Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-27082610-20170424154014/@comment-25936766-20170524030950

When talking about the birds, it's the pigeon hawk.

When talking about the mage it's more interesting. Merlin is derived from welsh Myrddin, as in Myrddin Wyllt, the name of the bard.

Geoffrey of Monmouth latinized the name as Merlinus, instead of Merdinus, because Merdinus resembles the anglo-norman Merde, Latin "Merda" (Basically, shit).