Watch out for brutal kings, Communist bogeymen, and completely made-up main characters! The
legend of Robin Hood has endured for centuries, don't fall for these myths.
If you believe that Robin Hood was a real person, it's easy to understand where this
misconception came from. The legendary archer and his friends are typically described as
hiding from the law in Sherwood Forest, which is a place that really exists. And
some of the most famous characters in the stories, like King Richard the Lionheart,
were real people. In reality, though, Robin Hood was almost certainly a folk hero,
with the legend informed by both real historical events and older myths.
As described in James Holt's book Robin Hood,
it's likely that the exploits of the famous outlaws Hereward the Wake, Eustace the Monk,
and Fulk Fitz Warin inspired some of Robin Hood's most daring adventures. Hereward led
his loyal followers to violently oppose the Norman Conquest, while Eustace left his monastery to get
revenge on those who killed his father and spent some time in the woods as a bandit. And Fulk
was a disinherited baron who rebelled against Robin Hood's most famous adversary, King John.
Just because the Robin Hood of popular culture is almost certainly a legend,
that doesn't mean that there was never a real bandit called "Robin Hood." In fact,
there were many. Historians have discovered multiple examples of outlaws who have been
called "Robinhood" as a single word. Before the year 1400, there were eight different
examples in court records of outlaws being referred to as Robinhood. But this
was likely a nickname or a title given to them by the court clerk because they were bandits.
It's also believed that this may have been a name that the outlaws gave themselves,
as medieval criminals may have assumed this identity for their own protection.
Some historians even believe that these bandits did this as a tribute to a famous,
feared outlaw who lived sometime before the first instance of the nickname in the early
1200s. However, no evidence of this mysterious figure has been found in historical records.
"I think now is not the time for introductions."
Robin Hood is typically portrayed as a heroic character who robs the rich to give to the
poor. But in early stories, he can be a far less heroic figure. In most popular tellings,
Robin Hood's crimes are justified by the corruption of the local sheriff and by the
fact that King John is not the rightful king of England. But in the older ballads, Robin and his
followers aren't protesting injustice, they're just bandits. They do target corrupt wealthy
people, but they never seem to have any plans to redistribute that wealth to poor peasants.
Robin Hood stories have been told and retold for hundreds of years,
and his stories have evolved over time for changing audiences. In the 1400s,
they became more overtly about class conflict. One of the most popular Robin Hood legends
features him being turned in to the sheriff by a corrupt monk. Robin's men kill the monk and
then assume his identity to free their leader. In general, Robin Hood stories have made him
more heroic over time, although in the 1700s it was popular to depict him as a violent criminal.
"Be still, cherie, for I am your savior!"
In modern stories, Robin Hood is forced to give up his land and title and flee into
Sherwood Forest. But he wasn't depicted as part of the nobility until 1601,
when playwright Anthony Munday released a play about Robert, Earl of Huntingdon,
a fictitious identity for Robin Hood. While Munday's plays are
rarely performed in modern times, his idea that Robin was an earl stuck around.
In older ballads, Robin Hood is instead portrayed as a poor
yeoman bandit. He's not even depicted as the captain of the Merry Men; instead,
they seem to be a band of equals living in the forest together. This version of Robin Hood was
likely social commentary and inspiration for the lower-class peasants who told the stories.
In the 16th century, Robin Hood legends were seen as dangerous to the aristocracy,
and making the hero a member of the upper class dulled the edge of the social commentary. But
the legends have managed to still remain controversial. During the Red Scare in
1950s America, there were calls to remove all references to Robin Hood from Indiana
state textbooks due to fears that they would encourage children to be communists.
"Hey, this guy's a commie!"
In most popular modern depictions of Robin Hood today, he's an outlaw because of the
machinations of the villainous Prince John, who has usurped the throne from
his noble brother King Richard the Lionheart. This idea was popularized
by playwright Anthony Munday, and it has remained a standard motivation ever since.
"It's good to be the king."
However, as detailed in R.B. Dobson and John Taylor's book Rymes of Robyn Hood:
An Introduction to the English Outlaw, this doesn't really fit the historical record.
If there ever was a real bandit who inspired the legends, there's no reason to believe that
he lived during the reigns of King Richard I or King John. The earliest ballads about Robin Hood,
which emerged a century or two after Richard I's death, make no mention of Richard.
Famously, Robin Hood robs the rich to give to the poor. However, in many popular versions, including
the 1938 movie The Adventures of Robin Hood, he saves the plunder for someone else: the King of
England. In these tellings, he's trying to raise the money to pay King Richard's ransom, which
his deceitful brother Prince John is choosing not to pay to keep the rightful king imprisoned in a
foreign land. The historical Richard the Lionheart really was captured and exchanged for ransom,
but he might not deserve the unquestioning loyalty he receives in these legends.
Richard is often characterized by historians as a selfish and unpleasant person and a terrible
ruler, whose only real interest was waging war. He led his army on multiple crusades,
attempting to capture Jerusalem for the Pope. Furthermore, he was a brutal battle commander
who was believed to have killed thousands of civilians on his quest to capture the Holy
Land. He also nearly bankrupted England when he was captured and held for ransom
in Germany. It's believed that the myth that Richard was a chivalrous king comes directly
from propaganda created by his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine to raise the money for his ransom.
Robin Hood's most famous antagonist is the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham. He's typically
depicted as Robin's opposite, as he takes money from the poor to line his own pockets.
It's highly unlikely that he ever really existed, though that doesn't mean that his cruel exploits
weren't inspired by real events. In reality, there was no Sheriff of Nottingham until 1449,
at which point legends about Robin Hood had already been told for decades.
However, there certainly were corrupt sheriffs during the reign of King John,
and it's believed that the Sheriff of Nottingham was inspired by them. According to historian and
Robin Hood expert Alan W. Wright, sheriffs didn't earn a salary and had to pay the crown for the
privilege of calling themselves sheriff. Thus, there was a major incentive for them to overtax
the people. That surplus income went directly into the sheriffs' pocket. Many took bribes
and extorted the people they were supposed to protect with threats of false imprisonment.
"I challenge you to a duel."
"Ha ha ha!"
While Richard the Lionheart's sterling reputation is probably underserved,
King John certainly earned his unfavorable reputation. In the popular imagination,
it can often seem like Robin Hood is the only person standing up to King John's tyranny.
But in reality, the majority of English nobles would've been on Robin's side.
As in the legends, the real King John did attempt to take the throne while King Richard
was captured. He was unsuccessful, but he still became king after Richard's death in
1199. Five years into his reign, he lost territory to France. He raised armies and
attempted to take this land back, but doing so cost England a massive amount of money.
So John raised taxes dramatically, which led to a major conflict between him and
his barons. In 1215, the barons rebelled and forced John to sign a list of rules
that kings would have to follow going forward. This agreement is known as
the Magna Carta. While John largely ignored these rules, it forever changed the future of
English politics by establishing the idea that there were laws that even kings had to follow.
In the legends, Robin Hood is often referred to as "Robin of Loxley"
and "Earl of Huntingdon." Historians have attempted to track down evidence
of him in both of these places, but nothing concrete has emerged.
One account claims that Robin Hood was born in "Locksley," spelled "L-o-c-k-s-l-e-y." Many
historians believe that this likely refers to a village in Yorkshire called Loxley,
with an "x" instead of a "c-k-s." Some believe that it actually refers to another Loxley,
located in Warwickshire, where a man named Robert Fitz Odo lived in the
late 12th and early 13th centuries. However, there's no reason to assume
that he was the inspiration for Robin Hood or was ever an outlaw.
The earliest legends do not describe Robin Hood as an earl of any place,
but as later storytellers made him a noble, he needed an official title. It is believed that
playwright Anthony Munday was the first to declare Robin the "Earl of Huntingdon." This
title may have just been chosen at random. But the real Scottish earl who controlled
Huntingdon during the reign of Richard I does share some interesting traits with Robin Hood,
including losing his title for a decade after rebelling against a king.
Sometimes, Maid Marian is a noblewoman in love with Robin Hood even though he's
an outlaw. In other stories, she's an outlaw herself, fighting alongside the
Merry Men. But the early legends and ballads don't include her, or any other love interest.
Both Maid Marian and Friar Tuck became a part of Robin Hood's story through the May Day festival.
In the 15th century, Robin himself became a major part of the May Games, which had been celebrated
throughout England and Scotland for almost 300 years. According to Ronald Hutton's book The
Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain, he was such a popular character in May
Day performances that he ended up replacing the king of the revels at many festivities.
Maid Marian, meanwhile, was an unrelated character in the May Games, likely representing a maiden
of the dawn or a sea goddess. But over the course of centuries of the two characters
appearing together at festivals, she began to appear as a character in Robin Hood legends.
There have been many iconic depictions of Robin Hood that have taken different
approaches to this legendary character. There was the noble hero illustrated by
N.C. Wyeth in the early 1900s, Errol Flynn's dashing rogue on film in 1938,
and Disney's tricky cartoon fox in 1973. As different as these Robin Hoods are, they
all wear green. But the character used to wear another color entirely, and that color was red.
The connection between Robin Hood and green clothes dates back to a traditional ballad
called "Robin Hood and Queen Katherine." It was already an old story when it was written down and
published by folklorist Francis James Child in the 1880s. In this ballad, Robin is described as
dressing his men in the specific shade "Lincolne greene," while he himself wears scarlet red.
Today, a red costume is associated with one particular member of Robin Hood's
Merry Men: Will Scarlet. At the time, however, it made perfect sense for Robin to be the one in
red. The city of Lincoln was well-known in the Middle Ages for making clothing that was dyed
light green. But Lincoln also had another, far more expensive specialty in the form of
Lincoln scarlet. At this point in history, the legend had evolved to depict Robin as
a dispossessed noble, so it was logical that in the company of a queen, he would wear red.