Robin Hood was a
heroicA hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
outlawIn historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
in
English folkloreEnglish folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed...
. A highly skilled
archerAn archer is a person who uses a bow and arrow; a practitioner of archery.- People with the surname Archer :* Jeffrey Archer, an English author and former politician.* Archer , the surname...
and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "
Merry MenThe Merry Men are the group of outlaws who followed Robin Hood, according to English folklore. An early use of the phrase "merry men" occurs in the oldest known Robin Hood ballad, "Robin Hood and the Monk", which survives in a manuscript completed around 1450. The word "merry" in this and other...
". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing
Lincoln greenLincoln green is the color of dyed woollen cloth associated with Robin Hood and his merry men in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. The dyers of Lincoln, a cloth town in the high Middle Ages, produced the cloth by dyeing it with woad to give it a strong blue, then overdyeing it yellow with weld or...
clothes.. The origin of the legend is claimed by some to have stemmed from actual outlaws, or from ballads or tales of outlaws.
Robin Hood became a popular folk figure in the
medievalThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
period continuing through to modern literature, films and television. In the earliest sources, Robin Hood is a
yeomanYeoman refers chiefly to a free man owning his own farm, especially from the Elizabethan era to the 17th century. Work requiring a great deal of effort or labor, such as would be done by a yeoman farmer, came to be described as "yeoman's work"...
, but he was often later portrayed as an
aristocratThe aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
wrongfully dispossessed of his lands and made into an outlaw by an unscrupulous sheriff.
History
In popular culture, Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men are usually portrayed as living in
Sherwood ForestSherwood Forest is a Royal Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, that is famous through its historical association with the legend of Robin Hood. Continuously forested since the end of the Ice Age, Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve today encompasses 423 hectares surrounding the village of...
, in
NottinghamshireNottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, where much of the action in the early
balladA ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s takes place. So does the very first recorded Robin Hood rhyme, four lines from the early 15th century, beginning: "Robyn hode in scherewode stod." However, the overall picture from the surviving early ballads and other early references suggest that Robin Hood may have been based in the
BarnsdaleBarnsdale, or Barnsdale Forest, is a relatively small area of South Yorkshire, England which has a rich history and the region is steeped in folklore. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire...
area of what is now
South YorkshireSouth Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
(which borders Nottinghamshire).
Other traditions point to a variety of locations as Robin's "true" home both inside
YorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
and elsewhere, with the abundance of places named for Robin causing further confusion. A tradition dating back at least to the end of the 16th century gives his birthplace as
LoxleyLoxley is a village and a suburb of the city of Sheffield. It is a long linear community which stretches by the side of the River Loxley and along the B6077 for almost four kilometres. Loxley extends from its borders with the suburbs of Malin Bridge and Wisewood westward to the hamlet of Stacey...
,
SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
in South Yorkshire, while the site of
Robin Hood's WellRobin Hood's Well is at Skellow, South Yorkshire, England by the old Great North Road, in what was known as Barnsdale or Barnsdale Forest.The well was moved from its original location when the dual carriageway alongside it was built. Hence it is no longer a real well, and has a solid concrete...
in Skellow, South Yorkshire, has been associated with Robin Hood since at least 1422. Records show a man named Robin Hood lived in Wakefield, Yorkshire, in the 13th and 14th centuries. His grave has been claimed to be at
Kirklees PrioryKirklees Priory was a Cistercian nunnery whose site is in the present-day Kirklees Park, Clifton near Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England. It was originally in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Dewsbury...
near
MirfieldMirfield is a small town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury...
in
West YorkshireWest Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, as implied by the 18th-century version of
Robin Hood's DeathRobin Hood's Death is the 120th ballad of the Child ballads collection published by Houghton Mifflin. The fragmentary Percy Folio version of it appears to be one of the oldest existing tales of Robin Hood; there is a synopsis of the story in the fifteenth century A Gest of Robyn Hode...
, and there is a headstone there of dubious authenticity.
The first clear reference to "rhymes of Robin Hood" is from the late 14th-century poem
Piers PlowmanPiers Plowman or Visio Willelmi de Petro Plowman is the title of a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called "passus"...
, but the earliest surviving copies of the narrative ballads which tell his story have been dated to the 15th century or the first decade of the 16th century. In these early accounts, Robin Hood's partisanship of the lower classes, his
MarianismRoman Catholic Mariology is theology concerned with the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ as developed by the Catholic Church. Roman Catholic teachings on the subject have been based on the belief that "The Blessed Virgin, because she is the Mother of God, is believed to hold a certain...
and associated special regard for women, his outstanding skill as an
archerArchery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
, his anti-clericalism, and his particular animosity towards the
Sheriff of NottinghamThe Sheriff of Nottingham was historically the office responsible for enforcing law and order in Nottingham and bringing criminals to justice. For years the post has been directly appointed by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham and in modern times, with the existence of the police force, the position is...
are already clear.
Little JohnLittle John was a legendary fellow outlaw of Robin Hood, and was said to be Robin's chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men.-Folklore:He appears in the earliest recorded Robin Hood ballads and stories...
,
Much the Miller's SonMuch the Miller's Son was, in the tales of Robin Hood, one of his Merry Men. He appears in some of the oldest ballads, A Gest of Robyn Hode and Robin Hood and the Monk, as one of the company.Generally he becomes an outlaw when he is caught poaching...
and
Will ScarletWill Scarlet was a prominent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men. He was present in the earliest ballads along with Little John and Much the Miller's Son....
(as Will "Scarlok" or "Scathelocke") all appear, although not yet
Maid MarianMaid Marian is the wife of the legendary English outlaw Robin Hood. Stemming from another, older tradition, she became associated with Robin Hood only in the 16th century.-History:The earliest medieval Robin Hood stories gave him no female companion...
or
Friar TuckFriar Tuck is a companion to Robin Hood in the legends about that character. He is a common character in modern Robin Hood stories, which depict him as a jovial friar and one of Robin's Merry Men. The figure of Tuck was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th...
. It is not certain what should be made of these latter two absences as it is known that Friar Tuck, for one, has been part of the legend since at least the later 15th century.
In popular culture, Robin Hood is typically seen as a contemporary and supporter of the late 12th-century king
Richard the LionheartRichard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
, Robin being driven to outlawry during the misrule of Richard's brother
JohnJohn , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
while Richard was away at the
Third CrusadeThe Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...
. This view first gained currency in the 16th century. It is not supported by the earliest ballads. The early compilation,
A Gest of Robyn Hode"A Gest of Robyn Hode" is Child Ballad 117; it is also called A Lyttell Geste of Robyn Hode in one of the two oldest books that contain it....
, names the king as "Edward", and while it does show Robin Hood as accepting the King's pardon he later repudiates it and returns to the greenwood.
The oldest surviving ballad,
Robin Hood and the MonkRobin Hood and the Monk is Child ballad 119, and among the oldest existing ballads of Robin Hood, existing in manuscript from about 1450 AD.It may have been originally recited rather than sung; it refers to itself as a "talking" in its last verse:...
, gives even less support to the picture of Robin Hood as a partisan of the true king. The setting of the early ballads is usually attributed by scholars to either the 13th century or the 14th, although it is recognised they are not necessarily historically consistent.
The early ballads are also quite clear on Robin Hood's social status: he is a
yeomanYeoman refers chiefly to a free man owning his own farm, especially from the Elizabethan era to the 17th century. Work requiring a great deal of effort or labor, such as would be done by a yeoman farmer, came to be described as "yeoman's work"...
. While the precise meaning of this term changed over time, including free retainers of an aristocrat and small landholders, it always referred to commoners. The essence of it in the present context was "neither a knight nor a peasant or 'husbonde' but something in between". We know that artisans (such as millers) were among those regarded as "yeomen" in the 14th century. From the 16th century on, there were attempts to elevate Robin Hood to the nobility and in two extremely influential plays
Anthony MundayAnthony Munday was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. The chief interest in Munday for the modern reader lies in his collaboration with Shakespeare and others on the play Sir Thomas More and his writings on Robin Hood.-Biography:He was once thought to have been born in 1553, because...
presented him at the very end of the 16th century as the
Earl of HuntingdonEarl of Huntingdon is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The title is associated with the ruling house of Scotland, and latterly with the Hastings family.-Early history:...
, as he is still commonly presented in modern times.
As well as ballads, the legend was also transmitted by "Robin Hood games" or plays that were an important part of the late medieval and early modern
May DayMay Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
festivities. The first record of a Robin Hood game was in 1426 in
ExeterExeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, but the reference does not indicate how old or widespread this custom was at the time. The Robin Hood games are known to have flourished in the later 15th and 16th centuries. It is commonly stated as fact that Maid Marian and a jolly friar (at least partly identifiable with Friar Tuck) entered the legend through the May Games.
The early ballads link Robin Hood to identifiable real places and many are convinced that he was a real person, more or less accurately portrayed. A number of theories as to the identity of "the real Robin Hood" have their supporters. Some of these theories posit that "Robin Hood" or "Robert Hood" or the like was his actual name; others suggest that this may have been merely a nickname disguising a medieval bandit perhaps known to history under another name. One historian has claimed Robin Hood was a pseudonym by which the ancient
LordsThe Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of
Wellow, NottinghamshireWellow is a village in Nottinghamshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 444It has a village green and a maypole, which is still in use. The parish church of St Swithin is 12th century, which was restored, with a new chancel, in 1878-9. On the east and south sides of...
, were once known. It is interesting that the village has such a strong connection with
maypoleA maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer...
celebrations, considering Robin Hood's links with the same thing.
At the same time it is possible that Robin Hood has always been a
fictional characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
; the
folkloristFolkloristics is the formal academic study of folklore. The term derives from a nineteenth century German designation of folkloristik to distinguish between folklore as the content and folkloristics as its study, much as language is distinguished from linguistics...
Francis James ChildFrancis James Child was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of folk songs known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where he produced influential editions of English poetry...
declared "Robin Hood is absolutely a creation of the ballad-muse" and this view has been neither proven or disproven. Another view is that Robin Hood's origins must be sought in
folkloreFolklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
or
mythologyThe term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
; Despite the frequent
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
references in the early ballads, Robin Hood has been claimed for the
paganPaganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
witch-cultThe Witch-cult is the term for a hypothetical pre-Christian, pagan religion of Europe that survived into at least the early modern period. As late as the 19th and early 20th centuries, some scholars had postulated that European witchcraft was part of a Satanic plot to overthrow Christianity; most...
supposed by
Margaret MurrayMargaret Alice Murray was a prominent British Egyptologist and anthropologist. Primarily known for her work in Egyptology, which was "the core of her academic career," she is also known for her propagation of the Witch-cult hypothesis, the theory that the witch trials in the Early Modern period of...
to have existed in medieval Europe.
Early references
The oldest references to Robin Hood are not historical records, or even ballads recounting his exploits, but hints and allusions found in various works. From 1228 onwards, the names 'Robinhood', 'Robehod' or 'Robbehod' occur in the rolls of several English Justices. The majority of these references date from the late 13th century. Between 1261 and 1300, there are at least eight references to 'Rabunhod' in various regions across England, from
BerkshireBerkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
in the south to
YorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
in the north.
In a petition presented to
ParliamentThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
in 1439, the name is used to describe an
itinerantAn itinerant is a person who travels from place to place with no fixed home. The term comes from the late 16th century: from late Latin itinerant , from the verb itinerari, from Latin iter, itiner ....
felonA felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
. The petition cites one Piers Venables of
Aston, DerbyshireAston is a village and civil parish in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England, located in the Peak District near Hope. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 100....
, "who having no liflode, ne sufficeante of goodes, gadered and assembled unto him many misdoers, beynge of his clothynge, and, in manere of insurrection, wente into the wodes in that countrie, like as it hadde be Robyn Hude and his meyne." The name was still used to describe sedition and treachery in 1605, when
Guy FawkesGuy Fawkes , also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries, belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.Fawkes was born and educated in York...
and his associates were branded "Robin Hoods" by
Robert CecilRobert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke...
.
The first allusion to a literary tradition of Robin Hood tales occurs in
William LanglandWilliam Langland is the conjectured author of the 14th-century English dream-vision Piers Plowman.- Life :The attribution of Piers to Langland rests principally on the evidence of a manuscript held at Trinity College, Dublin...
's
Piers PlowmanPiers Plowman or Visio Willelmi de Petro Plowman is the title of a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called "passus"...
(c. 1362–c. 1386) in which Sloth, the lazy priest, confesses: "I kan
[know] not parfitly
[perfectly] my Paternoster as the preest it singeth,/ But I kan rymes of Robyn Hood and Randolf Erl of Chestre."
The first mention of a quasi-historical Robin Hood is given in
Andrew of WyntounAndrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun was a Scottish poet, a canon and prior of Loch Leven on St Serf's Inch and later, a canon of St...
's
Orygynale Chronicle, written in about 1420. The following lines occur with little contextualisation under the year 1283:
- Lytil Jhon and Robyne Hude
- Wayth-men ware commendyd gude
- In Yngil-wode
Inglewood Forest is the name now given on maps to a large tract of mainly arable and dairy farm land with a few small woodland areas between Carlisle and Penrith in the English non-metropolitan county of Cumbria or ancient county of Cumberland....
and Barnysdale
- Thai oysyd all this tyme thare trawale.
The next notice is a statement in the
ScotichroniconThe Scotichronicon is a 15th-century chronicle or legendary account, by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of historian-priest John of Fordun's earlier work Chronica Gentis Scotorum beginning with the founding of Scotland of mediaeval legend, by Scota with Goídel...
, composed by
John of FordunJohn of Fordun was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th century; and it is probable that he was a chaplain in the St Machar's Cathedral of...
between 1377 and 1384, and revised by
Walter BowerWalter Bower , Scottish chronicler, was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian.He was abbot of Inchcolm Abbey from 1418, was one of the commissioners for the collection of the ransom of James I, King of Scots, in 1423 and 1424, and in 1433 one of the embassy to Paris on the business of the...
in about 1440. Among Bower's many interpolations is a passage which directly refers to Robin. It is inserted after Fordun's account of the defeat of
Simon de MontfortSimon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester , sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from other Simon de Montforts, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He led the barons' rebellion against King Henry III of England during the Second Barons' War of 1263-4, and...
and the punishment of his adherents. Robin is represented as a fighter for de Montfort's cause. This was in fact true of the historical outlaw of Sherwood Forest
Roger GodberdRoger Godberd was a medieval outlaw who has been suggested as a possible historical basis for the legend of Robin Hood.Godberd served under Simon de Montfort, the 6th Earl of Leicester, as well as two other barons....
, whose points of similarity to the Robin Hood of the ballads have often been noted.
Bower writes:
- Then [c. 1266] arose the famous murderer, Robert Hood, as well as Little John, together with their accomplices from among the disinherited, whom the foolish populace are so inordinately fond of celebrating both in tragedies and comedies, and about whom they are delighted to hear the jesters and minstrels sing above all other ballads.
The word translated here as "murderer" is the Latin
siccarius, from the Latin for "knife". Bower goes on to tell a story about Robin Hood in which he refuses to flee from his enemies while hearing
Mass"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
in the greenwood, and then gains a surprise victory over them, apparently as a reward for his piety.
Another reference, discovered by Julian Luxford in 2009, appears in the margin of the "
PolychroniconRanulf Higden was an English chronicler and a Benedictine monk of the monastery of St. Werburgh in Chester....
" in the
Eton CollegeEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
library. Written around the year 1460 by a monk in Latin, it says:
- Around this time, according to popular opinion, a certain outlaw named Robin Hood, with his accomplices, infested Sherwood and other law-abiding areas of England with continuous robberies.
William Shakespeare makes reference to Robin Hood in his late 16th-century play
The Two Gentlemen of VeronaThe Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1590 or 1591. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and tropes with which he would later deal in more...
, one of his earliest. In it, the character Valentine is banished from
MilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and driven out through the forest where he is approached by outlaws who, upon meeting him, desire him as their leader. They comment, "By the bare scalp of Robin Hood's fat friar, This fellow were a king for our wild faction!"
Sources
There is at present little scholarly support for the view that tales of Robin Hood have stemmed from mythology or folklore, from
fairiesA fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
or other mythological origins, any such associations being regarded as later development. The mythological theory does go back to at least to 1584, when
Reginald ScotReginald Scot was an English country gentleman and Member of Parliament, now remembered as the author of The Discoverie of Witchcraft, which was published in 1584. It was written against the belief in witches, to show that witchcraft did not exist...
identified Robin Hood with the Germanic goblin "Hudgin" or
HodekinHödekin is a kobold of German folklore. According to the legend recorded by folklorist Thomas Keightley in 1850, Hödekin always wore a felt hat down over his face; his name means "Little Hat". Hödekin lived with the bishop of Hildesheim and was a helpful sprite...
and associated him with Robin Goodfellow.
Maurice KeenMaurice Hugh Keen is a British historian specialising in the Middle Ages. He is an Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, where he lectured in Medieval history from 1961-2000.In 1984 he won the Wolfson History Prize for his book Chivalry....
provides a brief summary and useful critique of the once-popular view that Robin Hood had mythological origins, while (unlike some) refraining from utterly and finally dismissing it. While Robin Hood and his men often show super skill in archery, swordplay and disguise, they are no more exaggerated than those characters in other ballads, such as
Kinmont WillieWilliam Armstrong of Kinmont or Kinmont Willie was a border reiver and outlaw active in the Anglo-Scottish Border country in the last decades of the 16th century....
, which were based on historical events.
Robin Hood's role in the traditional
May DayMay Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
games could suggest pagan connections, but that role has not been traced earlier than the early 15th century. However, it is uncontroversial that a Robin and Marion figured in 13th-century French "
pastourelleThe pastourelle is a typically Old French lyric form concerning the romance of a shepherdess. In most of the early pastourelles, the poet knight meets a shepherdess who bests him in a wit battle and who displays general coyness. The narrator usually has sexual relations, either consensual or...
s" (of which
Jeu de Robin et MarionThe Jeu de Robin et Marion is reputedly the earliest French secular play with music, and is the most famous work of Adam de la Halle.The story is a dramatization of a traditional genre of medieval French song, the pastourelle. This genre typically tells of an encounter between a knight and a...
c. 1280 is a literary version) and presided over the French May festivities, "this Robin and Marion tended to preside, in the intervals of the attempted seduction of the latter by a series of knights, over a variety of rustic pastimes."
In the
Jeu de Robin and Marion, Robin and his companions have to rescue Marion from the clutches of a "lustful knight". Dobson and Taylor in their survey of the legend, in which they reject the mythological theory, nevertheless regard it as "highly probable" that this French Robin's name and functions travelled to the English May Games where they fused with the Robin Hood legend.
The origin of the legend is claimed by some to have stemmed from actual outlaws, or from tales of outlaws, such as
Hereward the WakeHereward the Wake , known in his own times as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile, was an 11th-century leader of local resistance to the Norman conquest of England....
,
Eustace the MonkEustace the Monk was a mercenary and pirate, in the tradition of medieval outlaws.-Early life:Eustace was born a younger son of Baudoin Busket, a lord of the county of Boulogne...
,
Fulk FitzWarinFulk FitzWarin was an English nobleman turned outlaw from Whittington Castle in Shropshire. The historical Fulk, or Fulk III FitzWarin, was a Marcher Lord who rebelled against King John from 1200 to 1203 over his familial right to the estate of Whittington...
and
William WallaceSir William Wallace was a Scottish knight and landowner who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence....
. Hereward appears in a ballad much like
Robin Hood and the PotterRobin Hood and the Potter is Child ballad 121, and among the oldest existing tales of Robin Hood.The device of disguising himself as a potter may have been taken from the older legends of Hereward the Wake.-Synopsis:...
, and as the Hereward ballad is older, it appears to be the source. The ballad
Adam BellAdam Bell was a legendary English outlaw.He and his companions William of Cloudsley and Clym of the Clough lived in Inglewood Forest near Carlisle and were figures similar to Robin Hood...
, Clym of the Cloughe and Wyllyam of Cloudeslee runs parallel to
Robin Hood and the Monk, but it is not clear whether either one is the source for the other, or whether they merely show that such tales were told of outlaws.
Some early Robin Hood stories appear to be unique, such as the story wherein Robin gives a knight, generally called
Richard at the LeeRichard at the Lee was a major character in the early medieval ballads of Robin Hood, especially the lengthy ballad A Gest of Robyn Hode, and has reappeared in Robin Hood tales throughout the centuries.Sir Richard is said to have been a nobleman, the lord of Verysdale...
, money to pay off his mortgage to an
abbotThe word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
, but this may merely indicate that no parallels have survived.
There are a number of theories that attempt to identify a historical Robin Hood. A difficulty with any such historical search is that "Robert" was in medieval England a very common
given nameA given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
, and "Robin" (or Robyn), especially in the 13th century, was its very common
diminutiveIn language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
. The surname "Hood" (or Hude or Hode etc.), referring ultimately to the head-covering, was also fairly common. Unsurprisingly, therefore, there are a number of people called "Robert Hood" or "Robin Hood" to be found in medieval records. Some of them are on record for having fallen afoul of the law, but this is not necessarily significant to the legend.
The early ballads give a number of possible historical clues: notably, the Gest names the reigning king as "Edward", but the ballads cannot be assumed to be reliable in such details. For whatever it may be worth, however, King
Edward IEdward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
took the throne in 1272, and an Edward remained on the throne until the death of
Edward IIIEdward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
in 1377.
On the other hand, what appears to be the first known example of "Robin Hood" as stock name for an outlaw dates to 1262 in Berkshire, where the surname "Robehod" was applied to a man after he had been outlawed, and apparently because he had been outlawed. This could suggest two main possibilities: either that an early form of the Robin Hood legend was already well established in the mid 13th century; or alternatively that the name "Robin Hood" preceded the outlaw hero that we know; so that the "Robin Hood" of legend was so called because that was seen as an appropriate name for an outlaw.
It has long been suggested, notably by
John MaddicottDr John Maddicott has published works on the political and social history of England in the 13th and 14th centuries, and has also written a number of leading articles on the Anglo-Saxon economy, his second area of interest. Born in Exeter, Devon, he was educated at Worcester College, Oxford...
, that "Robin Hood" was a stock alias used by thieves. Another theory of the origin of the name needs to be mentioned here. The
1911 Encyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time...
remarks that 'hood' was a common dialectical form of 'wood'; and that the outlaw's name has been given as "Robin Wood". There are indeed a number of references to Robin Hood as Robin Wood, or Whood, or Whod, from the 16th and 17th centuries. The earliest recorded example, in connection with May games in
SomersetThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, dates from 1518.
One well-known theory of origin was proposed by
Joseph HunterJoseph Hunter was a Unitarian Minister and antiquarian best known for his publications Hallamshire. The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York and the two-volume South Yorkshire , still considered among the best works written on the history of Sheffield and South...
in 1852. Hunter identified the outlaw with a "Robyn Hode" recorded as employed by
Edward IIEdward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
in 1323 during the king's progress through
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. This Robyn Hode was identified with (one or more people called) Robert Hood living in
WakefieldWakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
before and after that time. Comparing the available records with especially the Gest and also other ballads, Hunter developed a fairly detailed theory according to which Robin Hood was an adherent of the rebel Earl of Lancaster, defeated at the
Battle of BoroughbridgeThe Battle of Boroughbridge was a battle fought on 16 March 1322 between a group of rebellious barons and King Edward II of England, near Boroughbridge, northwest of York. The culmination of a long period of antagonism between the king and Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, his most powerful subject, it...
in 1322.
According to this theory, Robin Hood was pardoned and employed by the king in 1323. (The Gest does relate that Robin Hood was pardoned by "King Edward" and taken into his service.) The theory supplies Robin Hood with a wife, Matilda, thought to be the origin of Maid Marian, and Hunter also conjectured that the author of the Gest may have been the religious poet
Richard RolleRolle is honored in the Church of England on January 20 and in the Episcopal Church together with Walter Hilton and Margery Kempe on September 28.-Works in print:*English Prose Treatises of Richard Rolle of Hampole, Edited by George Perry...
(1290–1349), who lived in the village of
HampoleHampole is a small village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster , on the border with West Yorkshire. The eastern boundary of the parish is marked by the Great North Road, and the parish lies in what was once the Barnsdale Forest. It has a population of 187.Hampole itself is a...
in Barnsdale.
This theory has long been recognised to have serious problems, one of the most serious being that "Robin Hood" and similar names were already used as nicknames for outlaws in the 13th century. Another is that there is no direct evidence that Hunter's Hood had ever been an outlaw or any kind of criminal or rebel at all; the theory is built on conjecture and coincidence of detail. Finally, recent research has shown that Hunter's Robyn Hood had been employed by the king at an earlier stage, thus casting doubt on this Robyn Hood's supposed earlier career as outlaw and rebel.
Another theory identifies him with the historical outlaw
Roger GodberdRoger Godberd was a medieval outlaw who has been suggested as a possible historical basis for the legend of Robin Hood.Godberd served under Simon de Montfort, the 6th Earl of Leicester, as well as two other barons....
, who was a die-hard supporter of
Simon de MontfortSimon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester , sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from other Simon de Montforts, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He led the barons' rebellion against King Henry III of England during the Second Barons' War of 1263-4, and...
, which would place Robin Hood around the 1260s. There are certainly parallels between Godberd's career and that of Robin Hood as he appears in the Gest.
John MaddicottDr John Maddicott has published works on the political and social history of England in the 13th and 14th centuries, and has also written a number of leading articles on the Anglo-Saxon economy, his second area of interest. Born in Exeter, Devon, he was educated at Worcester College, Oxford...
has called Godberd "that prototype Robin Hood". Some problems with this theory are that there is no evidence that Godberd was ever known as Robin Hood and no sign in the early Robin Hood ballads of the specific concerns of de Montfort's revolt.
Another well-known theory, first proposed by the historian L. V. D. Owen in 1936 and more recently floated by J.C. Holt and others, is that the original Robin Hood might be identified with an outlawed Robert Hood, or Hod, or Hobbehod, all apparently the same man, referred to in nine successive Yorkshire
Pipe RollsThe Pipe rolls, sometimes called the Great rolls, are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury. The earliest date from the 12th century, and the series extends, mostly complete, from then until 1833. They form the oldest continuous series of records kept by...
between 1226 and 1234. There is no evidence however that this Robert Hood, although an outlaw, was also a bandit.
Ballads and tales
The earliest surviving text of a Robin Hood ballad is "
Robin Hood and the MonkRobin Hood and the Monk is Child ballad 119, and among the oldest existing ballads of Robin Hood, existing in manuscript from about 1450 AD.It may have been originally recited rather than sung; it refers to itself as a "talking" in its last verse:...
". This is preserved in
Cambridge UniversityThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
manuscript Ff.5.48, which was written shortly after 1450. It contains many of the elements still associated with the legend, from the Nottingham setting to the bitter enmity between Robin and the local sheriff.
The first printed version is
A Gest of Robyn Hode"A Gest of Robyn Hode" is Child Ballad 117; it is also called A Lyttell Geste of Robyn Hode in one of the two oldest books that contain it....
(c. 1475), a collection of separate stories which attempts to unite the episodes into a single continuous narrative. After this comes "
Robin Hood and the PotterRobin Hood and the Potter is Child ballad 121, and among the oldest existing tales of Robin Hood.The device of disguising himself as a potter may have been taken from the older legends of Hereward the Wake.-Synopsis:...
", contained in a manuscript of c. 1503. "The Potter" is markedly different in tone from "The Monk": whereas the earlier tale is "a thriller" the latter is more comic, its plot involving trickery and cunning rather than straightforward force. The difference between the two texts recalls Bower's claim that Robin-tales may be both 'comedies and tragedies'.
Other early texts are dramatic pieces such as the fragmentary
Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham (c. 1472). These are particularly noteworthy as they show Robin's integration into May Day rituals towards the end of the Middle Ages;
Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham, among other points of interest, contains the earliest reference to Friar Tuck.
The plots of neither "the Monk" nor "the Potter" are included in the Gest; and neither is the plot of "
Robin Hood and Guy of GisborneChild Ballad 118, part of the Percy collection. It introduces and disposes of Guy of Gisborne who remains next to the Sheriff of Nottingham the chief villain of the Robin Hood legend. This ballad survives in a single seventeenth century copy but has always been recognized as much older in content,...
" which is probably at least as old as those two ballads although preserved in a more recent copy. Each of these three ballads survived in a single copy, so it is unclear how much of the medieval legend has survived, and what has survived may not be typical of the medieval legend. It has been argued that the fact that the surviving ballads were preserved in written form in itself makes it unlikely they were typical; in particular stories with an interest for the gentry were by this view more likely to be preserved. The story of Robin's aid to the "poor knight" that takes up much of the Gest may be an example.
The character of Robin in these first texts is rougher edged than in his later incarnations. In "Robin Hood and the Monk", for example, he is shown as quick tempered and violent, assaulting Little John for defeating him in an archery contest; in the same ballad Much the Miller's Son casually kills a "little
pageA page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant, a messenger at the service of a nobleman or royal.-The medieval page:In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire...
" in the course of rescuing Robin Hood from prison. No extant ballad actually shows Robin Hood "giving to the poor", although in a "A Gest of Robyn Hode" Robin does make a large
loanA loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
to an unfortunate
knightA knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
which he does not in the end require to be repaid; and later in the same ballad Robin Hood states his intention of giving money to the next traveller to come down the road if he happens to be poor.
- Of my good he shall haue some,
- Yf he be a por man.
As it happens the next traveller is not poor, but it seems in context that Robin Hood is stating a general policy. From the beginning Robin Hood is on the side of the poor; the Gest quotes Robin Hood as instructing his men that when they rob:
- loke ye do no husbonde harme
- That tilleth with his ploughe.
- No more ye shall no gode yeman
- That walketh by gren-wode shawe;
- Ne no knyght ne no squyer
- That wol be a gode felawe.
And in its final lines the Gest sums up:
- he was a good outlawe,
- And dyde pore men moch god.
Within Robin Hood's band medieval forms of courtesy rather than modern ideals of equality are generally in evidence. In the early ballads Robin's men usually kneel before him in strict obedience: in
A Gest of Robyn Hode the king even observes that "His men are more at his byddynge/Then my men be at myn." Their social status, as yeomen, is shown by their weapons; they use
swordA sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
s rather than
quarterstaffA quarterstaff , also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon and a technique of stick fighting, especially as in use in England during the Early Modern period....
s. The only character to use a quarterstaff in the early ballads is the potter, and Robin Hood does not take to a staff until the 18th century
Robin Hood and Little John.
The political and social assumptions underlying the early Robin Hood ballads have long been controversial. It has been influentially argued by J. C. Holt that the Robin Hood legend was cultivated in the households of the gentry, and that it would be mistaken to see in him a figure of
peasantA peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
revolt. He is not a peasant but a yeoman, and his tales make no mention of the complaints of the peasants, such as oppressive taxes. He appears not so much as a revolt against societal standards as an embodiment of them, being generous, pious, and courteous, opposed to stingy, worldly, and churlish foes. Other scholars have by contrast stressed the subversive aspects of the legend, and see in the medieval Robin Hood ballads a
plebeianThe plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
literature hostile to the
feudalFeudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
order.
Although the term "Merry Men" belongs to a later period, the ballads do name several of Robin's companions. These include
Will Scarlet (or Scathlock)Will Scarlet was a prominent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men. He was present in the earliest ballads along with Little John and Much the Miller's Son....
,
Much the Miller's SonMuch the Miller's Son was, in the tales of Robin Hood, one of his Merry Men. He appears in some of the oldest ballads, A Gest of Robyn Hode and Robin Hood and the Monk, as one of the company.Generally he becomes an outlaw when he is caught poaching...
, and
Little JohnLittle John was a legendary fellow outlaw of Robin Hood, and was said to be Robin's chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men.-Folklore:He appears in the earliest recorded Robin Hood ballads and stories...
- who was called "little" as a joke, as he was quite the opposite. Even though the band is regularly described as being over a hundred men, usually only three or four are specified. Some appear only once or twice in a ballad:
Will StutelyWill Stutely or Will Stutly is in English folklore a prominent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men.-Ballads:He was present in two of the ballads in the Child collection, although not ones dating from the early medieval period...
in
Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly-Synopsis:Robin Hood is brought news that the Sheriff of Nottingham surprised Will Stutely, and though he killed two of the Sheriff's men, he was captured. They set out to rescue him, confirm the story from a palmer, and arrive as he is being brought out. Will Stutly offers to fight the sheriff's...
and
Robin Hood and Little John;
David of DoncasterDavid of Doncaster is a member of Robin Hood's Merry Men in English folklore. Doncaster is a town near Barnsdale, where early ballads placed Robin Hood.-Ballads:He appears in one ballad in the Child collection, Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow...
in
Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow-Synopsis:The sheriff of Nottingham complains to King Richard of Robin Hood.-Portrayals:An altered version of the tale appears in the first episode of the Robin of Sherwood television series, in which the prize offered is a silver arrow belonging to Herne the Hunter as a means of luring Robin to...
;
Gilbert with the White HandGilbert Whitehand is in English folklore a less prominent member of Robin Hood's merry men.He was present in A Gest of Robyn Hode, an early Robin Hood ballad from the late medieval period, although he has been widely forgotten by modern audiences.It is unknown why he was referred to as having...
in
A Gest of Robyn Hode; and
Arthur a BlandArthur a Bland is, in English folklore, a member of Robin Hood's Merry Men, though his chief appearance is in the ballad in which he joins the band. Arthur a Bland is also the name of a British Waterways tug.-Ballads:...
in
Robin Hood and the Tanner-Synopsis:A tanner, Arthur a Bland, goes to Sherwood. Robin Hood appears and accuses him of poaching. They fight. Robin blows on his horn, summoning his men, and tells them that the man is certainly a tanner, as he has tanned his hide...
.
Printed versions of the Robin Hood ballads, generally based on the
Gest, appear in the early 16th century, shortly after the introduction of
printingPrinting is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
in England. Later that century Robin is promoted to the level of
noblemanAristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
: he is styled Earl of Huntingdon, Robert of Locksley, or Robert Fitz Ooth. In the early ballads, by contrast, he was a member of the yeoman classes, which included common
freeholdersIn English law, a fee simple is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. It is the most common way that real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved...
possessing a small
landed estateLanded property or landed estates is a real estate term that usually refers to a property that generates income for the owner without the owner having to do the actual work of the estate. In Europe, agrarian landed property typically consisted of a manor, several tenant farms, and some privileged...
.
By the early 15th century at the latest, Robin Hood had become associated with May Day celebrations, with revellers dressing as Robin or as members of his band for the festivities. This was not common throughout England, but in some regions the custom lasted until
ElizabethanThe Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
times, and during the reign of
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, was briefly popular at
courtThe court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure...
. Robin was often allocated the role of a
May KingThe King of the May is a figure in the mythology of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as a folk custom. Every year, or every seven years, a man from the village would be chosen to represent the King of the May. He would bring fertility to the village, and during the time that he was in power, he...
, presiding over games and processions, but plays were also performed with the characters in the roles, sometimes performed at
church alesThe Parish ale was a festival in an English parish at which ale made and donated for the event was the chief drink. The word "ale" was generally used as part of a compound term. Thus there was the leet-ale ; the lamb-ale ; the Whitsun-ale , the clerk-ale, the church-ale etc...
, a means by which churches raised funds.
A complaint of 1492, brought to the
Star ChamberThe Star Chamber was an English court of law that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster until 1641. It was made up of Privy Counsellors, as well as common-law judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts in both civil and criminal matters...
, accuses men of acting riotously by coming to a fair as Robin Hood and his men; the accused defended themselves on the grounds that the practice was a long-standing custom to raise money for churches, and they had not acted riotously but peaceably.
It is from the association with the May Games that Robin's romantic attachment to
Maid MarianMaid Marian is the wife of the legendary English outlaw Robin Hood. Stemming from another, older tradition, she became associated with Robin Hood only in the 16th century.-History:The earliest medieval Robin Hood stories gave him no female companion...
(or Marion) apparently stems. The naming of Marian may have come from the French pastoral play of c. 1280, the
Jeu de Robin et MarionThe Jeu de Robin et Marion is reputedly the earliest French secular play with music, and is the most famous work of Adam de la Halle.The story is a dramatization of a traditional genre of medieval French song, the pastourelle. This genre typically tells of an encounter between a knight and a...
, although this play is distinct from the English legends. Both Robin and Marian were certainly associated with May Day festivities in England (as was
Friar TuckFriar Tuck is a companion to Robin Hood in the legends about that character. He is a common character in modern Robin Hood stories, which depict him as a jovial friar and one of Robin's Merry Men. The figure of Tuck was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th...
), but these may have been originally two distinct types of performance -
Alexander BarclayDr Alexander Barclay was an English/Scottish poet.-Biography:Barclay was born in about 1476. His place of birth is matter of dispute, but William Bulleyn, who was a native of Ely, and probably knew him when he was in the monastery there, asserts that he was born "beyonde the cold river of Twede"...
in his
Ship of Fools, writing in c. 1500, refers to "some merry fytte of Maid Marian
or else of Robin Hood" - but the characters were brought together. Marian did not immediately gain the unquestioned role; in
Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage"Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage" is Child ballad 149. It recounts his adventures hunting and a romance with Clorinda, the queen of the shepherdess, a heroine who did not prove able to displace Maid Marian as his sweet heart....
, his sweetheart is 'Clorinda the Queen of the Shepherdesses'. Clorinda survives in some later stories as an alias of Marian.
In the 16th century, Robin Hood is given a specific historical setting. Up until this point there was little interest in exactly when Robin's adventures took place. The original ballads refer at various points to "King Edward", without stipulating whether this is
Edward IEdward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
,
Edward IIEdward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
, or
Edward IIIEdward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
. Hood may thus have been active at any point between 1272 and 1377. However, during the 16th century the stories become fixed to the 1190s, the period in which
King RichardRichard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
was absent from his throne, fighting in the
crusadeThe Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...
s. This date is first proposed by
John MairJohn Mair was a Scottish philosopher, much admired in his day and an acknowledged influence on all the great thinkers of the time. He was a very renowned teacher and his works much collected and frequently republished across Europe...
in his
Historia Majoris Britanniæ (1521), and gains popular acceptance by the end of the century.
Giving Robin an aristocratic title and female love interest, and placing him in the historical context of the true king's absence, all represent moves to domesticate his legend and reconcile it to ruling powers. In this, his legend is similar to that of
King ArthurKing Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, which morphed from a dangerous male-centred story to a more comfortable, chivalrous romance under the
troubadourA troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
s serving
Eleanor of AquitaineEleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
. From the 16th century on, the legend of Robin Hood is often used to promote the hereditary
ruling classThe term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political policy - assuming there is one such particular class in the given society....
, romance, and religious
pietyIn spiritual terminology, piety is a virtue that can mean religious devotion, spirituality, or a combination of both. A common element in most conceptions of piety is humility.- Etymology :...
. The "criminal" element is retained to provide dramatic colour, rather than as a real challenge to convention.
In 1598,
Anthony MundayAnthony Munday was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. The chief interest in Munday for the modern reader lies in his collaboration with Shakespeare and others on the play Sir Thomas More and his writings on Robin Hood.-Biography:He was once thought to have been born in 1553, because...
wrote a pair of plays on the Robin Hood legend,
The Downfall and The Death of Robert Earl of HuntingtonThe Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington are two closely related Elizabethan-era stage plays on the Robin Hood legend, that were written by Anthony Munday in 1598 and published in 1601...
(published 1601). The 17th century introduced the
minstrelA minstrel was a medieval European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories of distant places or of existing or imaginary historical events. Although minstrels created their own tales, often they would memorize and embellish the works of others. Frequently they were retained by royalty...
Alan-a-DaleAlan-a-Dale is a figure in the Robin Hood legend...
. He first appeared in a 17th century
broadside balladA broadside is a single sheet of cheap paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations...
, and unlike many of the characters thus associated, managed to adhere to the legend. This is also the era in which the character of Robin became fixed as stealing from the rich to give to the poor.
In the 18th century, the stories began to develop a slightly more
farcicalIn theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
vein. From this period there are a number of ballads in which Robin is severely "drubbed" by a succession of professionals including
a tanner-Synopsis:A tanner, Arthur a Bland, goes to Sherwood. Robin Hood appears and accuses him of poaching. They fight. Robin blows on his horn, summoning his men, and tells them that the man is certainly a tanner, as he has tanned his hide...
,
a tinker-Synopsis:Robin Hood meets with a tinker and tells him that two tinkers were put in the stocks for drinking ale and beer. The tinker tells him that he has a warrant for Robin Hood in his pouch. Robin tells him to come with him to Nottingham. They stop at an inn to drink. When the tinker is...
and
a ranger-Synopsis:Robin Hood, going out to hunt deer, meets a forester who forbids him. They fight. Robin is beaten, and blows his horn, summoning his men. He offers to make him one of their company, and they hold a feast.-External links:*...
. In fact, the only character who does not get the better of Hood is the luckless Sheriff. Yet even in these ballads Robin is more than a mere simpleton: on the contrary, he often acts with great shrewdness. The tinker, setting out to capture Robin, only manages to fight with him after he has been cheated out of his money and the
arrest warrantAn arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
he is carrying. In
Robin Hood's Golden Prize-Synopsis:Robin Hood disguises himself as a friar and begged from two priests. They said they had no money. He forced them to remain with him and pray for money. When several hours had passed, he searched them and found five hundred pounds...
, Robin disguises himself as a
friarA friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
and cheats two priests out of their cash. Even when Robin is defeated, he usually tricks his foe into letting him sound his horn, summoning the Merry Men to his aid.
When-Synopsis:Robin Hood, Will Scarlock, and Little John are walking in the forest when they met with three foresters, who fight with them. They refuse Robin permission to sound his horn, but Robin persuades them to go to an inn, and there they drink instead of fighting.-External links:**...
his enemies do not fall for this ruse, he persuades them to drink with him instead.
The continued popularity of the Robin Hood tales is attested by a number of literary references. In
As You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, the exiled duke and his men "live like the old Robin Hood of England", while
Ben JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
produced the (incomplete)
masqueThe masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
The Sad Shepherd, or a Tale of Robin Hood as a satire on
PuritanThe Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
ism. Somewhat later, the
RomanticRomanticism, a philosophical, literary, artistic and cultural era which began in the mid/late-1700s as a reaction against the prevailing Enlightenment ideals of the day , also influenced poetry...
poet
John KeatsJohn Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
composed
Robin Hood. To A Friend and
Alfred Lord TennysonAlfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
wrote a play
The ForestersThe Foresters or, Robin Hood and Maid Marian is a play written by Alfred Tennyson and first produced in New York in 1892. A set of incidental music in nine movements was composed for the play by Arthur Sullivan....
, or Robin Hood and Maid Marian, which was presented with
incidental musicIncidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
by Sir
Arthur SullivanSir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
in 1892. Later still,
T. H. WhiteTerence Hanbury White was an English author best known for his sequence of Arthurian novels, The Once and Future King, first published together in 1958.-Biography:...
featured Robin and his band in
The Sword in the StoneThe Sword in the Stone is a novel by T. H. White, published in 1939, initially a stand-alone work but now the first part of a tetralogy The Once and Future King. A fantasy of the boyhood of King Arthur, it is a sui generis work which combines elements of legend, history, fantasy and comedy...
-
anachronisticallyAn anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
, since the novel's chief theme is the childhood of King Arthur.
The
Victorian eraThe Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
generated its own distinct versions of Robin Hood. The traditional tales were often adapted for children, most notably in
Howard PyleHoward Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
's
The Merry Adventures of Robin HoodThe Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire is an 1883 novel by the American illustrator and writer Howard Pyle. Consisting of a series of episodes in the story of the English outlaw Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men, the novel compiles traditional material into a...
, which influenced accounts of Robin Hood through the 20th century. These versions firmly stamp Robin as a staunch philanthropist, a man who takes from the rich to give to the poor. Nevertheless, the adventures are still more local than national in scope: while King Richard's participation in the Crusades is mentioned in passing, Robin takes no stand against Prince John, and plays no part in raising the ransom to free Richard. These developments are part of the 20th century Robin Hood myth.
The idea of Robin Hood as a high-minded
SaxonAnglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
fighting
NormanThe Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
lords also originates in the 19th century. The most notable contributions to this idea of Robin are
Jacques Nicolas Augustin ThierryAugustin Thierry was a French historian.He was born in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, the elder brother of Amédée Simon Dominique Thierry. He had no advantages of birth or fortune, but was distinguished at the Blois Grammar School, and entered the École Normale Supérieure in 1811...
's
(1825) and Sir
Walter ScottSir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
's
IvanhoeIvanhoe is a historical fiction novel by Sir Walter Scott in 1819, and set in 12th-century England. Ivanhoe is sometimes credited for increasing interest in Romanticism and Medievalism; John Henry Newman claimed Scott "had first turned men's minds in the direction of the middle ages," while...
(1819). In this last work in particular, the modern Robin Hood - "King of Outlaws and prince of good fellows!" as Richard the Lionheart calls him - makes his debut.
The 20th century grafted still further details on to the original legends. The 1938 film,
The Adventures of Robin HoodThe Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.-Plot:...
, starring
Errol FlynnErrol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
and
Olivia de HavillandOlivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
, portrayed Robin as a hero on a national scale, leading the oppressed Saxons in revolt against their Norman overlords while Richard the Lionheart fought in the Crusades; this movie established itself so definitively that many studios resorted to movies about his son (invented for that purpose) rather than compete with the image of this one.
In the 1973 animated
DisneyThe Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
film,
Robin HoodRobin Hood is an 1973 American animated film produced by the Walt Disney Productions, first released in the United States on November 8, 1973...
, the title character is portrayed as an
anthropomorphicAnthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
foxFox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
voiced by
Brian BedfordBrian Bedford is an English actor. He has appeared on the stage and in film, and is known for both acting in and directing Shakespeare.-Life and career:...
. Years before
Robin Hood had even entered production, Disney had considered doing a project on Reynard the Fox. However, due to concerns that Reynard was unsuitable as a hero, animator
Ken AndersonKen "Kenneth B." Anderson was an art director, writer, and animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for 44 years.Anderson studied architecture at the University of Washington, graduating with a B.Arch. in 1934...
lifted many elements from Reynard into
Robin Hood, thus making the titular character a fox.
The 1976 British-American film
Robin and MarianRobin and Marian is a 1976 British/American co-produced romantic adventure period film filmed in Pamplona, Spain starring Sean Connery as Robin Hood, Audrey Hepburn as Lady Marian, Nicol Williamson as Little John, Robert Shaw as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Richard Harris as King Richard. It also...
, starring
Sean ConnerySir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
as Robin Hood and
Audrey HepburnAudrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
as Maid Marian, portrays the figures in later years after Robin has returned from service with Richard the Lion Hearted in a foreign crusade and Marian has gone into seclusion in a nunnery.
Since the 1980s, it has become commonplace to include a
SaracenSaracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
among the Merry Men, a trend which began with the character Nasir in the
Robin of SherwoodRobin of Sherwood , was a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 1984 to 1986 on the ITV network. In America it was retitled Robin Hood and shown on the premium cable TV channel...
television series. Later versions of the story have followed suit: the 1991 movie
Robin Hood: Prince of ThievesRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a 1991 American adventure film directed by Kevin Reynolds. Kevin Costner heads the cast list as Robin Hood...
and 2006
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV series
Robin Hood each contain equivalents of Nasir, in the figures of Azeem and Djaq respectively. The latest movie version released in spring of 2010 is simply entitled
Robin HoodRobin Hood is a 2010 British/American adventure film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett...
and is directed by
Ridley ScottSir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
, with Robin played by
Russell CroweRussell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
.
The Robin Hood legend has thus been subject to numerous shifts and mutations throughout its history. Robin himself has evolved from a yeoman bandit to a national hero of epic proportions, who not only supports the poor by taking from the rich, but heroically defends the throne of England itself from unworthy and venal claimants.
Connections to existing locations
In modern versions of the
legendA legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
, Robin Hood is said to have taken up residence in the verdant
Sherwood ForestSherwood Forest is a Royal Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, that is famous through its historical association with the legend of Robin Hood. Continuously forested since the end of the Ice Age, Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve today encompasses 423 hectares surrounding the village of...
in the county of
NottinghamshireNottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
. For this reason the people of present-day Nottinghamshire have a special affinity with Robin Hood, often claiming him as the symbol of their
countyThe counties of the United Kingdom are subnational divisions of the United Kingdom, used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. By the Middle Ages counties had become established as a unit of local government, at least in England. By the early 17th century all...
. For example, major road signs entering the
shireA shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In parts of Australia, a shire is an administrative unit, but it is not synonymous with "county" there, which is a land registration unit. Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far...
depict Robin Hood with his
bowThe bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.-Description:A bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles by means of elastic energy. Essentially, the bow is a form of spring powered by a string or cord...
and
arrowAn arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.- History:...
, welcoming people to 'Robin Hood County'.
BBC Radio NottinghamBBC Radio Nottingham is a BBC Local Radio station serving the English county of Nottinghamshire. It broadcasts on FM, AM, and digital DAB radio from studios located on London Road in Nottingham city centre.-Transmission frequences:...
also uses the phrase 'Robin Hood County' on its regular programmes. The
Robin Hood WayThe Robin Hood Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath in the Midlands of England in the United Kingdom.-The route:The Robin Hood way commemorates the famous folklore figure Robin Hood and starts from Nottingham Castle running to Edwinstowe....
runs through Nottinghamshire and the county is home to literally thousands of other places, roads, inns and objects bearing Robin's name.
Specific sites linked to Robin Hood include the
Major OakThe Major Oak is a huge oak tree near the village of Edwinstowe in the heart of Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England. According to local folklore, it was Robin Hood's shelter where he and his merry men slept. It weighs an estimated 23 tons, has a girth of 33 feet , and is about 800–1000 years...
tree, claimed to have been used by him as a hideout, Robin Hood's Well, located near Newstead Abbey (within the boundaries of Sherwood Forest), and the Church of St. Mary in the village of Edwinstowe, where Robin and Maid Marian are historically thought to have wed. To reinforce this belief, the
University of NottinghamThe University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
in 2010 has begun the
Nottingham Caves SurveyThe Nottingham Caves Survey is a research project being conducted by Trent and Peak Archaeology, at the University of Nottingham. Spearheaded by Dr David Walker with Julia Clarke, the aim of the non-profit project is to scan every accessible cave from the 450+ man-made sandstone caves that are...
with the goal "to increase the tourist potential of these sites". The project "will use a 3D laser scanner to produce a three dimensional record of more than 450 sandstone caves around Nottingham".
However, the Nottingham setting is a matter of some contention. While the Sheriff of Nottingham and the town itself appear in early ballads, and Sherwood is specifically mentioned in the early ballad
Robin Hood and the Monk, certain of the original ballads (even those with Nottingham references) locate Robin on occasion in
BarnsdaleBarnsdale, or Barnsdale Forest, is a relatively small area of South Yorkshire, England which has a rich history and the region is steeped in folklore. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire...
(the area between
PontefractPontefract is an historic market town in West Yorkshire, England. Traditionally in the West Riding, near the A1 , the M62 motorway and Castleford. It is one of the five towns in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield and has a population of 28,250...
and
DoncasterDoncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
), approximately fifty miles north of
NottinghamNottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, in the county of
YorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
; furthermore, it has been suggested that the ballads placed in this area are far more geographically specific and accurate. This is reinforced for some by the alleged similarity of
Locksley to the area of
Loxley, South YorkshireLoxley is a village and a suburb of the city of Sheffield. It is a long linear community which stretches by the side of the River Loxley and along the B6077 for almost four kilometres. Loxley extends from its borders with the suburbs of Malin Bridge and Wisewood westward to the hamlet of Stacey...
, in
SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, where in nearby
TideswellTideswell is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, in England. It lies east of Buxton on the B6049, in a wide dry valley on a limestone plateau, at an altitude of above sea level, and is within the District of Derbyshire Dales...
, which was the "Kings Larder" in the
Royal Forest of the PeakThe Forest of High Peak was, in medieval times, a moorland forest covering most of the North West of Derbyshire, in England as far south as Tideswell and Buxton....
, a record of the appearance of a "Robert de Lockesly" in court is found, dated 1245. As "Robert" and its diminutives were amongst the most common of names at the time, and also since it was usual for men to adopt the name of their hometown ("De Lockesly" means simply, "Of [or from] Lockesly"), the record could just as easily be referring to any man from the area named Robert. Although it cannot be proven whether or not this is the man himself, it is further believed by some that Robin had a brother called Thomas - an assertion with no documentary evidence whatsoever to support it in any of the stories, tales or ballads. If the Robert mentioned above was indeed Robin Hood, and if he did have a brother named Thomas, then consideration of the following reference may lend this theory a modicum of credence:
- 24) No. 389, f0- 78. Ascension Day, 29 H. III., Nic Meverill, with John Kantia, on the one part, and Henry de Leke. Henry released to Nicholas and John 5 m. rent, which he received from Nicolas and John and Robert de Lockesly for his life from the lands of Gellery, in consideration of receiving from each of them 2M (2 marks). only, the said Henry to live at table with one of them and to receive 2M. annually from the other. T., Sampson de Leke, Magister Peter Meverill, Roger de Lockesly, John de Leke, Robert fil Umfred, Rico de Newland, Richard Meverill. (25) No. 402, p. 80 b. Thomas de Lockesly bound himself that he would not sell his lands at Leke, which Nicolas Meveril had rendered to him, under a penalty of L40 (40 pounds).
A
poundThe pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
was 240 silver pence, and a
markMark was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout western Europe and often equivalent to 8 ounces. Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages Mark (from a merging of three Teutonic/Germanic languages words, Latinized in 9th century...
was 160 silver pence (i.e., 13
shillingThe shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s and fourpence).
It is again, however, equally likely that Nicolas, John, Robert and Thomas were simply members of a family which came from the area.
In
Barnsdale ForestBarnsdale, or Barnsdale Forest, is a relatively small area of South Yorkshire, England which has a rich history and the region is steeped in folklore. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire...
, Yorkshire, there is a well known as
Robin Hood's WellRobin Hood's Well is at Skellow, South Yorkshire, England by the old Great North Road, in what was known as Barnsdale or Barnsdale Forest.The well was moved from its original location when the dual carriageway alongside it was built. Hence it is no longer a real well, and has a solid concrete...
(by the side of the Great North Road), a
Little John's WellLittle John's Well is situated near to the A638 at Hampole, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, in what was known as Barnsdale Forest.-External links:*...
(near
HampoleHampole is a small village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster , on the border with West Yorkshire. The eastern boundary of the parish is marked by the Great North Road, and the parish lies in what was once the Barnsdale Forest. It has a population of 187.Hampole itself is a...
) and a Robin Hood's stream (in Highfields Wood at
WoodlandsWoodlands is a model village, 3 miles north of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It was designed and built in the early 20th century by Percy Bond Houfton as tied cottages for the miners of the neighbouring Brodsworth Colliery...
). There is something of a modern movement amongst Yorkshire residents to attempt to claim the legend of Robin Hood, to the extent that
South YorkshireSouth Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
's new airport, on the site of the redeveloped
RAF FinningleyRAF Finningley is a former Royal Air Force station at Finningley, South Yorkshire, partly within the traditional county boundaries of Nottinghamshire and partly in the West Riding of Yorkshire, now wholly within the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster....
airbase near
DoncasterDoncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
, although ironically in the
historic countyThe historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
of Nottinghamshire, has been given the name
Robin Hood Airport Doncaster SheffieldRobin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield is an international airport located at the former RAF Finningley airbase at Finningley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster within South Yorkshire, England. The airport lies southeast of Doncaster and east of Sheffield.The airport is operated by Peel...
.
Centuries ago, a variant of "as plain as the nose on your face" was "Robin Hood in Barnesdale stood".
In the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, at 71 Vicar Lane, is a retail clothing store operated by Hugo Boss. This was the previous location of a pub/music venue known as The Duchess of York which was previously known as the Robin Hood. During an interior refurbishment, wallpaper was removed to reveal a wall mural depicting Robin Hood and his Merry Men in the small snug of the pub. The Landlord at the time, Robin Dover, was photographed standing next to the mural which was published in The Yorkshire Evening Post.
There have been further claims made that he is from
SwanningtonSwannington is a former mining village in Leicestershire, England. It was a terminus of the early Leicester and Swannington Railway that was built to carry away its pits' output...
in
LeicestershireLeicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
or
Loxley, WarwickshireLoxley, Warwickshire is a village near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. It has been supposed that Robin Hood was born and raised here. Some believe that a certain Robert Fitz Oto is the true Robin Hood, as he owned Loxley manor and his tombstone lies by Loxley parish church. Similar claims are...
.
This debate is hardly surprising of course, given the considerable value that the Robin Hood legend has for local
tourismTourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
. The Sheriff of Nottingham also had jurisdiction in Derbyshire that was known as the "Shire of the Deer", and this is where the Royal Forest of the Peak is found, which roughly corresponds to today's
Peak District National ParkThe Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....
. The Royal Forest included
BakewellBakewell is a small market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, deriving its name from 'Beadeca's Well'. It is the only town included in the Peak District National Park, and is well known for the local confection Bakewell Pudding...
,
TideswellTideswell is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, in England. It lies east of Buxton on the B6049, in a wide dry valley on a limestone plateau, at an altitude of above sea level, and is within the District of Derbyshire Dales...
, Castleton,
LadybowerLadybower Reservoir is a large Y-shaped reservoir, the lowest of three in the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire, England. The River Ashop flows into the reservoir from the west; the River Derwent flows south, initially through Howden Reservoir, then Derwent Reservoir, and finally through Ladybower...
and the
Derwent ValleyThe Derwent is a river in the county of Derbyshire, England. It is 66 miles long and is a tributary of the River Trent which it joins south of Derby. For half its course, the river flows through the Peak District....
near Loxley. The Sheriff of Nottingham possessed property near Loxley, amongst other places both far and wide including Hazlebadge Hall,
Peveril CastlePeveril Castle is a medieval building overlooking the village of Castleton in the English county of Derbyshire. Its site provides views across the Hope Valley and Cave Dale. The castle is named after its founder, William Peveril, who held lands in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire on behalf of the king...
and
Haddon HallHaddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye at Bakewell, Derbyshire, one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland, occupied by Lord Edward Manners and his family. In form a medieval manor house, it has been described as "the most complete and most interesting house of [its]...
.
MerciaMercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
, to which Nottingham belonged, came to within three miles of
Sheffield City CentreSheffield City Centre—often just referred to as town—is a district of the City of Sheffield, and part of the Sheffield Central ward. It includes the area that is within a radius of roughly of Sheffield Cathedral, and is encircled by the Inner Ring Road—a circular route started in the late 1960s...
. The supposed grave of Little John can be found in
HathersageHathersage is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England. It lies on the north bank of the River Derwent, approximately 10 miles west of Sheffield...
, also in the Peak District.
Robin Hood himself was once thought to have been buried in the grounds of
Kirklees PrioryKirklees was the site of a Cistercian Priory north of Mirfield, in what is now West Yorkshire, and close to the current site of the M62 motorway. The priory no longer exists, although the name was reused in 1974 for the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees....
between
BrighouseBrighouse is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Calder, east of Halifax in the Pennines. It is served by Junction 25 of the M62 motorway and Brighouse railway station on the Caldervale Line and Huddersfield Line. In the...
and
MirfieldMirfield is a small town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury...
in
West YorkshireWest Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, although for the reasons given above this theory has now largely been abandoned. There is an elaborate grave there with the inscription referred to above. The story said that the Prioress was a relative of Robin's. Robin was ill and staying at the Priory where the Prioress was supposedly caring for him. However, she betrayed him, his health worsened, and he eventually died there.
Before he died, he told Little John (or possibly another of his Merry Men) where to bury him. He shot an arrow from the Priory window, and where the arrow landed was to be the site of his grave. The grave with the inscription is within sight of the ruins of the Kirklees Priory, behind the Three Nuns pub in Mirfield, West Yorkshire. The grave can be visited on occasional organised walks, organised by
CalderdaleThe Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, through which the upper part of the River Calder flows, and from which it takes its name...
Council Tourist Information office.
Further indications of the legend's connection with West Yorkshire (and particularly Calderdale) are noted in the fact that there are pubs called the Robin Hood in both nearby
BrighouseBrighouse is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Calder, east of Halifax in the Pennines. It is served by Junction 25 of the M62 motorway and Brighouse railway station on the Caldervale Line and Huddersfield Line. In the...
and at
Cragg ValeCragg Vale is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, located south of Mytholmroyd on the B6138 road which joins the A58 and the A646.-Early Days:There is evidence of human activity on the Yorkshire moors around Cragg from c. 10,000 BC...
; higher up in the Pennines beyond
HalifaxHalifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
, where Robin Hood Rocks can also be found. Robin Hood Hill is near
OutwoodOutwood is a district to the north of Wakefield, a city in West Yorkshire, England. The district is centred on the A61 Leeds Road south of Lofthouse. It was originally a small pit village, but there has been so much new housing in the last twenty years that the old village is now only a minority of...
, West Yorkshire, not far from
LofthouseLofthouse is a village in West Yorkshire, England between the cities of Wakefield and Leeds. It is in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough but with a Wakefield postal address . It is mentioned as Locthuse also Loftose in the 1086 Domesday Book....
. There is a village in West Yorkshire called
Robin HoodRobin Hood is a village in West Yorkshire, England, within the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, with Wakefield WF3 postcodes. It is part of the Ardsley and Robin Hood ward, and in the new Morley and Outwood parliamentary constituency...
, on the
A61The A61 is a major trunk road in England. It runs from Derby to Thirsk in North Yorkshire. From Derby, it heads north via Alfreton, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Harrogate and Ripon...
between
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and
WakefieldWakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
and close to
RothwellRothwell is a market town on the River Dolphin in the south east of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, situated between Oulton to the east, Belle Isle to the west, Woodlesford to the north east and Robin Hood to the south west. Swillington, Methley and Kippax are located...
and Lofthouse. Considering these references to Robin Hood, it is not surprising that the people of both South and West Yorkshire lay some claim to Robin Hood, who, if he existed, could easily have roamed between Nottingham,
LincolnLincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
,
DoncasterDoncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
and right into West Yorkshire.
A
British ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
Territorial (reserves) battalion formed in Nottingham in 1859 was known as
The Robin Hood BattalionThe Robin Hood Battalion was a unit of the British Territorial Army.-History:It was formed as the 1st Nottinghamshire Volunteer Rifle Corps by Adjutant Jonathan White on 15 November 1859...
through various reorganisations until the "Robin Hood" name finally disappeared in 1992. With the 1881
Childers reformsThe Childers Reforms restructured the infantry regiments of the British army. The reforms were undertaken by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers in 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell reforms....
that linked regular and reserve units into regimental families, the Robin Hood Battalion became part of
The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)The Sherwood Foresters was formed during the Childers Reforms in 1881 from the amalgamation of the 45th Regiment of Foot and the 95th Regiment of Foot...
.
A
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
causewayed enclosureA causewayed enclosure is a type of large prehistoric earthwork common to the early Neolithic in Europe. More than 100 examples are recorded in France and 70 in England, while further sites are known in Scandinavia, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Slovakia.The term "causewayed enclosure" is...
on
Salisbury PlainSalisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering . It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, with a little in Hampshire. The plain is famous for its rich archaeology, including Stonehenge, one of England's best known...
has acquired the name
Robin Hood's BallRobin Hood’s Ball is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure located on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. It is approximately 5 miles from the town of Amesbury, and 2.5 miles from Stonehenge.-Etymology:...
, although had Robin Hood existed it is doubtful that he would have travelled so far south.
List of traditional ballads
Ballads are the oldest existing form of the Robin Hood legends, although none of them are recorded at the time of the first allusions to him, and many are much later. They share many common features, often opening with praise of the greenwood and relying heavily on disguise as a
plot deviceA plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
, but include a wide variation in tone and plot. The ballads below are sorted into three groups, very roughly according to date of first known free-standing copy. Ballads whose first recorded version appears (usually incomplete) in the
Percy FolioThe Percy Folio is a folio book of English ballads used by Thomas Percy to compile his Reliques of Ancient Poetry. Although the manuscript itself was compiled in the 17th century, some of its material goes back well into the 12th century...
may appear in later versions and may be much older than the mid 17th century when the Folio was compiled. Any ballad may be older than the oldest copy which happens to survive, or descended from a lost older ballad. For example, the plot of
Robin Hood's DeathRobin Hood's Death is the 120th ballad of the Child ballads collection published by Houghton Mifflin. The fragmentary Percy Folio version of it appears to be one of the oldest existing tales of Robin Hood; there is a synopsis of the story in the fifteenth century A Gest of Robyn Hode...
, found in the Percy Folio, is summarised in the 15th-century
A Gest of Robyn Hode"A Gest of Robyn Hode" is Child Ballad 117; it is also called A Lyttell Geste of Robyn Hode in one of the two oldest books that contain it....
, and it also appears in an 18th-century version.
Early ballads (i.e., surviving in 15th- or early 16th-century copies)
- A Gest of Robyn Hode
"A Gest of Robyn Hode" is Child Ballad 117; it is also called A Lyttell Geste of Robyn Hode in one of the two oldest books that contain it....
- Robin Hood and the Monk
Robin Hood and the Monk is Child ballad 119, and among the oldest existing ballads of Robin Hood, existing in manuscript from about 1450 AD.It may have been originally recited rather than sung; it refers to itself as a "talking" in its last verse:...
- Robin Hood and the Potter
Robin Hood and the Potter is Child ballad 121, and among the oldest existing tales of Robin Hood.The device of disguising himself as a potter may have been taken from the older legends of Hereward the Wake.-Synopsis:...
Ballads appearing in 17th-century Percy Folio
NB. The first two ballads listed here (the "Death" and "Gisborne"), although preserved in 17th century copies, are generally agreed to preserve the substance of late medieval ballads. The third (the "Curtal Friar") and the fourth (the "Butcher"), also probably have late medieval origins.
- Robin Hood's Death
Robin Hood's Death is the 120th ballad of the Child ballads collection published by Houghton Mifflin. The fragmentary Percy Folio version of it appears to be one of the oldest existing tales of Robin Hood; there is a synopsis of the story in the fifteenth century A Gest of Robyn Hode...
- Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne
Child Ballad 118, part of the Percy collection. It introduces and disposes of Guy of Gisborne who remains next to the Sheriff of Nottingham the chief villain of the Robin Hood legend. This ballad survives in a single seventeenth century copy but has always been recognized as much older in content,...
- Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar
"Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" is Child Ballad number 123, about Robin Hood.-Synopsis:This ballad is one of those appearing in earlier and later versions, the earlier one appearing in damaged form in the Percy manuscript but, as with Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne the story also appears in May...
- Robin Hood and the Butcher
Robin Hood and the Butcher is Child ballad 122. It may have been derived from the similar Robin Hood and the Potter.-Synopsis:Robin Hood meets with a butcher. In some variants, he fights with him. He always buys his goods and goes into Nottingham, where he sells the meat at ridiculously low...
- Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly
-Synopsis:Robin Hood is brought news that the Sheriff of Nottingham surprised Will Stutely, and though he killed two of the Sheriff's men, he was captured. They set out to rescue him, confirm the story from a palmer, and arrive as he is being brought out. Will Stutly offers to fight the sheriff's...
- Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires
Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires or Robin Hood and the Widow's Three Sons is Child ballad 140, about Robin Hood.-Synopsis:Robin meets an old woman lamenting that her sons will hang for poaching the king's deer. He persuades an old man to trade his ragged clothing for Robin's fine clothes, and in...
- The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield
The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield is Child ballad 124, about Robin Hood. The oldest manuscript was published in 1632 but is believed to based on works at least a century older. A fragmentary version appears in The Percy Folio.-Synopsis:...
- Robin Hood and Queen Katherine
"Robin Hood and Queen Katherine" is Child ballad 145. "Robin Hood's Chase", Child ballad 146, takes up after it.The Queen Katherine of the title is not certainly identified. The periods of time with which Robin Hood has normally been associated did not have any queens named Katherine...
Other ballads
- A True Tale of Robin Hood
A True Tale of Robin Hood is Child ballad 154, featuring Robin Hood and, indeed, presents a full account of his life, from before his becoming an outlaw, to his death. It describes him as the Earl of Huntington, which is a fairly late development in the ballads...
- Robin Hood and the Bishop
Robin Hood and the Bishop is number 143 in Francis James Child's collection of Child ballads, and describes an adventure of Robin Hood.-Synopsis:...
- Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford
-Synopsis:Robin Hood, knowing the bishop is coming, has his men kill a deer, puts shepherd's clothing on himself and six others, and dresses the deer by the road. The bishop threatens to have them all hanged. Robin summons the rest of his men with his horn, compels the bishop to dine with them, and...
- Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow
-Synopsis:The sheriff of Nottingham complains to King Richard of Robin Hood.-Portrayals:An altered version of the tale appears in the first episode of the Robin of Sherwood television series, in which the prize offered is a silver arrow belonging to Herne the Hunter as a means of luring Robin to...
- Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon
Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon is Child ballad 129. Showing more imagination than fidelity to tradition, it catches up Robin Hood into a tale of chivalrous adventures, such as are uncommon in his ballads, and has seldom been featured in later tales....
- Robin Hood and the Ranger
-Synopsis:Robin Hood, going out to hunt deer, meets a forester who forbids him. They fight. Robin is beaten, and blows his horn, summoning his men. He offers to make him one of their company, and they hold a feast.-External links:*...
- Robin Hood and the Scotchman
-Synopsis:Robin Hood goes north and meets with a Scot, who wishes to enter his service. Robin refuses, because the Scot will prove false. A fight ensues. One variants is truncated at this point, but the other ends with the man entering his service....
- Robin Hood and the Tanner
-Synopsis:A tanner, Arthur a Bland, goes to Sherwood. Robin Hood appears and accuses him of poaching. They fight. Robin blows on his horn, summoning his men, and tells them that the man is certainly a tanner, as he has tanned his hide...
- Robin Hood and the Tinker
-Synopsis:Robin Hood meets with a tinker and tells him that two tinkers were put in the stocks for drinking ale and beer. The tinker tells him that he has a warrant for Robin Hood in his pouch. Robin tells him to come with him to Nottingham. They stop at an inn to drink. When the tinker is...
- Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight
-Synopsis:The king and nobles meet to consider Robin Hood. They send Sir William with a hundred men. Sir William presents him with a letter from the king ordering Robin to surrender. When Robin refuses, Sir William attempts to seize him on the spot. Both Sir William and Robin summoned their...
- Robin Hood Newly Revived
Robin Hood Newly Revived is Child ballad 128, and an origin story for Will Scarlet-Synopsis:Robin Hood and Little John are hunting when they see a finely dressed stranger shoot a deer. Robin says if he accepts it, he can be a yeoman in their band. The stranger threatens him, and forbids him to...
- Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage
"Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage" is Child ballad 149. It recounts his adventures hunting and a romance with Clorinda, the queen of the shepherdess, a heroine who did not prove able to displace Maid Marian as his sweet heart....
- Robin Hood's Chase
Robin Hood's Chase is Child ballad 146, and a sequel to Child ballad 145, Robin Hood and Queen Katherine.-Synopsis:It opens an account of the archery contest in Robin Hood and Queen Katherine, and King Henry chases Robin to Yorkshire, Newcastle, Berwick, and many more towns...
- Robin Hood's Delight
-Synopsis:Robin Hood, Will Scarlock, and Little John are walking in the forest when they met with three foresters, who fight with them. They refuse Robin permission to sound his horn, but Robin persuades them to go to an inn, and there they drink instead of fighting.-External links:**...
- Robin Hood's Golden Prize
-Synopsis:Robin Hood disguises himself as a friar and begged from two priests. They said they had no money. He forced them to remain with him and pray for money. When several hours had passed, he searched them and found five hundred pounds...
- Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham
Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham is Child ballad 139, a Robin Hood ballad, and in fact an original story.-Synopsis:A fifteen-year-old Robin Hood set out to Nottingham to compete in a shooting contest. The king's foresters make fun of him, offering a bet that he could not kill a deer. When he...
- The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood
The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood is Child ballad 132, featuring Robin Hood. It is a traditional version of Robin Hood Newly Revived.-Synopsis:...
- The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood
The King’s Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood is Child ballad 151. It holds the common tradition of the end of Robin Hood's outlawry, although it is a relative late ballad, as it puts Robin firmly in King Richard's reign...
- The Noble Fisherman
The Noble Fisherman or Robin Hood's Preferment is Child ballad 148, a tale of Robin Hood.-Synopsis:Robin Hood decides to go to sea. Posing as a poor fisherman, he is hired by a woman with a boat, but laughed at for his lack of seamanship. French pirates try to take the ship, but Robin shoots them...
Some ballads, such as
Erlinton"Erlinton" is Child ballad 8.One variant features Robin Hood, but this variant forces the folk hero into a ballad structure where he does not fit naturally.-Synopsis:...
, feature Robin Hood in some variants, where the
folk heroA folk hero is a type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...
appears to be added to a ballad pre-existing him and in which he does not fit very well. He was added to one variant of
Rose Red and the White Lily-Synopsis:Rose the Red and White Lily had lost their mother, and their father had remarried an evil stepmother. They had two stepbrothers who fell in love with them, and their stepmother sent them away. When they asked her to treat their loves as well as she treated them, she vowed they would...
, apparently on no more connection than that one hero of the other variants is named "Brown Robin."
Francis James ChildFrancis James Child was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of folk songs known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where he produced influential editions of English poetry...
indeed retitled
Child balladThe Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...
102; though it was titled
The Birth of Robin Hood, its clear lack of connection with the Robin Hood cycle (and connection with other, unrelated ballads) led him to title it
Willie and Earl Richard's DaughterWillie and Earl Richard's Daughter is Child ballad 102.It recounts the birth of Robin Hood, but is not part of the Robin Hood cycle; Francis James Child rejected the title The Birth of Robin Hood for it on those grounds.-Synopsis:...
in his collection.
Popular culture
See also
- Tadas Blinda
Tadas Blinda was a Lithuanian folk hero of the 19th century. He was a subject of several popular books, plays, and movies and is often compared to Robin Hood.-Biography:...
- Eustace Folville
]Eustace Folville was the leader of a robber band active in Leicestershire and Derbyshire in the first half of the 14th century. With four of his younger brothers, he was responsible for two of the most notorious crimes of early 14th century England: no mean achievement, considering the same...
- Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd
Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd was Princess-consort of Deheubarth in Wales, and married to Gruffydd ap Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth. Gwenllian was the daughter of Gruffydd ap Cynan , Prince of Gwynedd, and a member of the princely Aberffraw family of Gwynedd. Gwenllian was the sister of Prince Owain...
- Juraj Jánošík
Juraj Jánošík was a famous Slovak Carpathian Highwayman....
- Iancu Jianu
Iancu Jianu was a Wallachian Romanian hajduk.-Biography:Born in Caracal, Oltenia, Wallachia, to the Jianu boyar family, as the youngest of four brothers...
- Rummu Jüri
Rummu Jüri is the archetypical Estonian folk hero, an outlaw who stole from the rich to give to the poor...
- Ustym Karmaliuk
Ustym Yakymovych Karmаliuk was a Ukrainian peasant outlaw who became a folk hero. He is often referred to as the "Ukrainian Robin Hood" and "the last Haydamak".-Early Age:...
- Ned Kelly
Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...
- Kayamkulam Kochunni
Kochunni was a famed Highwayman based in Kayamkulam, active in Central Travancore, India, in early 19th century. He is said to have stolen from the rich and given to the poor . He had his intimate friend Ithikkarappakki from Ithikkara village on the shore of Ithikkara River...
- Nezumi Kozō
Nezumi Kozō is the nickname of Nakamura Jirokichi , a Japanese thief and folk hero who lived in Edo during the Edo period.-Capture and tattoo:In 1822, he was caught and tattooed, and banished from Edo...
- Chucho el Roto
Chucho el Roto was a Mexican bandit active in the late 19th century, whose life story has been the basis of number of books, plays and other media since before his death. His real name was Jesús Arriaga; the nickname Chucho is a common dimmunutive of Jesús in Mexico and roto, literally...
- Schinderhannes
Johannes Bückler , nicknamed Schinderhannes, was a German outlaw who orchestrated one of the most fascinating crime sprees in German history. He was born at Miehlen, the son of Johann and Anna Maria Bückler. He began an apprenticeship to a tanner, but turned to petty theft. At 16 he was arrested...
- Kobus van der Schlossen
Kobus van der Schlossen was a late-seventeenth century Dutch thief who features prominently in folktales from the North Brabant region. After serving as a soldier in the many wars which left the Netherlands in turmoil, he joined a gang of ex-soldiers called 'de zwartmakers'. Eventually he was...
- Trysting Tree
Trysting trees are those trees of any species which have through their individual prominence, appearance or position been chosen as traditional or popular meeting places for meetings for specific purposes...
- Verysdale
Verysdale is a part of medieval England which is mentioned in the early ballads of Robin Hood...
- William de Wendenal
William de Wendenal was a Norman baron probably born during the mid-12th century. He was one of the highest officials left in charge of the Kingdom of England when King Richard the Lionheart was away at the Third Crusade to reclaim the Holy Land from the control of Saladin of the Ayyubid...
External links
- Robin Hood the Facts and the Fiction, has a lot of information on Robin Hood, ballads, medieval records, place names, analysis on the legend etc.
- BBC History: Robin Hood and his Historical Context
- Home of the World Wide Robin Hood Society in Sherwood, Nottingham, England
- Robin Hood, Friend of Liberty - Ludwig von Mises Institute
- Robin Hood: Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood, contains ballads, information on the development of the legend, and interviews with scholars and authors.
- Ben Turner's Robin Hood site one of the first on the web
- The Robin Hood Project at the University of Rochester — Houses a large collection of Robin Hood text and art
- "Robin Hood - the greatest of English myths" on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's In Our TimeIn Our Time is a live BBC radio discussion series exploring the history of ideas, presented by Melvyn Bragg since 15 October 1998.. It is one of BBC radio's most successful discussion programmes, acknowledged to have "transformed the landscape for serious ideas at peak listening time"...
featuring Stephen Knight, Thomas Hahn and Dr Juliette Wood
- Robin Hood - from Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
, Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
and Google Books (scanned books original editions color illustrated)
- Nottingham Caves Survey