a b Assayed, Layān (2015). The Medieval Rhymes of Robin Hood: An Inquiry into Outlaw Territory (Thesis). University of Haifa. If this introductory look at Britain’s wealth of fascinating legends has inspired you, you can learn more about British folklore over at Mysterious Britain. If you come on an Oxford Royale Summer Schools course, you can also look forward to visiting some of Britain’s famous landmarks, such as mysterious Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain – said, in one tale, to have been constructed by none other than the magician Merlin of Arthurian legend…

Standing stones are man-made stone structures made to stand up. Some small standing stones can also be arranged in groups to form miniliths. [42] Similar to these geological artefacts are hill figures. These are figures drawn into the countryside by digging into the ground and sometimes filling it in with a mineral of a contrasting colour. Examples are the Cerne Abbas Giant, the Uffington White Horse, and the Long Man of Wilmington and are the focus for folktales and beliefs. [43] These combine to form a folklore which teaches that, through an upright and virtuous character, a person can achieve a successful life. Lullabies, songs, dances, games, folktales, and superstitions all imparted a religious and moral education, and form a person's sense of justice and Christianity. Children's games would often contain counting songs or gamifications of manners to ensure that a child was happy, healthy, and good. [3] Victorian folklorists set out to rediscover the pre-industrial traditions of Britain and ended up reinventing a lot of them. The flower children reinvented a bit more. Historians, occultists, anthropologists and drop-outs all weaved a vision of a country that was weirder and more entertaining than the motorways and service stations that strung it together. Forbes, Bruce David (2007). "First There Was Winter". Christmas: A Candid History. University of California Press. pp.1–14. ISBN 978-0-520-93372-9.Monroe, Alexei (15 January 2019). "The Wild Hunt: Nationalistic Anarchism and Neofeudalism Unleashed". Third Text. 32: 620–628. doi: 10.1080/09528822.2018.1555302. S2CID 150174959– via Taylor & Francis Online.

days leave, soldier Alexander Tewnion reached the summit of the mountain and immediately noticed, in the swirling mist, that “the atmosphere became dark and oppressive, a fierce, bitter wind whisked among the boulders, and an odd sound echoed through the mist – a loud footstep, it seemed. Then another, and another. A strange shape loomed up, receded, came charging at me! Without hesitation I whipped out the revolver and fired three times at the figure. When it still came on I turned and hared down the path…”Ditmas, E. M. R. (1974). "The Way Legends Grow". Folklore. 85 (4): 244–253. doi: 10.1080/0015587X.1974.9716563. JSTOR 1259622– via JSTOR. Sax, Boria (2015). "The Magic of Animals: English Witch Trials in the Perspective of Folklore". Anthrozoös. 22: 317–332 – via Taylor & Francis Online. Cunning folk was a term used to refer to male and female healers, magicians, conjurers, fortune-tellers, potion-makers, exorcists, or thieves. Such people were respected, feared and sometimes hunted for their breadth of knowledge which was suspected as supernatural. [46] Petrie, Flinders (1926). "The Hill Figures of England". The Antiquaries Journal. 7: 540–541. doi: 10.1017/S0003581500057486– via Cambridge University Press.