L'Enchanteur
First edition cover
AuthorRené Barjavel
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
PublisherÉditions Denoël
Publication date
1984
Pages349
ISBN2-207-22974-2

L'Enchanteur ("the wizard") is a 1984 novel by the French writer René Barjavel. It tells the story of the Knights of the Round Table and the quest for the Holy Grail from the perspective of Merlin and his relationship with Viviane. Barjavel had studied the material on the Grail legend extensively. He added several new concepts to the backstory of the grail, placing its origin to the time of Adam and Eve. According to the novel, Eve used the cup to collect Adam's blood from the wound created when his rib was removed.[1]

The novel was published in 1984 through éditions Denoël.[2] The Arthurian Handbook (2nd ed., 1997) describes it as "among the best of the modern French adaptations of Arthurian legend".[3]

Plot

When the one true god came from Jerusalem to occupy the continent, the devil couldn’t pervert men anymore, so he impregnated a virgin with the goal of giving birth to an antichrist, but god, seeing that the child had inherited a pure heart from his mother, let him keep his devilish powers.

Now an adult, Merlin uses his powers to find a man of pure heart capable of finding the Aventureux Castle guarded by an injured king in order to bring back the Holy Grail, and with it, bring happiness and peace to man.

He employs in his quest a number of knights, who came together around King Arthur’s round table, those who Merlin placed the biggest hope in; Arthur, Percaval, Lancelot of the lake, lastly Galaad. The courage, sincerity and above all love of them were all subjected to the difficult trials of the devil, and almost everyone ended up failing their quests. Merlin himself, despite all his powers and his forever youth, doubted, suffered and succumbed to the love of Viviane, the only one who saw the human in the wizard Merlin, the only one who will love him and who will love him for who he is.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Goodrich, Peter H.; Thompson, Raymond H. (2003). Merlin: A Casebook. New York City: Routledge. p. 47. ISBN 0-203-50306-6.
  2. ↑ L'enchanteur : roman. OCLC 31924880. Retrieved 2015-09-01 – via WorldCat.
  3. ↑ Lacy, Norris J.; Ashe, Geoffrey; Mancoff, Debra N. (1997). The Arthurian Handbook. New York City: Garland Publishing. p. 145. ISBN 0-8153-2082-5.
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