h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Merlin in France?

Ask people in the town of Caerfyrddin (TR. "Merlin's Fort") in Dyfed - the place where he was born. They will tell you that he is asleep under a hill which lies some two miles to the East of the town.

France? Pah!

P.S. Ask them about Merlin's Oak and the prophecy as well.

Is that the oak which, if it were to fall, would result in the destruction of the town? My network of spies tells me that the tree is no longer there- done away with to make a ring-road, or something daft.
At the time that Merlin was apparantly lured there, France wasn't France; he would have ended up in a forest in the Celtic area of Brittany. (Another place whose true language is under threat, I believe.)
I'd like Merlin to be closer to home, personally. Many places have been claimed as his resting place; judging by the sheer number, I prefer to think he's actually up and about, wandering here and there as he pleases. One can hope...

"When the oak doth tumble down, down will fall Carmarthen Town" - or something similar! It always struck me as nonsense, particularly since if it was a real 1400 year-old oak then the rhyme would have been in Welsh. The gnarled stump that was left of the oak sat in the middle of a small roundabout. It was moved to the town hall in the 1980's so that the roundabout could be removed. Carmarthen still stands!

Merlin is probably (like Arthur) a mixture of historical people and ideas, probably with a hint of ancient deities. There are misguided comments occasionally made linking him with the historical Merlin who was the only survivor of the battle of Catraeth (Catterick) in the ancient Welsh poem, the Gododdin. He fled to Coed Celyddon (cf. Caledonia) which was supposedly where Scotland is now.

So the tree is still technically in existence. Good. Although, if it were made into paper it could 'technically' be said to exist...
Enough nonsense. I was not aware of that other Merlin reference but will now make a swift Mental Note to add it to my store of knowledge. Thanks.