Week 13 Story: Vivien and Merlin
Merlin the wizard spent his afternoons walking through the woods, looking for inspiration. One day, he met a beautiful woman named Vivien. She was tall and had long, flowing hair. Merlin was immediately taken with her, and hoped to spend more time with her.
Vivien, intrigued by Merlin, began to inquire about his purpose for being in the woods where she lived.
Merlin answered, "I come here to find inspiration. You see, I am a magician, and I try to find magic everywhere I go."
Vivien responded, "How fascinating. Would you be willing to teach me something?"
Taken by her beauty, Merlin said, "Sure! Let me teach you the smallest trick, that anyone can do."
They spent the rest of the day working on Merlin's trick, and Vivien caught on quickly. Many weeks passed, and Vivien and Merlin began to spend much time together. Vivien would ask to learn something new, and Merlin would find new things to teach her. All this time spent together created a bond between the two, and soon, they were falling in love.
They spent the summer together, and soon, Vivien had learned all of the magic Merlin could teach her.
One day, Merlin came across a stone and told Vivien, "Under this stone, there are great marvels and unlimited powers to be uncovered."
Intrigued, Vivien asked him to lift the rock.
As soon as Merlin had lifted the rock off the ground, Vivien used her powers to trap him under the stone forever. She had become powerful enough to trap the very man who taught her to use her magic. Merlin could not free himself and remained under the rock for eternity. Vivien, relieved to be on her own again, went on her way, enjoying the woods where she was now the most powerful being.
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Author's Note: I wanted to keep the story relatively the same, but have Vivien's betrayal come as a surprise to the reader. In the original story, there is a lot of foreshadowing that Merlin will be betrayed, and he even realizes that this is happening, but can't stop it. In my story, I left out these clues and let Vivien's betrayal become a twist at the end of the story.
Bibliography: The Passing of Merlin by Andrew Lang
Image Information: Merlin and Vivien by Speed Lancelot
Hey Courtney! I like your retelling of this story. I also chose to read about King Arthur this week and really like that you chose to make the betrayal more of a surprise for merlin. I even forgot that there was a betrayal while I was reading your story. I still wonder why merlin wasn't able to stop this from happening.
ReplyDeleteHi Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your story, the first part made me think that the story was going to be a love story, but then it turns out that Vivian betrayed Marlin the wizard. She did that by showing that she was more interested in learning about magic than in her relationship with Marlin. And unfortunately for Marlin, because he saw that coming but couldn't stop it. Overall, great story!