386 



ROMANCES. 



porary with " Tristan " and " Launcelot," do not come from the same source, 

 and are not inspired by the same ideas. In " Merlin " the marvellous forms 

 by far the largest element, and the author seems to have had always in view 



Fig. 312. The Enchanter Merlin, transformed into a Student, meets in the Forest of Broceliande 

 the Fairy Viviana. Fragment of the Binding of a Book in Enamelled Metal- work of Limoges. 

 In the Museum of Antiquities at the Louvre. 



the imitation of the Hible. The book, which none the less preserves the 



