Robin Hood
Legendary English outlaw and folk hero.
Last updated
via Wikipedia: Robin Hood · see source
English folklore originally depicted Robin Hood as a legendary heroic outlaw, and this figure later appeared in literature, theatre, and cinema.[1] Legend credits Robin Hood with exceptional abilities in archery and swordsmanship.[1] Certain versions of the legend portray Robin Hood as having noble origins, while contemporary adaptations sometimes show him participating in the Crusades and then coming back to England to discover the Sheriff of Nottingham had seized his lands.[1]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Folklore, legend
- Nationality
- English
- Known for
- Legendary outlaw
- archer
- swordsman
- robbing the rich to give to the poor
- Earliest recorded reference
- 1370s (Piers Plowman)
- Earliest surviving ballad
- 15th century (Robin Hood and the Monk)
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
The first clear reference to "rhymes of Robin Hood" occurs in the alliterative poem Piers Plowman, thought to have been composed in the 1370s.[2] Those early accounts already reveal Robin Hood's support for common people, his dedication to the Virgin Mary, his exceptional archery, his opposition to clergy, and his strong hostility toward the Sheriff of Nottingham.[3] Robin's character in those earliest texts is more rough and less refined compared to his later portrayals.[4] No early ballad that still exists shows Robin Hood "giving to the poor," though in A Gest of Robyn Hode he provides a substantial loan to a knight in distress and ultimately does not demand repayment.[4]
John Stow's Annales of England (1592), published roughly a century after the Gest, contains the first clear assertion that Robin Hood regularly took from the wealthy to provide for the poor.[5]
What the cited sources add
Joseph Ritson published an enormously influential edition of the Robin Hood ballads in 1795, Robin Hood: A collection of all the Ancient Poems Songs and Ballads now extant, relative to that celebrated Outlaw.[6][7] In his preface to the collection, Ritson assembled an account of Robin Hood's life and concludes that Robin Hood was born in around 1160, and thus had been active in the reign of Richard I.[8] The modern motif of stealing from the rich to give to the poor was only really developed in the nineteenth century, quite late in the history of the legend.[7] Ritson believed Robin Hood was a genuine historical figure and a hero who opposed oppression on behalf of ordinary people.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Robin Hood" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rouă, "The Tale Of Robin Hood Of Sherwood Forest: Between Fact And Fiction", The Dockyards, 20 April 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Robin Hood" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Brockman 1983, p. 69; Dean, "Friar Daw's Reply", 1991 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Robin Hood" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: A Gest of Robin Hood stanzas 10–15, stanza 292 (archery) 117A: The Gest of Robyn Hode . Retrieved 15 April 2008. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Robin Hood" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robin Hood and the Monk. From Child's edition of the ballad, online at Sacred Texts, 119A: Robin Hood and the Monk Stanza 16: {{Poem quote| }}; Holt, p. 11. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Robin Hood" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stephen Thomas Knight 2003 Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography p. 43 quoting John Stow, 1592, Annales of England: " ".; for it being the earliest clear statement see Dobson and Taylor (1997), Rhymes of Robyn Hood p. 290. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Robin Hood" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bewick, et al. Robin Hood : a Collection of All the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, Now Extant Relative to That Celebrated English Outlaw; to Which Are Prefi; Ritson, "Robin Hood : a Collection of All the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, Now Extant Relative to That Celebrated English Outlaw; to Which Are Prefixed Historical Anecdotes of His Life", John C. Nimmo, 1887; Dobson and Taylor (1997), p. 54. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Robin Hood, Doctor Who, and the emergence of the a modern rogue!", 11 May 2016. facts only, no text reused. sixteenthcenturyscholars.wordpress.com
- Wikipedia, "Robin Hood" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Robin Hood: a collection of all the ancient poems, songs and ballads, now extant, relative to that celebrated English outlaw", 1887 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Robin Hood" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: In his table of contents, he separated the longer ballads from the shorter ballads into two parts; Part 1 containing the longer ballads were numbered I-V while ; Ritson, Robin Hood: A collection of all the Ancient Poems Songs and Ballads now extant, relative to that celebrated Outlaw. p. 155, 1820 edition.; J.C. Holt, Robin Hood, 1982, pp. 184, 185; Robin Hood, Volume 1, Joseph Ritson; "Robin Hood, Doctor Who, and the emergence of the a modern rogue!", 11 May 2016; Barczewski, "Myth and National Identity in Nineteenth-Century Britain: The Le en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Robin Hood (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Mythological & Legendary Figures
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Robin Hood (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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