Wyllt is a Welsh word which means 'wild' or 'untamed', and its meaning was applied to ideas of the nature of beasts and individuals who had lost their reason in Medieval societies. It was also attributed to the 'madness' of the Seer, one who turns their back on society, either by force or by design, returning to their natural animist state, and in doing so, receives the gifts of prophecy.

 

One of the most famous figures associated with the concept is Myrddin Wyllt (Merlin the Wild), a legendary figure in Welsh and Arthurian mythology. Myrddin is said to have gone mad after witnessing the horrors of battle and retreated into the Caledonian forest, where he lived in the wild as a prophet and wise man. The same figure appears in Scottish mythology as Lailoken, and scholars have demonstrated that Lailoken and Myrddin Wyllt were the same person, and that the later story of Suibne Geilt was an Irish interpretation of the same myth.

 

The lives of Myrddin, Lailoken, and Suibne Geilt can be viewed as cautionary Medieval tales, warning against turning one's back on Christianity, and the dire consequences of returning to one's pagan, wild nature. In reality, the wilderness is inherent within all of us, and when it awakens, it can manifest as a kind of 'madness', a longing to return to a more authentic way of being, of breaking the shackles of modern logical mentality, and finally seeing the world as it really is.

 

"In the wildness is the preservation of the world."

Henry David Thoreau.

 

Illustration "Merlin" by Alan Lee 1992 © Alan Lee.

Reproduced with kind permission of the artist.