coming to them through the water, was but faint, and cast no shadow.

Here was the famous workshop where Merlin forged the enchanted sword so
celebrated by the bards, and where the stones were found by which alone
the sword could be sharpened. Three British heroes were fated to wield
this blade in turn; viz., Lemenisk the leaper (_Leim_, meaning leap),
Utherpendragon, and his son King Arthur. By orders of this last hero, when
mortally wounded, it was flung into the sea, where it will remain till he
returns to restore the rule of his country to the faithful British race.

The bard once amused and puzzled the court by entering the hall as a
blind boy led by a greyhound, playing on his harp, and demanding as
recompense to be allowed to carry the king's banner in an approaching
battle. Being refused on account of his blindness he vanished, and the
king of Brittany mentioned his suspicions that this was one of Merlin's
elfin tricks. Arthur was disturbed, for he had promised to give the child
anything except his honor, his kingdom, his wife, and his sword. However,
while he continued to fret, there entered the hall a poor child about
eight years old, with shaved head, features of livid tint, eyes of light
gray, barefooted, barelegged, and a whip knotted over his shoulders in the
manner affected by horseboys. Speaking and looking like an idiot, he asked
the king's permission to bear the royal ensign in the approaching battle
with the giant Rion. The courtiers laughed, but Arthur, suspecting a new
joke on Merlin's part, granted the demand, and then Merlin stood in his
own proper person before the company.

He also seems to have taught people many things in real science,
especially the women, who were in those days more studious than the men,
or at least had less leisure. For instance, the legend says of Morgan le
fay (or la fee), King Arthur's sister, "she was a noble clergesse (meaning