England Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Folklore=== {{Main|English folklore}} [[File:The_King_joins_the_hands_of_Robin_Hood_and_Maid_Marian.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Robin Hood]] and [[Maid Marian]] with [[Richard I of England]]]] English folklore developed over many centuries. Some of the characters and stories are present across England, but most belong to specific regions. Common folkloric beings include [[pixie]]s, [[giant (mythology)|giants]], [[elf|elves]], [[bogeymen]], [[troll]]s, [[goblin]]s and [[dwarf (mythology)|dwarves]]. While many legends and folk-customs are thought to be ancient, such as the tales featuring [[Offa of Angel]] and [[Wayland the Smith]],<ref name="keary">{{harvnb|Keary|1882|p=50}}.</ref> others date from after the Norman invasion. The legends featuring [[Robin Hood]] and his [[Merry Men]] of [[Sherwood Forest|Sherwood]], and their battles with the [[Sheriff of Nottingham]], are among the best-known of these.<ref>{{harvnb|Pollard|2004|p=272}}.</ref> During the [[High Middle Ages]] tales originating from Brythonic traditions entered English folklore and developed into the [[Arthurian myth]].<ref name="woodbbc">{{cite news |last=Wood |first=Michael |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/anglo_saxons/arthur_03.shtml |title=King Arthur, "Once and Future King" |work=BBC News |access-date=16 September 2009}}</ref><ref name="higham1">{{harvnb|Higham|2002|p=25}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Koch|2006|p=732}}.</ref> These were derived from [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]], Welsh and French sources,<ref name="higham1" /> featuring [[King Arthur]], [[Camelot]], [[Excalibur]], [[Merlin]] and the [[Knights of the Round Table]] such as [[Lancelot]]. These stories are most centrally brought together within [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s {{Lang|la|[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]}} (''History of the Kings of Britain'').{{Efn|These tales may have come to prominence, at least in part, as an attempt by the Norman ruling elite to legitimise their rule of the British Isles, finding [[Anglo-Saxon]] history ill-suited to the task during an era when members of the deposed [[House of Wessex]], especially [[Edgar the Ætheling]] and his nephews of the Scottish [[House of Dunkeld]], were still active in the isles.<ref name=higham1 /><ref>{{harvnb|Lacy|1986|p=649}}.</ref> Also [[Michael Wood (historian)|Michael Wood]] explains; "Over the centuries the figure of Arthur became a symbol of British history – a way of explaining the matter of Britain, the relationship between the Saxons and the Celts, and a way of exorcising ghosts and healing the wounds of the past."<ref name=woodbbc />}} Some folk figures are based on semi or actual historical people whose story has been passed down centuries.<ref>{{harvnb|Briggs|2004|p=26}}.</ref> On 5 November people celebrate [[Bonfire Night]] to commemorate the foiling of the [[Gunpowder Plot]] centred on [[Guy Fawkes]]. There are various national and regional folk activities, participated in to this day, such as [[Morris dancing]], [[Maypole dance|Maypole dancing]], [[Rapper sword]] in the North East, [[Long Sword dance]] in Yorkshire, [[Mummers Play]]s, [[bottle-kicking]] in Leicestershire, and [[Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake|cheese-rolling]] at [[Brockworth, Gloucestershire|Cooper's Hill]].<ref>{{harvnb|Withington|2008|p=224}}.</ref> There is no official national costume, but a few are well established such as the [[Pearly Kings and Queens]] associated with cockneys, the [[Queen's Guard|Royal Guard]], the [[Morris dance|Morris costume]] and [[Beefeater]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/costume.html |publisher=Woodlands-Junior.kent.sch.uk |title=What is England's national costume? |access-date=24 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505015321/http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/CUSTOMS/questions/costume.html |archive-date=5 May 2009 }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page