches which are left will

occupy the place of the one ripped off: this until one of them destroys the

other by the very abundance of its leaves. This last branch will fill the

place of the other two, and it will offer a roosting place to birds come

from foreign parts. To birds native to the country it will seem harmful, for

through their dread of its shadow they will lose their power of free flight.

The Ass of Wickedness will come next, swift against the goldsmiths, but

slow against the wolves' ravenous appetites. In these days the oaks shall

burn in the forest glades, and acorns shall burgeon on the lime trees' boughs.

The Severn Sea shall flow forth through seven mouths, and the River Usk

shall be boiling hot for seven months. Its fish will die because of the heat,

and from them serpents will be born. The baths shall grow cold at Bath,

and its health-giving waters shall breed death. London shall mourn the

death of twenty thousand, and the Thames will be turned into blood.

Monks in their cowls shall be forced into marriage, and their lamentation

will be heard on the mountain peaks of the Alps.

Three springs shall burst forth in the town of Winchester, and the streams

which run from them will divide the island into three parts. Whoever will

drink from the first will enjoy long life and will never be afflicted by the

onslaught of illness. Whoever will drink from the second shall perish from

insatiable hunger: pallor and dread will be clear to see on his face.

Whoever will drink from the third shall die a sudden death. And it will not

be possible for his body to be buried. In their effort to avoid so voracious

a death, fit men will do their best to cover it over from layers of different

materials, but whatever structure is placed on top will immediately take

on the form of another substance. As soon as they are placed there,

earth will be turned to stones, stones to liquid, wood into ashes, ashes into

water.

However from a town in Canute’s forest, a girl shall be sent to remedy

these matters by her healing art. Once she has consulted all the oracles,

she shall dry up the noxious springs simply by breathing on them. Next,

when she has restored her own strength by some invigorating drink, she

shall carry the Forest of Caledon in her right hand, and in her left the

buttressed forts of the walls of London. Wherever she passes she shall

leave sulphurous footprints which will reek with a double flame. The

smoke from them will stir up the Ruteni and will provide food for the

creatures who live in the sea. Tears of compassion shall flow from her

eyes and will fill the island with her dreadful cries. He that will kill her

shall be a stag of ten tines, four of which will bear golden coronets; the

other six will be turned into the horns of oxen, and these horns will rouse

the three islands of Britain with their accursed bellowing.

The Daneian Forest shall be wakened from its sleep and, burst into

human speech, it shall shout, "Kambria, come here; bring Cornwall at

your side! Say to Winchester, 'The earth will swallow you up. Move the

see of your shepherd to where the ships come in to harbour. Then make

sure that the limbs which remain follow the head! The day approaches

when your citizens will perish for their crime of perjury. The whiteness

of your wool done you harm, and so too has the variety of their dye.

Woe to the perjured people, for their famous city shall come toppling

down because of them! The ships shall rejoice at such a great increase,

and each one of them will be constructed out of the material of two.’”

A Hedgehog loaded with apples shall rebuild the town and, attracted by

the smell of these apples, birds will flock there from many different forests.

The hedgehog shall build a huge palace and then wall it round with six

hundred towers. London will view this with envy and will increase her

own fortifications threefold. The River Thames will surround London on

all sides, and the report of that engineering feat will cross the Alps.

The Hedgehog will hide its apples inside Winchester and will construct

hidden passages under the earth. In that time the stones shall speak.

The sea over which men sail to Gaul shall be contracted into a narrow

channel. A man on any one of the two shores will be audible to a man on

the other, and the land mass of the island will grow greater. The secrets

of the creatures who live under the sea shall be revealed, and Gaul will

tremble for fear.

Next a Heron shall emerge from the Forest of Calaterium and fly around

the island for two whole years. By its cry in the night it will call all winged

creatures together and assemble in its company every genus of bird.

They will swoop down on to the fields which men have cultivated and

devour every kind of harvest. A famine will attack the people, and an

appalling death rate will follow the famine. As soon as this terrible calamity

has come to an end, the accursed Bird will transfer its attention to the

Calabes Valley and rise it up into a lofty mountain. On its highest peak the

heron will plant in an oak, and on the branches of the oak it shall build its

nest; three eggs shall be laid in the nest, and from them will emerge a Fox,

a Wolf, and a Bear. The Fox will devour its mother and then put on an

Ass's head. Once it has assumed this monstrous guise, it will terrify its

brothers and drive them away to Normandy. In that country they will in

their turn stir up the tusky Boar. Back they will come in a boat, and in that

way they will meet the Fox once more. As it begins the contest, the Fox

will pretend that it is dead and will move the Boar to pity. Soon the Boar

will go up to the Fox's corpse. and, standing over it, will breathe into its

eyes and face. The Fox, not unmindful of its ancient cunning, will bite the

Boar’s left hoof and sever it completely from the Boar’s body. Then the

Fox will leap at the Boar and tear off its right ear and its tail and slink

off to hide in the mountain caves. The deluded Boar will then ask the Wolf

and the Bear to restore to it the parts which it has lost.

Once they have agreed to support the Boar, they will promise it two feet,

two ears and one tail, from which they will manufacture a truly porcine

member. The Boar will agree to this and will stand waiting for the promised

return of its parts. Meanwhile the Fox will come down from the mountains

and will metamorphose itself into a Wolf. Under the pretense of holding a

conference with the Bear, it will approach that animal craftily and eat it up.

Then the Fox will change itself into a Boar and stand waiting for its

brothers, pretending that it, too, has lost some of its members. As soon as

they come, it will kill them with its tusk without a moment’s delay and then

have itself crowned with a Lion's head.

In the days of the Fox, a Snake shall be born, and this will bring death to

human beings. It will encircle London with its long tail and devour all there

who pass by. A Mountain Ox will put on a Wolf's head and grind its

teeth white in the Severn's workshop. The Ox will collect round itself the

flocks of Albany and those of Wales, and their company will drain the

Thames dry as it drinks.

An Ass shall call to itself a long-bearded Goat and then will change shapes

with it. As a result the Mountain Bull will lose its temper: it will summon

the Wolf and then transfix the Ass and the Goat with its horn. Once it has

indulged its savage rage upon them, it will eat up their flesh and their bones,

but the Ox itself will be burned up on the summit of Urianus. The ashes of

its funeral pyre shall be transmuted into swans, which will swim away upon

dry land as though in water. These Swans will eat up fish inside fish and they

will swallow men inside men. When they grow old they will take the shape

of sea-wolves and continue their treacherous behaviour beneath the sea.

They will sink ships and gather together quite a treasure house of silver.

Then the Thames shall begin to flow again. It will gather together its

tributaries and overflow the confines of its bed. It will submerge nearby

towns and overturn the mountains in its course. It will join to itself to the

Springs of Calabes, filled as they are to the very brim with wickedness and

deceit.

As a result, a number of mutinies will occur, and these will encourage the

Venedoti to make war. The oaks of the forest shall band together and

come into conflict with the rocks of the Gewissei. A Raven will fly down

with the Kites and eat up the bodies of the dead. An Owl will nest on the

walls of Gloucester, and in its nest will be hatched an Ass. The Snake of

Malvern will nurture this Ass and teach it many deceitful tricks. The Ass

will put on a crown and then clamber above all that is most lofty and terrify

the people with its hideous braying. In the days of the Ass the Pacaian

Mountains shall totter, and the country districts shall be deprived of their

forest lands, for there shall come a Worm which will puff forth fire, and this

Worm will burn up the trees with the breath which it exhales.

Out of the Worm shall come seven lions malformed with goats’ heads.

With the fetid breath from their nostrils, they will corrupt married women

and cause wives so far faithful to one husband to become common

prostitutes. The father shall not know his own son, for human beings will

copulate wantonly as cattle do. Then indeed shall come a very Giant of

wickedness who will terrify everyone with the piercing glance of his eyes.

Against him will arise the dragon of Worcester, which will do its best to

destroy him; but when they come to grips, the Dragon will be worsted and

overwhelmed by its conqueror's wickedness, which will terrify everyone.

The Giant will climb on the Dragon, throw off all his clothes, and then ride

upon it naked. The Dragon will rear the Giant up in the air and lash his

naked body with its erected tail, but the Giant will recover his strength and

cut the Dragon’s throat with his sword. Finally, the Dragon will become

entangled in its own tail and die of poison.

The boar of Totnes shall succeed the Giant and will oppress the people

with grievous tyranny. Gloucester shall send a lion which will harass the

raging Boar in a series of battles. This Lion will trample the Boar under

foot and terrify it with its open maw. Finally the Lion will be at odds with

all in the kingdom and climb up on the backs of the nobles.

A Bull will pursue the Lion through all the narrow byways of the kingdom,

but in the end it will break its horns against the walls of Oxford. The Fox

of Caerdubalum will wreak vengeance on the Lion and tear it up with its

teeth. Then the Adder of Lincoln will coil round the Fox and announce its

presence to the assembled Dragon with a terrifying hiss.

The Dragons will attack each other and tear each other to pieces.

A Dragon with wings will overwhelm the Dragon without wings, driving its

venomous claws into the other’s muzzle. Two more Dragons will join the

battle, and the one will kill the other. A fifth Dragon will replace the two

dead ones and will destroy the two left alive by various stratagems. It will

climb on the back of one, holding a sword in its claws, and hack its head

away from its body. Then it will cast its slough and climb on the second

one with its opponent's tail in its right and left claws. Naked, it will

overwhelm the other; when fully covered, it will achieve nothing. It will

torment other Dragons by climbing on their backs and will drive them

round the kingdom.

Then a roaring Lion will intervene, terrifying in its monstrous cruelty. This

Lion will reduce fifteen portions to a single entity, and by itself it will hold

the people in its power. A Giant, snow-white in colour and gleaming bright,

will beget a radiant people.

Soft living will enervate the leaders, and those under their command will be

changed into beasts. In their number will arise a Lion, fat with human blood.

A Man with a Sickle will act as the Lion's helper in the harvest, but when

the man is perplexed in his mind, the Lion will destroy him.

The Charioteer of York will soothe the people. He will throw his master

out and climb up into the chariot which he is driving. He will draw his sword

and threaten the East, and he will fill with blood the ruts made by his wheels.

Next he will turn himself into a Sea-fish and mate with a Snake which has

attracted him by its hissing. As a result, there shall be born three Bulls,

which will glitter like lightning. They will eat up their pasture lands and then

be turned into trees. The first Bull will carry a whip made of vipers, and it

will turn its back on the one born second. The second Bull will struggle to

snatch the whip from the first, but the whip will be seized by the third.

They will avert their gaze from each other until they have thrown away the

poison cup.

A Farmer from Albany shall take their place, and down his back a Snake

shall hang. He will spend his time ploughing the earth, so that the harvests

of his homeland may grow white, but the Snake will busy itself in scattering

poison to prevent the green corn from ever coming to harvest.

The population shall decrease through some deadly calamity, and the walls

of the towns will come tumbling down. The City of Claudius will be

proposed as a source of remedy, and this city will put forward the

Foster-daughter of the Scourger. She shall come bearing a saucer of

medicine, and in next to no time the island will be restored.

Two men shall hold the sceptre, one after the other, and a Horned Dragon

will serve them both. The first man will come clad in iron and riding upon

a flying Serpent. He will sit astride its back, with his body naked, and he

will grasp its tail in his right hand. The seas will be made turbulent by his

cry, and he will strike terror into the second man. As a result, the second

man will make an alliance with a Lion, but a quarrel will ensue, and they

will fight. Each of the two will suffer greatly from the other's blows, but the

animal's ferocity will enable it to win.

A man shall come with a drum and a lute, and he will soothe the Lion’s

savageness. The various peoples in the kingdom will be pacified as a result,

and they will encourage the Lion to take the saucer of medicine. As it sits

in the dwelling allocated to it, it will examine the dose, but it will stretch out

its hand toward Albany. The regions of the north will be saddened by this,

and they will throw open the gates of their temples.

A Wolf will act as standard bearer, and it will coil its tail round Cornwall.

A soldier in a chariot will resist the Wolf and transform the Cornish people

into a Boar. As a result the Boar will devastate the provinces, but it will

hide its head in the depths of the Severn.

A man shall wrestle with a drunken Lion, and the gleam of gold will blind

the eyes of the onlookers. Silver will shine white in the open space, causing

trouble to a number of wine presses. Men will become drunk with the

wine which is offered to them; they will turn their backs on Heaven and fix

their eyes on the earth. The stars will avert their gaze from these men and

alter their accustomed course. The harvests will dry up through the star’s

anger, and all moisture from the sky will cease. Roots and branches shall

change their places, and the oddness of this will pass for a miracle.

Before the amber glow of Mercury the bright light of the Sun shall grow

dim, and this will strike horror into those who witness it. The planet

Mercury, born in Arcady, shall change its shield, and the Helmet of Mars

shall call to Venus. The Helmet of Mars shall cast a shadow, and in rage

Mercury shall overrun its orbit. Iron Orion shall bare its sword. The

watery Sun shall torment the clouds. Jupiter shall abandon its preordained

paths, and Venus desert its appointed circuits. The malice of the planet

Saturn will pour down like rain, killing mortal men as though with a curved

sickle. The twelve mansions of the stars will weep to see their inmates

transgress so. The Gemini will cease their wanton embraces and will

dispatch Aquarius to the fountains. The scales of Libra will hang awry

until Aries props them up with its curving horns. The tail of Scorpio shall

generate lightning, and Cancer will fight with the Sun. Virgo shall climb on

back of Sagittarius and so let droop its maiden blossoms. The Moon’s

chariot shall run amok in the Zodiac; the Pleiades will burst into tears.

None of these will return to the duty expected of it. Ariadne will shut its

door and be hidden within its enclosing cloud banks.

In the twinkling of an eye the seas shall rise up, and the arena of the winds

shall be opened once again. The winds shall do battle together with a blast

of ill-omen, making their din reverberate from one constellation to another.

- From "Sunday Prophecies of Merlin, Becket, and Others", Author Unknown

published in London in 1652.- "The History of the Kings of Britain, The Prophecies of

Merlin" by Geoffrey of Monmouth, and other sources -

Further Reading

Merlin: The Prophetic Vision and Mystic Life
by R.J. Stewart

The Prophetia Merlini of Geoffrey of Monmouth: A Fifteenth-Century English Commentary
edited by Carolyn D. Eckhardt

Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy
by Mary Stewart

Shapeshift to WOVOCA! to view this site's main page