Wizard

A wizard is a practitioner of magic, especially in folklore, fantasy fiction, and fantasy role-playing games. In popular use during 16th century England, "wizard' was used to denote a helpful male folk magican, a cunning man as they were usually called. The word does not generally apply to Neopagans, or to stage magicians (properly termed illusionists) like David Copperfield, Paul Daniels, or James Randi.

Myths and Legends

Wizards found in old fairy tales and myths include:

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• Faust - an alchemist, but in some versions of the tale also a magician.
• Merlin, the famous wizard from Arthurian legends and their modern retellings.
• Prospero is the famous wizard in Shakespeare's The Tempest.
• The Telchines, four wizards of ancient Greek myths.
• Thoth, Egyptian god of magic.
• The wizard in fairy tale of The Wizard King.