Thursday, December 25, 2008

Adam Ardey Finding Merlin - reviews

Adam Ardey's book on Merlin sounds like another attempt to find the real "Merlin" and to imposes a bunch of anachronisms on Dark Age Britain i.e it is a typical peiece of Arthurian popular history. As a SNP politican he is an accomplished publicist though and has managed to get loads of media attention for his claims.

Merlin 'from Glasgow not Camelot'
BBC News - Aug 27, 2007
But Scots advocate Adam Ardrey, who spent six years researching Merlin, claims he actually lived in what is now Ardery Street with his wife Gwendolin. ...
New book claims Merlin had Scottish roots - Telegraph.co.uk

This review from the Glasgow Herald at least points out that Ardey's claims to be innovating by exploring Arthur's Scottish connections is not true:
review of finding merlin, the truth behind the legend, by adam ardrey9 Sep 2007 by Peter Konieczny

This review from the Los Angles Times is simply lacking in the knowledge to take Ardey to task. The idea that the name Merlin comes from gaelic is just nonsense and his ideas on Dark Age religion well they seem unreliable. I would have to read the book to refute it in depth but it sounds tedious.


In search of a wizard
Los Angeles Times - Nov 23, 2008

In 'Finding Merlin: The Truth Behind the Legend of the Great Arthurian Mage,' Adam Ardrey condemns long-ago chroniclers for their motives but is like a sleuth in tracking ancient details.

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