Who sings "Fern von dieser Welt" in the show?

The song is assigned to Merlin. In the 2014 St. Gallen premiere cast, Merlin was played by Thomas Borchert.

Where does the song happen in the story?

It takes place in the forest right after Arthur pulls Excalibur and flees from the crowd.

Yes. The show lists "Fern von dieser Welt Reprise," used later when Merlin confronts Morgana.

When was the recording released?

Playbill reports the concept recording tied to the St. Gallen production was released on April 3, 2014.

Is there a standalone chart record for the song?

No track-level chart peaks were located for the song itself, but the concept recording project around the premiere had a documented sales milestone.

Fern von dieser Welt / In This World Lyrics — Artus Excalibur

Fern von dieser Welt / In This World Lyrics

– Merlin

Es geht sehr fern von dieser Welt
Wo sie im Nebel grau verschwimmt
Noch eine Welt, die du nicht kennst
Dort war dein Schicksal einst bestimmt

Die Begierde kann betör’n
Und auch ein Menschenherz zerstör’n
Sie blieb mir zwar immer fremd
Doch ich hab’s oft geseh’n

Sie war jung und wunderschön
Und mit grad zwanzig fast noch Kind
Und eines ander’n Königs Frau
Doch er begehrte sie

Und sein Verlangen war schließlich so abgrundtief
Dass er mich und meine Macht zu Hilfe berief

Und so beschwörte ich den Wind
Und schaffte Kraft aus seiner Gier
Er eilte ohne Rast zu ihr
Von der Magie erfüllt

Bald schon glich er ihrem Mann
Ja, sein Antlitz und sein Gang
Sahen ganz genau so aus
Obgleich auch nicht allzu lang

Und doch das Schicksal wirkt mit eigener Macht
Und ein Chaos wurde damals durch mich entfacht

Denn die Verführung brachte auch Tod
Und das sah ich niemals vorher
Törichte Wünsche ohne Gebot
Zogen auf mich hinab wie das Toben der Meer

Und als ich dich in Armen hielt
Kam die ganze Welt zur Ruh’
Mir erschien, als wärest du
Wie mein eig’nes Kind

Du warst ein Königssohn
Doch ohne Krone und Thron
Und fern von Pendragon
Warst du in Sicherheit

Ich rief dich Artus – hellster Stern
Du wuchst bei Ector glücklich auf
Lerntest Ehre, Güte, Gnade
So nahm alles seinen Lauf

ENGLISH LYRICS:

Far away from this world we know,
Where in the mist it fades to gray,
There lies a world you do not know,
Where once your fate was cast away.

Desire can allure and sway,
And break a human heart, they say.
Though it was always strange to me,
I saw its power frequently.

She was young and pure and fair,
At twenty, almost still a child,
Another king's beloved wife,
Yet he desired her, beguiled.

His longing grew so deep and dire,
He called on me and my dark fire.

So I summoned wind and might,
Drew power from his fierce desire,
He rushed to her with ceaseless flight,
Enchanted by my magic's pyre.

Soon he looked just like her man,
In his visage and his stride,
He mirrored him in every plan,
Though not for long could this abide.

But fate wields its own fierce power,
And chaos sprang forth in that hour.

For seduction brought about death,
A consequence I did not foresee,
Foolish wishes without any breadth,
Engulfed me like a raging sea.

And when I held you in my arms,
The whole world seemed to calm and glow,
You appeared, in all your charms,
As if you were my own, you know.

You were a prince by blood,
Yet without crown or throne,
And far from Pendragon’s flood,
You were safe, and not alone.

I called you Arthur, brightest star,
You grew with Ector, free from harm,
You learned honor, grace, and mercy,
Thus, began your destined charm.
Last Update: March, 10th 2026

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Song Overview

Fern von dieser Welt lyrics by Artus Excalibur cast — The cast delivers 'Fern von dieser Welt' lyrics as Merlin tries to pull Arthur back from the edge.

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

What it is: A Merlin-led scene song in Artus - Excalibur where destiny gets argued, not celebrated.
Who made it: Music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Robin Lerner, book by Ivan Menchell.
Where it appears: Act I, right after Arthur pulls the sword and bolts into the forest.
How it plays: Dark, patient, and persuasive, like a mentor talking fast enough to stop someone from making a life-altering mistake.

Scene from Fern von dieser Welt by Artus Excalibur cast — 'Fern von dieser Welt' as shared in a cast-album style upload.

Artus - Excalibur (2014) - stage musical - non-diegetic. Act I turning-point monologue in song, set in the forest after the sword test. The placement matters because the show shifts from public myth to private panic: Arthur has just been crowned by a crowd, and now he is alone with the person who understands the machinery behind it.

"Fern von dieser Welt" is Wildhorn using restraint as a weapon. The melody does not try to out-muscle the plot. It tries to steer it. Merlin is not flexing magic here, he is doing triage: naming the stakes, exposing the trapdoors in Arthur's story, and trying to keep the new king from throwing the whole future into the bushes. The best thing about the number is its refusal to flatter. It is not "you are special," it is "you are needed," and those are wildly different sentences.

Key takeaway: The song frames fate as pressure, not sparkle.
Key takeaway: Merlin comes off as strategist and caretaker at once.
Key takeaway: It sets up the next beat where Arthur rejects the crown in "Schwert und Stein."

Creation History

Artus - Excalibur premiered at Theater St. Gallen on March 15, 2014, with Thomas Borchert in the Merlin role and Koen Schoots credited for arrangements and orchestrations. The concept recording tied to the premiere period was released on April 3, 2014. According to Playbill, that release reached No. 1 on German iTunes and Amazon charts the day it arrived, which is a tidy reminder that Wildhorn projects can travel fast once the recordings hit.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Artus Excalibur performing Fern von dieser Welt — Merlin's perspective: the map is drawn, but the traveler still fights it.

Plot

Arthur has pulled Excalibur from the stone, the crowd has knelt, and then reality hits him in the ribs. He runs into the forest, insisting he is a squire, not a ruler. Merlin follows, laying out the backstory and the logic of the prophecy. "Fern von dieser Welt" is that confrontation: Merlin says the path has been set, and Arthur says he does not consent to it.

Song Meaning

The title reads like distance, but the song is really about perspective. Merlin is telling Arthur that the story is larger than his fear and older than his preferences. The forest becomes a place where the ordinary world falls away and the larger world presses in, the one where actions echo for generations. The number sells a harsh idea: destiny does not ask politely. It drafts you. And Merlin, for all his calm, is trying to keep the draft from turning into a mutiny.

Annotations

No official, creator-published annotation set for this individual track was located in the consulted sources. The most dependable anchors are the documented scene function and the fact that the song is explicitly assigned to Merlin in the show.

Merlin follows Arthur and explains that Arthur's fate has been predetermined ("Fern von dieser Welt / In This World").

This is the whole engine. The song is not a mood piece, it is a debate. Merlin is arguing for duty, and Arthur is arguing for self-definition.

In the forest, Merlin shows Arthur his true origin and the shape of his past.

That staging idea makes the title land harder. The "far" world is not a fantasy realm. It is memory and consequence, the stuff Arthur has been shielded from until now.

Shot of Fern von dieser Welt by Artus Excalibur cast — A quiet frame that matches the song's mentor-versus-panic tension.

Driving rhythm and sound

The pacing is measured, like Merlin is choosing words carefully because the wrong phrase could push Arthur further away. The arrangement supports that with a controlled pulse rather than a big choral lift. This is persuasion music, not coronation music.

Emotional arc

It begins with Arthur in flight, shifts into Merlin's explanation, and ends with the uneasy sense that knowledge does not equal acceptance. The song closes the gap between "chosen" and "ready," then leaves it open anyway.

Symbols and touchpoints

The sword test is public law. The forest is private truth. "Fern von dieser Welt" lives in that pivot: the myth has happened, but the person inside the myth is still trying to escape the costume.

Technical Information (Quick Facts)

Song: Fern von dieser Welt (In This World)
Artist: Merlin (original cast role performed by Thomas Borchert in the 2014 premiere production)
Featured: Merlin
Composer: Frank Wildhorn
Producer: Not reliably confirmed in the consulted sources
Release Date: April 3, 2014
Genre: Musical theatre
Instruments: Theater orchestration (arrangements and orchestrations credited to Koen Schoots for the production)
Label: HitSquad Records (concept recording)
Mood: Ominous; reflective; urgent under the calm
Length: 3:42
Track #: 3 (CD indexing on common 2014 editions)
Language: German
Album (if any): Artus - Excalibur (concept recording, 2014)
Music style: Narrative theater-pop with dark, mythic coloring
Poetic meter: Mixed accentual (speech-led phrasing shaped for story clarity)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who sings "Fern von dieser Welt" in the show?: The song is assigned to Merlin. In the 2014 St. Gallen premiere cast, Merlin was played by Thomas Borchert.
Where does the song happen in the story?: It takes place in the forest right after Arthur pulls Excalibur and flees from the crowd.
What is Merlin trying to accomplish in this number?: He is trying to stop Arthur from rejecting the crown by explaining Arthur's origin and the logic of the prophecy.
Is there a reprise?: Yes. The show lists "Fern von dieser Welt Reprise," used later when Merlin confronts Morgana.
Is the English title "In This World" official?: Production databases and reference song lists often provide bilingual titles for clarity. The performed text on the original recording is German.
When was the recording released?: Playbill reports the concept recording tied to the St. Gallen production was released on April 3, 2014.
Is there a standalone chart record for the song?: No track-level chart peaks were located for the song itself, but the concept recording project around the premiere had a documented sales milestone.
What makes the scene effective onstage?: The show contrasts public spectacle with private truth: the sword is a crowd event, but Merlin's argument has to land one-on-one, in the dark.
Does the song reveal new plot information?: Yes. It is the moment where Arthur is told his fate was set long before he touched the stone.

Awards and Chart Positions

Track-level chart reporting for this individual song is not widely documented. However, the recording project around the premiere did post a clear commercial marker. According to Playbill, the concept recording associated with Artus - Excalibur entered the No. 1 slot on both German iTunes and Amazon charts on April 3, 2014.

Item	Date	Result	Notes
Concept recording (Artus - Excalibur, 2014)	April 3, 2014	No. 1 on German iTunes and Amazon	Reported by Playbill during the St. Gallen premiere period

Additional Info

Merlin gets painted as a wizard first in most Arthur retellings. This musical makes him feel like a crisis manager with a staff that includes spells. "Fern von dieser Welt" is his hard sell: he is not asking Arthur to feel brave, he is asking Arthur to act brave, even if he feels nothing but dread. That is why the song sits so neatly between the sword test and the refusal song. It is the hinge where the story tries to swing toward responsibility, and you can hear the door sticking.

Key Contributors

Entity	Type	Relationship (S-V-O)
Fern von dieser Welt	Work (song)	Explains - Arthur's predetermined fate in Act I
Frank Wildhorn	Person	Composed - Artus - Excalibur score
Robin Lerner	Person	Wrote lyrics for - Artus - Excalibur
Ivan Menchell	Person	Wrote book for - Artus - Excalibur
Koen Schoots	Person	Created arrangements and orchestrations for - Artus - Excalibur
Thomas Borchert	Person	Performed - Merlin role in the 2014 St. Gallen premiere cast
Theater St. Gallen	Organization	Premiered - Artus - Excalibur on March 15, 2014

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