Editing Carlisle (section)

==Legend and folklore==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200" caption="Legend and Folklore"> 
Carlisle Cursing Stone 2016-05-30.jpg|''The Cursing Stone''
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=== Arthurian legend ===
{{Main|Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle|Sir Gawain and the Green Knight}}
There are many legends and folkloric stories about the city during the [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]], such as the ''[[Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle]]'', about the nephew of [[King Arthur]] and the "free man" of the city.

In a 14th-century poem, legend has it that Sir Gawain, one of the Knights of the Round Table, stayed at the [[Carlisle Castle|Castle of Carlisle]] while on a hunting expedition in the haunted [[Inglewood Forest]]. He then slept with the Carle's wife and killed him. This poem has strong parallels with another 14th century poem about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The story has since been re-adapted many times, most recently in films from [[Gawain and the Green Knight (film)|1973]], [[Sword of the Valiant|1984]] and [[The Green Knight (film)|2021]].

By some accounts, Carlisle is also none other than [[Camelot]], the mythical seat of King Arthur's court.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.toeuropeandbeyond.com/king-arthur-locations/#carlisle-castle |title=The legend of King Arthur: the most significant locations in Wales and England |date=3 May 2017 |language=en |access-date=3 August 2022 |archive-date=3 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220803103936/https://www.toeuropeandbeyond.com/king-arthur-locations/#carlisle-castle |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Curse of Carlisle ===
In local folklore, the ''Curse of Carlisle'' is a 16th-century [[curse]] that is said to have been invoked by Archbishop Dunbar of [[Glasgow]] in 1525 upon cross-border families, known as the [[Border Reivers]], who lived by stealing cattle and pillaging. For the millennium celebrations, the local council commissioned a 14-tonne granite artwork inscribed with all 1,069 words of the curse. Following the installation of the stone, Carlisle suffered floods, foot-and-mouth disease, job losses and a "goal famine" for the football team.<ref name="witch" /> In response to this, the city council considered removing the stone; however, Kevin Carlyon, the self-titled "high priest of the British [[white witch]]es", proclaimed that such actions would give the curse more power. He commented that: "A curse can only work if people believe in it. I think at the moment the sculpture is a nice piece of history, but if the council destroys it, they would be showing their belief in the curse."<ref name="witch">{{Cite news |date=8 March 2005 |title=Witch warns of Curse Stone power |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/4328259.stm |access-date=31 December 2009 |archive-date=11 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011210433/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/4328259.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>