Kirkus Review of The Book of Merlin

"An accomplished poet provides a new interpretation of ancient and medieval British lore.” That’s what Kirkus Reviews says of Larry Beckett’s latest, The Book of Merlin, from Livingston Press, at the University of West Alabama.

While everyone knows the fictional Merlin from the legend of King Arthur, that character was based on a real person. Merlin was a 6th-century poet in northwest Britain, who spoke the Brythonic tongue. He was known as Myrddin Wyllt, or Merlin of the Wilds. He was a contemporary and comrade of Taliesin, and though The Book of Taliesin is extant, for Merlin, there are only a handful of poems in The Black Book of Carmarthen, The Red Book of Hergest, and other middle Welsh texts. But scholars have suggested that Merlin’s other lyrics were embedded in the Latin poem Vita Merlini by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Together, they tell of Merlin’s later life.

Larry Beckett's translation of these works is the first time that Merlin's surviving words have been gathered in one manuscript since The Book of Merlin was lost in the 12th century. Kirkus Reviews continues, “Anyone interested in the craft of poetry, early English literature, Celtic culture, or the roots of Arthurian legend will find much to savor in this slim but rich collection.”

To read the full review, go to kirkusreview-bookofmerlin … to order your copy of The Book of Merlin, go to bookofmerlin.org