The Allegory of Merlin (Allegoria Merlini) is an early alchemical text that describes the death and resurrection of a King as a metaphor for the transmutation of base metals into gold. While the name links to the legendary wizard, the text contains no internal references to the Celtic Merlin mythos, and the association is considered obscure by scholars.
The narrative follows a King who drinks a special water that causes him to die and be discolored; he is then restored to life in a more energetic form after being ground, washed, and melted with salt armoniac and Alexandrine Nitre. This process symbolizes the alchemical work, where the King represents gold and the water represents mercury, illustrating the "Royal way of three days" for achieving the philosopher's stone.
Historical records indicate the allegory exists in a 14th–15th century manuscript in Paris and a 17th-century manuscript in the British Library, and was published in the 1593 compendium Artis Auriferiae. The text is often compared to the Duenech allegory and serves as a literary device to encode alchemical theories regarding the transformation of substances and the struggle between genuine practitioners and charlatans.
The Allegory of Merlin
In the alchemical tradition we find a number of allegories which involve the transformation of a King, the Duenech and Merlini allegories being among the earliest. I recently uncovered an English translation of the Allegory of Merlin in a 17th century manuscript in the British Library (MS Sloane 3506, f.74-75), which sparked off my interest in the piece so I have decided to include it here. The allegory (minus the ‘Merlin' title) exists in a 14-15th century manuscript in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris (MS. Lat. 14005), and it was published as 'Merlini-Allegoria, profundissimum Philosophici Lapidis Arcanum perfecte continens', in the alchemical compendium Artis Auriferiae, I, 420-424, Basel, 1593). The association with the Celtic ‘Merlin' figure is obscure and there are no internal references (nor indeed any links with the Merlin mythos), which might explain why this name is associated with the allegory. It shows the death and resurrection of the King. The King drinks a special water which kills him, and through drying off this water a transmutation occurs and the King is brought back to life in a more energetic form. This allegory has obvious links with the Duenech allegory (which was published in the vast alchemical compendium, Theatrum Chemicum III, p.756-757, Ursel, 1602).
A King intending to conquer a mighty people prepared himself against them for war, and when he would get upon a horseback, he commanded one of his soldiers to give him a cup of water which he mightily loved.
The soldier answered and said, "My lord, what is this water you ask for?"
And the King said, "The water which I long for is a water which I love, and also the water loves me above all things".
Then considering, he went and brought it, and the King getting it drunk, drank again till all his members were filled, and all his veins inflamed, and he was much discoloured.
Then the soldier spoke to him, "My lord, see the horse here and if you please get upon his back".
However the king answered, "I can not".
But the soldier said "For what reason can you not".
And he answered, "I find myself heavy, and my head aches, and I fancy all my members divide themselves from one another. Therefore I command you that you do bring me into a light chamber, which must be in a warm and dry place, then I shall sweat and the water will be dried in me, and also I will be freed from it".
And they did as he commanded them, and the time being over they opened the chamber and found him most dead. But his relations went presently to the Alexandrine and Egyptian physicians, and brought them to him and told them what had happened to the King. When they had seen him, they said that without doubt he might be delivered from it.
Then they asked "Who is the Master among you?"
And the Alexandrines answered "We if you please".
But the Egyptians said "We are Masters if you please and we will be it, for we are more ancient than you, also we seem to be younger".
To which the Alexandrines consented.
Then the said Masters did take the King and cut him in very small pieces, grinding these. Then they did mix them with their moistening medicines a little, then they put him also prepared into his chamber in a warm temperate place as before for a day and a night. When this was done, they did take him half-dead, but having yet a little life, and seeing this the King's relations said, "Ach the King is dead".
To which the physicians answered, "He is not dead, do not make a noise as he sleeps".
Now they did take him again and washed him with sweet waters so often till the least of the medicinal waters went off. Then they mixed him again with new medicine and put him again in his place as before, and when they did take him out they found him quite dead.
Then his relations did exclaim, "The King is dead".
To which the physicians did answer "We killed him for the reason that after his resurrection and the Day of Judgement he may become stronger and more powerful in this world as he was before".
When the relations did hear this, they fancied they were impostors, and then taking from them their medicines they forced them to leave the kingdom. When this was over, they deliberated together what should be done with the dead poisoned body, and they concluded that they should bury him that his stink might bring no damage.
When the Alexandrine physicians did hear this, they came and said, "Do not bury him, for if you please, we will make him better and more powerful than before".
The relations began to scorn them saying, "Will you impose on us also as the others have done? And if you do not perfect what you promise you shall not evade our hands".
To which the physicians consented, and they did take the dead king, as the others hath left him and grinding him they washed him well till nothing remained of the others medicines, then they did dry him. Then they did take of salt armoniac one part, and two parts of Alexandrine Nitre. This they did mix with the powder of the dead King. Then they did make a paste of it with linseed oil, and put it into a chamber, made like a perforated crucible, and under the hole they put another clean crucible. There they left him for one hour, then they covered it with fire blowing till all was melted into the other crucible, descending through the hole. Then the King, also brought from dead to life, cried out "Where are the enemies. Let them know that I will kill them, if they do not obey me immediately".
When they heard this they came before him saying "My Lord, we are ready to obey all your commandments", and from that hour all kings and neighbours did fear him, and when they would see his wonders, they put one ounce of washed mercury into a crucible and projected upon it as much as a grain of linseed of his hairs, nails or blood. When they blowed gently the coals, then they left him to cool, and they found a stone which I know. Of this stone they projected a little upon purified Saturn and presently its form was altered as I know of which afterwards. They put one part upon ten of Venus and it would be all of one goodness and colour. And by another way they did take the said stone powdered and mixed him with salt and Sol as before, and melted him and projected the said dissolved salts into goat's cream, and then it grows good for all things.
Brother, keep secret this treatise for it is of an importance amongst the fools, and no importance amongst wise men, and this is the Royal way of three days, for they will have but little labour and great lucre. Let us glorify the Most High Creator who has taught his faithful Servant to transmute accidences into substances, also that they may bring to action these powers which lay hidden in divers things.
Merlin’s Allegory, perfectly containing the deepest secret of the Philosophers’ Stone.
Different Version - Translated from Latin to English by Mitko Janeski
A certain king, wishing to overcome other powerful rulers, prepared himself for war against them. When he wanted to mount his horse, he ordered one of his soldiers to give him a drink of the water he loved most dearly. The soldier responded: "Lord, which water do you seek?" And the king said: "That water which I desire is one I greatly love, and it loves me more than all others." Understanding this, the soldier immediately went and brought it to him. The king, receiving it, drank and drank again until all his limbs were filled and all his veins swollen—and then he became very discolored.
After this, his soldiers said: "Lord, here is your horse, mount it if you please." But he replied: "Know that I cannot mount." They asked, "Why not?" He answered: "Because I feel heavy and my head aches, and it seems to me all my limbs are being torn apart." He then ordered them to place him in a bright room, in a warm and dry place, kept at a steady temperature day and night. "Thus," he said, "I will sweat, and the water I drank will dry up in me, and I will be freed."
They did as the king commanded. After the time was completed, they opened the chamber and found him as if dead. His relatives immediately ran to the Egyptian and Alexandrian doctors, who were honored above all others, and brought them to him, telling them what had happened to the king. After seeing him, they declared he could undoubtedly be cured. They were asked: "Which of you will be the master?" The Alexandrians answered: "We will, if it pleases you." But the Egyptians replied: "It does not please us. We will be the masters. We are older than you, though we may seem younger." The Alexandrians agreed.
Then the said masters took the king and cut him into tiny pieces, grinding them and moistening them slightly with their medicines. They placed him again in a chamber, in a warm and balanced place, as before, day and night. Afterward, they removed him, almost half-dead but still retaining a spark of life. His relatives, seeing him, cried out: "Alas, the king is dead!" But the doctors said: "He is not dead. Do not cry; he is only sleeping, and now beginning to recover." They took him again, washed him with fresh water until the taste of the medicines was gone, added new medicine, and returned him to the chamber as before.
When they removed him entirely, they found him dead. Then his relatives cried loudly: "Alas, the king is dead!" The doctors replied: "We killed him so that he may rise again better and stronger in this world on the Day of Judgment than he was before." Hearing this, his relatives believed them to be frauds, and at once took their medicines away and expelled them from the kingdom.
Afterward, they spoke among themselves, considering what should be done with the poisoned and dead body. They agreed to bury him to prevent his decay and the resulting stench. But when the Alexandrian doctors heard this, they came and said: "Do not bury him, for if it pleases you, we will restore him healthier, more beautiful, and more powerful than before." At this, they began to laugh and said: "Will you deceive us as the others did? Know that unless you fulfill your promise, you will not escape our hands."
The doctors agreed to this and took the dead king, as the others had left him. They ground him, washed him well until nothing remained of the others' medicines, and dried him. Then they took one part sal ammoniac and two parts Alexandrian nitre, mixed them with the powder of the dead, kneaded it with a little linseed oil, and placed him in a chamber shaped like a crucible with a perforated bottom. Beneath the opening, they set a clean vessel shaped like another crucible and left him there for an hour.
Then they covered him with fire, blowing air until he was completely melted, descending into the lower crucible through the opening. Then the king, resurrected from death to life, cried out with a loud voice and said: "Where are my enemies? Let them know I will kill them all unless they obey me without delay."
All who heard came before him and said: "Lord, behold, we are ready to obey your commands in all things." From that hour, all kings and mighty ones of other lands honored and feared him.
And when they wished to see his marvels, they placed one ounce of well-washed Mercury in a crucible and cast upon it a single grain of millet-sized matter taken from his nails, hair, or blood, then gently blew with coals, allowed it to cool, and discovered a stone such as I know. From this stone, they cast a little on purified Saturn, and immediately its form was changed, as I know. Later they placed one part of it on ten parts of Venus, and the entire mass became of one color and quality.
Another method: They took the same ground stone, mixed it with salt, and, as before, with the sun, melted it and poured the dissolved salts into goat’s whey. Then it became excellent for all things.
Keep this treatise well, brother, and guard it carefully—for what seems a jest to fools is no jest to the wise. This is truly the Way of Kings in three days: for those who endure little labor, it yields great profit.
Let us give praise to the Most High Creator, who freely inspired His faithful to transmute accidental qualities into substances by His will, and to bring into actuality what lies hidden in potency.
End of Merlin’s Allegory.
LATIN VERSION
MERLINI ALLEGORIA PROFUNDISSIMUM PHILOSOPHICI LAPIDIS arcanum perfecte continens.
Rex quidam alios cupiens superare potentes, se contra eos praeparavit ad bellum. Cumque vellet equum ascendere, praecepit cuidam ex militibus suis ut daret ei ad potandum de aqua, quam plurimum diligebat. Qui respondens ei dixit: Domine, quae aqua est illa quam quaeris? Et Rex ait: Aqua illa quam quaero aqua est a me plurimum affectata, & ipsa diligit me prae caeteris. Et ille perpendens, statim ivit, & eam detulit ei. Rex autem accipiens eam, bibit & rebbibit, donec omnia membra sua repleta sunt, & omnes venae eius inflatae, & tunc fuit valde discoloratus. Hoc facto, dixerunt ei milites eius: Domine, ecce equus, ascende si placet.
Qui respondens dixit: Sciatis me ascendere non posse. Dixerunt milites, quare non potes? Respondit, quia sentio me gravatum, & doleo caput: & ut mihi videtur omnia membra mea ab invicem dividuntur. Iubeo igitur vobis, quod ponatis me in cameram unam lucidam & ea constituatur in loco calido & sicco, continue temperato per diem & noctem, & ita sudabo, & aqua quam bibi desiccabitur in me, & ita liberabor. Fecerunt ergo sicut Rex praeceperat eis. Completo vero tempore, aperuerunt cameram, & invenerunt eum quasi mortuum. Parentes vero statim cucurrerunt ad medicos Aegyptiacos & Alexandrinos prae caeteris honorandos, & adduxerunt ad eum, narrantes eis secundum quod Regi acciderat. Qui quidem viso eo, dixerunt, ipsum posse proculdubio liberari.
Et illi: Quis vestrum erit magister? Responderunt Alexandrini, nos si placet vobis. Dixerunt Aegyptii, non placet nobis, imo nos volumus esse magistri. Antiquiores enim vobis sumus, licet juniores videamur. Alexandrini vero consenserunt. Tune dicti magistri acceperunt Regem, & dilaniauerunt eum in partes minimas, terentes eas, & miserunt cum medicinis suis humectantibus aliquantulum, & ita posuerunt ipsum aptatum in camera sua, in loco calido temperato, sicut prius, per diem & noctem. Hoc facto extraxerunt eum quasi semimortuum & adhuc habentem aliquantulum vitae. Quem videntes parentes eius, exclamaverunt dicentes: Heu Rex mortuus est. Quibus Medici dixerunt, non est mortuus. Nolite clamare, dormit enim, & iam incipit terminare. Acceperunt itaque ipsum iterum & abluverunt eum aqua dulci, donec sapor medicinarum recessit: & miserunt cum eo iterum de eadem medicina nova, & posuerunt eum in loco suo sicut prius.
Et quando extraxerunt eum penitus, mortuum invenerunt. Tunc parentes eius fortiter clamantes dixerunt: Heu Rex mortuus est. Quibus Medici respondentes dixerunt: Interfecimus eum ideo, ut melior & fortior fiat in hoc Mundo post resurrectionem in die iudicii, quam fuisset prius. Quod quidem parentes eius audientes, crediderunt eos esse truffatores, & statim abstulerunt eos medicinas suas, & expulerunt de regno. Hoc facto, loquebantur ad invicem, considerantes quid deberent agere de hoc corpore venanato & mortuo. Et convenerunt ut sepelirent ipsum, ne putresceret, ac eius foetor nocumentum inferret. Alexandrini vero Medici hoc audientes, iverunt ad eos, & dixerunt: Nolite ipsum sepelire, quoniam (si placet vobis) restituemus eum saniorem, pulchriorem, & potentiorem quam prius. Tunc illi subridere coeperunt, dicentes: Vultis ne truffare nos, sicut & alii? Sciatis quod nisi feceritis quod promitittis, manus nostras evadere non poteritis. Medici autem ad hoc se obligantes, acceperunt Regem mortuum, sicut alii dimiserunt, terentes eum, bene abluverunt, quousque nihil de medicinis aliorum remansit, & desiccarunt eum.
Deinde acceperunt partem unam Salis armoniaci, & duas de nitro Alexandrino, & miserunt cum pulvere mortui, & impastaverunt cum parum olei lini, & posuerunt eum in camera una, facta ad modum crucibuli inferioris perforati, & sub foramine posuerunt aliud vas mundum ad modum crucibuli factum, & dimiserunt eum ibi per unam horam. Deinde cooperuerunt eum cum igne, insufflantes donec fuit penitus liquefactum, in aliud crucibolum descendens inferius per foramen. Tune Rexistia de morte ad vitam resurgens, magna voce clamavit, & dixit: Ubi sunt inimici? Sciant quod omnes interficiam, nisi mihi obedientes adveniant sine mora. Omnes igitur audientes, venerunt coram eo, dixerunt: Domine ecce parati sumus vestris in omnibus, obedire mandatis. Itaque, ab illa hora venerunt: Reges omnes & potentes aliarum regionum honoraverunt & timuerunt eum. Et quando volebant videre de mirabilibus eius, ponebant in crucibulo unciam unam Mercurii bene loti, & projiciebant desuper tanquam unum granum milii de unguibus, vel de capillis, aut de sanguine suo, & sufflabant leviter cum carbonibus, dimittebant eum infrigidari cum eis, & inveniebant lapidem quale ego scio.
De quo lapide projiciebant parum super Saturnum purgatum, & statim mutabatur forma eius sicut scio. De quo postea ponebant partem unam super decem Veneris, & erat totum unius coloris & bonitatis. Item aliter: Accipiebant dictum lapidem tritum, & miscebant cum sale, & Sole sicut prius, & liquefaciebant eum, & projiciebant dictos sales solutos in sero caprino, & tunc fiebat optimum ad omnia. Custodi frater hunc tractatum, & serva bene, quia truffa est optima inter stultos, & non truffa inter sapientes. Haec enim est via Regum trium dierum, quoniam parum laboris sustinentes, magnum lucrum desiderant obtinere. Laudes Creatori maximo referamus, qui fidelibus suis gratuite inspiravit, accidentia pro velle in substantiis transmutare, & ut quod in potentia rebus latitat, ad actum reduci valeat sapienter.
Allegoriae Merlini finis.