Robin Hood: Outlaw or Greenwood Myth

by Fran Doel, Geoff Doel

First mentioned by William Langland in the late 14th century, Robin Hood is known to us through ballads and folksongs, old chronicles and plays, medieval allusions, folklore and place names. Robin Hood folk songs are found in the U.S. as well as in England and Scotland The earliest stories are centered on Barnsdale in Yorkshire, but later the emphasis shifts to Nottingham and Sherwood Forest. Originally a yeoman, Robin was upgraded to aristocrat in the 16th century, but he remains essentially a champion of the poor and oppressed. How far Robin Hood was based on a historical character and how far he is an archetypal outlaw or a Greenwood myth is the subject of this wide-ranging study. Includes a gazetteer of Robin Hood sites and an annotated filmography.

Genres: History

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2000

Reviews

[MichaelK]

A good, short overview of the origins and development of the Robin Hood legends. Easy and pleasant to read despite the dry, scholarly style. However, it does end rather abruptly which means it feels incomplete.

[Wilde Sky]

A discussion on the facts and fiction of a famous 'outlaw'.

I found this book incredibly dry / dense.

Overall rating 2.5.

Reading time around ninety minutes.

[Melanti]

Very scholarly and a little dry.

I only made it through a couple dozen pages before putting it aside in favor of something else. It's theoretically interesting, but I really feel like I need a better grounding in the original Robin Hood tales before attempting to read this again. As it stands, I have only seen a few movie adaptations and read a few book versions of the story, so I was a bit lost.