The legend of King Arthur has been told to children around the world for centuries.
Now, scientists have uncovered lost medieval tales of both King Arthur and Merlin the Magician, hidden inside another book.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have been able to virtually unroll the 700-year-old manuscript to ‘unlock its secrets’ – without damaging the poorly-preserved document.
Described as an ‘extremely significant Arthurian text’, the priceless document was penned by a medieval scribe sometime between 1275 and 1315.
It contains two episodes from ‘Suite Vulgate du Merlin’ (Vulgate Suite of Merlin), a French-language sequel to the legend of King Arthur.
Once a widely read medieval text, fewer than 40 copies survive today.
The text is written in Old French, the language of the court and aristocracy in medieval England following the Norman Conquest of 1066.
The team’s amazing 3D model lets web users rotate, zoom and examine the text as if handling the manuscript itself.
The text is written in Old French, the language of the court and aristocracy in medieval England following the Norman Conquest of 1066
The team hopes the project will inspire further research into medieval manuscripts hidden in unexpected places
The team’s amazing 3D model lets web users rotate, zoom and examine the text as if handling the manuscript itself
According to the researchers, this particular fragment tells two key episodes from ‘Suite Vulgate du Merlin’ that belong to the genre of Arthurian romances intended for a noble audience, including women.
The first recounts the fight of Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew and one of the premier Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian myth.
Gawain was noted for his healing skills, his mighty warhorse Gringolet and his special swords including the famed Excalibur.
In the legend, Gawain returns the magical sword to King Arthur for his final battle with Mordred, Arthur’s treacherous power-hungry son.
The second episode tells of Merlin appearing at Arthur’s court disguised as a beautifully clothed harpist during the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
The arrival of Merlin, dressed in a silk tunic with precious stones, is a moment that highlights his magical abilities and his importance as an advisor to the king.
A translation reads: ‘While they were rejoicing in the feast, and Kay the seneschal brought the first dish to King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, there arrived the most handsome man ever seen in Christian lands.
‘He was wearing a silk tunic girded by a silk harness woven with gold and precious stones which glittered with such brightness that it illuminated the whole room.’
The manuscript, first discovered at Cambridge University Library in 2019, is revealed to contain rare medieval stories of King Arthur (left) and Merlin (right)
The manuscript was discovered in 2019 but only after a three-year project have researchers been able to reveal its stories
Remarkably, it survived the centuries after being recycled and repurposed in the 1500s as the cover for a property record from Huntingfield Manor in Suffolk
‘Then Merlin appears transformed as an eight-year-old boy with the attributes of a mad man,’ said Irène Dr Fabry-Tehranchi, French specialist in at Cambridge University Library.
Each surviving copies of ‘Suite Vulgate du Merlin’ is unique as they were individually handwritten by medieval scribes – valued, literate people who could read and write documents.
As every manuscript of the period was copied by hand, it means each one is distinctive and reflects the variations introduced by each person.
Totalling about 6,000 words, this one contains small errors, such as the mistaken use of the name ‘Dorilas’ instead of ‘Dodalis’, a warrior who participated in the Saxon invasion of Britain at the beginning of Arthur’s reign.
The sturdy parchment, probably made of sheep skin – was discovered in 2019 but only after a three-year project have researchers been able to reveal its stories.
Remarkably, it survived the centuries after being recycled and repurposed in the 1500s as the cover for a property record from Huntingfield Manor in Suffolk – similar to how students may cover an exercise book with sticky-back plastic today.
‘The way it was reused tells us about archival practices in 16th-century England. It’s a piece of history in its own right,’ said Dr Fabry-Tehranchi.
It was folded, torn, heavily rubbed and even stitched into the binding of the 16th century book – and attempting to remove it could have damaged it further.
This imaging technique, focused on blue, brings out annotations on the left-hand side which were invisible to the naked eye, including the note ‘Huntingfield’ believed to have been added in the 16th century when the manuscript was repurposed as a binding
Cambridge researchers used various techniques to unfold the fragment virtually and access hidden parts of the text
Dr Irène Fabry-Tehranchi holding the rare manuscript before inserting it into the micro CT scanner at Cambridge University
Therefore, the researchers used various techniques to unfold the fragment virtually and access hidden parts of the text.
These included bombarding it with X-rays – typically used for scanning fossils or skeletons – and capturing it in various wavelengths of light, from ultraviolet to infrared.
By manipulating the digital images, the team could simulate what the document might look like if it were physically opened.
Other parts of the text were hidden under folds or stitched into the binding, so the team had to use mirrors, prisms and magnets to expose them.
The team now hopes their project will inspire further research into medieval manuscripts hidden in unexpected places.
‘This project was not just about unlocking one text – it was about developing a methodology that can be used for other manuscripts,’ said Dr Fabry-Tehranchi.
‘Libraries and archives around the world face similar challenges with fragile fragments embedded in bindings, and our approach provides a model for non-invasive access and study.’
The digital results of the project are now available for everyone to explore online via the Cambridge Digital Library.
Dr Fabry-Tehranchi and colleagues are also describing their findings at this week’s Cambridge Festival.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR?
The story of King Arthur is known to children and adults alike.
But the facts around the legendary figure are mired in myth and folklore and historians generally agree that Arthur himself probably did not exist.
Instead, it is believed he may have been a composite of multiple people.
Whilst there are many version of the Arthur legend, some common threads run through them.
They stem from 12th Century figure Geoffrey of Monmouth’s fanciful and largely fictional work Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain).
In 410 AD, the Romans pulled their troops out of Britain and, with the loss of their authority, local chieftans and kings competed for land.
In 449 AD, King Vortigern invited the Angles and Saxons to settle in Kent in order to help him fight the Picts and the Scots.
Guinevere leading a wounded Lancelot from The Rochefoucauld Grail. The illuminated 14th century manuscript containing what is believed to be the oldest surviving account of the legends of King Arthur
However, the Angles and Saxons betrayed Vortigern at a peace council where they drew their knives and killed 460 British chiefs.
The massacre was called the Night of the Long Knives, which, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, occurred at a monastery on the Salisbury Plain.
Geoffrey claims that Ambrosius Aurelianus became King and consulted the wizard Merlin to help him select an appropriate monument to raise in honour of the dead chieftains.
Merlin suggested that the King’s Ring from Mount Killarus in Ireland be dismantled and brought to England.
The king’s brother and Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon, led an expedition of soldiers to bring the stones from Ireland to England.
Merlin magically reconstructed the stones as Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain around the burials of the dead British chieftains in the monastery cemetery.
Other legends say Arthur was born at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall and was taken by Merlin to be raised by Sir Ector.
Shortly thereafter, civil war broke out in England and Uther Pendragon was killed.
When Arthur was a young boy, the popular narrative says he drew a sword called Caliburn from a stone.
Some legends say Arthur was born at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall and was taken by Merlin to be raised by Sir Ector.
One version of the legend states that the sword was made at Avalon from a sarsen stone that originated either from Avebury or Stonehenge.
It was said that whoever drew the sword from the stone was the true King of England.
Arthur was then said to have been crowned as King in the ruins of the Roman fort at Caerleon in Wales.
In another version of the story, King Ambrosius Aurelianus led a battle against the Saxons at Badon Hill.
Aurelianus was killed and his nephew, Arthur, took control of the soldiers and won the battle.
Later, Arthur lost Caliburn in a fight with Sir Pellinore but was saved by Merlin’s magic.
Arthur received a new sword (Excalibur) and a scabbard from Nimue, the Lady in the Lake at Avalon.
The scabbard was magical and as long as Arthur wore it, he could not die.
Arthur had three half-sisters who are sometimes referred to as sorceresses.
Arthur fell in love with Morgana, not knowing that she was his half-sister and they had a son named Mordred.
When Arthur discovered the truth, he was horrified and ordered all male infants born at the same time as his son to be brought to Caerleon.
The babies were put onto an unattended ship and set out to sea, which crashed on some rocks and sank.
Film, ‘King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword’, (2017)Jude Law’s sneering Vortigern
Mordred survived the sinking of the ship and was found by a man walking on the shore and taken home.
Arthur fell in love again with a woman named Guinevere who was the daughter of King Lodegrance of Camylarde.
They married and her dowry included a round table and many knights. Arthur established his court at Camelot
The round table became a symbol of equality amongst his knights, for no knight was seated in a position superior to another.
In addition, a mealtime rule at the table was that no one could eat until they told a story of daring.