The Crystal Cave was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1970, the first volume of Mary Stewart’s Arthurian saga and the work that transformed Merlin from a stock figure of fantasy (the generic wise wizard) into a complex literary character with a psychological life, a political intelligence, and a relationship to power that is ambiguous and troubling.
Stewart’s Merlin (Myrddin Emrys) narrates his own story from childhood: the illegitimate son of a Welsh princess who will not name his father, growing up in the court of his grandfather, King of Maridunum (Carmarthen). The boy discovers he has visions — the “Sight” — and a gift for understanding how the world works that goes beyond ordinary intelligence. He is mentored by Galapas, a hermit scholar who lives in a crystal cave and teaches him reading, astronomy, medicine, and engineering.
Stewart’s innovation is to rationalize Merlin’s magic without eliminating its numinous quality. His “prophecies” come from superior information-gathering and political intelligence; his “spells” are engineering knowledge and pharmacology; his reputation for supernatural power is partly genuine (the Sight is real in Stewart’s world) and partly cultivated myth that serves his political purposes. He is not a supernatural being but a genius operating in a world where genius is indistinguishable from magic.
The novel builds toward the conception of Arthur — the political engineering by which Merlin arranges for Uther Pendragon to father a child on Ygraine of Cornwall — presented not as romantic legend but as dangerous political manipulation with consequences Merlin cannot fully control.
Collecting The Crystal Cave
First edition (Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1970): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First UK edition in dust jacket: $50–$150
- Signed first edition: $100–$300
- US first (Morrow, 1970): $25–$60
- Without jacket: $10–$20