Medieval manuscript of lost Merlin and King Arthur legend read for first time in centuries

A fragment of a 13th-century manuscript containing rare medieval stories of Merlin and King Arthur was found hiding in plain sight in a university library.

For more than 400 years, the text was stitched inside an Elizabethan register of property deeds, before it was discovered at Cambridge University, folded and fragile.

Researchers used new technology to digitally capture parts of the parchment without unfolding or damaging it.

The story revealed serves as an “intriguing sequel” to the tale of the shape-shifting magician, the BBC wrote: Merlin becomes a blind harpist who vanishes into thin air, but later reappears as a child who issues edicts to King Arthur.