Merlin Tale MS. Fragments Discovered

Seven fragments of parchment written in Old French have been discovered inside an unrelated 15th century work, in the archives of the Bristol Central Library in the UK. The fragments seem to be from a version of the Estoire de Merlin, one that is slightly different from the standard text. The fragments are from a section about the Battle of Trèbes, and include Merlin addressing Arthur’s troops with a stirring speech and, oddly, leading the attack carrying Sir Kay’s dragon standard, which includes a dragon that breathes actual fire.

There are some images of the text in the Guardian.