The Dresden Files > DF Reference Collection
Dresden Files: Series Timeline
Chuck Chuck Razool:
2007 makes sense. We know that SF is post y2k.
Quantus:
So I've been trying to pin down a time frame for the original Merlin for a while now, but Im not getting very far. Check my logic and see if I missed anything.
Merlin stories (and arthurian legends by extension) can vary in time from a few hundred AD up to almost 1500 (when chivalry was in high swing), basically the entire span of the middle ages. The first actual reference to the character was in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136. A historical Arthur could have been as early as 6th century, but the commonly known legends were 12th century and later. That's wikipedia stuff, but it got me wondering what time the Dresden Merlin was around.
In the Dresdenverse here's what we know:
-McCoy has journal lineage to the Merlin totaling "more than a thousand years" worth (TC)
-McCoy averages 1 journal/century, and others did 3-4 in their lifetime, but only has 2 from Merlin
-Merlin Founded the current incarnation of the White Council and wrote the 7 Laws, along with acquiring Edinburgh from the sidhe. (Changes)
-Edinburgh has been the headquarters of the Council for a little under 500 years. (TC, might warrant an entry in the timeline all its own)
-Merlin had Amoraccius for a bit (PG)
-Amoraccius has never been reworked, unlike the other two swords
-The merlin's end is unknown
So far that that marks out a window of maybe 800 AD to 1500, and tragically unhealpful unless he was somehow longer lived than any wizard we know of (Ancient Mai being the top at just over 400).
Thats the best I can get for now. If we make some assumptions, like that he moved HQ to Edinburgh right when he restructured everything, that the cruciform Amoraccius has been that way since Merlin had it (such swords didnt exist in that part of the world until 11th century, and not popular until the crusades of 12-13th century), that Merlin was no more long lived than other wizards (or at least disappeared before it got noticed, giving him maybe a 500 span max of active time, or that Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of Merlin exists in the DV, we can narrow it down a bit further, but not much.
Those are the basic circles I keep working myself around in. It bugs me because this little detail seems to be common knowledge to the characters, but we're still int he dark. I was hoping the RPG books (beta Download available when you preorder!!) would mention it somewhere and shed some light without dragging down a particular story, but no dice that I've seen :'(
Thoughts?
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Quantus on May 12, 2010, 05:09:53 AM ---Thoughts?
--- End quote ---
That what makes most sense to me is the original Merlin spending long periods of time asleep in a cave or tree (as per legend) or somewhere in the NN where time runs differently.
AcornArmy:
It seems like the most troubling assumption is that Merlin was still around and acting as the Merlin when the White Council HQ moved to Edinburough. That doesn't have to be true. Merlin could have left ownership of the area to the White Council, and they could have decided to move there centuries later. The Council seems kind of slow to change, and moving the HQ from wherever it was(Rome, maybe?) to Edinburough would be a pretty big one. It might have taken a couple of centuries for them to decide do relocate.
And if that assumption is taken out of the picture, then Merlin's timeline could hang somewhere within 200 years of 1000 AD without clashing with wizard lifespans.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: AcornArmy on May 12, 2010, 10:30:34 PM ---It seems like the most troubling assumption is that Merlin was still around and acting as the Merlin when the White Council HQ moved to Edinburough. That doesn't have to be true. Merlin could have left ownership of the area to the White Council, and they could have decided to move there centuries later. The Council seems kind of slow to change, and moving the HQ from wherever it was(Rome, maybe?) to Edinburough would be a pretty big one. It might have taken a couple of centuries for them to decide do relocate.
--- End quote ---
If they had a huge cool fortress and didn't move into it on a scale of centuries, I'd be interested to know the reasons, because I'd presume there'd have to be reasons of some sort.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version