The first written record of Merlin's birth comes from Geoffrey of Monmouth, a cleric who taught at Oxford schools between 1129 and 1151 CE, and became the Bishop of St. Asaph in 1151. Geoffrey presents Merlin as the son of an intensely Christian princess--perhaps the daughter of King Demetius or King Conaan--who was seduced by a demon or devil, or became pregnant without her knowledge. Thus, Merlin had super-human powers, but was raised to be a strong Christian by his mother, who later entered a convent.This imagery fits nicely into the Christian concepts of Light v. Dark, with references to the Virgin Birth as well.
This Merlin was called Merlin Ambrosius in Geoffrey's earliest writings, when he mixed a fifth-century Merlin-like figure with his more famous sixth-century Arthurian counterpart.
Geoffrey was the first to call him "Merlin," in Latin, Merlinus. The original name was Myrddin, which would have Latinized to Merdinus. Geoffrey knew that his Norman readers would link the name to the French word, merde, a word which scholars euphemistically translate as dung. To avoid this embarrassment, Geoffrey decided to alter one letter, so today we call King Arthur's mentor "Merlin." ... for other versions enter the portal here ...
