> His character was probably an amalgam of Myrddin Wyllt, a bard and wild man of the Caledonian forest in Welsh tradition TIL this has a different etymology th

> His character was probably an amalgam of Myrddin Wyllt, a bard and wild man of the Caledonian forest in Welsh tradition TIL this has a different etymology than the species of bird: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin_(bird)#Nomenclature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin_(bird)#Nomenclature I'll still choose to believe that the town in Oregon is named after the magician because that's more fun :)