Magic or Mysticism?

In reading “The Prose Merlin” the reader can clearly see that Merlin is capable of doing some pretty magical things. He speaks only a few months after birth, moves some heavy stones, and predicts the future. Despite being the son of a demon, he attributes his abilities to God. For it is He who gifted Merlin the ability to know the future in order to prevent him from serving the devil. Despite his evil father, Merlin is saved from Hell by God. In fact, this is not the only time religion comes up. It appears later in Merlin’s making of the third round table where he says that in its creation, the Trinity will be represented (328). It is also spoken about the empty space left at the round tables to represent the spot for Judas who turned his back on Jesus during the Last Supper. With all the religious shadowing in the text, it creates a larger idea. That Merlin is not some magical man whose powers come from an unknown source. Instead, it creates the idea that perhaps like Margery Kempe or Julian of Norwich that he is a mystic. Everything that he sees is by the grace of God. Overall, this allows to author to show the idea that everything that happens in the world is by the grace of God and not magic or the will of the devil.