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Myrddin Wyllt
Mad bard from Welsh medieval legends and poems, his identity was co-opted by the terrible historian Geoffrey of Monmouth, who changed Myrddin's name to Merlin and shifted Myrddin's lifetime by decades so Myrddin could hang out with King Arthur. Geoffrey wrote Prophetiae Merlini (Merlin's Prophecies) circa 1135 A.D.
In the original Welsh legends, Myrddin went mad after the defeat and death of his lord (and real historical figure) Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio at the Battle of Arfderydd in 573 A.D. He goes off to live alone in the woods with the beasts, and is blessed/cursed with the gift of sufficiently cryptic prophesy.
Myrddin Wyllt means Myrddin the Wild; but he was also known as Myrddin Emrys ("Ambrosius"), Merlinus Caledonensis ("of Caledonia") or Merlin Sylvestris ("of the woods").
