[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

now this is synchronicity-i’m in the middle of reading Bullfinch’s Mythology- The Age of Chivalry.

Merlin was a cool dude.

[massgopguy]

“Do you want me to believe that you're the King of England because some watery tart flung a scimitar at you?”

[muawiyah]

Merlin (Myrrdhn) was beyond cool. He went to Brittany some time after the onset of the Dark Age (15 years later the climate improved) and replanted the grapes there ~ which included running up what is now the Norman Coast beyond Mt. McWall.

He and others crossed France and went to the headwaters of the Rhone Valley and replanted the grapes there as well.

It's pretty easy to accept that he was a real person since, in fact, the grapes got replanted and due to some serious depopulation in the region it was easy enough for folks from Britain to get around (presumably on horses).

France has a "King Arthur" tradition in the West and in the Center as a consequence.

As far as the other characters are concerned, I think they are composites.