Robyn and Gandeleyn

Analysis

Most scholars regard the Robyn of this ballad as unrelated to the famous Robin Hood, finding more differences than similarities between Robyn and Gandeleyn and Robin and Little John. Despite this, the ballad is often included in Robin Hood collections because it exemplifies medieval folklore about the greenwood as a place of sudden violence and duels over honor. Child's division into seventeen stanzas is generally considered effective, though the work's rhyme scheme is largely ABCB (ballad stanza) with several six-line stanzas that fit awkwardly.

The piece may have been recited rather than sung, making it closer to a poem. Transcription errors, including an apparently accidental repetition of two lines, suggest the Sloane manuscript was copied hastily and possibly inaccurately, though any differences from a lost earlier version remain speculative. Some scholars have proposed that Robyn was a poacher, making the ballad about poaching. A thin possibility links it to The Tale of Gamelyn based on name similarity, and Robert Graves offered the eccentric view that the ballad describes the New Year's hunting of a wren in vengeance for a robin murdered in midsummer.