A Lost Manuscript About Merlin And King Arthur Was Discovered At Cambridge
A medieval scribe copied stories about a knight and a wizard into a manuscript around 750 years ago. The knight was named Sir Gawain, and the wizard was called Merlin.
They were two fictional characters from Arthurian legend, the tales of Britain’s King Arthur and his Round Table.
When the binding of the manuscript was repurposed to hold a Tudor-period register of property deeds in the 16th century, the Arthurian story became lost for centuries. Eventually, the register made its way into the collections of the Cambridge University Library.
In 2019, researchers discovered a fragile handwritten fragment hidden in the binding. After using high-tech imaging to decipher the text, the researchers have concluded that it is part of the Suite Vulgate du Merlin, a French sequel to the legend of King Arthur.
According to the University of Cambridge, the medieval manuscript was distributed via handwritten copies during the 13th century. Today, less than 40 copies remain.
“The Suite Vulgate du Merlin tells us about Arthur’s early reign, his relationship with the knights of the Round Table, and his heroic fight with the Saxons,” said Irène Fabry-Tehranchi, the library’s French specialist.
“It really shows Arthur in a positive light. He’s this young hero who marries Guinevere, invents the Round Table, and has a good relationship with Merlin, his advisor.”
When the manuscript’s cover was repurposed to hold the 16th-century property record of a Suffolk mansion belonging to a wealthy family, the Arthurian pages were torn, folded, and stitched into the binding of the book. It was nearly impossible to read without causing damage.
So, the University Library’s Cultural Heritage Imaging Laboratory was tasked with the job of virtually unfolding and digitizing the manuscript. The researchers employed multispectral imaging and computed tomography scanning to create a 3D model.
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The newfound copy of the manuscript contained decorative red and blue letters. It was likely made between 1275 and 1315. None of the existing copies of the Suite Vulgate are exactly the same.
“Each manuscript copy of a medieval text, handwritten by a scribe, is going to be changed little by little,” said Fabry-Tehranchi. “As the copies come along, each scribe imposes his own taste.”
The text was written in Old French. It contains two stories from the Lancelot-Grail cycle. The first features Arthur’s nephew, Sir Gawain, a knight who battles against the Germanic Saxons invading from mainland Europe and disloyal English nobility, including his father.
As Gawain wielded the sword of Excalibur, he harnessed power from the sun to defeat his father alongside King Arthur.
The second tale involves a blind harpist who interrupts a feast hosted by King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. The harpist was accompanied by a white dog and charmed the king with his music.
Then, the harpist asked to raise the king’s flag on the battlefield, which is essentially a death wish. The musician was actually disguised as the wizard Merlin, who transforms the flag into a magical fire-breathing dragon.
The story was still popular long after it was written, but by the 1500s, British readers were consuming Arthurian legend in English rather than French.
So, the owners of the text, the Vanneck family of Suffolk, reused its binding as it had lost its appeal to readers.
You can see a photo of the manuscript here.
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