The Quest for Merlin

By Nikolai Tolstoy

Book Overview

Did Merlin really exist, or is he part of a fairy tale? Nikolai Tolstoy eloquently argues that the wizard Merlin did in fact exist. Through the use of diverse and rare literary sources, he shows... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316850802
• ISBN13: 9780316850803
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Length: 322 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

The Quest for Merlin by Nikolai Tolstoy

Much like what has been done in multiple books with Arthur and a few with Robin Hood, Tolstoy makes a case for Merlin being a real life person and tries to seperate truth from fiction with everything pertaining to Merlin. Tolstoy delves into a lot of different areas in this book. He looks into the Lugh/Odin connection to Merlin and his final theory on Merlin is that he was a priest of Lugh/Odin. Tolstoy also thinks Merlin had no connection to the real Arthur. Besides that lots of interesting observations on dark ages Britain, Celtic Heathens, Taliesin, Lugh/Odin, shamanism, the Mabinogion and other Welsh lore, plus lots of other stuff. I don't necessarily agree with everything Tolstoy comes up with in this but this book is still essential reading for Pan Aryan Odinists, or any student of Celtic Heathenry or Arthurian lore.

Fantasic piece of scholarship.

You can't help but respect a book with a bibliography that's fully one-fifth of its size. Tolstoy's knowledge of Celtic lore is impressive in its depth and expansive in its scope. He draws from a deep well of myth, legend and written history to create an argument that requires no small amount of concentration to appreciate fully but is even more satisfying because of it. It was an amazing learning experience that I would recommend to any serious Celtic aficionado.