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Robin Hood-did he exist?


ali smack

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Who are we to argue with the infallible Saint Wiki, Patron Saint of Make-It-Up-As-You-Go-Along?

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Well, he certainly wasn't Errol Flynn.

I think Robin is an amalgam of historical figures and Celtic myth.

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As a native of Nottinghamshire, I am bound to say that he was 100% real!

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Few nowadays know the original story; we need a good modern movie that stays with the original story instead of thinking they can improve it by making it realistic. The romance and politics are corny and the characters are overdrawn -- that's the way movies should be.

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It dosn't matter if it's true or false..

It's a fable that ends up a good morality tale for our times.

However it's one of the first signs of communism I've seen.

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For what it's worth.....

The oldest ballad involving Robin Hood was “Robin Hood and the Monk”. Academics date the ballad to either the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries; even a layman can easily recognize a close resemblance of the language used in the ballad to that of Chaucer’s day. And that raises a very interesting point about the possible origins of the Robin Hood legend: in Chaucer’s day, it was common for authors to write about people they knew in person and simply give the characters different names. (For instance, Chaucer himself used this tactic when writing his “The Book of the Duchess”, an homage to the late Blanch of Lancaster.)

While Robin Hood was later portrayed as a noble (some even called him the Earl of Huntingdon), another early ballad, “The Gest of Robyn Hode”, plainly opens with the following lines: “Lythe and listin, gentilmen, that be of frebore blode; I shall you tel of a gode yeman, his name was Robyn Hode.” Historically, a yeoman has always ranked below the nobility, even though he was a free landowner. If Robin Hood had been a noble, it would have been rather an insult to describe him as a man of lesser rank than he actually bore.

Contemporary Viewpoints of Robin Hood

The early ballads show that he was the more prominent of his merry men, who were also yeomen (they seem to divert to his leadership). And while later legends give him many companions, including Maid Marian, the early tales portray Much the Miller’s son, Little John, and Will Scarlet as his primary comrades.

One aspect of Robin Hood that has remained the same over time was his political stance: he was very against corruption – especially in the nobility and the clergy – and championed the rights of the poor. It was no wonder Robin Hood was so popular during the Middle Ages; he was literally the voice of the oppressed, hungry, and disgruntled masses. From stories such as “Piers Plowman”, it is clear that Robin Hood had already saturated pop culture by the mid-1300’s, even becoming a fixture at traditional May Day games.

Another thing that made Robin Hood so attractive to the fourteenth century mind was his notion of chivalry. Even though Maid Marian was a later addition, “The Gest of Robyn Hode” has something to say about his chivalrous nature: “Robyn loued Our der Lady; For dout of dydly synne, Wolde he neuer do campani harme that any woman was in”. At that time, courtly love was rampant; women were placed on pedestals, and the most masculine thing a man could do would be to protect their honor and sing of their virtues.

The Real Robin Hood

In all likelihood, Robin Hood was based on the exploits of a real man whose name has since been lost to history. Today, Robin Hood is synonymous with notoriety and his virtues are well-remembered. Even if time forgot the man behind the name, his message still lives on.

(from my lecture notes - and author Carrie Eckles)

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ealdwita ic þancie þe for þes andgiet ..

(that took awhile to look up - and it's probably not correct...) :unsure2:

Edited by Taun
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Gea, lùcan genòg, frèond

To save looking it up......"Yes, close enough, friend)

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Who are we to argue with the infallible Saint Wiki, Patron Saint of Make-It-Up-As-You-Go-Along?

Maybe you can argue with this (from the same Wiki):

Bibliography

  • Baldwin, David (2010). Robin Hood: The English Outlaw Unmasked. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84868-378-5.
  • Barry, Edward (1832). Sur les vicissitudes et les transformations du cycle populaire de Robin Hood. Rignoux.
  • Blamires, David (1998). Robin Hood: A Hero for All Times. J. Rylands Univ. Lib. of Manchester. ISBN 0-86373-136-8.
  • Child, Francis James (1997). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. 1–5. Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-43150-5.
  • Coghlan, Ronan (2003). The Robin Hood Companion. Xiphos Books. ISBN 0-9544936-0-5.
  • Deitweiler, Laurie, Coleman, Diane (2004). Robin Hood Comprehension Guide. Veritas Pr Inc. ISBN 1-930710-77-1.
  • Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (2006). The Robin Hood Handbook. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3977-X.
  • Dobson, R. B.; Taylor, John (1977). The Rymes of Robin Hood: An Introduction to the English Outlaw. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-1661-3.
  • Doel, Fran, Doel, Geoff (2000). Robin Hood: Outlaw and Greenwood Myth. Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-1479-8.
  • Green, Barbara (2001). Secrets of the Grave. Palmyra Press. ISBN 0-9540164-0-8.
  • Hahn, Thomas (2000). Robin Hood in Popular Culture: Violence, Transgression and Justice. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-564-6.
  • Harris, P. V. (1978). Truth About Robin Hood. Linney. ISBN 0-900525-16-9.
  • Hilton, R.H., The Origins of Robin Hood, Past and Present, No. 14. (Nov., 1958), pp. 30–44. Available online at JSTOR.
  • Holt, J. C. (1982). Robin Hood. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27541-6.
  • Holt, J.C. (1989). "Robin Hood," Perspectives on culture and society, vol. 2, 127-144
  • Hutton, Ronald (1997). The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-288045-4.
  • Hutton, Ronald (1996). The Rise and Fall of Merry England: The Ritual Year 1400–1700. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-285327-9.
  • Knight, Stephen Thomas (1994). Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw. Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-19486-X.
  • Knight, Stephen Thomas (2003). Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-3885-3.
  • Phillips, Helen (2005). Robin Hood: Medieval and Post-medieval. Four Courts Press. ISBN 1-85182-931-8.
  • Pollard, A. J. (2004). Imagining Robin Hood: The Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context. Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd. ISBN 0-415-22308-3.
  • Potter, Lewis (1998). Playing Robin Hood: The Legend as Performance in Five Centuries. University of Delaware Press. ISBN 0-87413-663-6.
  • Pringle, Patrick (1991). Stand and Deliver: Highway Men from Robin Hood to Dick Turpin. Dorset Press. ISBN 0-88029-698-4.
  • Ritson, Joseph (1832). 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. William Pickering. ISBN 1-4212-6209-6.
  • Rutherford-Moore, Richard (1999). The Legend of Robin Hood. Capall Bann Publishing. ISBN 1-86163-069-7.
  • Rutherford-Moore, Richard (2002). Robin Hood: On the Outlaw Trail. Capall Bann Publishing. ISBN 1-86163-177-4.
  • Vahimagi, Tise (1994). British Television: An Illustrated Guide. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-818336-4.
  • Wright, Thomas (1847). Songs and Carols, now first imprinted. Percy Society.

External links

30px-Commons-logo.svg.png Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Robin Hood

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Now that we've (probably) established that he (probably) did indeed exist, I can't help but wonder... did he really wear tights and a rather effeminate looking wee hat?

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Now that we've (probably) established that he (probably) did indeed exist, I can't help but wonder... did he really wear tights and a rather effeminate looking wee hat?

I'm going to hazard a guess and say no to the tights. Though such a fashion did come up in the courts to wear single piece tights with short tunics at early as the 1350's, it was not the fashion for the regular folks. If Robin was a yeoman, it's terribly unlikely he would have worn short tunic with single piece tights. It would be likely he would have worn single legged hose with breeches with shirt, doublet, tunic of longer lengths over them.

And no, no cute little Robin Hood hat. Though there is strong argument for it being a form of roman pilaeus, there really isn't evidence of such hats at the time. Much more popular at the time was the chaperon, sort of a hood/cape/hat thing.

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I picked up one item of interest -- the name "Robin Hood" was probably made up, even if it was modeled after a real person.

The version I have of it (not too clear) is that he was a Saxon fighting for Saxon rights against the new French nobility, personified by Henry. Also he was a supporter of Richard, who was also a Saxon, so that doesn't quite total four.

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i heard it began with william walace heard on time team or something, dont know how the english adopted the tales

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes, Robin Hood did exist, but he was just one of many outlaws in the area.

He stole from the rich, and the poor, and kept it.

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Now that we've (probably) established that he (probably) did indeed exist, I can't help but wonder... did he really wear tights and a rather effeminate looking wee hat?

Off course not, that was the American version (Errol Flynn), and why Lincoln Green,when he lived in Nottingham ???.They often twist our History around to suit the Film Moguls, because they haven't any real history going back a 1000 yrs or more.I,ve also argued with an American guy in New York , that the RMS Queen Mary, and RMS Queen Elizabeth were British ships, not American.
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There were no doubt no end of thieving gangs in the forest that could have served as a model if they got involved in politics.

Stories like this are useful in that they tell us things about the culture of the time they were written, not of the time they supposedly took place.

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I don't know for sure myself but I knew a man from England that lived near where Robin H did. He swears that Robin Hood is real but Hollywood has romanticized it. Maid Marion was really his sister, not his lover.

Ealdwita snippet......

Historians cannot agree the exact location of Robin Hood's adventures, and as for Marion.........She's been known over the years as the Lady Marion FitzWalter, Clorinda - Queen of the shepherds, Mathilda, and 'the Forestwife'. In some legends, she dies before Robin, either in battle or from plague, others tell of her retiring to a convent after Robin's death. It's thought that she may be a later addition to the Robin Hood legends imported from French storytelling and English Mayday games.

OK, that's it for now, get back to work!

Edited by ealdwita
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and why Lincoln Green,when he lived in Nottingham ???.

The colour was named from the town (Lincoln) that produced that particular colour of cloth at that time. Coventry blue and Kendall green were other examples.

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  • 5 months later...

Hi, newbie here. A pardon has recently been found for Robin Hood, so we know he was real. He was jailed for his part in the Peasants Revolt in York, the Lord Mayor who caused people to riot was the Lord Mayor called John Gisbourne, he wasn't popular.

The reality is different from the films and books because of course nobody knew who he was, so he has become shrouded in myth, if you want to know more please feel free to ask, but it isn't half as exciting as we are led to believe from the films.

Edited by 0lly
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I picked up one item of interest -- the name "Robin Hood" was probably made up, even if it was modeled after a real person.

The version I have of it (not too clear) is that he was a Saxon fighting for Saxon rights against the new French nobility, personified by Henry. Also he was a supporter of Richard, who was also a Saxon, so that doesn't quite total four.

About his name. Robin was born ‘Robert Dore’ which is a village in modern Sheffield, you can google it if you like, it has an interesting history. Presumably his natural father was from there, hence the name, then after killing his step-father he fled from Loxley and met up with the millers son who from the Freedom Rolls was called Adam Hode (Hood) and that is what he has been called ever since. I’m assuming the millers son was one of the Merry Men who appears in the ballads as Much the millers son?

Robin Hood being saxon and living in the time of king John et al is wrong the king of the ballads is Edward and the Peasants Revolt was about four years after Edwards death, so I'm assuming Robin was born sometime after Edward came to the throne in 1327.

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As a native of Nottinghamshire, I am bound to say that he was 100% real!

Of course. Just like the residents around Loch Ness will be the first to testify under oath that Nessie exists. _-)

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