People have been writing about Stonehenge for nearly 900 years. Henry of Huntingdon ranked it second among England's four wonders. Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 text coined the name "Giants Dance" and spun the famous legend of Merlin magically teleporting the stones from Ireland to Salisbury Plain. The 14th-century Brute Chronicle gave us the first known illustration, while a 1440s Scala Mundi manuscript showed Merlin at work too. Art + mythology = history's most enduring stone circle!
Earliest written and illustrated references to Stonehenge (1130s-1440s)
EnglandArt
Key facts
- Henry of Huntingdon listed Stonehenge as the second of four wonders of England, alongside Peak Cavern, Cheddar Gorge, and rain on hilltops
- Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (1136-1138) contains the earliest known reference to Stonehenge being called the Giants Dance (Chorus Gigantum)
- Geoffrey of Monmouth introduced the legend that Merlin magically transported the stones from Mount Kildare in Ireland to the Salisbury Plain
- The 14th-century Brute Chronicle manuscript contains the first known illustration of Stonehenge, depicting a giant helping Merlin erect the stones
- A 1440s version of the Scala Mundi (Ladder of the World) illustrates the stones with the Latin text referencing the Giants Dance of Ireland conveyed to Stonehenge by Merlin's art
Site mentioned
Sources
Historia Anglorum by Henry of Huntingdon (1154) | Books & Bootsastrofella.wordpress.com
Henry was born around 1088 to a Saxon mother and a Norman father, who was archdeacon of Huntingdon. Aged 12 he was sent to the school at Lincoln ...
The Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon/History of the English/Book 1en.wikisource.org
The fourth wonder is this, constructed four said to have reduced to ashes London, Colchester, and Verulam, and to have massacred 70,000 of the ...
Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdonmelocki.org.uk
There are four things in England which are very remarkable. The fourth wonder is this, that in some parts of the country the rain is seen to gather about the ...
The chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon. Comprising the history of England, ...archive.org
The chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon. Comprising the history of England, from the invasion of Julius Cæsar to the accession of Henry II.
The History of the English People 1000-1154 by Henry of Huntingdongoodreads.com
Henry of Huntingdon's narrative covers one of the most exciting and bloody periods in English the Norman Conquest and its aftermath.
Was this story useful?
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.