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Variations on the classic Merlin and King Arthur legends span hundreds, if not thousands, of retellings. Many are documented within handwritten medieval manuscripts dating back over a millenia—but some editions are far rarer than others. For example, less than 40 copies are known to exist of a once-popular sequel series, the Suite Vulgate du Merlin. In 2019, researchers at the University of Cambridge discovered fragments of one more copy in their collections, tucked inside the recycled binding of a wealthy family's property record from the 16th century. But at the time of discovery, the text was impossible to read.Now after...

In 2019, scholars at Cambridge University Library discovered an extremely rare 750-year-old text on the legends of King Arthur hiding in plain sight. A fragment of the fragile manuscript had been repurposed in the binding of a 16th-century property record, making it almost impossible to study the medieval text without dismantling and certainly damaging the record’s cover. Almost impossible—but not completely. An interdisciplinary team of scholars from the University of Cambridge used various advanced imaging techniques to create a virtual copy of the binding, allowing them to digitally unfold the rare text without having to damage it or the property...

Fragments of a hand-written medieval manuscript telling the story of Merlin the Magician from the legend of Camelot have been translated into English. The text tells of battles between King Arthur and King Claudas, as well as the romance between Merlin and Viviane — sometimes known as 'the Lady of Lake'. The seven pieces of parchment date back some 770 years, and were discovered in 2019 among the University of Bristol’s Special Collections Library by researchers trawling though the ancient tomes.... ...'The Suite Vulgate du Merlin was written in about 1220–1225, so this puts the Bristol manuscript within a generation...