1 oz UK 2023 BU- MERLIN - Myth & Legend - 100 Pd.

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The Series Myths and Legends focuses on famous figures from British Myths

The Theme Shows the Famous WIZARD, Druid, Seer & Dragon Master MERLIN

SERIEs : United Kingdom UK - Myth & Legends
2021 Robin Hood  2022 Maid Marian  2022 Little John  2023 King Arthur 2023 Merlin

Technische Daten - Coin Data :

• United Kingdom - 2023 - 100 Pound - Royal Mint UK - BU
• 1 oz = 31,1 g .999 Gold 

Merlin - Druid, Wizard, Seer & Dragon Master 

Many myths and legends are told about the wizard Merlin. Merlin is at one time a druid, a sorcerer, a seer and a sage. Some stories even say that Merlin is the son of a magical spirit and a human woman. To this day, it is disputed whether Merlin is based on a historical person. According to Nikolai Tolstoy (In Search of Merlin), Merlin is said to have been a Celtic druid who served as a model for the sorcerer and lived only a century later than Arthur.

In Arthurian legend, Merlin appears as King Arthur's friend and mentor. Depending on the version, Merlin is seduced by the sorceress Nimue and locked up in a cave (or turned into a bush) until the day he is supposed to return to Britain.

King Arthur's half-sister Morgan le Fay (also known as Morgana or Morgaine) is portrayed as Merlin's fiercest adversary.

The wizard archetype Merlin gave rise to the popular portrayal of the wizard usually described as an old white-bearded man, such as Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, Getafix from the Asterix comics and Albus Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series.

Merlin and the Dragons

Merlin is mostly associated with dragons through modern fantasy literature and various films. However, one of the oldest stories in which Merlin has something to do with dragons is Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys (wal. The Story of Lludd and Llefelys) from the 12th/13th century. There are also myths that Merlin flew through the sky as a flaming dragon after Arthur's death. These are presumably descriptions of comets

There is also, depending on the version, a tale where the warlord Vortigern wants to build a fortress on the hill in North Wales, but it keeps collapsing. He is advised to find a child born without a father, kill it and splash its blood on the foundation of the fortress. This child was Merlin, but Merlin saw two dragons, one red and one white, fighting with each other in the hill, which was the cause of the constant collapse of the fortress. Merlin saw that the red dragon defeated the white dragon and thus represented Vortigern's downfall, as the white dragon represented his heraldic animal

The Legend of King Arthur

For 1,500 years, the legendary King Arthur has fired the imagination of poets, bards, writers, playwrights, musicians and, most recently, screenwriters and directors, and so it is no wonder that the basic outlines of the Arthurian legend are still familiar to most people today. At the centre of the story is King Arthur, a just ruler and leader of the Knights of the Round Table. Arthur is advised by Merlin, the powerful wizard. At the heart of the legend of King Arthur are the search for the Holy Grail and the adultery of Queen Guinevere with Arthur's best knight, Sir Lancelot.

When King Arthur is mentioned, one immediately associates the image of the young, brave king who pulls the sword Excalibur out of the rock and thus manifests his claim to the British throne, and the image of a boat on which the badly wounded hero is brought to the island of Avalon, where he still waits for his return. This idea was shaped not least by modern novelists such as Marion Zimmer Bradley and Bernard Cornwell.

Arthur then built the legendary fortress of Camelot and founded the legendary Round Table, where he united the bravest knights of the land. With Arthur at their head, the knights confronted the barbarians and beat them back. The king was dearly loved by his people and under his rule Britain flourished, grew and prospered in peace. At Arthur's side were Queen Guinevere, the most beautiful of Britain's women, and the wizard Merlin, who always assisted Arthur with advice and magic. In these peaceful times, the Knights of the Round Table now devoted themselves to the noblest of tasks: the search for the Holy Grail.

But the peace was not to last forever: The love between Lancelot and Lady Guinevere destroyed the knights' bond and caused Arthur's rule to crumble. But it was an armed rebellion led by Arthur's nephew Morded that finally brought him down. In a final decisive battle, Arthur and Merlin managed to defeat Mordred and the sorceress Morganna, but Arthur was also badly injured. Merlin brought him on a barque to the fabled Isle of Avalon, where the Lady of the Lake and her maidens took care of him. Here he is said to still be waiting to return and bring Britain another time of peace and prosperity.

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The new series Myths and Legends focuses on famous figures of British folklore. The first issue of the series was dedicated to Robin Hood. The motif of the third coin is dedicated to Little John

In the earliest ballads, Little John appears as a clever and independent man at the forefront of Robin's gang. How he joins Robin's Marian is only elaborated in later versions of the legend. According to a 17th century ballad, he is a huge man and his real name is said to have been John Little. Robin Hood first meets him when the giant tries to prevent him from crossing a small bridge. The two men fight with batons; Robin loses and falls into the river. Impressed by the giant's skills, Robin makes him an offer to join his gang and fight alongside him. He agrees and is renamed Little John because he is so "little".

In the most famous ballad collection, A Gest of Robyn Hode, Little John captures the troubled knight Richard of the Lee and brings him to Robin Hood as a "guest". When it turns out that the knight has been innocently reduced to poverty by the corrupt sheriff and an abbot, Robin lends him the outstanding sum of money and gives him Little John to be his squire and protector.

In Robin Hood and the Monk (c. 1450), one of the earliest ballads, the gang leader insults his friend Little John, who then leaves him. But when Robin Hood is treacherously taken into custody, Little John, together with the miller's son Much, kills the treacherous monk who is supposed to inform the king of Robin's capture. Then both pose as messengers themselves, cunningly deceive the sheriff and are finally able to free Robin. Nevertheless, Little John refuses Robin's offer of thanks to become the gang leader himself.

Under the false name Reynold Greenleaf, Little John enters the service of the gang's greatest enemy, the Sheriff of Nottingham, in one episode. However, since this Reynold appears elsewhere in the Gest as an independent person, and since his name apparently generally denoted an outlaw according to court documents of the 15th century, he may originally have been another gang member and was only merged with Little John by the author of the Gest.

In the ballad Robin Hood's Death, Little John appears as the only gang member present at Robin Hood's impending death. The dying hero, however, forbids him to take revenge on his murderer, a prioress, because she is a woman.

The design of the Little John 2022 bullion coin is by Jody Clark, who also created the fifth coin portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, which is depicted on the obverse of this coin. The design shows Little John hidden in the greenery of Sherwood Forest, holding his spear in his hands and looking out among the trees, ready to act.