Editing Stonehenge (section)

===Folklore===
[[File:Stonehenge Heel Stone - panoramio (2).jpg|upright|thumb|The southwest face of the Heel Stone in May 2016]]

===="Heel Stone", "Friar's Heel", or "Sun-Stone"====
[[File:Sun behind the Heel Stone.jpg|alt=The sun is directly behind the Heel Stone at sunrise on the summer solstice|left|thumb|The Sun behind the [[Heel Stone]] on the [[Summer solstice]], shortly after sunrise]]

The [[Heel Stone]] lies northeast of the sarsen circle, beside the end portion of Stonehenge Avenue.<ref name="Stanford">{{cite book |last1=Stanford |first1=Peter |title=The Extra Mile: A 21st century Pilgrimage |date=2011 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=20}}</ref> It is roughly textured, {{convert|16|ft|m}} above ground, and leans in towards the stone circle.<ref name="Stanford"/> It has been known by many names in the past, including "Friar's Heel" and "Sun-stone".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Stevens |first=Edward |date=July 1866 |title=Stonehenge and Abury |magazine=The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review |publisher=Bradbury, Evans & Co |location=London |volume=11 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_UIAAAAIAAJ&q=Stonehenge+%22Friar%27s+Heel%22&pg=PA69 |access-date=5 March 2015 |archive-date=27 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427082830/https://books.google.com/books?id=z_UIAAAAIAAJ&q=Stonehenge+%22Friar%27s+Heel%22&pg=PA69 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Measuring Time: Teacher's Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r5QrAAAAYAAJ&q=Stonehenge+%22Sun+stone%22&pg=PA173 |access-date=5 March 2015 |year=1994 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |location=Burlington, NC |isbn=978-0-89278-707-4 |page=173 |archive-date=27 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427031944/https://books.google.com/books?id=r5QrAAAAYAAJ&q=Stonehenge+%22Sun+stone%22&pg=PA173 |url-status=live }}</ref> At the [[Summer solstice]] an observer standing within the stone circle, looking northeast through the entrance, would see the Sun rise in the approximate direction of the Heel Stone, and the Sun has often been photographed over it.

A folk tale relates the origin of the Friar's Heel reference.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Andrew Oliver |title=The Journal of Samuel Curwen, loyalist |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3QY4EDSaA0EC |access-date=6 March 2015 |volume=1 |year=1972 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-48380-4 |page=190 |chapter=July 1776 |archive-date=26 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426223642/https://books.google.com/books?id=3QY4EDSaA0EC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A Description of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NytRAAAAcAAJ |access-date=6 March 2015 |year=1809 |publisher=J Easton |location=Salisbury |page=5 |chapter=Jeffery of Monmouth's Account of Stonehenge |archive-date=27 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427075153/https://books.google.com/books?id=NytRAAAAcAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|The [[Devil]] bought the stones from a woman in Ireland, wrapped them up, and brought them to Salisbury plain. One of the stones fell into the [[River Avon, Hampshire|Avon]], the rest were carried to the plain. The Devil then cried out, "No-one will ever find out how these stones came here!" A friar replied, "That's what you think!", whereupon the Devil threw one of the stones at him and struck him on the heel. The stone stuck in the ground and is still there.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brewer |first=Ebenezer Cobham|author-link=E. Cobham Brewer |title=Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable |url=https://archive.org/details/brewersdictionar000544mbp |access-date=5 March 2015 |publisher=Harper and Brothers |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/brewersdictionar000544mbp/page/n387 380] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408132005/https://archive.org/details/brewersdictionar000544mbp |archive-date=8 April 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

''[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]]'' attributes this tale to [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]. Though book eight of Geoffrey's ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' describes how Stonehenge was built, the two stories are entirely different.

The name is not unique; there was a monolith with the same name recorded in the nineteenth century by antiquarian [[Charles Warne]] at [[Long Bredy]] in Dorset.<ref>[[Warne, Charles]], 1872, ''Ancient Dorset''. Bournemouth.</ref>

====Arthurian legend====
[[File:BLEgerton3028Fol30rStonehengeCropped.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|The oldest known depiction of Stonehenge, from the second quarter of the 14th century. A giant helps [[Merlin]] build Stonehenge. From a manuscript of the ''[[Roman de Brut]]'' by [[Wace]] in the [[British Library]] (Egerton 3028).]]

The twelfth-century ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' ("History of the Kings of Britain"), by [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]], includes a legend of Stonehenge's origin, describing how Stonehenge was brought from Ireland with the help of the wizard [[Merlin]].<ref>[[s:History of the Kings of Britain/Book 8|''Historia Regum Britanniae'', Book 8, ch. 10.]]</ref> Geoffrey's story spread widely, with variations of it appearing in adaptations of his work, such as [[Wace]]'s Norman French ''[[Roman de Brut]]'', [[Layamon]]'s Middle English ''[[Brut (Layamon)|Brut]]'', and the Welsh ''[[Brut y Brenhinedd]]''.

According to the tale, the stones of Stonehenge were healing stones, which [[giant]]s had brought from Africa to Ireland. They had been raised on [[Mount Killaraus]] to form a stone circle, known as the Giant's Ring or Giant's Round. The fifth-century king [[Aurelius Ambrosius]] wished to build a great memorial to the British Celtic nobles slain by the Saxons at Salisbury. Merlin advised him to use the Giant's Ring. The king sent Merlin and [[Uther Pendragon]] ([[King Arthur]]'s father) with 15,000 men to bring it from Ireland. They defeated an Irish army led by Gillomanius, but were unable to move the huge stones. With Merlin's help, they transported the stones to Britain and re-erected them as they had stood.<ref>Ring, Trudy (editor). ''International Dictionary of Historic Places, Volume 2: Northern Europe''. Routledge, 1995. pp.34–35</ref> Mount Killaraus may refer to the [[Hill of Uisneach]].<ref>Dames, Michael. ''Ireland: A Sacred Journey''. Element Books, 2000. p.190</ref> Although the tale is fiction, archaeologist [[Mike Parker Pearson]] suggests it may hold a "grain of truth" as the Stonehenge bluestones were likely brought from the [[Waun Mawn]] stone circle on the Irish Sea coast of Wales.<ref>[https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/dramatic-stonehenge-discovery-boosts-irish-account-of-its-origins-1.4483067 "Dramatic Stonehenge discovery boosts 'Irish' account of its origins"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216033057/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/dramatic-stonehenge-discovery-boosts-irish-account-of-its-origins-1.4483067 |date=16 February 2021 }}. ''[[The Irish Times]]'', 12 February 2021.</ref>

Another legend tells how the invading Saxon king [[Hengist]] invited British Celtic warriors to a feast but treacherously ordered his men to massacre the guests, killing 420 of them. Hengist erected Stonehenge on the site to show his remorse.<ref>Drawing on the writings of [[Nennius]], the tale is noted in [[Edmund Spenser|Spenser]]'s ''Faerie Queene'', and given further circulation in [[William Dugdale]]'s ''Monasticon Anglicanum'' of 1655. Source: {{cite book |title=The illustrated guide to Old Sarum and Stonehenge |publisher=Brown and Company |location=Salisbury, England |year=1868 |pages=35–39 |oclc=181860648}}</ref>