Robin Hood

Robin Hood is an archetypal figure in English folklore, whose story originates from medieval times, but who remains significant in popular culture where he is known for "robbing the rich to give to the poor" and fighting against injustice and tyranny. His band includes a "three score" group of fellow outlawed yeomen – called his, "Merry Men."^[1] He has been the subject of numerous films, television series, books, comics and plays. In the earliest sources, Robin Hood is a commoner, but he would often later be portrayed as the dispossessed Earl of Huntingdon.

In popular culture, Robin Hood and his band are usually portrayed as living in Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire. Much of the action of the early ballads does take place in Nottinghamshire, and the very earliest known ballad does show the outlaws fighting in Sherwood Forest.^[2] So does the very first recorded Robin Hood rhyme, four lines from the beginning of the 15th Century beginning, "Robyn hode in scherewode stod."^[3] However, the overall picture from the surviving early ballads and other early references^[3] shows Robin Hood based in the Barnsdale area of what is now South Yorkshire (which borders Nottinghamshire), and other traditions also point to Yorkshire.^[4][5] A tradition dating back at least to the end of the 16th century gives his birthplace as Loxley in South Yorkshire, while the site of Robin Hood's Well in Yorkshire has been associated with Robin Hood at least since 1422.^[6] His grave has been claimed to be at Kirklees Priory in West Yorkshire, as implied by the 18th-century version of Robin Hood's Death, and there is a headstone there of dubious authenticity.^[7]

The first clear reference to "rhymes of Robin Hood" is from the late-14th-century poem Piers Plowman, but the earliest surviving copies of the narrative ballads which tell his story have been dated to the 15th century or the first decade of the 16th century. In these early accounts Robin Hood's partisanship of the lower classes, his Marianismo and associated special regard for women, his outstanding skill as an archer, his anti-clericalism and his particular animus towards the Sheriff of Nottingham are already clear.^[8] Little John, Much the Miller's Son and Will Scarlet (as Will "Scarlok" or "Scathelocke") all appear, although not yet Maid Marian or Friar Tuck. It is not certain what should be made of these latter two absences as it is known that Friar Tuck for one was part of the legend since at least the later 15th century.^[9]

In popular culture Robin Hood is typically seen as a contemporary and supporter of the late-12th century king Richard the Lionheart, Robin being driven to outlawry during the misrule of Richard's evil brother John while Richard was away at the Third Crusade. This view first gained currency in the 16th century and has very little scholarly support.^[10] It is certainly not supported by the earliest ballads. The early compilation A Gest of Robyn Hode names the king as "Edward", and while it does show Robin Hood as accepting the king's pardon he later repudiates it and returns to the greenwood. The oldest surviving ballad, Robin Hood and the Monk gives even less support to the picture of Robin Hood as a partisan of the true king. The setting of the early ballads is usually attributed by scholars to either the 13th century or the 14th, although it is recognised they are not necessarily historically consistent.^[11]

The early ballads are also quite clear on Robin Hood's social status, he is a yeoman. While the precise meaning of this term changed over time, including free retainers of an aristocrat and small landholders, it always referred to commoners. The essence of it in the present context was "neither a knight nor a peasant or 'husbonde' but something in between".^[12] We know that artisans (such as millers) were among those regarded as "yeomen" in the 14th century.^[13] From the 16th century on there were attempts to elevate Robin Hood to the nobility and in two extremely influential plays Anthony Munday presented him at the very end of the 16th century as the Earl of Huntingdon, as he is still commonly presented in modern times.^[14]

As well as ballads, the legend was also transmitted by "Robin Hood games" or plays that were an important part of the late medieval and early modern May Day festivities. The first record of a Robin Hood game was in 1426 in Exeter but the reference does not indicate how old or widespread this custom was at the time. The Robin Hood games are known to have flourished in the later 15th and the 16th centuries.^[15] It is commonly stated as fact that Maid Marian and a jolly friar (at least partly identifiable with Friar Tuck) entered the legend through the May Games.^[16]

The early ballads link Robin Hood to identifiable real places and many are convinced that he was a real person, more or less accurately portrayed. A number of theories as to the identity of "the real Robin Hood" have their supporters. Some of these theories posit that "Robin Hood" or "Robert Hood" or the like was his actual name; others suggest that this may have been merely a nick-name disguising a medieval bandit perhaps known to history under another name.^[17] At the same time it is possible that Robin Hood has always been a fictional character; the folklorist Francis James Child declared "Robin Hood is absolutely a creation of the ballad-muse" and this view has not been disproved.^[18] Another view is that Robin Hood's origins must be sought in folklore or mythology;^[19] and, despite the frequent Christian references in the early ballads, Robin Hood has been claimed for the pagan witch-religion supposed by Margaret Murray to have existed in medieval Europe.^[20]

The oldest references to Robin Hood are not historical records, or even ballads recounting his exploits, but hints and allusions found in various works. From 1228 onwards the names 'Robinhood', 'Robehod' or 'Hobbehod' occur in the rolls of several English Justices. The majority of these references date from the late 13th century. Between 1261 and 1300 there are at least eight references to 'Rabunhod' in various regions across England, from Berkshire in the south to York in the north.^[21]

The term seems to be applied as a form of shorthand to any fugitive or outlaw. Even at this early stage, the name Robin Hood is used as that of an archetypal criminal. This usage continues throughout the medieval period. In a petition presented to Parliament in 1439, the name is again used to describe an itinerant felon. The petition cites one Piers Venables of Aston, Derbyshire, "who having no liflode, ne sufficeante of goodes, gadered and assembled unto him many misdoers, beynge of his clothynge, and, in manere of insurrection, wente into the wodes in that countrie, like as it hadde be Robyn Hude and his meyne."^[22] The name was still used to describe sedition and treachery in 1605, when Guy Fawkes and his associates were branded "Robin Hoods" by Robert Cecil.

The first allusion to a literary tradition of Robin Hood tales occurs in William Langland's Piers Plowman (c.1362–c.1386) in which Sloth, the lazy priest, confesses: "I kan [know] not parfitly [perfectly] my Paternoster as the preest it singeth,/ But I kan rymes of Robyn Hood".^[23]

The first mention of a quasi-historical Robin Hood is given in Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Chronicle, written about 1420. The following lines occur with little contextualisation under the year 1283:

Lytil Jhon and Robyne Hude

Wayth-men ware commendyd gude

In Yngil-wode and Barnysdale

Thai oysyd all this tyme thare trawale.

The next notice is a statement in the Scotichronicon, composed by John of Fordun between 1377 and 1384, and revised by Walter Bower in about 1440. Among Bower's many interpolations is a passage which directly refers to Robin. It is inserted after Fordun's account of the defeat of Simon de Montfort and the punishment of his adherents. Robin is represented as a fighter for de Montford's cause.^[24] This was in fact true of the historical outlaw of Sherwood Forest Roger Godberd, whose points of similarity to the Robin Hood of the ballads have often been noted.^[25][26]

Bower writes:

Then [c.1266] arose the famous murderer, Robert Hood, as well as Little John, together with their accomplices from among the disinherited, whom the foolish populace are so inordinately fond of celebrating both in tragedies and comedies, and about whom they are delighted to hear the jesters and minstrels sing above all other ballads.

The word translated here "murderer" is the Latin siccarius, from the Latin for "knife". Bower goes on to tell a story about Robin Hood in which he refuses to flee from his enemies while hearing Mass in the greenwood, and then gains a surprise victory over them, apparently as a reward for his piety.^[27]

Another reference, discovered by Julian Luxford in 2009, appears in the margin of the "Polychronicon" in the Eton College library. Written around the year 1460 by a monk in Latin, it says:

Around this time, according to popular opinion, a certain outlaw named Robin Hood, with his accomplices, infested Sherwood and other law-abiding areas of England with continuous robberies.^[28]

William Shakespeare makes reference to Robin Hood in his late 16th century play The Two Gentlemen of Verona, one of his earliest. In it, the character Valentine is banished from Milan and driven out through the forest where he is approached by outlaws who, upon meeting him, desire him as their leader. They comment, "By the bare scalp of Robin Hood's fat friar, This fellow were a king for our wild faction!",^[29] implying that they imagine themselves as similar to the Robin Hood story.

Another reference is provided by Thomas Gale, Dean of York (c.1635–1702),^[30] but this comes nearly four hundred years after the events it describes:

[Robin Hood's] death is stated by Ritson to have taken place on the 18th of November, 1247, about the eighty-seventh year of his age; but according to the following inscription found among the papers of the Dean of York…the death occurred a month later. In this inscription, which bears evidence of high antiquity, Robin Hood is described as Earl of Huntington — his claim to which title has been as hotly contested as any disputed peerage upon record.

Hear undernead dis laitl stean

Lais Robert Earl of Huntingun

Near arcir der as hie sa geud

An pipl kauld im Robin Heud

Sic utlaws as hi an is men

Vil England nivr si agen.

Obiit 24 Kal Dekembris 1247

This inscription also appears on a grave in the grounds of Kirklees Priory near Kirklees Hall (see below). Despite appearances, and the author's assurance of 'high antiquity', there is little reason to give the stone any credence. It certainly cannot date from the 13th century; notwithstanding the implausibility of a 13th-century funeral monument being composed in English, the language of the inscription is highly suspect. Its orthography does not correspond to the written forms of Middle English at all: there are no inflected '—e's, the plural accusative pronoun 'hi' is used as a singular nominative, and the singular present indicative verb 'lais' is formed without the Middle English '—th' ending. Overall, the epitaph more closely resembles Modern English written in a deliberately 'archaic' style. Furthermore, the reference to Huntingdon is anachronistic: the first recorded mention of the title in the context of Robin Hood occurs in the 1598 play The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington by Anthony Munday. The monument can only be a 17th-century forgery.

Therefore Robert is largely fictional by this time. The Gale note is inaccurate. The medieval texts do not refer to him directly, but mediate their allusions through a body of accounts and reports: for Langland, Robin exists principally in "rimes", for Bower, "comedies and tragedies", while for Wyntoun he is, "commendyd gude". Even in a legal context, where one would expect to find verifiable references to Robert, he is primarily a symbol, a generalised outlaw-figure rather than an individual. Consequently, in the medieval period itself, Robin Hood already belongs more to literature than to history. In fact, in an anonymous song called Woman of c.1412, he is treated in precisely this manner — as a joke, a figure that the audience will instantly recognise as imaginary:

He that made this songe full good,

Came of the northe and the sothern blode,

And somewhat kyne to Robert Hoad.^[31][32]

There is at present little scholarly support for the view that tales of Robin Hood have stemmed from mythology or folklore; from fairies (such as Puck under the alias Robin Goodfellow) or other mythological origins. When Robin Hood has been connected to such folklore, it is apparently a later development.^[33] Maurice Keen^[34] provides a brief summary and useful critique of the once popular view that Robin Hood had mythological origins, while (unlike some^[35]) refraining from utterly and finally dismissing it.^[36] While Robin Hood and his men often show improbable skill in archery, swordplay, and disguise, they are no more exaggerated than those characters in other ballads, such as Kinmont Willie, which were based on historical events.^[37] Robin Hood's role in the traditional May Day games could suggest pagan connections but that role has not been traced earlier than the early 15th century. However it is uncontroversial that a Robin and Marion figured in 13th century French "pastourelles" (of which Jeu de Robin et Marion c1280 is a literary version) and presided over the French May festivities, "this Robin and Marion tended to preside, in the intervals of the attempted seduction of the latter by a series of knights, over a variety of rustic pastimes"^[38] And in the Jeu de Robin and Marion Robin and his companions have to rescue Marion from the clutches of a "lustful knight".^[39] Dobson and Taylor in their survey of the legend, in which they reject the mythological theory, nevertheless regard it as "highly probable" that this French Robin's name and functions travelled to the English May Games where they fused with the Robin Hood legend.^[38]

The origin of the legend is claimed by some to have stemmed from actual outlaws, or from tales of outlaws, such as Hereward the Wake, Eustace the Monk, Fulk FitzWarin,^[40] and William Wallace.^[41] Hereward appears in a ballad much like Robin Hood and the Potter, and as the Hereward ballad is older, it appears to be the source. The ballad Adam Bell, Clym of the Cloughe and Wyllyam of Cloudeslee runs parallel to Robin Hood and the Monk, but it is not clear whether either one is the source for the other, or whether they merely show that such tales were told of outlaws.^[42] Some early Robin Hood stories appear to be unique, such as the story where Robin gives a knight, generally called Richard at the Lee, money to pay off his mortgage to an abbot, but this may merely indicate that no parallels have survived.^[43]

There are a number of theories that attempt to identify a historical Robin Hood. A difficulty with any such historical search is that "Robert" was in medieval England a very common given name, and "Robin" (or Robyn) especially in the 13th century was its very common diminutive.^[44] The surname "Hood" (or Hude or Hode etc), referring ultimately to the head-covering, was also fairly common. Unsurprisingly, therefore, there are a number of people called "Robert Hood" or "Robin Hood" to be found in medieval records. Some of them are on record for having fallen foul of the law but this is not necessarily significant to the legend.^[45] The early ballads give a number of possible historical clues, notably the Gest names the reigning king as "Edward", but the ballads cannot be assumed to be reliable in such details.^[46] For whatever it may be worth, however, King Edward I took the throne in 1272, and an Edward remained on the throne until the death of Edward III in 1377. On the other hand what appears to be the first known example of "Robin Hood" as stock name for an outlaw dates to 1262 in Berkshire where the surname "Robehod" was applied to a man after he had been outlawed, and apparently because he had been outlawed.^[47] This could suggest two main possibilities: either that an early form of the Robin Hood legend was already well established in the mid-13th century; or alternatively that the name "Robin Hood" preceded the outlaw hero that we know; so that the "Robin Hood" of legend was so-called because that was seen as an appropriate name for an outlaw. It has long been suggested, notably by John Maddicott, that "Robin Hood" was a stock alias used by thieves.^[48] Another theory of the origin of the name needs to be mentioned here. The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica remarks that 'hood' was a common dialectical form of 'wood'; and that the outlaw's name has been given as "Robin Wood".^[19] There are indeed a number of references to Robin Hood as Robin Wood, or Whood, or Whod, from the 16th and 17th centuries. The earliest recorded example, in connection with May games in Somerset, dates from 1518.^[49]

One of the most well-known theories of origin is that first recorded as being proposed by Joseph Hunter in 1852. Hunter identified the outlaw with a "Robyn Hode" recorded as employed by Edward II in 1323 during the king's progress through Lancashire. This Robyn Hood was identified with (one or more people called) Robert Hood living in Wakefield before and after that time. Comparing the available records with especially the Gest and also other ballads Hunter developed a fairly detailed theory according to which Robin Hood was an adherent of the rebel Earl of Lancaster, defeated at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322. According to this theory Robin Hood was pardoned and employed by the king in 1323. (The Gest does relate that Robin Hood was pardoned by "King Edward" and taken into his service.) The theory supplies Robin Hood with a wife, Matilda, thought to be original of Maid Marian; and Hunter also conjectured that the author of the Gest may have been the religious poet Richard Rolle (1290–1349) who lived in the village of Hampole in Barnsdale.^[50] This theory has long been recognised to have serious problems, one of the most serious being that "Robin Hood" and similar names were already used as nicknames for outlaws in the 13th century. Another is that there is no direct evidence that Hunter's Hood had ever been an outlaw or any kind of criminal or rebel at all, the theory is built on conjecture and coincidence of detail.^[51] Finally recent research has shown that Hunter's Robyn Hood had been employed by the king at an earlier stage, this casting doubt on this Robyn Hood's supposed earlier career as outlaw and rebel.^[52]

Another theory identifies him with the historical outlaw Roger Godberd who was a die-hard supporter of Simon de Montfort; which would place Robin Hood around the 1260s.^[17] There are certainly parallels between Godberd's career and that of Robin Hood as he appears in the Gest, John Maddicott has called Godberd "that prototype Robin Hood".^[53] Some problems with this theory are that there is no evidence that Godberd was ever known as Robin Hood, and no sign in the early Robin Hood ballads of the specific concerns of de Montfort's revolt.^[51]

Another well-known theory, first proposed by the historian L. V. D. Owen in 1936 and more recently floated by J. C. Holt and others, is that the original Robin Hood might be identified with an outlawed Robert Hood, or Hod, or Hobbehod, all apparently the same man, referred to in nine successive Yorkshire Pipe Rolls between 1226 and 1234.^[54] There is no evidence however that this Robert Hood, although an outlaw, was also a bandit.^[55]

hi im cool

In modern versions of the legend, Robin Hood is said to have taken up residence in the verdant Sherwood Forest in the county of Nottinghamshire. For this reason the people of present-day Nottinghamshire have a special affinity with Robin Hood, often claiming him as the symbol of their county. For example, major road signs entering the shire depict Robin Hood with his bow and arrow, welcoming people to 'Robin Hood County.' BBC Radio Nottingham also uses the phrase 'Robin Hood County' on its regular programmes. The Robin Hood Way runs through Nottinghamshire. Specific sites linked to Robin Hood include the Major Oak tree, claimed to have been used by him as a hideout.^[56] Nottingham Forest F.C. are often thought to have their name derive from Sherwood Forest and the legend of Robin Hood, when in fact it comes from an area they played on called the Forest Recreation Ground. However, the Nottingham setting is a matter of some contention. While the Sheriff of Nottingham and the town itself appear in early ballads, and Sherwood is specifically mentioned in the early ballad Robin Hood and the Monk, many of the original ballads (even those with Nottingham references) locate Robin in Barnsdale (the area between Pontefract and Doncaster), some fifty miles north of Sherwood in the county of Yorkshire; furthermore, the ballads placed in this area are far more geographically specific and accurate.^[57] This is reinforced for some by the similarity of Locksley to the area of Loxley in Sheffield, where in nearby Tideswell, which was the "Kings Larder" in the Royal Forest of the Peak, a record of Robert de Lockesly in court is found, perhaps in his retirement years in 1245. Although it cannot be proven that this is the man himself, it is believed he had a brother called Thomas, which gives credence to the following reference:

24) No. 389, f0- 78. Ascension Day, 29 H. III., Nic Meverill, with John Kantia, on the one part, and Henry de Leke. Henry released to Nicholas and John 5 m. rent, which he received from Nicolas and John and Robert de Lockesly for his life from the lands of Gellery, in consideration of receiving from each of them 2M (2 marks). only, the said Henry to live at table with one of them and to receive 2M. annually from the other. T., Sampson de Leke, Magister Peter Meverill, Roger de Lockesly, John de Leke, Robert fil Umfred, Rico de Newland, Richard Meverill. (25) No. 402, p. 80 b. Thomas de Lockesly bound himself that he would not sell his lands at Leke, which Nicolas Meveril had rendered to him, under a penalty of L40 (40 pounds).

A pound was 240 silver pence, and a mark was 160 silver pence (i.e., 13 shillings and fourpence).

In Barnsdale Forest there is at least one Robin Hood's Well (by the side of the Great North Road), one Little John's Well (near Hampole) and a Robin Hood's stream (in Highfields Wood at Woodlands). There is something of a modern movement amongst Yorkshire residents to reclaim the legend of Robin Hood, to the extent that South Yorkshire's new airport, on the site of the redeveloped RAF Finningley airbase near Doncaster, although ironically in the historic county of Nottinghamshire, has been given the name Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield. There has long been a pub in the village of Hatfield Woodhouse, quite close to the airport, which is known as The Robin Hood and Little John. Centuries ago, a variant of 'as plain as the nose on your face' was 'Robin Hood in Barnesdale stood.'

There have been further claims made that he is from Swannington in Leicestershire.^[58]

This debate is hardly surprising, given the considerable value that the Robin Hood legend has for local tourism. One of Nottinghamshire's biggest tourist attractions is the Major Oak, a tree that local folklore claims was the home of the legendary outlaw. The age of the tree disproves this myth as it would have been a sapling in the days of Robin Hood.^[56] The Sheriff of Nottingham also had jurisdiction in Derbyshire that was known as the "Shire of the Deer", and this is where the Royal Forest of the Peak is found, which roughly corresponds to today's Peak District National Park. The Royal Forest included Bakewell, Tideswell, Castleton, Ladybower and the Derwent Valley near Loxley. The Sheriff of Nottingham possessed property near Loxley, including Hazlebadge Hall, Peveril Castle and Haddon Hall. Mercia, to which Nottingham belonged, came to within three miles of Sheffield City Centre. The supposed grave of Little John can be found in Hathersage, also in the Peak District.

Robin Hood himself is reputed to be buried in the grounds of Kirklees Priory between Brighouse and Mirfield in West Yorkshire. There is an elaborate grave there with the inscription referred to above. The story is that the Prioress was a relative of Robin's. Robin was ill and staying at the Priory where the Prioress was supposedly caring for him. However, she betrayed him, his health worsened, and he eventually died there.

Before he died, he told Little John (or possibly another of his Merry Men) where to bury him. He shot an arrow from the Priory window, and where the arrow landed was to be the site of his grave. The actual grave is within sight of the ruins of the Priory, corresponding to the story. It is behind the Three Nuns pub in Mirfield, West Yorkshire. The nuns supposedly cared for him when he was ill. The grave can be visited on occasional organised walks, organised by Calderdale Council Tourist Information office.

Further indications of the legend's connection with West Yorkshire (and particularly Calderdale) are noted in the fact that there are pubs called the Robin Hood in both nearby Brighouse and at Cragg Vale; higher up in the Pennines beyond Halifax, where Robin Hood Rocks can also be found. Robin Hood Hill is near Outwood, West Yorkshire, not far from Lofthouse. There is a village in West Yorkshire called Robin Hood, on the A61 between Leeds and Wakefield and close to Rothwell and Lofthouse. With all these references to Robin Hood, it is not surprising that the people of both South and West Yorkshire lay some claim to Robin Hood, who, if he existed, could easily have roamed between Nottingham, Lincoln, Doncaster and right into West Yorkshire.

A British Army Territorial (reserves) battalion formed in Nottingham in 1859 was known as the The Robin Hood Battalion through various reorganisations until the "Robin Hood" name finally disappeared in 1992. With the 1881 Childers reforms that linked regular and reserve units into regimental families, the Robin Hood Battalion became part of The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment).

A Neolithic causewayed enclosure on Salisbury Plain has acquired the name Robin Hood's Ball, although had Robin Hood existed it is doubtful that he would have travelled so far south.

Ballads are the oldest existing form of the Robin Hood legends, although none of them are recorded at the time of the first allusions to him, and many are much later. They evince^{[clarification needed]} many common features, often opening with praise of the greenwood and relying heavily on disguise as a plot device, but include a wide variation in tone and plot.^[59] The ballads below are sorted into three groups, very roughly according to date of first known free-standing copy. Ballads whose first recorded version appears (usually incomplete) in the Percy Folio may appear in later versions^[60] and may be much older than the mid 17th century when the Folio was compiled. Any ballad may be older than the oldest copy which happens to survive, or descended from a lost older ballad. For example, the plot of Robin Hood's Death, found in the Percy Folio, is summarised in the 15th century A Gest of Robyn Hode, and it also appears in an 18th century version.^[61] For more information the article on each ballad should be consulted.

• A Gest of Robyn Hode
• Robin Hood and the Monk
• Robin Hood and the Potter

NB. The first two ballads listed here (the "Death" and "Gisborne"), although preserved in 17th century copies, are generally agreed to preserve the substance of late medieval ballads. The third (the "Curtal Friar") and the fourth (the "Butcher"), also probably have late medieval origins.^[62]

• Robin Hood's Death
• Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne
• Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar
• Robin Hood and the Butcher
• Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly
• Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires
• The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield
• Little John and the Four Beggars
• Robin Hood and Queen Katherine

• A True Tale of Robin Hood
• Robin Hood and the Bishop
• Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford
• Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow
• Robin Hood Newly Revived
• Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon
• Robin Hood and the Ranger
• Robin Hood and the Scotchman
• Robin Hood and the Tanner
• Robin Hood and the Tinker
• Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight
• Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage
• Robin Hood's Chase
• Robin Hood's Delight
• Robin Hood's Golden Prize
• Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham
• The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood
• The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood
• The Noble Fisherman

Some ballads, such as Erlinton, feature Robin Hood in some variants, where the folk hero appears to be added to a ballad pre-existing him and in which he does not fit very well.^[63] He was added to one variant of Rose Red and the White Lily, apparently on no more connection than that one hero of the other variants is named "Brown Robin."^[64] Francis James Child indeed retitled Child ballad 102; though it was titled The Birth of Robin Hood, its clear lack of connection with the Robin Hood cycle (and connection with other, unrelated ballads) led him to title it Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter in his collection.^[65]

Songs, plays, games, and later novels, musicals, films, TV series and even a psychology quiz have developed Robin Hood and company according to the needs of their times, and the myth has been subject to extensive ideological manipulation.

Robin Hood has become shorthand for a good-hearted bandit who steals from the rich to give to the poor. It is also a proverbial expression for somebody who takes other people's giveaways and gives them to people he or she knows who could use them. This can be called "Robin Hood giving."^{[citation needed]} Many countries and situations boast their own Robin Hood characters; the Category:Robin Hood page tracks them.

• Hereward the Wake, a genuine Anglo-Saxon rebel at the time of the Norman Conquest
• Basil Fool for Christ, a Russian saint with similar behaviour
• Eustace Folville
• Hong Gildong
• Ishikawa Goemon, semi-legendary Japanese ninja and philanthropist
• Juraj Jánošík, Slavik outlaw with similar behaviour
• Lampião, outlaw with similar behaviour from northeast Brazil
• Nezumi Kozō
• Rummu Jüri
• Ustym Karmaliuk, a Ukrainian peasant outlaw who became a folk hero
• Salvatore Giuliano
• Trysting Tree, frequently mentioned as meeting place for the "Merry Men"
• Verysdale
• Vigilante
• William de Wendenal
• Woodwose, also known as the "wild man," a tradition in which Robin Hood legend takes part

• 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.
• Francis James Child, Child (1997). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Vol. 1–5. Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0486431505.
• 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (2006). The Robin Hood Handbook. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3977-X.
• Dobson, R. B. (1977). The Rymes of Robin Hood: An Introduction to the English Outlaw. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-1661-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Doel, Fran, Doel, Geoff (2000). Robin Hood: Outlaw and Greenwood Myth. Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-1479-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• 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.
• 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 0-10-285327-9. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
• Knight, Stephen T. (1994). Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw. Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-19486-X.
• Knight, Stephen T. (2005). Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography. Four Courts Press. ISBN 1-85182-931-8.
• Phillips, Helen (2003). Robin Hood: Medieval and Post-medieval. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-3885-3.
• 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 1421262096.
• 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.

• Historical details on The Real Sherwood Forest
• BBC History: Robin Hood and his Historical Context
• Robin Hood: Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood, contains ballads, information on the development of the legend, and interviews with scholars and authors.
• Ben Turner's Robin Hood site — one of the first on the web
• The Robin Hood Project at the University of Rochester — Houses a large collection of Robin Hood text and art.
• "Robin Hood – the greatest of English myths" on BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time featuring Stephen Knight, Thomas Hahn and Dr Juliette Wood