It happened just as Merlin foretold. The rightful heir, Aurelius, trapped Vortigern in one of his own towers and burned it to the ground. Aurelius, and in his turn Uther - now called Pendragon because his standard displayed a winged dragon - succeeded to the throne.

That was, in effect, the overture, the first notes of the magical strains that sang through the wizard Merlin. When the right time came, he would himself summon the Boar of Cornwall.

The thing was set in motion in London, at Uther's coronation feast, when the King saw Igraine, wife of Gorlois of Cornwall, the most beautiful woman in Britain, and a fit mother of kings. Uther was entranced. His eyes flew continually to Igraine; he passed his own gold wine goblet to her; he lingered at her side.

His passion was obvious, and Gorlois, who loved his wife and would defy fate, was enraged. He took Igraine away at once and against Uther's order. He sequestered her to his castle in Tintagel, high on the wave-washed cliffs of Cornwall, and rode out on his lands to secure his other strongholds against Uther's army, which he knew would soon arrive.

Uther followed hotly, raiding and burning and intent on Igraine. He could not reach Tintagel, however. It was impregnable from the sea and reachable from the land only by a narrow isthmus of rock, well guarded. Uther sent for Merlin, who came, knowing what the King would ask, and determined on the act that would bring the savior of Britain.

The King did ask. Igraine, as Merlin knew, had become his heart's desire. More than that, it was clear that Uther's passion was consuming him.

The next night, the guard posted at the windy gates of Tintagel was amazed to see his lord, Gorlois, whom he thought to be fortifying his camp at Dimilioc to the southwest. With Gorlois were his friend Jordan and one of his captains, Britaelis. These two lingered with the guard, but Gorlois strode to his lady's chamber, and there he stayed throughout the night.

In the small hours of the morning, the three men left Tintagel, and as the gray dawn broke, their true shaped returned to them. The false Gorlois was Uther, the man Jordan was an adviser of Uther's named Ulfin, and as for Britaelis, he was watchful Merlin, who had shifted all their shapes to bring about that one night's union safely. Gorlois died that same night, killed at Dimilioc by Uther's troops, and Igraine then married Uther. Nine months after the night, Igraine bore a son - Arthur, The Boar of Cornwall.

Times were perilous then, as Uther fought the Saxons and the northern tribes, not to mention the unruly factions among his own people. Merlin, aware of the dangers, had demanded of Uther a price for his aid. The wizard insisted on caring for Igraine's child. Thus, shortly after the birth, Merlin appeared at Tintagel again, and left by the postern gate, carrying the infant down the steep path through the cliffs to the sea below.

Nothing was seen of the boy for fifteen years. Some say that Merlin took him to Brtittany, others that the wizard put the boy in the care of a knight named Ector in a safely remote part of England. In any case, Merlin saw that Arthur was protected and properly schooled, so that when the time came and Uther lay dying, Arthur was ready to take his rightful crown.

This is the story of the wizard, not the King, and it is not the place to tell of Arthur's long reign, of the battles he fought to forge his nation and of the treachery of his nephew that ended its bright splendor. Merlin was there, just out of sight and watchful almost to the end, which he foresaw but was helpless to avert. It was he who found Arthur's sword, Excalibur, with the Lady of the Lake, and he who directed the construction of the Round Table.

But Merlin left before the end. By some accounts, he retreated to an invisible glass palace on an island, said to be Bardsey, off the Welsh coast.

He took for safekeeping - until they were needed - Britain's Thirteen Treasures: the Sword of Rhydderch, which poured forth invincible flame in the hands of a brave man; the Hamper of Gwyddno Long-Shank, which turned food for one into food for a hundred; the Horn of Bran, a supplier of endless drink; the Chariot of Morgan, which went anywhere the rider wished; the Halter of Clydno Eiddyn, which summoned the best of horses; the powerful knife of Llawfrodedd the Horseman; the Caldron of Dyrnwch, which cooked only for the brave; the Whetstone of Tudwal Tudglyd, which sharpened swords only for heroes; the Coat of Padarn Red-Coat, which fit only the wellborn; the Crock and Dish of Rhygenydd, which gave any food demanded; the Golden Chessboard of Gwenddolau, whose silver men played by themselves; and the Mantle of Arthur, which made its wearer invisible.

The truth cannot be determined and does not matter. What matters is that Merlin, like the great enchanters before him, disappeared but did not die. Manannan retreated into invisibility, but kept watch over the Isle of Man, so that even in later times, sailors invoked his aid. Old Vainamoinen sailed in a copper boat to a place, his people said, between the upper reaches of the heavens, leaving his magic harp behind.

So the first wizards left the earth, disappeared into a silent limbo, to wait for the time when their countries might call them again. For the world was changing. The numerous powers abroad in its young age gradually receded, but piecemeal, like retreating ice, leaving small pockets of influence all over the earth. Man retreated, too, away from nature and into himself.

None of this happened at once, indeed, people with some of the first wizards' powers lived many centuries after Merlin. But the climate had retreated from magic. Those who dared to deal with ineffable powers would come to dryly classify and regulate what magical resources they could unearth, and codes and registers are always the enemies of spontaneous activity. The age of earthy wizard heroes gave way to that of the scholars of sorcery, people who tampered with powers no longer naturally theirs - and paid the price of curiosity.