That Balin was reckless and wild Malory bears
witness, but his endeavours to conquer himself and reach the ideal
set by Lancelot are Tennyson's addition, with all the tragedy of
Balin's disenchantment and despair. The strange fantastic house of
Pellam, full of the most sacred things,
"In which he scarce could spy the Christ for Saints,"
yet sheltering the human fiend Garlon, is supplied by Malory, whose
predecessors probably blended more than one myth of the old Cymry
into the romance, washed over with Christian colouring. As Malory
tells this part of the tale it is perhaps more strange and effective
than in the Idyll. The introduction of Vivien into this adventure is
wholly due to Tennyson: her appearance here leads up to her triumph
in the poem which follows, Merlin and Vivien.
The nature and origin of Merlin are something of a mystery. Hints
and rumours of Merlin, as of Arthur, stream from hill and grave as
far north as Tweedside. If he was a historical person, myths of
magic might crystallise round him, as round Virgil in Italy. The
process would be the easier in a country where the practices of
Druidry still lingered, and revived after the retreat of the Romans.
The mediaeval romancers invented a legend that Merlin was a virgin-
born child of Satan. In Tennyson he may be guessed to represent the
fabled esoteric lore of old religions, with their vague pantheisms,
and such magic as the tapas of Brahmanic legends.
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