97 Fun Facts About Merlin

On which British channel did Merlin air from 2008 to 2012?

BBC One's Merlin turned the legend upside down: its wizard is a teenager who arrives in Camelot to work as a servant, not the aged adviser of the old stories.

Which two-part story ended the TV series Merlin at Christmas 2012?

The Diamond of the Day closed the fifth and last series, 65 episodes in all, and at last let Arthur learn that his servant had magic.

Who played the title role in the 2008 TV series Merlin?

Colin Morgan, a newcomer from Northern Ireland, played Merlin as a servant who saves the prince's life again and again and can never take the credit.

Why must Merlin hide his powers in Camelot?

King Uther executes sorcerers: the first thing Merlin sees on reaching Camelot is a man put to death for magic, two decades after the king's Great Purge of sorcery.

What was Uther's crackdown on magic twenty years before the series called?

The Great Purge was Uther's campaign to eradicate magic from Camelot; he executed sorcerers, banned magic on pain of death and chained the last dragon beneath the castle.

What is the name of the Great Dragon imprisoned beneath Camelot?

Kilgharrah spent twenty years chained under Camelot; when Merlin finally frees him, he repays his jailer by attacking the city.

Who voiced the Great Dragon in the 2008 TV series Merlin?

John Hurt voiced the Great Dragon, a chained prisoner who trades riddling advice for Merlin's promise to set him free.

Who played Arthur Pendragon in the 2008 TV series Merlin?

Bradley James played Arthur, first met as a swaggering prince bullying a servant; Merlin tells him off before learning who he is.

Who played Morgana in the 2008 TV series Merlin?

Katie McGrath played Morgana, who begins as the king's kind-hearted ward and ends as the sorceress bent on destroying Camelot.

Which Knight of the Round Table is Gwen's brother?

Elyan is the blacksmith's son whom Arthur knights at the Round Table, breaking the rule that only noblemen may serve; his sister ends up as queen.

What is Gwen's job when the TV series Merlin begins?

Morgana's servant, and a blacksmith's daughter: Gwen starts the series below stairs and ends it on the throne as Camelot's queen.

Who played Gaius, the court physician, in the 2008 TV series Merlin?

Richard Wilson, best known as Victor Meldrew, played Gaius, who had been the court's sorcerer before magic was banned and now guards Merlin's secret.

Which Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor played Uther Pendragon?

Anthony Head, Buffy's Rupert Giles, played Uther until series four, when the king is fatally wounded by an assassin sent to kill Arthur.

Who is the traitor uncle who arrives to help Arthur in series four?

Agravaine, played by Nathaniel Parker, is Queen Ygraine's brother; he blames Uther for her death and secretly serves Morgana throughout series four.

What does Merlin call himself when he is magically aged into an old man?

Dragoon the Great is the name Merlin gives when, aged by a spell to take the blame for an enchantment, he saves Gwen from the pyre and nearly burns in her place.

By what name do the druids and Morgana know Merlin in prophecy?

Emrys is the druids' name for Merlin; Morgana is warned that Emrys will be her doom and hunts him for years, never guessing he is the servant at Arthur's side.

What power does Merlin inherit from his father Balinor?

Balinor, played by John Lynch, was the last Dragonlord; when he dies in Merlin's arms in The Last Dragonlord, command over dragons passes to his son.

How does the Great Dragon forge Excalibur in the TV series Merlin?

In his breath: the Great Dragon bathes a sword in fire so that it can kill the undead, on condition that only Arthur ever wields it; Uther promptly uses it instead.

What is Merlin's home village called?

Ealdor, just across the border in Cenred's kingdom, is Merlin's home village; Arthur travels there to defend it from Kanen's raiders in The Moment of Truth.

Which knight sacrifices himself to close the veil between worlds?

Lancelot steps through the tear in the veil at the Isle of the Blessed while Merlin, who meant to give his own life, is still talking to its gatekeeper.

Which actor played Lancelot in the 2008 TV series Merlin?

Santiago Cabrera played Lancelot, who first wins his knighthood with a forged seal of nobility, is found out and is thrown in jail.

Which two actors played Mordred at different ages in the TV series Merlin?

Asa Butterfield played Mordred as the druid boy in the early series and Alexander Vlahos the adult knight in series five; the boy Arthur helped free is destined to kill him.

Who played Morgana's half-sister Morgause?

Emilia Fox played Morgause, who makes an unwitting Morgana the anchor of a spell that puts all Camelot to sleep, then carries her away.

Which Game of Thrones actor played the Witchfinder Aredian?

Charles Dance, Game of Thrones' Tywin Lannister, played Aredian in series two's The Witchfinder; Uther summons him after a villager reports seeing magic.

What curse afflicts the druid girl Freya?

She becomes a winged panther at midnight and kills without meaning to; Merlin rescues her from a bounty hunter, hides her and falls in love with her.

Which creature does Morgana implant in Merlin's neck to make him kill Arthur?

The Fomorroh grows back each time Gaius cuts it out, so Merlin keeps trying to murder Arthur until he confronts Morgana and destroys the creature for good.

At which battle does the TV series Merlin reach its climax?

Camlann is where the legend always ended, and the series obeys: Mordred deals Arthur a mortal wound there even as Merlin's lightning scatters the enemy army.

How does the final episode of the TV series Merlin end?

An immortal Merlin waits in the modern day: the last shot shows him walking a present-day road as a truck rushes by, still waiting for Arthur to rise again.

Which French castle served as Camelot for filming?

Pierrefonds owes its storybook look to the 19th century: Napoleon III had the ruined medieval fortress rebuilt by the architect Viollet-le-Duc from 1857.

Which production company made Merlin with BBC Wales?

Shine Limited made Merlin for BBC Wales, with FremantleMedia handling international sales; Julie Gardner, BBC Wales's head of drama, was executive producer for the BBC.

Which US network first aired Merlin, in June 2009?

NBC aired the first series from June 2009; the show moved to NBC's sister cable channel Syfy from series two onward.

What BAFTA did Merlin win in 2011?

Best Visual Effects went to The Mill for Merlin, which beat the same studio's work on Doctor Who to the award.

Which sorceress does Merlin kill with lightning at the Isle of the Blessed in series one?

Nimueh had demanded a life in exchange for the dying Arthur's and was about to take Gaius's; Merlin's lightning made her own life the payment.

Where in England was the attraction Merlin: The Dragon Tower built?

It included a £150,000 wax model of Colin Morgan and closed in 2014.

What is the name of Merlin's talking owl in Disney's The Sword in the Stone?

Archimedes, Merlin's grumpy, highly educated owl in Disney's 1963 The Sword in the Stone, helps tutor the young Arthur and is voiced by Junius Matthews.

In his traditional biography, Merlin is the son of a mortal woman and what?

An incubus fathered him in Geoffrey of Monmouth's telling; later romance made it a demons' plot to breed an Antichrist, which the intervention of the holy man Blaise undoes.

In Welsh poetry, what drove the original bard behind Merlin mad?

Witnessing the horrors of war at the Battle of Arfderydd is said to have sent the bard Myrddin mad; he fled into the forest and lived there as a wild man.

What did the boy prophet reveal beneath King Vortigern's collapsing tower?

Two battling dragons, one red and one white, lay in a pool beneath the foundations; the red stood for the Britons, and it flies on the flag of Wales today.

According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, which monument did Merlin build from a giants' ring he moved from Ireland?

Geoffrey has Merlin move the Giants' Ring from Mount Killaraus in Ireland to Salisbury Plain as Stonehenge, a memorial to slain Britons where Aurelius Ambrosius was later buried.

Merlin's magic lets Uther enter which castle in disguise to father Arthur?

Merlin transforms Uther into Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, so he can enter Tintagel and lie with Igraine; Arthur is conceived there.

Which poem of about 1150 by Geoffrey of Monmouth tells of Merlin's madness and life in the woods?

Vita Merlini, the 'Life of Merlin', drew on older Welsh poems about the wild man Myrddin; in it the bard Taliesin describes the island of apples where the wounded Arthur is tended.

In the French prose cycles, which student traps Merlin forever?

The Lady of the Lake, called Viviane or Niniane in the French texts, learns Merlin's magic and seals him in a tomb, cave or tree; in Malory she then takes his place as Arthur's adviser.

Which enchanted forest is often the scene of Merlin's imprisonment?

Brocéliande is most often placed in the Paimpont forest of Brittany, where a megalith is shown to visitors as Merlin's Tomb.

For how many members did Merlin have Uther establish the Round Table?

In Robert de Boron's Merlin the table has fifty seats, one left empty; Merlin modelled it on the Last Supper table and Joseph of Arimathea's Grail table.

Which Welsh town is traditionally associated with Merlin's name and a famous oak?

Carmarthen, Caerfyrddin in Welsh, long claimed Merlin as a native son; some scholars think it was the other way round, and the name Myrddin was coined to explain the town's.

Which Wiltshire site is claimed as one location of Merlin's tomb?

Marlborough Mound, in the grounds of Marlborough College, is claimed as Merlin's tomb; the town's medieval name Merlebergia was read as 'Merlin's barrow'.

Who played Merlin in John Boorman's 1981 film Excalibur?

Nicol Williamson played Merlin opposite Helen Mirren's Morgana; John Boorman cast them knowing the two disliked each other, hoping the friction would show on screen.

Which animal does Prince Arthur kill on a hunt in the BBC's Merlin, cursing Camelot with withered crops?

A unicorn is the kill Arthur proudly presents to his father, and the curse lifts only after he passes a test of selflessness in the Labyrinth of Gedref.

Which kind of creature takes the form of the noblewoman Catrina to marry King Uther in the BBC's Merlin?

A troll takes a potion to pass as her, and the enchantment she casts is so strong that the king stays blind to her real face even after everyone else has seen it.

What breaks the spell that makes Prince Arthur fall for a visiting king's daughter in the BBC's Merlin?

True love's kiss has to come from Gwen, whom Merlin must talk into it, after a jester's enchantment is used to stir up a war between kingdoms.

In which language are the spells of the BBC's Merlin spoken, first written for the show by a university medievalist?

Old English gives the incantations their ancient ring: the scholar Dr Mark Faulkner wrote the early spells, and the script editing team later took over.

Merlin's Latin name became Merlinus rather than Merdinus, perhaps because Merdinus echoed an Anglo-Norman word for what?

Dung was the snag: the scholar Gaston Paris argued that the expected spelling sat too close to a coarse word used by England's Norman rulers, so it was quietly dodged.

Which BBC drama's chief writer was an important influence on the tone and style of the BBC's Merlin?

Doctor Who and its writer Russell T Davies shaped the feel of a show the BBC wanted as 'three generation TV', to be watched with grandparents and children.

Where does Merlin try to carry the dying King Arthur for healing in the final episode of the BBC series?

Avalon and the powers of the Sidhe are Arthur's only hope, but with their horses driven off Merlin cannot get him there in time.

What first suggests that Morgana may have magic in the opening series of the BBC's Merlin?

Prophetic dreams trouble her sleep: she keeps seeing a visitor named Sophia drown Arthur, and Gaius and Merlin realise the visions are real.

Which invaders fight for Morgana against Camelot in the final series of the BBC's Merlin?

Saxons briefly capture Arthur and Merlin early in the closing series, then march with Morgana and Mordred on the kingdom.

On which festive date in 2012 did the BBC broadcast the very last episode of Merlin?

Christmas Eve brought the second half of a two-part finale, less than a month after the announcement that the show was ending.

Which undead challenger, raised by a witch, disrupts Prince Arthur's coming-of-age feast in the BBC's Merlin?

The Black Knight throws down his gauntlet and kills every man who picks it up, because only a blade burnished by the Great Dragon can destroy someone already dead.

Which gold-loving creature takes control of Gaius in the BBC's Merlin after Merlin frees it from a secret chamber?

A goblin with a lust for treasure rides the physician's body through a spree of mischief, until Merlin forces it out and presents it to the court as the real culprit.

What does Merlin do to Morgana to break the sleeping spell over Camelot in the BBC's Merlin?

Poisons her, on the Great Dragon's advice: Morgana is the source of the enchantment, and her half-sister lifts it in exchange for the chance to save her.

Which future knight first meets Merlin and Prince Arthur by joining their side in a tavern brawl in the BBC series?

Gwaine is wounded protecting the prince and nursed back to health in Camelot, yet the king exiles him all the same for striking a knight.

How is Sir Elyan, a commoner knighted by Arthur, related to Queen Guinevere in the BBC's Merlin?

Her brother dies in her arms in the final series, cut down by an enchanted sword while freeing her from Morgana's Dark Tower.

Which actress plays Guinevere, who rises from humble beginnings to become Queen of Camelot, in the BBC's Merlin?

Angel Coulby's Gwen is popular with Camelot's common people long before she is crowned, though the old king thinks her unworthy and forbids his son to court her.

Which land is Arthur destined to unite, in the prophecy the Great Dragon reveals to Merlin in the BBC series?

Albion is the land Arthur must unite once he has returned magic to Camelot, and the Great Dragon tells Merlin that protecting the prince is his destiny.

On which evening of the week did the BBC usually premiere new episodes of the family drama Merlin?

Saturday evenings were Merlin's slot at home, with repeats on BBC Three, while its first American broadcaster showed it on Sundays.

Which work by Thomas Malory, featuring Merlin in its opening section, became the iconic version of the Camelot legend?

Le Morte d'Arthur softened Merlin's image: its other characters rarely condemn him as demonic, and he comes across as an ambiguous trickster instead.

Which animal does Merlin often ride or turn himself into in medieval legend, echoing old Celtic pagan beliefs?

A stag carries him to a wedding in one 12th-century poem, and a manuscript of 1286 pictures him transformed into one.

Which piece of Sir Valiant's tournament gear hides enchanted snakes that strike at his bidding in the BBC's Merlin?

His shield is painted with serpents that slither out to bite opponents, and when Arthur accuses him of cheating there is no worthy witness left to back the charge.

Which creature of legend terrorises Camelot in the BBC's Merlin until Merlin enchants a would-be knight's lance?

A griffin shrugs off the knights' ordinary weapons, so Merlin enchants the lance, and the friend who overhears his spell promises to keep the secret.

Which magical relic do Morgana's allies use to make an army unkillable in the third series of the BBC's Merlin?

The Cup of Life can also heal: druids use its water to revive the dying Sir Leon, which is how Camelot's ruler learns that they hold it.

What trade does Gwen's father Tom follow in Camelot in the BBC's Merlin, before the king has him condemned?

Blacksmith Tom is asked by a rebel to help turn base metal into gold to fund the king's overthrow, and he dies trying to flee the cells.

Where does Merlin see visions of the future and later win back his stolen magic in the BBC's Merlin?

The Crystal Cave is where Morgana seals him in, until his father's help lets him regain his power and ride to Arthur's side.

What is the name of Merlin's mother, who sends him to Camelot to live with Gaius in the BBC series?

Hunith is an old friend of Gaius, having met him when he helped Merlin's father escape the king, so she writes asking him to look after her son.

Which American cable channel became the home of the BBC's Merlin from its second series onward?

Syfy picked the show up after a single series on a US network, where it had been the first drama from the UK shown in more than 30 years.

What does the Great Dragon do straight after Merlin keeps a promise to set him free in the BBC series?

Attacks Camelot in revenge for his slaughtered kin, and Merlin's own magic proves useless against him, forcing a search for the one man who can stop him.

In medieval romance, Merlin makes the Round Table as a replica of the table from which biblical gathering?

The Last Supper table was the model, along with a later one kept by Joseph of Arimathea, which gave the knightly order Merlin handpicked a quasi-religious character.

To which knight does Merlin hand the infant Arthur to be raised in secret in the medieval romances?

Sir Ector receives the baby from a Merlin who changes shape for the job, snatching the newborn as an old man and delivering him as a young one.

What name does Merlin give the white dragon he hatches from a rescued egg in the BBC's Merlin?

Aithusa later heals the dying Morgana, and the two end up imprisoned together in a pit so cramped that the young dragon grows up stunted.

Which pair of legendary lovers appear as smugglers who shelter the fugitive Arthur and Merlin in the BBC series?

Tristan and Isolde give the pair shelter after Camelot falls, and Isolde later kills the warlord Helios during his duel with Arthur, though he fatally wounds her first.

Which plant's root does Morgana use to torment the captive Queen Guinevere in the BBC's Merlin?

Mandrake root is the tool of a slow torture in the Dark Tower, and it works: Gwen returns to Camelot and slips out at night to plot with her captor.

Which monster from Arthurian legend bites Prince Arthur in the first series finale of the BBC's Merlin?

The Questing Beast leaves the prince dying, and the antidote Merlin wins on the Isle of the Blessed works only if someone else dies in his place.

On which festival night does Morgana tear the veil between the worlds in the BBC's Merlin?

Samhain is when she sacrifices her dying half-sister to summon the Cailleach, gatekeeper of the spirit world, who warns her that one man will be her doom.

Which actor plays Sir Percival, one of the commoners Arthur knights in the BBC's Merlin?

Tom Hopper's Percival arrives with a friend who is answering Merlin's call for help after Morgana seizes Camelot, and he stays to be knighted.

At which celebration does a hidden assassin strike in the BBC's Merlin, leading to the death of King Uther?

Arthur's birthday feast hides a killer sent by his old adversary Odin, and Merlin's attempt to save the old ruler is undone by Morgana's magic.

In the 12th-century chronicle that made Merlin famous, which sky omen does he interpret for the future King Uther?

A comet shaped like a dragon appears on the way to battle, and Merlin reads it as a sign of Uther's glorious future, which is how the Pendragon name is explained.

What is the Welsh name of Merlin, borne by the wild bard of early poems such as one about apple trees?

Myrddin the Wild was a poet and seer of Welsh tradition, and a 12th-century cleric fused his story with another prophet's to create the Merlin we know.

What must Prince Arthur fetch on a forbidden quest to cure Merlin, who drank from a deadly chalice, in the BBC series?

A rare flower is the only antidote, and the furious king crushes it when his son returns, yet with Gwen's help Merlin gets his cure anyway.

Which spirits of the dead, whose touch kills, pour into Camelot when the veil is torn in the BBC's Merlin?

The Dorocha can be stopped only by a blood sacrifice to repair the rift, and Arthur sets out intending to offer himself.

In which sport does Prince Arthur compete in disguise in the BBC's Merlin, after learning his knights let him win?

Jousting as an unknown knight is his way to prove himself on merit, but the same tournament draws an assassin sent to murder the prince.

Whose hanging for trying to kill Arthur drives Sir Mordred to join Morgana in the BBC's Merlin?

Kara, the druid girl dear to Mordred, refuses Arthur's offer of a chance to repent, and Mordred breaks out of his cell in a magical rage as she dies.

Which priest baptises the newborn Merlin in Robert de Boron's poem and later writes down the story of his deeds?

Blaise acts at the mother's request, and in the romances Merlin later slips away from court to live with him in a forest in Northumberland.

In North Welsh tradition, Merlin retires to Bardsey Island to live in what kind of dwelling with thirteen treasures?

A house of glass, Tŷ Gwydr in Welsh, is where he is said to live on with the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain.

Which actress plays Queen Annis, the widow who threatens war after her husband's execution in the BBC's Merlin?

Lindsay Duncan's Annis proves a shrewd judge of character once she sees past her grief, and grants the young ruler a tentative peace.

Which actor plays Cedric, the conman who usurps Merlin's place as Arthur's manservant in the BBC's Merlin?

Mackenzie Crook's Cedric is after the key to a tomb full of riches, and ends up possessed by the spirit of the dead magician waiting inside.

Which prize does Prince Arthur seek in the Fisher King's realm to prove his worth in the BBC's Merlin?

The Golden Trident turns out to be a mere bauble: the real treasure of the quest is a gift of enchanted water, meant for Merlin all along.

Which queen of Camelot, Arthur's mother, dies as the price of the spell that let her conceive in the BBC's Merlin?

Ygraine could not conceive, so her husband made a magical deal for an heir, and her spirit later appears to Arthur with the secret of his birth.

What does the healer Edwin use to make Morgana ill, then pretend to cure her, in the BBC's Merlin?

A cursed beetle causes the illness, and removing it wins Edwin the court physician's post, the first step in his plan to take revenge on the king.