Centuries-old manuscripts telling story of Merlin found in Bristol library

The Merlin manuscripts are centuries old Credit: Bristol University

Fragments of a manuscript dating back to the Middle Ages which tell the story of Merlin the magician have been found in a Bristol library.

The hand-written fragments were found in a series of books deep in the archive of Bristol University’s central library.

Specialists analysing the pieces - which are thought to date back to the 13th century - said they contained “subtle but significant” differences from the traditional story.

Left to right: Leah Tether, Laura Chuhan Campbell, Michael Richardson and Benjamin Pohl with the books in Bristol Central Library’s Rare Books Room. Credit: Bristol University

The books in which the fragments were found were all printed in Strasbourg between 1494 and 1502.

At some point, these books made their way to England - where they were later bounded - but experts from the Universities of Bristol and Durham want to investigate this further, to trace the origin of the parchments.

Dr Tether said: "Time and research will reveal what further secrets about the legends of Arthur, Merlin and the Holy Grail these fragments might hold."