The End of Magic

by James Mallory

  It took a moment for Frik’s words to penetrate Merlin’s senses. He turned slowly away from Sir Rupert to stare at Frik.

  “I don’t understand,” Merlin said. He and Frik and Sir Rupert were all touched with magic, but Nimue was only mortal. Even if she had managed to escape the magic that Mab had set around her, she should still have died long ago.

  Frik took pity on his bewilderment and explained.

  “Sometime after Mab disappeared, her spells began to lose their power, and Nimue was set free.”

  Now Merlin understood. Nimue had been cocooned and protected by the last of the Old Magic on her passage down through the years. She was alive! Alive!

  “Where is she, Frik?” Merlin asked eagerly.

  “Sir Rupert knows,” Frik said, with a touch of his old mysteriousness.

  “Thank you, my old friend. For everything,” Merlin said unfeignedly.

  “Oh, no need to thank me,” Frik said, raising his hands in protest as he began to walk away. “I just love happy endings.”

  And we’ve had too few of them in our lives, haven’t we, Master Frik? Merlin watched for a moment longer as the gnome strode purposefully away, then turned back to the horse. Sir Rupert regarded him with a sparkling gaze.

  “Well now,” Merlin said. “Shall we see if either of us has anything left of our youth in us?” With the aid of a nearby bench, Merlin managed to mount his old companion, and old horse and ancient rider left the fair at a gentle walk.

  Sir Rupert’s leisurely ramble took them north, out of the town and toward the vast forests now claimed by the King as a hunting preserve. Merlin struggled to remain calm, but inwardly he was breathless with anticipation. To see Nimue again after so many years, to hear her voice…!

  Slowly the landscape they traveled through began to seem familiar. It had changed greatly with the years, but Merlin still recognized the trees of the forest through which he had roamed as a boy.

  *We’re here,* Sir Rupert said, stopping. *And now I’ll leave you, Master Merlin. You won’t need me again,* the horse said confidently.

  Carefully, Merlin slid down from the saddle. Sir Rupert tossed his head and began to trot away, growing younger and more vibrant with each step. At last he gave a great leap into the air and disappeared.

  Merlin hardly noticed. There, up ahead in the clearing, was Ambrosia’s old cottage.

  It had been much mended, and showed the wear of the passage of many seasons. But there was firewood stacked outside it in neat piles, and a curl of smoke wafting upward from the hole in the roof.

  Barely able to breathe, Merlin began walking across the clearing. When he had covered about half the distance, a woman came out of the hut.

  Her hair was as white as his own, and she wore coarse peasant clothing, but Merlin would have known her anywhere. It was Nimue. She smiled delightedly to see him and walked sedately toward him, moving with the carefulness of age. Though her face was seamed and lined with the tracks of age—and bore, once more, the scars of dragon-fire—she was more beautiful to him than she had been in her long-ago girlhood.

  “Oh, my dearest,” Merlin whispered, taking her gently in his arms. They kissed, as gently and companionably as the old lovers they were.

  “Frik found you,” Nimue said. Tears glittered in her eyes, and Merlin could feel her body trembling. Like him, Nimue had not dared to hope that Fate would allow them to be together once more.

  “I never believed I would ever see you again,” Merlin said quaveringly. “So many years lost.”

  Nimue nodded, her eyes growing sad. “You’ve grown older,” she said, inspecting his white hair and fierce wrinkles.

  “You too,” Merlin said, wagging a finger at her and then touching her lightly on the tip of her nose. For some reason the simple remark struck them both as terribly funny, and they laughed together like schoolchildren. He hugged her tightly, and they began to walk toward the hut.

  “Does it hurt?” Nimue asked.

  Merlin knew what she meant. All the loss, all the failure, all the loneliness of his life…

  “No,” Merlin answered, still chuckling in the wheezy way of the very old. “Not anymore.”

  They stopped before the door of the hut. Nimue turned to face him.

  “But… I think I still have one trick left,” he said.

  Merlin reached deep inside himself, calling upon his true magic, his heart magic. Not the illusions Mab had wanted him to learn, but the true transformation that he had once used to turn himself from a boy into a hawk—to bring the green of the spring. He reached out, stretching one hand toward Nimue’s face, turning the other toward himself.

  The magic kindled slowly. Nimue gasped as it raced over her, erasing the marks and scars of age, doing for her in truth what he had once tried to do for her in illusion: making her whole, young, beautiful.

  Unscarred.

  She stared at him in wonder as Merlin was transformed in turn: the white hair melting away to leaf-brown, the gnarled fingers and stooped back of age straightening into youthful vitality. Time ran backward as it filled his veins with the hot fire of youth.

  Nimue cried out in wonder, reaching to feel her own smooth skin and to run her hand over his beardless face. Merlin kissed her again, this time with the passion of youth, and as he did Merlin felt the last of Mab’s gift fade from his bones. His fairy heritage melted away, leaving him wholly mortal at long last.

  He gazed down at Nimue. They had long lives before them now, lives to spend as they had always dreamed: together, at peace, in love. Not a princess and a wizard, but a husband and wife. It was all either of them had ever wanted.

  “There’s no more. That’s the end of magic,” Merlin said, smiling down at her.

  And so it was.

  APPENDIX A

  THE CAMELOT COMET

  There’s a good reason to write about a comet coming to Britain at the time of Arthur’s death: there probably was one. Though we have no definitive records from the chroniclers of the period, we have other ways of determining what was happening in sixth-century Britain, the period most commonly associated with King Arthur and the Matter of Britain.

  Dendrochronology is the study of tree rings to provide evidence of ancient environmental conditions. Good years produce wide growth rings, while bad years appear as narrow ones. In western Europe in the past two millennia, one particular dendrochronological pattern stands out. Between a.d. 536 and 545, the weather in Britain wasn’t good at all. In fact, this period is characterized by crop failures and famines worldwide, and constant references in contemporary records to a “dry fog” or “dust veil.”

  The relevance of this to the Arthurian mythos is twofold. First, Arthur’s death traditionally heralds the beginning of a time of famine and drought in Britain. Second, the Arthurian mythos is inextricably intertwined with that of the Grail, which is also associated with famine. Now we have scientific evidence to indicate a widespread famine at precisely the period history has assigned to Arthur and the Grail.

  Famine—drought—darkness—what could have caused them? Since we’re able to rule out volcanic eruption, the likeliest answer is the close approach of a comet. Passing through its tail could load Earth’s atmosphere with enough cometary debris to produce the same “little winter” that occurred on a much smaller scale in Tunguska in 1908. Records of heavy meteor showers beginning around a.d. 400 and extending for the next two centuries suggest that Earth was at increased risk from cosmic interlopers during this period, and a comet would fit the few facts we have.

  Roger of Wendover actually reports that a comet passed near the Earth somewhere in the 540s. He reports that it could be seen from Gaul and that it was “so vast that the whole sky seemed on fire.” Roger also says that in the same year “there dropped real blood from the clouds… and a dreadful mortality ensued.” In The Ruin of Britain, written circa 540, the monk Gildas cites a long series of extracts from the Old Testament as being similar to contemporary catastrophes. Among other things
, Gildas specifically mentions that the land was made a wilderness, the stars were dimmed, the sun and the moon were shadowed, and that there were clouds, fog, and plagues.

  Though Science can only speculate, the novelist is more fortunate. What could be more fitting than that Arthur should die at the appearance of a red dragon that blazed through the sky in a time of war and destruction, the death of which heralded the beginning of a dark age of famine and plague?

  A comet.

  APPENDIX B

  THE MATTER OF BRITAIN

  Camelot wasn’t built in a day, and neither was Arthur’s legend. Here are some key dates from British history and the flowering of the Matter of Britain.

  63 c.e. Joseph of Arimathea comes to Glastonbury on the first Christian mission to Britain, bringing with him (according to legend) the Holy Grail.

  184 c.e. Lucius Artorius Castus, commander of a detachment of Sarmatian conscripts stationed in Britain, leads his troops to Gaul to quell a rebellion. This is the first appearance of the name Artorius in history. Some believe that this Roman military man is the basis for the Arthurian legend.

  383 Magnus Maximus (Macsen Wledig) of Spain is proclaimed Emperor in Britain by the island’s Roman garrison. With an army of British volunteers, he quickly conquers Gaul, Spain, and Italy.

  388 Maximus occupies Rome itself. Theodosius, the eastern Emperor, defeats him in battle and beheads him in July. The net result to Britain is the loss of many valuable troops needed for the island’s defense.

  396 The Roman general Stilicho reorganizes British defenses decimated by Magnus Maximus. Transfer begins of military authority from Roman commanders to local British chieftains.

  406 In early January a combined barbarian force sweeps into central Gaul, severing contact between Rome and Britain. That autumn, the remaining Roman army in Britain mutinies, and the last legion withdraws from Britain the following year.

  410 Britain gains “independence” from Rome, expelling weak Roman officials and fighting for itself against barbarian incursions.

  c. 438 Probable birth of Ambrosius Aurelianus, scion of the leading Romano-British family on the island.

  c. 445 Vortigern comes to power in Britain.

  c. 446 Vortigern authorizes the use of Saxon mercenaries to defend the north against barbarian attack.

  c. 457 Death of Vortigern.

  c. 458–60 Full-scale migration of British aristocrats and city dwellers across the English Channel to Brittany, led by Riothamus (perhaps a title rather than a name), another candidate for the original figure behind the legends of Arthur.

  c. 469 Roman emperor Anthemius appeals to Britons for military help against the Visigoths. Reliable accounts name Riothamus as the leader of the British force. The bulk of the British force, including Riothamus, is wiped out in battle against Euric near Avallon in Gaul.

  c. 470 Ambrosius assumes high kingship of Britain.

  c. 496 Britons, under overall command of Ambrosius and possibly the battlefield command of the “war leader” Arthur, defeat Saxons at the Siege of Mount Badon.

  c. 496–550 Following the victory at Mount Badon, the Saxon advance is halted, with the invaders returning to their own enclaves.

  c. 501 The Battle of Llongborth. Arthur is mentioned in a Welsh poem commemorating the battle.

  c. 540 Probable writing of Gildas’s De Excidio Britanniae.

  c. 570 Probable death of Gildas.

  c. 600 Aneirin, a Welsh bard, writes Y Gododdin, alluding to Arthur’s prowess as a warrior.

  c. 830 Nennius compiles Historia Brittonum.

  c. 970 Annales Cambriae compiled. It dates the Battle of Camlann to 542. Geoffrey of Monmouth follows this dating when writing in 1136, and adds the death (or unspecified other disappearance) of Arthur to the end of the battle.

  c. 1019 Earliest possible date of composition for The Legend of Saint Goeznovius, a Breton legend that mentions Arthur and calls him the King of the Britons.

  c. 1090 Professional hagiographers write various saints’ lives, some of which include mentions of Arthur and his exploits

  1125 William of Malmesbury completes Gesta Regum Anglorum, which states, “This is that Arthur of whom the trifling of the Britons talks such nonsense, even today; a man clearly worthy not to be dreamed of in fallacious fables, but to be proclaimed in veracious histories as one who long sustained his tottering country and gave the shattered minds of his fellow citizens an edge for war.”

  1129 Henry of Huntingdon writes Historia Anglorum. Ten years later, in a letter to Warinus, Henry describes Arthur’s last battle and mentions that the Bretons say that he didn’t die and are still waiting for his return.

  1136 Geoffrey of Monmouth publishes Historia Regum Britanniae.

  1155 Master (Robert) Wace completes Roman de Brut, a version of Geoffrey’s “History” in French. He is the first writer to introduce the concept of the Round Table to the Arthurian cycle.

  Of Arthur, Wace says,

  “I know not if you have heard tell the marvellous gestes and errant deeds related so often of King Arthur. They have been noised about this mighty realm for so great a space that the truth has turned to fable and an idle song. Such rhymes are neither sheer bare lies, nor gospel truths. They should not be considered either an idiot’s tale, or given by inspiration. The minstrel has sung his ballad, the storyteller told over his tale so frequently, little by little he has decked and painted, till by reason of his embellishment the truth stands hid in the trappings of a tale. Thus to make a delectable tune to your ear, history goes masking as fable.”

  c. 1160–90 During this period, Chretien de Troyes makes his contributions to the Arthurian cycle, including the first mention of Lancelot, Camelot, and the Holy Grail.

  1184 A great fire ravages Glastonbury Abbey, destroying the Old Church. “Arthur’s Grave” is discovered at the Abbey six years later.

  c. 1190 Layamon publishes Brut, an English translation of Wace into alliterative verse. His work marks the first appearance of the Arthurian story in English.

  And so on, to the present day…

  FURTHER READING

  If you want to delve deeper into the story of Merlin, King Arthur, and the Matter of Britain, here are some places to start:

  For Young Readers

  King Arthur, by Howard Pyle and Jerry Tirtitilli (Troll Books, 1989). Adapted for readers ages 4–8 from the Howard Pyle original.

  The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903; reprint, Atheneum, 1991). The classic 1903 retelling of the Arthurian legends for ages 9–12, excellent for reading aloud.

  For Older Readers

  The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights, by John Steinbeck. A retelling of the Arthurian legend, with much of the original language preserved.

  The Once and Future King, by T. H. White (19th reprint, Ace Books, 1996). The classic modern retelling of the Arthurian legend, basis of the musical Camelot.

  Further Research

  The Arthurian Handbook, by Norris J. Lacy and Geoffrey Ashe (Garland Publishing, 1988). A critical survey of the Arthurian legend from the fifth century to modern times.

  The Arthurian Encyclopedia, edited by Norris J. Lacy et al. (Garland Publishing, 1986). As the title says, an encyclopedia of things Arthurian, with substantial entries on modern Arthurian writers.

  The Discovery of King Arthur, by Geoffrey Ashe (Henry Holt, 1987). The first of the recent books to discuss the evidence for a “historical” King Arthur.

  On the Internet

  http://www.linkfinder.com/arthur.html is a resource for links to various Arthurian sites on the Internet.

  http://dc.smu.edu/arthuriana is the website of the International Arthurian Society. Links, membership information, and subscription information to Arthuriana, their quarterly journal, can be found here.

  About the Author

  James Mallory attended schools in California and the Midwest before moving to New York to pursue a career in writing. From an early age Mallory has been fascinated both wi
th the Arthurian legends and their historical evolution, an avocation which also triggered a lifelong interest in fantasy literature. Mallory’s interests include hiking, comparative religion, and cinema.