Robin Hood | Overview, Legend & Legacy
What is Robin Hood famous for?
Robin Hood is famous for robbing the rich aristocracy and redistributing the wealth. He was immensely popular during times of upheaval and lower class revolt.
Is Robin Hood a true story?
His name was often used as a stock name and pseudonym for thieves and bandits in England and began to appear in ballads and dramatic works in the 15th and 16th Centuries. No one true identity of Robin Hood has ever been discerned.
What is the legend of Robin Hood?
Robin Hood is an English folklore character known for stealing from the rich to sustain the poor. An excellent archer and marksman, he was said to inhabit Sherwood Forest in Nottingham.
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The legendary figure of Robin Hood is a character of English folklore whose most notable quality was his bandit-like behavior, his skills in archery, and his band of fellow thieves, The Merry Men. While attempts have been made by scholars to trace an actual person on whom the legend was based, most often they fail. As a character whose story has varied over time, however, Robin Hood offers a wealth of sources and inspirations that date back to medieval England. The many variations of Robin Hood not only show his evolution as a folkloric hero, but also are evidence of cultural shifts and pre-occupations in England during the 13th-19th centuries.
Most commonly, Robin Hood is presented as a thief whose goal is to steal from the rich to give to the poor. As an excellent archer, he uses his bow and arrow to thwart his enemies, along with his fellow thieves, the Merry Men, a figure named Friar Tuck, and his love interest Maid Marion. Sometimes born as a commoner, sometimes a fallen nobleman, he is often posited at odds with the Sheriff of Nottingham in the Sherwood Forest where he and his crew reside, stealing from the aristocrats and handing over their spoils to the needy.
The first appearance of the figure in text was in 1370's Piers Plowman, where his name is mentioned in passing, indicating that it may have been a known or common reference at the time to the general public. It wasn't until the early half of the 15th century, however, when he was given more narrative context in the ballad "Robin Hood and the Monk." The ballad included details about his lower class upbringing and skills in archery, but did not entail his stealing from the rich just yet.
Throughout the 15th century, however, the figure of Robin Hood began to appear frequently in short dramatic works. Such works were often performed for nobility at court. They were also part of annual May Day celebrations, both in England and France, where a popular character was named "Robin des Bois" or "Robin of the Woods" that may have been an inspiration for what we know as Robin Hood today. These May Day festivities are also how many scholars believe the characters of Maid Marian and Friar Tuck came to be associated with the legend, as they were originally their own figures in the celebrations.
The legend of Robin Hood continued to appear and be fleshed out during the 16th and 17th century in popular ballads, including through the dissemination of broadsides, as well as through further dramatic renderings, including a spate of popularity at court during the Elizabethan era, poems and songs in Victorian England, and numerous film adaptations in the 20th Century.
Was Robin Hood a Real Person?
Many scholars have attempted to fix Robin Hood as a real person and have mostly failed. The name "Robin Hood" and its middle English variations of "Robyn Hod" and "Robert Hood" were very common in England during the middle ages and beyond. During the 14th Century, variations of "Robehood" and "Rabunhood" became increasingly linked as a stock name for criminals and bandits who wanted to remain anonymous, and this may be where the earliest references take root.
While passing references appear earlier, the ballads of the 15th and 16th century are where we begin to see the first real stories of Robin Hood developing. These ballads, which were often memorized and performed, as well as printed to be distributed amongst the public and retained as texts. The first ones include:
- "Robin Hood and the Monk"
- 'Robin Hood and the Potter"
- "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne"
- "Robin Hoode his Death"
- "A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode".
Hundred of similar ballads and variations appeared throughout the subsequent centuries. They were sometimes circulated in "garlands" of ballads, a series of several related songs, and distributed in small, handmade chapbooks (a kind of pamphlet).
Robin Hood's chief attribute was his tendency to steal from the rich and corrupt to give to the poor. His other qualities include excellent archery and marksmen skills and loyalty to King Richard, who in many of the legends was deposed by his brother, the evil Prince John. Always at odds with the Sheriff of Nottingham, where Sherwood Forest was located, Robin Hood's tales often involved outsmarting or outwitting his foes. His followers, the Merry Men, included a band of thieves, a friar (Friar Tuck) and Robin Hood's love interest, Maid Marion. His best, most loyal friend, was Little John, who was his second-in-command.
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As the ballads of the 15th and 16th Century began to form the collective story of Robin Hood, other forms began to embrace the legend, including drama, folkloric texts, and literature. In his Historia Majoris Britannae, a cultural history of Britain published in 1521, John Major included an entry on the Robin Hood legend. William Shakespeare makes a reference in his 1592 Two Gentleman of Verona. Playwright Ben Jonson began (but never completed due to his death in 1637) a piece called The Sad Shepherd, or a Tale of Robin Hood.
In the 18th Century, the texts and performances often took the form of farce and comedy. In 1795, a volume published by Joseph Ritson, Robin Hood, A Collection of All the Ancient Poems, Songs and Ballads appeared, and was the first time the ballads appeared in one place. The most notable inclusion of Robin Hood ballads occurs in Francis James Child's 1882 multi-volume The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, which contained 38 ballads devoted to Robin Hood ranging over the past 400 years.
Throughout the 19th Century, numerous children's versions were also published, making the character popular and recognizable to people from a young age. Alfred Lord Tennyson would write a popular stage adaptation of the Robin Hood legend in 1892 called The Forresters. As the film age dawned, Robin Hood became a popular subject, including the 1938 Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn in the popular role, and a Disney adaptation in 1973, which secured Robin Hood as not only a folklore figure, but a Disney icon.
Because of the commonness of the name in medieval England, as well as its stock association with thieves and bandits, it is still impossible to trace the legendary figure to an actual person. The versions of the Robin Hood story also changed over time according to the social climate of the moment. Initially described as a member of the lower class of commoners, he was used as a popular folk hero, particularly during the Peasants Revolt of 1381. Later in the 17th-19th Century, he was often described as a nobleman who had fallen or lost his lands after serving as a knight in the crusades.
While Sherwood place is a real location in Nottingham, and the legend centered around the area, variations sometimes appeared throughout England and Scotland linked to other locales. A grave in Kirklees Park, Yorkshire was often believed to be his final resting place, but historians have pointed to inconsistencies in the dates and language that indicate it is a much newer grave from the 19th Century.
Because of variations and evolution throughout the past several hundred years, it would be hard to write a definitive biography, let alone know if there was a single person who inspired the Robin Hood legacy.
While there is no conclusive evidence that Robin Hood was an actual, real person, his legend persists throughout English folklore in numerous forms and mediums. With his band of Merry Men, he was said to inhabit Sherwood Forest and steal from the aristocracy, bestowing his spoils on the poor and in-need. His reputation as a bandit and archer, while later adapted into dramatic works and film, were first documented in the immensely popular English ballads, or songs containing stories. Such ballads were included in Francis James Child's 1882 multi-volume The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, which contained 38 ballads devoted to Robin Hood. These ballads included the first 5 known works devoted to the character--"Robin Hood and the Monk," "Robin Hood and the Potter," "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne," "Robin Hoode his Death," and "A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode," all written during the 15th and 16th Century.
Video Transcript
The Legend
No one knows for sure whether Robin Hood was a real man or a made-up person. We do know that there have been thousands of tales written and told about England's most famous outlaw, and they start as early as the 1200s. The first five surviving poems, or ballads as they are now called, establish much of the legend that we know today:
- ''Robin Hood and the Monk''
- ''Robin Hood and the Potter''
- ''Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne''
- ''Robin Hoode his Death''
- ''A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode''
All five were written in the 15th or early 16th centuries.
It is easy to see why people hundreds of years ago yearned for stories about a hero—a man who could save them from the wretched human waste that littered the streets and the many outbreaks of yellow fever. The lower class did not make a lot of money, barely enough to survive, and oftentimes, they did not survive. So Robin Hood became a legend to the common man, a beacon of hope, and a way to escape their dire existence through adventurous stories of a hero who fought for the oppressed.
What We Know
Although many of the stories about Robin Hood contradict each other, there are a few characteristics that remain the same. We know that Robin Hood was brave. He had a loyal following known as his band of ''merry men.'' They included popular characters such as Little John (his most loyal friend), Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Will Stutely, Allen-a-Dale, and his true love, Maid Marian. The group pledged to fight against tyranny in order to help feed the poor.
We also know that Robin Hood was an exceptional archer, one of the best in England, if not the entire world. He typically wore green, and he often disguised himself when outside of his home to remain hidden from his enemies. He was known as ''King of the Greenwood.'' In some tales, his home was the Sherwood Forest (the most common); in others, it was called Nottinghamshire or Barnsdale in Yorkshire. Many of his battles were fought against the corrupt and the rich, including the Sheriff of Nottingham, Robin Hood's arch-enemy. He also fought against the Bishop of Hereford, a greedy man who tried to hide behind the morality of the Church. Simply put, Robin Hood fought for the underdog.
The Legacy of Robin Hood
Perhaps the most influential collection of Robin Hood stories came from 19th century ballad scholar and folklorist Francis Child, who published what is commonly called The Child Ballads. Child used both published and unpublished manuscripts to assemble a 5-volume collection of over 300 Scottish and English ballads. Within this collection, Child published 38 different Robin Hood ballads spanning several hundred years. This collection ultimately shaped the legend of Robin Hood as we know it today.
Robin Hood made his first film appearance in a silent movie in 1908 called Robin Hood and His Merry Men. Since that time, countries from around the world have made more than 40 different films about the English legend. Perhaps the most renowned version came in 1938, The Adventures of Robin Hood, which starred legendary actor Errol Flynn in what is considered his most famous role. Since that time, prominent actors such as Roger Moore, Frank Sinatra, Sean Connery, Kevin Costner, and Russell Crowe have played the part. The films cross many genres and styles, including animation, action-adventure, science fiction, fantasy, and even spoofs, such as Robin Hood: Men in Tights, which was directed by Mel Brooks.
In addition, thousands of books, poems, short stories, cartoons, plays, and even puppet shows have been written about both the legend and the myth of Robin Hood. Perhaps two of the most famous novels about Robin Hood have a different take on the legend. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, written by Howard Pyle and published in 1883, was based on the early ballads. It depicts Robin Hood as a common man turned outlaw. The Adventures of Robin Hood, written by Roger Lancelyn Green and published in 1956, shows a different version of the legend. Green based his book mostly on later movies, novels, and plays, which instead depicted Robin Hood as a fallen nobleman—not a common man.
Man or Myth?
So, does one side weigh heavier than the other? Could it be possible that Robin Hood was an actual historical figure instead of a made-up legend? We will unfortunately never really know the answer. There have been so many stories told around campfires, written in books, and eventually shown on the big screen that it is nearly impossible to construct a true biography of Robin Hood. Scholars and Robin Hood fanatics alike have sorted through endless records and texts to try and prove his existence, but in the end, the results are always inconclusive.
Lesson Summary
There is no doubt that Robin Hood is one of the most popular folk heroes ever. Thousands and thousands of stories have been told about the outlaw hero. Little John, Robin Hood's most loyal friend, as well as the other ''merry men,'' worked together to fight against corruption found in the likes of the Sheriff of Nottingham, Robin Hood's arch-enemy. Today, much of what we know of Robin Hood originates with The Child Ballads, a collection of more than 300 Scottish and English ballads, or poems, published by Francis Child, a ballad scholar and folklorist from the 19th century.
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