The analysis also uncovered how the hand-written documents ended up in Bristol, differences in the text from previous versions of the story and by using multi-spectral imaging technology, the researchers were able to read damaged sections of the text unseen by the naked eye and could even identify the type of ink that was used.

The seven parchment fragments were spotted by chance in early 2019 by Michael Richardson from the University of Bristol's Special Collections Library. They were pasted into the bindings of four early-modern volumes, published between 1494-1502 and held in Bristol Central Library's rare books collection.

The fragments contain a passage from the Old French sequence of texts known as the Vulgate Cycle or Lancelot-Grail Cycle, which dates to the early 13th century. Parts of this Cycle may have been used by Sir Thomas Malory (1415-1471) as a source for his Le Morte Darthur (first printed in 1485 by William Caxton) which is itself the main source text for many modern retellings of the Arthurian legend in English.

The find attracted significant media attention, with the Bristol Merlin, as it quickly became known, making headlines across the world.

After the discovery Professor Leah Tether, President of the International Arthurian Society (British Branch) from Bristol's Department of English, her husband, medieval historian and manuscript specialist Dr. Benjamin Pohl from the University's Department of History and Dr. Laura Chuhan Campbell, a specialist in the Old French Merlin stories from Durham University, set out to examine and analyse the fragments in detail to discover more about them.