“Can this stone be raised by human hand?” she asked.

“No,” said Merlin, “but I will raise it. Nevertheless, I don’t advise you to view the bodies, because no bodies that have lain in the earth as long as these have would be beautiful to see, but ugly and horrible.”

“Still,” she said, “I want the stone raised.”

“Willingly,” he said. He took it at once by the larger end and raised it up. It was so heavy that ten men would have had enough to do to move it, because of which one should believe that his mind served him better than his strength there. Indeed, so it was in everything he did.

Post-Vulgate Merlin