In one of the old books called Welsh Triads, in which all things are
classed by threes, there is a description of three men called "The Three
Generous Heroes of the Isle of Britain." One of these--named Nud or
Nodens, and later called Merlin--was first brought from the sea, it is
stated, with a herd of cattle consisting of 21,000 milch cows, which are
supposed to mean those waves of the sea that the poets often describe as
White Horses. He grew up to be a king and warrior, a magician and prophet,
and on the whole the most important figure in the Celtic traditions. He
came from the sea and at last returned to it, but meanwhile he did great
works on land, one of which is said to have been the building of
Stonehenge.
This is the way, as the old legends tell, in which the vast stones of
Stonehenge came to be placed on Salisbury Plain. It is a thing which has
always been a puzzle to every one, inasmuch as their size and weight are
enormous, and there is no stone of the same description to be found within
hundreds of miles of Salisbury Plain, where they now stand.
The legend is that Pendragon, king of England, was led to fight a great
battle by seeing a dragon in the air. The battle was won, but Pendragon
was killed and was buried on Salisbury Plain, where the fight had taken
place. When his brother Uther took his place, Merlin the enchanter advised
him to paint a dragon on a flag and bear it always before him to bring
good fortune, and this he always did. Then Merlin said to him, "Wilt thou
do nothing more on the Plain of Salisbury, to honor thy brother?" The King
said, "What shall be done?" Then Merlin said, "I will cause a thing to be
done that will endure to the world's end." Then he bade Utherpendragon, as
he called the new king, to send many ships and men to Ireland, and he
showed him stones such as seemed far too large and heavy to bring, but he
placed them by his magic art upon the boats and bore them to England; and
he devised means to transport them and to set them on end, "for they shall
seem fairer so than if they were lying." And there they are to this day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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