History Main / CircleOfStandingStones

* In ''VideoGame/{{Guenevere}}'', the title character marries KingArthur in the center of one of these. Even within the setting of the game, the origin of it is shrouded in mystery and mysticism - Guen speculates it was made by a wizard or perhaps some artistic giants.

** In the ''AD&D 2[[superscript:e]]'' module "Die Vecna Die!", Tovag Baragu is a gigantic site with five concentric rings of stone obelisks and archways, the latter of which hold {{Portal Door}}s to a huge variety of AlternateUniverse versions of itself. These range from somewhat normal, to inhospitable, to RealityIsOutToLunch, to immediately lethal.

* The magical trolls of ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' live in such an area. In a twist, they actually ''are'' stones themselves.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' has one of these at Geosenge town. They turn out to be standing on top of [[DoomsdayDevice The Ultimate Weapon]].
** As Kalos is based on France, these correspond to the real-life site of Carnac.

** In ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies'', the Dancers are a circle of stones around a point with a ThinDimensionalBarrier, protecting Lancre from a PocketDimension full of [[TheFairFolk elves]]. They're made of magnetic ThunderboltIron, which messes with the elves' BizarreAlienSenses and keeps them from crossing over.

* Seen in ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' as a place where Merida keeps being drawn to, [[spoiler:and where the curse on Elinor and Mor'du is broken]].

* In ''VideoGame/Everquest'', stone rings are teleportation locations for Druids. Wizards use [[PyramidPower other iconic structures]].

* In the final episode of '' Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue'' the demon queen, Bansheera, attempts to complete a ritual that will bring a horde of demons and a literal hell to earth, but the ritual requires a solar eclipse, and you guessed it,circles of standing stones, to surround her palace, which is in the center of the city. out of monsters at this point, her second in command steals one of the power rangers megazords to put the large stones in place. Despite the power rangers succeeding in destroying the renegade megazord, the last stone that it was holding is dropped, and the circle is completed.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''. [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-526 SCP-526]] "Valhalla Gate" is a ring of nine rune-covered standing stones on a hill in Norway. Each morning at sunrise a group of what appear to be Einherjar (spirits of fallen warriors, from Myth/NorseMythology) appear on the hill and either dig in or move off the hill and attack anyone they find.

** In ''Literature/TheLongEarth'' standing stones were (and may still be) used to repel species from parallel earths described as "elves" and "trolls".

** In ''Literature/TheLongEarth'' standing stones were (and may still be) used to repel species from parallel earths described as "elves" and "trolls".

Perhaps this is why whenever a circle of standing stones, stones that tower over the area, appear in fiction they wind up being significant somehow. The mysterious nature of these places causes writers to associate them with magic, and have them be a PlaceOfPower. Or it might be left ambiguous whether the stones are magical or just stones. Others will portray them as a [[HolyGround sacred place]] for whatever culture built them, and may beg the question, [[{{Foreshadowing}} are they still around]]? At times they are simply used as a dramatic backdrop, their imposing presence lending weight, literally at times, to the events that are taking place.

-->-- '''Jeremy''' from ''WebVideo/CinemaSins'' sinning this trope in ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}''

!!Examples

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* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' has these set up as part of a ward that protects the Valley of the Mystics.

* In ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'', the meeting with "God" takes place in a circle of stones that rise up out of the ground as Kirk and company approach.
* At the beginning of ''Film/TheScorpionKing'', the leaders of the free nations gather at a ring of inscribed standing stones.

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* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''. [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-526 SCP-526]] "Valhalla Gate" is a ring of nine rune-covered standing stones on a hill in Norway. Each morning at sunrise a group of what appear to be Einherjar (spirits of fallen warriors, from Myth/NorseMythology) appear on the hill and either dig in or move off the hill and attack anyone they find.
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* In one ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode, Spongebob creates a stone statue of himself, complete with holes, to distract the jellyfishes who are attracted to the sound coming from SB's holes when the wind blows through them (it's a very windy day). Turns out that one small statue doesn't work, and then SB creates more, bigger ones and arranges them in a circle. It works very well, with the stones even creating music.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfKells'', the first meeting of Brendan and the fairy Aisling takes place inside a stone circle.
* Lothal, Ezra's homeworld from ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', has a few of these along with other stone formations. Supplementary material reveals that no one knows where they came from, and the Empire has shut down all study of them. [[spoiler: At least one conceals a long-forgotten Jedi temple, and underneath that is an even older temple with petroglyphs depicting ancient Lothal.]]

[[folder:RealLife]]
* The TropeCodifier is, of course, Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. Not only is the true purpose of the structure a complete mystery, but also the construction techniques used to transport the huge stones in their location (some of them were brought all the way from Wales) are shrouded in myth. And when it comes to the purpose of Stonehenge, Wiki/TheOtherWiki has a whole article on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theories_about_Stonehenge theories about Stonehenge.]]
** Oddly enough, fictional versions of Stonehenge only use the visible stone rings (and usually in their modern restored state). Archeology has found that it's only the centerpiece of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge#/media/File:Stonehenge_render.jpg much larger complex]].

* In the ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Basic Dungeons & Dragons]]'' module "B4: The Lost City", the island at the center of the underground lake has a ring of standing stones on it.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'', some druids were found to have a bone to pick with the [=McDuck=] clan, since one of Scrooge's ancestors had built his castle on their land. Why? Because there was a ring of large stone pillars already there, which made building it faster...and cheaper. It runs in the family.

* The ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' version of the United Kingdom has [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20181203#.XAgpPuKYSUk Queen's Henge]], a glowing pretzel of standing stones, that can't be seen unless you approach it from exactly the right angle. It is almost as ancient as the immortal Queen Albia, being her first great work after she "[[TheSparkOfGenius broke through" the ''second'' time.