Mryddin Wyllt was born somewhere around 450AD and is believed to have had a twin sister. After the Battle of Arfderydd (now in modern day Cumbria) in 573, fought between the Christian Rhydderch Hael (or Gwrgi and Peredur, twin sons of Eliffer), and Merlin's master Gwenddoleu, (who was killed), Merlin went mad and retreated into the woods where he lived as a hermit and communed with the animals. This story first appears in the Annales Cambriae, or (The Annals of Wales), believed to be written some time around the 10th century.
Monmouth also drew inspiration from a Romano-British figure, Ambrosius Aurelianus, who is identified in the 5th century by the historian Gildas as a real figure who fought against the Anglo-Saxons. In his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain) Gildas describes the deplorable state of Britain since the Roman Legions left and criticises his contemporaries for their actions. It includes a description of Ambrosius Aurelianus' efforts at the Battle of Mons Badonicus (Mount Baden), and reports on the lives and histories of five Kings, the most senior of which is the historical figure of Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd who is described as being the High King, the Dragon and whose power base was the island of Anglesey.
This Ambrosius Aurelianus also appears in another early historical work, Historia Brittonum, which is widely attributed, although without any definite proof, to Nennius, a Welsh monk who lived in what is now modern Powys. He is believed to have written the work for Merfyn Frych, who was the first King of Gwynedd to not be directly descended from the earlier Maelgwn sometime around the year 830.
Ambrosius Aurelianus is depicted as being descended from those who "wore the purple" ie the Roman Emperors, and appears to be ruling a significant part of western Britain under the auspices of Vortigern and is mentioned by the Venerable Bede in his own Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People).
In combining these two figures into that of Merlinus (the Latin version of the name Mryddin), Monmouth created a powerful magician at the centre of British history and wove him around existing historical figures such as Vortigern, who was a 5th century war leader, responsible for inviting the powerful Saxon lords Henga and Horst to settle along the "Saxon Shore" in what is now modern day Kent, Suffolk, East Anglia and Norfolk.
By using the "historical" basis of Ambrosius Aurelianus, Monmouth links Merlin to the Roman Emperors as a son of Constantine III along with Uther Pendragon and Constans II. However, in his later work, Monmouth then draws on the earlier legends of Myrddin, he makes Merlin a fatherless boy, the result of a liaison between one of the King's (not specified) daughters and an incubus. It is this kind of ambiguity which makes the definitive description of Merlin almost impossible.
Monmouth also drew inspiration from a Romano-British figure, Ambrosius Aurelianus, who is identified in the 5th century by the historian Gildas as a real figure who fought against the Anglo-Saxons. In his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain) Gildas describes the deplorable state of Britain since the Roman Legions left and criticises his contemporaries for their actions. It includes a description of Ambrosius Aurelianus' efforts at the Battle of Mons Badonicus (Mount Baden), and reports on the lives and histories of five Kings, the most senior of which is the historical figure of Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd who is described as being the High King, the Dragon and whose power base was the island of Anglesey.
This Ambrosius Aurelianus also appears in another early historical work, Historia Brittonum, which is widely attributed, although without any definite proof, to Nennius, a Welsh monk who lived in what is now modern Powys. He is believed to have written the work for Merfyn Frych, who was the first King of Gwynedd to not be directly descended from the earlier Maelgwn sometime around the year 830.
Ambrosius Aurelianus is depicted as being descended from those who "wore the purple" ie the Roman Emperors, and appears to be ruling a significant part of western Britain under the auspices of Vortigern and is mentioned by the Venerable Bede in his own Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People).
In combining these two figures into that of Merlinus (the Latin version of the name Mryddin), Monmouth created a powerful magician at the centre of British history and wove him around existing historical figures such as Vortigern, who was a 5th century war leader, responsible for inviting the powerful Saxon lords Henga and Horst to settle along the "Saxon Shore" in what is now modern day Kent, Suffolk, East Anglia and Norfolk.
By using the "historical" basis of Ambrosius Aurelianus, Monmouth links Merlin to the Roman Emperors as a son of Constantine III along with Uther Pendragon and Constans II. However, in his later work, Monmouth then draws on the earlier legends of Myrddin, he makes Merlin a fatherless boy, the result of a liaison between one of the King's (not specified) daughters and an incubus. It is this kind of ambiguity which makes the definitive description of Merlin almost impossible.