merlin

The merlin is the smallest falcon in Europe and North America: a compact, powerful bird that hunts other birds in open country, often killing prey larger than itself. Its name comes from Old French esmerillon (diminutive of esmeril), from Frankish *smiril — a Germanic word of uncertain deeper origin, possibly related to smear or anoint, or possibly just a sound-imitation. English adopted it as merlin by the fifteenth century, dropping the prefix.

The wizard Merlin of Arthurian legend appears to have a separate etymology altogether. His name in Welsh is Myrddin (from Moridunum, a Roman-era fort in Wales, now Carmarthen — Caer Myrddin, fort of Myrddin). Geoffrey of Monmouth, writing in Latin in the twelfth century, Latinized Myrddin as Merlinus — partly because Myrddin in Latin would have produced a word too close to merde (excrement). Merlinus then became Merlin in English. The overlap between falcon-name and wizard-name is coincidence and linguistic accident.

Despite the separate origins, the overlap has been irresistible. The merlin falcon is fast, intelligent, and disproportionately powerful for its size. Medieval falconers assigned falcons by social rank: the peregrine for earls, the gyrfalcon for kings, and the merlin for ladies — it was the appropriate bird for a queen or noblewoman, requiring skill and patience to train. In this way, the small merlin had royal associations. The wizard's name hovering over the falcon gave the bird an additional layer of arcane prestige.

In ornithological literature, the merlin's scientific name is Falco columbarius — columbarius meaning 'of the dove,' referring not to the bird itself but to its prey preference: the merlin frequently hunts larks and small songbirds in open country. A falcon named for a dove. A bird named, accidentally, for a wizard. A wizard named for a Welsh fort. The etymology of merlin spirals into improbability, each connection more unexpected than the last, which is perhaps fitting for a name that also belongs to the greatest magician in English literature.