Niniane

Character Analysis

Woman. Trouble.

Merlin's mom is no stranger to family or political controversy. Her fling with Ambrosius, the exiled brother of the murdered High King, pretty much ensures that. When she refuses to tell her father (who just happens to be King of Demetia in South Wales) who the baby daddy is, Niniane gives up her position as the family favorite. But she's steadfast in protecting the identity of her lover:

"She was whipped till the women said she'd miscarry, but never a word from her. Better if she had, perhaps—some nonsense they were talking, old wives' tales of devils coming in the dark to lie with young maids…" (I.1.20)

Niniane knows that she has to make a choice: to save face or to save her son. The stakes are pretty high, since her brother Camlach would very much like to make Merlin dead in order to secure his place on the throne—and that's without even knowing how royal Merlin's dad really is. Niniane grabs hold of the demon daddy story and runs with it.

Somehow, that story provides protection for Merlin—even though it isolates him from the other kiddos. Niniane also understands that her son has special powers.

Church Lady

Niniane lives in a time and place where religious cultures are clashing in a big way. Her father is kinda sorta Christian, but there are remnants of paganism all around in the kingdom. For example, the nunnery of St. Peter's is built near an ancient shrine to the god Tyr. Ancient Britain was just kind of like that.

But Niniane sees her Christianity as an opportunity for escape and peace. It may also be her only chance to preserve her life and Merlin's—remember that Camlach is scheming to make sure he's the only possible heir to the throne of South Wales. Along with Niniane's son, Camlach may have to compete with his father's other male children, including his illegitimate son, Dinias.

And in fact, at a certain point, we learn that almost all the children in the family have been murdered—all except Dinias and Merlin.

Yikes.

Niniane also goes über-Christian for another reason: she has the power. Like Merlin, she has second sight, the ability to see the future and the intentions of others. But her power, unlike Merlin's, never advances. Merlin explains this to Ambrosius: "She only saw women's things, to do with love. Then she began to fear the power, and let it be" (II.5.100).

Niniane does not want to grab the tiger by the tail, so to speak. She wants to be left to live her life in peace, so off to the nunnery she goes.

Once a Princess…

Merlin doesn't really get to know his mom that well during his time with her at Maridunum. So when he sees her again at Vortigern's court, he doesn't really know what to think of her. He does recognize that she's nobler than even Vortigern's queen, despite her nunhood: "She held one hand at her breast, fingering the little cross which she wore there as a talisman; the other lay among the brown folds on her lap. Even in her plain brown habit she looked royal" (III.7.13).

He also feels very quickly that she's totally loyal to him, even after she thinks he's been dead for so many years. Merlin really has only one criticism of him mom, now that he sees her again. And that criticism is that the light has gone out of her:

I found her much changed. She was pale and quiet, and had put on weight, and with it a kind of heaviness of the spirit that she had not had before. It was only after a day or two, jogging north with the escort through the hills, that it suddenly came to me what this was; she had lost what she had had of power. (III.7.5)

Niniane has pretty much traded her extraordinary power for a life of quiet and solitude. Considering what has happened to Britain and to her family (her brother Camlach is already dead, along with most of her family), we can totally understand her decision.

But Niniane still has her cleverness and her stubborn desire to protect her son. She recycles the demon-seed tale to protect Ambrosius and Merlin again (though this time, she plays right into the enemy's hands with it)—and she tries to use good, old-fashioned maternal body language to steady Merlin.

As her eyes met mine I knew that this was nothing to do with power. She was trying, as women will, to tell me something with her eyes. It was a message of love and reassurance, but on a human level, and I could not understand it. (III.7.42)

Aaaand she fails, pretty spectacularly. But she does succeed in one thing to the end: she maintains her dignity and lives life on her own terms. As far as we can tell, she's the one character who escapes the harsh path of fate that makes life so difficult for everyone else.