Page 12 - Pen Dragon and the Age of King Arthur-RBW_USA

The Age of Enchantment

and how Love Changes Everything

Love, or rather enchantment, can be a powerful force for good or for sorrow. Merlin,
Arthur and Pen Dragon would feel its influence in the days ahead.

Merlin had a lot on his mind as he sat with Arthur one autumn day by the lakeside.
He considered all the challenges that Arthur and the kingdom were facing. People
around the young king were beginning to question his right to the throne; Arthur’s
half-sister, Morgan le Fay, had increasingly become opposed to his reign and plotted
the downfall of Arthur and his knights.

Suddenly, Merlin’s mind snapped from these thoughts as, to his astonishment, a
beautiful woman rose out of the misty lake. She was the Lady of the Lake and her
name was Nimue. Merlin was enchanted with her mysterious beauty and he fell deeply
in love. This attraction was not noticed by Nimue who, turning to Arthur, offered him
a powerful gift that would prove his right to the throne and silence his dissenters; it
was the great sword of legend, Excalibur.

Arthur was soon to meet his future queen, the Lady Guinevere; his was also a love at

first sight. He rushed to share his happy news with Merlin, but this was not received
with the joy he had anticipated; Merlin had foreseen this day and knew that Guinevere
could not be faithful to the king and would betray him. Arthur refused to heed his
warning and followed his heart. They were married in lavish style and, at their The Age of Enchantment Puzzle

wedding feast, Guinevere saw the great champion Lancelot and it was love at first
sight.

Their star-crossed affair was noticed by many at court but it was the resentful Morgan Who is it that Merlin falls in love with in the
le Fay who revealed their secret to the king, with great delight. Arthur was enraged Age of Enchantment?
and attacked Lancelot; it was a fierce duel but Lancelot managed to fight his way out

of trouble and he fled Camelot. Rearrange the letters below to reveal the Fourth magical Name
Merlin found himself in a similar situation. Enchantment cannot easily be broken and
he was powerless to resist the charm of the Lady of the Lake. Even though he foresaw Y E H F O L K T A L E D E A T H
his own demise in pursuing her, he enticed Nimue to him by offering to teach her
the many secrets he had learned. She turned these against him; casting a powerful
enchantment, she trapped him inside a hawthorn tree, where he remains to this day.

Happily, Pen Dragon’s story had a very different outcome.