#sir vanoc

[wandrenowlereacts]

It is very fascinating that two of out three of Merlin’s children in Arthurian literature are named after two legendary people (one fictional and the other historical).

For instance, in Richard Hole’s The Northern Enchantment, Merlin’s daughter is called Inogen (as shown above).

Similarly, in Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, Brutus' wife is called Inogen.

On the other hand, in Sir Walter Scott's The Bridal of Triermain, Merlin's son is called Vanoc (as shown below).

In the same manner, in the play "The Briton: A Tragedy" (written in 1725 by Ambrose Phillips), Vanoc makes an appearance as the husband of Cartismand after she divorced her first husband.

Further research reveals that Cartismand is Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes. According to Tacitus' Historiae, Cartimandua "grew to despise her husband Venutius, and took as her consort his squire Vellocatus, whom she admitted to share the throne with her" (The Story of Cartimandua as Relayed by Tacitus, 2021). This would make Vellocatus the inspiration behind the name Vanoc that appears in both Scott's poem and Phillips' play.

In conclusion, it is quite curious that later Arthurian texts use early names that are very familiar (for those who have read earlier texts). Moreover, it is very amusing to think that Merlin is quite the history nerd, being that he named one of his daughters after Brutus' wife and his son after the second husband of Queen Cartimandua.

References

Hole, R. (1789). Arthur; or, the Northern Enchantment: A Poetical Romance, in Seven Books. G.G.J and J. Robinson. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.a0000007716

Monmouth, G. O. (1929). The Historia Regum Britanniæ of Geoffrey of Monmouth (A. Griscom, Trans.). Longsman, Green and Co. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4311695

Phillips, A. (1725). The Briton: A Tragedy. T. Woodward. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu54659744

Scott, W. (1813). The Bridal of Triermain: or The Vale of St. John. The Camelot Project. Retrieved April 16, 2026, from https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/scott-bridal-of-triermain.html

The story of Cartimandua as relayed by Tacitus. (2021). Warwick Classics Network. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/warwickclassicsnetwork/romancoventry/resources/interactions/civitates/cartimandua/tacitus/

[gawrkin]

Does Merlin have children in some of the legends?

He does to a limited degree. So far, I know of only three such figures, one from the Perceval Continuations and the other two from the Post-Medieval era:

The Damsel of the Dolorous Mount from the Second Continuation of Chretien de Troyes' Perceval by Wauchier de Denain (13th C.).

Inogen from The Northern Enchantment by Richard Hole (1789)

Sir Vanoc from Bridal of Triermain by Walter Scott (1813)

So, two daughters and a son, only one of which goes unnamed.

[wandrenowlereacts]

Merlin has children?

Howdy, anon!

Merlin does have children in, at least, three Arthurian narratives. The first instance that a child of Merlin is mentioned is in the French Arthuriana the “Second Continuation of Perceval,” written by Wauchier de Denain in the 13th century. His daughter identifies herself as “the Damsel of the High Peak of Mount Dolorous” and she is described to be “of otherworldly beauty” (De Troyes et al., 2018, pp. 330-331). Moreover, Merlin’s daughter narrates her background to Perceval in the following manner:

As it can be observed in the text above, Merlin’s daughter’s existence is due Merlin enchanting her mother to never ever leave him. (It is only fitting that in other narratives Merlin himself got imprisoned for eternity by the Lady of the Lake).

Now, the second child of Merlin that is mentioned is in the English Arthuriana, “Arthur; or, the Northern Enchantment”, written by Richard Hole in 1789. In the poem, Merlin gets married in his old age and has a daughter.

Unfortunately, Merlin’s wife dies of childbirth (as shown in the verse above). Merlin names his daughter Inogen. Then, he christens his daughter. During said christening, the priest prophecies that whoever marries Merlin’s daughter will reign supreme in Britain. But before that happens Merlin’s daughter will go through lots of woes and troubles. In the end, Inogen gets married to Arthur and all is well (Hole, 1789).

Lastly, the third child of Merlin that is mentioned is in the English Arthuriana, “The Bridal of Triermain: Or the Vale of St. John”, written by Sir Walter Scott in 1813. In this poetic narrative, Arthur has a one-night stand with a half genie woman and has a daughter with her. Fifteen years later, Arthur throws a tournament for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Among the participants is Merlin’s son, Sir Vanoc. However, Sir Vanoc dies in the tournament against Sir Morholt (as shown below).

Vanoc’s death is what causes Merlin to curse Arthur’s daughter to sleep until she’s woken up by true love’s kiss. (For further information about the plot of this poem, you can read more about it here).

To conclude, Merlin does have children in Arthurian narrative, but as it can be observed it happens in rare occurrences. Nonetheless, having such knowledge is interesting to have (specially if one wants to explore what is it like to be in the shadow of being Merlin’s child or if one wants to explore the fact that Merlin has children).

References

De Troyes, C., De Denain, W., Manessier, & De Montreuil, G. (2018). The complete story of the Grail: Chrétien de Troyes’ Perceval and Its Continuations (N. Bryant, Trans.). D. S. Brewer.

Hole, R. (1789). Arthur; or, the Northern Enchantment. G.G. J. and J. Robinson. https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/hole-arthur-a-northern-enchantment.html

Scott, W. (1813). The Bridal of Triermain: Or the Vale of St. John. James Ballantyne and Co. https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/scott-bridal-of-triermain.html

[wandrenowlereacts]

It just occurred to me that (in Arthurian literature) Morgan le Fay has a son and Merlin has a son as well. Maybe Sir Yvain and Sir Vanoc are friends. Just imagine the shenanigans Morgan's son and Merlin's son could get into. 👀

[wandrenowlereacts]

Never, ever mention Morgen’s name to Myrddin’s face. 😆 Otherwise, he’ll get annoyed about it. His son Vanoc knows this, and Owain knows this as well.

In which, young Owain can’t resist annoying his mother by asking Merlin to teach him some magic and what not.