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THE REAL STORY OF MERLIN

Monday, October 2, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we trace the origins of the Original Wizard, celebrate Gandhi’s birthday, and question what will happen to these hippos. And hey! It’s Fat Bear Week!

Sometime in the later 12th or early 13th centuries, Frenchman Robert de Boron wrote the story of Merlin in verse, although much of it was lost. After later versions that survived were studied, Merlin's story was pieced together. Demonic forces conspired to make Merlin their agent on Earth. In this 15th-century work on vellum, an incubus mates with Merlin’s mother, but she thwarts their plans by having the newborn baptized. The Christian rite protects Merlin from the forces of evil, but he retains his supernatural legacy, including the ability to speak as a baby, the gift of prophesy, and the power to shapeshift.

BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE

Was he the builder of Stonehenge? The spawn of a demon (as depicted above)? Long before Dumbledore and Harry Potter, before Gandalf and the ruler of Oz, stood a real-life bard who inspired those wizards—and whose powers swelled in the telling.

But who exactly was Merlin the Great? Early histories trace a Welsh poet and hermit whose powers paled before the legendary wand-waving, shape-shifting skilis he purportedly showed as King Arthur’s mentor and protector. How exactly did Merlin get in the middle of a 1,000-year-old propaganda effort by French-rooted royals to legitimize themselves to the English?

THE MAGIC OF MERLIN

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STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

Photographs can capture multiple moments in time, such as this image of traffic lights shot with a long exposure on a foggy night near Weimar, Germany.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCAS ZIMMERMANN

These photographs reveal invisible wonders of our world (Above, traffic lights shot with a long exposure on a foggy night)

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Meet Henry VIII’s most underrated wife—the queen who survived

A rare ‘ring of fire’ eclipse is coming. Here’s how to see it.

Sequoyah, the U.S. state that almost existed

Meet ‘Dogxim,’ the world’s first known dog-fox hybrid—and a genetic oddity

HEY! IT’S FAT BEAR WEEK!

A male brown bear, known locally as Braveheart, fishes for salmon at McNeil Falls.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ACACIA JOHNSON

Mark it down: What started as a poll for participants to vote for which bear they thought was the fattest has now turned into a week long celebration known, quite literally, as Fat Bear Week. (Above, a male brown bear fishes for salmon.)

DO YOU CELEBRATE?

Related: Hibernating bears could hold a clue to treating diabetes

PHOTO OF THE DAY

On October 2 children dress like Bapu, a nickname for Gandhi meaning “father,” to mark his birthday in Rajkot, Gujarat, where he spent most of his boyhood. Many Gandhi followers fret that as India grows more urban and materialistic, the young will ignore his injunction to serve the less fortunate.

PHOTOGRAPH BY RENA EFFENDI

Happy birthday to Gandhi: In Rajkot, Gujarat, where Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi spent most of his boyhood, children dress like him to mark his birthday (pictured above). If you know where to look in India, you can find how his Great Soul lives on.

LAST GLIMPSE

Hippos are social animals that have long clustered in Murchison Falls National Park and other national parks in Uganda, but lately their numbers appear to be declining.

PHOTOGRAPH BY EDWIN GIESBERS, NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

Hungry, hungry hippos: In several of Uganda’s national parks, hippos have found refuge (some pictured above). But according to new reports, their numbers seem to be dropping as demand for hippo ivory and meat remains a growing threat for these large animals.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

Today’s soundtrack: Chateau Lobby #4, Father John Misty

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter! It was curated and edited by Jen Tse, Cameron Peters, Hannah Farrow, Nancy San Martín, and David Beard.

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