Title page of an Amadis de Gaula roman of 1533

A knight-errant^[1] is a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature. The adjective errant (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adventures to prove his chivalric virtues, either in knightly duels (pas d'armes) or in some other pursuit of courtly love.

The template of the knight-errant are the heroes of the Round Table of the Arthurian cycle such as Gawain, Lancelot and Percival. The quest par excellance in pursuit of which these knights wander the lands is the Holy Grail. The genre developed under the patronage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her daughter Marie of France.  is the knight-errant Perceval, the Story of the Grail written by Chrétien de Troyes in the 1180s. Although the character is part of the romance genre as it develops in the late 12th century, the term "knight-errant" itself is younger, for the first time recorded (as knygt erraunt) in the 14th-century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.^[2] Knight-errantry tales remain popular with courtly audiences throughout the Late Middle Ages. They are written in Middle French, in Middle English and in Middle German. In the 16th century, the genre becomes highly popular in the Iberian Peninsula, Amadis de Gaula was one of the most successful knight-errantry tales of this period. In Don Quixote (1605), Cervantes satirizes the Amadis romans and their popularity. Tales of knight-errantry then fall out of fashion for two centuries, until they re-emerge in the form of the historical novel in Romanticism.

Romance[link]

"Yvain rescues the lion", from Garrett MS 125, an illustrated manuscript of Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain, le Chevalier au Lion, dated to ca. 1295.

"The Knight Errant", John Everett Millais, 1870.

A knight-errant typically performed all his deeds in the name of a lady, and invoked her name before performing an exploit. In more sublimated forms of knight-errantry, pure metaphysical idealism rather than romantic inspiration motivated the knight-errant (as in the case of Sir Galahad). Such a knight might well be outside the structure of feudalism, wandering solely to perform noble exploits (and perhaps to find a lord to give his service to), but might also be in service to a king or lord, traveling either in pursuit of a specific duty that his overlord charged him with, or to put down evildoers in general. This quest sends a knight on adventures much like the ones of a knight in search of them, as he happens on the same marvels. In The Faerie Queen, St. George is sent to rescue Una's parents' kingdom from a dragon, and Guyon has no such quest, but both knights encounter perils and adventures.

In the romances, his adventures frequently included greater foes than other knights, including giants, enchantresses, or dragons. They may also gain help that is out of ordinary. Sir Ywain assisted a lion against a serpent, and was thereafter accompanied by it, becoming the Knight of the Lion. Other knights-errant have been assisted by wild men of the woods, as in Valentine and Orson, or, like Guillaume de Palerme, by wolves that were, in fact, enchanted princes.

In modern literature[link]

Don Quixote is am early 17th-century parody of the genre, in reaction to the extreme popularity which late medieval romances such as Amadis de Gaula came to enjoy in the Iberian Peninsula in the 16th century.

A depiction of knight-errantry in the modern historical novel is found e.g. in Sir Nigel by Arthur Conan Doyle (1906).

The knight-errant stock character became the trope of the "knight in shining armour" in depiction of the Middle Ages in popular culture, and the term came to be used also outside of medieval drama, as in e.g. The Dark Knight as a title of Batman.

Russian bogatyrs[link]

The Russian bylina feature bogatyrs, knights-errant who served as protectors of their homeland, and occasionally as adventurers. Some of them are presumed to be historical figures, while others are fictional and possibly descend from Slavic mythology. Most tales about bogatyrs revolve around the court of Vladimir I of Kiev. Three popular Russian knights—Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich (famously painted by Victor Vasnetsov)—are said to have served him.

"Knights-errant" in East Asian cultures[link]

Youxia, Chinese knights-errant, traveled solo protecting common folk from oppressive regimes. Unlike their European counterpart, they did not come from any particular social caste and were anything from soldiers to poets. There is even a popular literary tradition that arose during the Tang Dynasty which centered on Negrito-slaves who used supernatural physical abilities to save kidnapped damsels in distress and to swim to the bottom of raging rivers to retrieve treasures for their Feudal Lords (see Kunlun Nu)^[3][4] A youxia who excels or is renown for martial prowess or skills is usually called wuxia.

In Japan the expression Musha shugyō described a Samurai who wanted to test his abilities in real life conditions would travel the land and engage in duels along the way.

References[link]

Tim Buckley
Tim Buckley performing at the Fillmore East on October 19, 1968.
Background information
Birth name	Timothy Charles Buckley III
Born	(1947-02-14)February 14, 1947 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Died	June 29, 1975(1975-06-29) (aged 28) Santa Monica, CA., U.S.
Genres	Folk Experimental rock Jazz-rock Funk Soul
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Guitar
Years active	1966–1975
Labels	Elektra, Straight, DiscReet, Rhino
Website	www.timbuckley.net
Notable instruments
Guild 12 String Guitar Fender Electric XII

Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American vocalist, and musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years; his first album (1966) was mostly folk oriented, but over time his music incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, avant-garde and an evolving "voice as instrument," sound. He died aged 28, leaving his son Jeff Buckley from his marriage to Mary Guibert.

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Tim Buckley was born in Washington DC on St. Valentine's Day, to Elaine Buckley (née Scalia), an Italian American, and Tim Charles Buckley Jr, who was the son of Irish immigrants from Cork. He spent his early childhood in Amsterdam, New York, an industrial city approximately 40 miles northwest of Albany; here at five years old he made his first acquaintance with music, his mother's progressive jazz recordings (she was a fan of Miles Davis).

Tim's musical life began in earnest after his family moved to Bell Gardens in southern California in 1956. His grandmother had introduced him to Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday, his mother to Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis and Judy Garland and his father to the country music of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash.^[1] When he attended Bell Gardens' public schools he was ready to catch the folk bug going around. At the age of 13 he taught himself the banjo, and with his new friend, Dan Gordon, and several others formed a folk group inspired by the Kingston Trio that played local high school events.^[2]

During his initial high school years he was a popular and engaged student; he was elected to numerous offices, played on the baseball team and quarterbacked the football team.^[3] During a football game he broke the first two fingers on his left hand, permanently damaging them. He later said that the injury prevented him from playing barre chords. This disability may have led to his use of extended chords, many of which don't require barres.^[4]

His last two years in school, which included a short stint at Loara High School in Anaheim, California,^[5] found him disillusioned. Tim quit football and cut classes regularly; he had decided school was of little value and that it would be more fruitful for him to focus most of his attention on music. He befriended Larry Beckett, his future lyricist, and Jim Fielder, bass player with whom he formed two separate musical groups, The Bohemians, who initially played popular music, and later added originals co-written by Buckley and Beckett,^[6] and The Harlequin 3, a folk group which regularly incorporated spoken word and beat poetry into their gigs.^[1]

In 1965 during French class at Loara High School, Buckley met Mary Guibert, one grade his junior and his soon to be wife. Their relationship inspired some of Buckley's music, and provided him time away from his turbulent home life. His father, a highly decorated World War II veteran, had become unstable, angry and occasionally violent in his later years. He had suffered a serious head injury during the war; that, along with a severe work-related injury, was said to have affected his mental balance.^[7]

Mary and Buckley married on the 25th of October, as Mary was pregnant (it turned out to be a hysterical pregnancy).^[3] The marriage angered Mary's father enough for him to forego the wedding; while Buckley's father attended, but joked to the priest, "I give it six months". Shortly after the wedding Mary realized that she was not pregnant after all.

The marriage was tumultuous, some ups and lots of downs. Buckley moved out to his own apartment. Mary soon became pregnant. After several months of married and "pregnant," life, Buckley found himself neither willing nor able to cope with marriage, and with pregnancy in particular. From then on he and Mary only saw each other sporadically. They divorced in October 1966 about a month before their son Jeffrey Scott (Jeff Buckley) was born.^[8]

By the time Buckley had graduated from high school he and lyricist/friend Beckett had written a couple dozen songs; several were to appear on Tim's debut album Tim Buckley. "Buzzin' Fly", was also written during this period, and was featured on Happy Sad his 1969 LP.^[8]

Buckley's ill-conceived college career (1965, Fullerton College) lasted only two weeks; he found himself unable to cope with both school and a fledgling music career.^[2][3] Buckley dropped out and dedicated himself fully to his music and to playing L.A. folk clubs. During the summer of 1965 he played regularly at a club co-founded by Dan Gordon. Later in the year he played various Orange County coffeehouses (such as the White Room in Buena Park) and the Monday night hootenannies at the famed Los Angeles' Troubadour.^[9] That year Cheetah magazine deemed Tim Buckley an up-and-comer, one of "The Orange County Three", along with Steve Noonan and Jackson Browne.^[1]

In February 1966, following a gig at L.A.'s It's Boss, Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black recommended Buckley to Mothers manager, Herb Cohen. Cohen saw potential in Tim and soon ^[2] landed him an extended gig at the Nite Owl Café (Greenwich Village, NYC). Buckley's new girlfriend, Jainie Goldstein, drove him cross country to the Nite Owl gig in her VW bug.^[7] While living in the Bowery (NYC) with Jainie, Buckley ran into Lee Underwood, and asked him to play guitar for him at the Nite Owl. From there, they became lifelong friends and collaborators.

Herb Cohen had signed Buckley, but not The Bohemians. "It was always understood that, ultimately, it was about Tim," Fielder noted;^[6] Cohen recorded a six song demo acetate disc, which he sent to Elektra records owner Jac Holzman.^[1][6] Holzman was very much taken by Buckley's music and, after seeing him play live, offered him an Elektra recording contract.^[2]

Folk rock[link]

Buckley recorded his self-titled debut album in three days in Los Angeles, in August 1966. He was generally unhappy with his albums after the fact; he described this one as "like Disneyland".^[1] The album's folk-rock style was largely typical of the time, although many people including Lee Underwood felt that the string additions by Jack Nitzsche "did not enhance its musical quality;"^[7] critics did note Buckley's distinctive voice and tuneful compositions.^[2]

The record featured Buckley and a backing band of Orange County friends, as well as Lee Underwood. Underwood's mix of jazz and country improvisation on a twangy telecaster became a distinctive part of Tim's early sound. Jac Holzman and Paul Rothchild's production style and Jack Nitzsche's string arrangements cemented in the record's mid-sixties sound.

	"Song of The Magician" noicon from Tim Buckley Demonstrating the sixties sound of the record
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On later reflection, those involved with the album saw it as demonstrative of the potential of the group. Lee Underwood summed it up as "a first effort, naive, stiff, quaky and innocent [but] a ticket into the marketplace".^[4] Producer Jac Holzman expressed similar sentiments, stating in 1991, that Tim "wasn't really comfortable in his own musical skin".^[2] Larry Beckett suggested that the band's desire to please audiences held them back.^[6]

Elektra released two singles promoting the debut album; "Wings" appeared in December with "Grief in My Soul" as a b-side, and "Aren't You the Girl" with "Strange Street Affair Under Blue" the next month. Herb Cohen suggested that Buckley should work with producer Jerry Yester and Elektra's demand for a new single represented their first challenge. Buckley and Beckett planned a songwriting session and listened to the radio relentlessly in search of making a hit record. The results were "Once Upon a Time" and "Lady Give Me Your Key". The former was not well regarded by the pair but they felt the latter had much potential.^[10] Despite this, Elektra decided not to release it as a single and the songs are assumed to remain in Elektra's record vaults. Rhino Records hoped to include "Lady Give Me Your Key" on Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology, but could not find the songs in time for its release.^[6]

Goodbye and Hello, released in 1967, featured late 1960s-style poetry and songs in different timings and has been described as an ambitious release for the then 20-year-old Buckley.^[1][11] Reflecting the confidence Elektra had in Buckley and group, they were given free rein on the music and content of the album.^[10] Beckett continued as lyricist and the album consisted of half Buckley originals and half Beckett–Buckley collaborations. Critics noted the improved lyrical and melodic qualities of Buckley's music.^[12] Buckley's voice had also developed since the last release and the press appreciated both his lower register and higher falsetto in equal measure.^[11]

	"I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain" noicon
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	"Pleasant Street" noicon both tracks from Goodbye and Hello
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The subject matter of the album also distinguished it from its predecessor. Beckett addressed the psychological nature of war in "No Man Can Find the War",^[10] and Underwood welcomed Buckley's entry into darker territory with "Pleasant Street".^[4] "I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain" represented a confessional lyric to his estranged wife and child.^[11] Underwood also judged that the mix of introspective folk songs and political-themed content attracted folk fans and anti-war audiences alike.^[4] Elektra owner Jac Holzman had much faith in the young up-and-comer, renting advertising space for the musician on the Sunset Strip which was virtually unheard of for an unestablished solo act.^[12] The album reflected the feeling in the US at the time, Holzman stating: "the combined effect of his words, his music, his passion, his persona struck a particular resonance."^[1] Despite having some aspects in common with Bob Dylan, in terms of musical style and fashion sense, Buckley distanced himself from comparisons, expressing a general apathy towards the artist and his work.^[13] Whilst Goodbye and Hello did not make Buckley a star, it performed better in the charts than his previous effort, peaking at #171.^[11]

His higher profile also led to more opportunities; the album was used as a soundtrack to Hall Bartlett's 1969 movie Changes and Micky Dolenz landed Tim a spot to perform "Song to the Siren" on the final episode of The Monkees TV show.^[1][11] However, Buckley was wary of the press and media, often avoiding interviews or being unresponsive when they were necessary.^[14] After scoring a slot on the Tonight Show, Buckley was standoffish and insulting towards the host and on another TV appearance he outright rejected a plan to lip-synch to "Pleasant Street" and refused to play.^[1] Buckley did not see the album's sales as a path to commercial success, but rather an opportunity to express his musical creativity.

After Beckett left for the Army, Buckley was free to develop his own individual style, without the literary restraints of before. Uneducated both vocally and instrumentally in the finer aspects of melody and lyric structure, the quality of the tracks he produced demonstrate the natural talent he possessed.

He described the jazz/blues-rock that he was associated with at the time as "White thievery and an emotional sham."^[4] With this opinion strongly set, he rebelled against what was commercial, and persevered on a course of development that alienated many of his fans. Drawing inspiration from jazz greats such as Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Roland Kirk, and vocalist Leon Thomas, his subsequent independently-recorded music was vastly different from previous recordings.

In 1968, Buckley recorded Happy Sad, which reflected folk and jazz influences. This would be his best charting album, peaking at #81. Dissatisfied with playing the same material continuously, and disenchanted with the music business that he felt was restraining him from producing new material, he began to weave in new songs into his performances, featuring an increasingly minimalist sound from his heavily orchestrated first two albums, and introducing a vibraphone player, David Friedman, into his band. However, this attempted rejuvenation was a commercial failure; becoming largely based on improvisation, his performances were less accessible to the audiences who saw him as a folk-rock poster boy.

Middle period[link]

During 1969, Buckley began to write and record material for three different albums: Lorca, Blue Afternoon, and Starsailor. Inspired by the singing of avant-garde musician Cathy Berberian, he decided to integrate the ideas of composers such as Luciano Berio and Iannis Xenakis in an avant-garde rock genre. He started to fully use his voice's impressive range. According to guitarist Lee Underwood, Buckley knew that Lorca had little to no chance in the commercial market, and due to his old friend Herb Cohen starting up a new label venture with Frank Zappa, Straight Records, he wanted to provide an album of older material that was a step back from his current direction, but one that would have a better shot at making a dent in the public's minds. Selecting eight songs that had yet to be recorded, these tracks evolved into the sessions for Blue Afternoon, an album that was quite similar to Happy Sad in style.^[15] Underwood himself contradicts this with a 1977 article he wrote for Down Beat magazine chronicling Buckley's career – he states that Buckley's heart was not into the Blue Afternoon performances and that the album was a perfunctory response to please his business partners.^[16]

Neither album sold well: Lorca alienated his folk base, while Blue Afternoon was widely criticized as boring and tepid – "[not] even good sulking music", as one critic wrote. Blue Afternoon was Buckley's last album to hit the Billboard charts, reaching #192. After the lack of success for both records, Buckley began to focus more on what he felt to be his true masterpiece, Starsailor.

Starsailor was a departure for Buckley, with free jazz textures under his most extreme vocal performance; ranging from high shrieks to deep, soulful baritone. Different from his first three albums, this personal album shared the same response as Lorca. It included the more accessible "Song to the Siren", later covered on record by This Mortal Coil, Robert Plant, John Frusciante, and Bryan Ferry.

The album was a critical and commercial failure. Following its release, Buckley's sales declined rapidly, and the quality of his live shows plummeted. Unable to produce his own music and almost completely broke, he turned to alcohol and drug binges. He also considered acting, with an unreleased low-budget group therapy-drama entitled Why? (1971) being the only film completed after several abortive meetings with Hollywood producers.^{[clarification needed]} The film is a three-minute short, shot on videotape.^[1]

Sex funk period[link]

Buckley abruptly disbanded his Starsailor ensemble near the end of 1970, and assembled a new band of funk players including Joe Falsia and Buddy Helm. With this band, he cut three albums of what has been described as "sex funk": Greetings from L.A., Sefronia and Look at the Fool. They were all commercial flops.^{[citation needed]} Tim had alienated much of his hippie fan base with his previous two albums, but retained a cult following. Buckley's often sexually frank lyrics ("whip me, spank me") prevented the songs from receiving airplay. (However, "Greetings from L.A." received a great deal of airplay on KQRS-FM in Minneapolis and became something of a local hit. Stores in the Twin Cities sold the album steadily until it was no longer available.)

In 1975, Buckley quit using drugs and engaged the musical press regarding a live album comeback. Buckley began performing revamped versions of material drawn from his whole career (except Starsailor and Lorca) as a response to the desires of his audience, which he had always spurned in the past.

Death[link]

On June 28, 1975, Buckley completed the last show of a tour in Dallas, Texas, playing to a sold-out venue with 1,800 people in attendance.^[1] Buckley celebrated the culmination of the tour with a weekend of drinking with his band and friends, as was his normal routine. On the evening of June 29, 1975, Buckley accompanied long-time friend Richard Keeling back to his house in the hope of obtaining heroin.^[4] After spending approximately an hour at the house, Buckley, in his inebriated state, walked in on Keeling while he was having sex, causing an argument between the two.^[1] Keeling, trying to placate him, handed Buckley a large dose of heroin and challenged him to "Go ahead, take it all", which he did.

Following this, Buckley was in such a bad condition that friends took him home. Upon his return home, his wife, Judy, seeing his inebriated state, laid him on a pillow on their living room floor and questioned his friends as to what had happened.^[4] Judy then moved Buckley into bed. Checking on him later, she found he had turned blue and was no longer breathing. Attempts by friends and paramedics to revive him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead on arrival.^[1]

Having diligently controlled his drug habit while on the road, his tolerance was lowered, and the combination of the drugs he took mixed with the amount of alcohol he had consumed throughout the day was too much. The coroner's report by Dr. Joseph H. Choi stated that he died at 9:42pm, June 29, 1975, from "acute heroin/morphine and ethanol intoxication due to inhalation and ingestion of overdose".^[17] Long time friend and lead guitarist, Lee Underwood, has stated that "on many previous occasions Buckley had ingested considerably more alcohol and drugs than this."^[18]

Aftermath[link]

Buckley's death shocked many of his friends and relatives. The drug-related death was in stark contrast to how people had seen him at the time. The sound recorder at Buckley's last show noted "someone offered him a drag off of a joint and he refused. He didn't appear strung out in any way. He was very together both physically and psychologically".^[17] Some friends were left dazed by the situation, Buckley's old tour manager Bob Duffy stated: "It wasn't expected but it was like watching a movie, and that was its natural ending."^[1] Lee Underwood went on to write a biography about him, Blue Melody:Tim Buckley Remembered, reflecting on his life and death and how he had been influenced by Buckley. Other friends saw his fate as more predictable, if not inevitable; his lyricist, Larry Beckett later said of Buckley:

"He continually took chances with his life. He'd drive like a maniac, risking accidents. For a couple of years he drank a lot and took downers to the point where it nearly killed him, but he'd always escape. Then he got into this romantic heroin-taking thing. Then his luck ran out."^[1]

Given the circumstances of his death, police charged Richard Keeling with murder and distribution of heroin.^[17][19] The evidence was insufficient and, at the hearing on August 14, 1975, at Santa Monica Municipal Court, Keeling pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.^[19][20] Keeling was given the chance to avoid time in jail by doing voluntary work but he failed to keep to the bargain and was sentenced to 120 days in jail and four years probation.^[21]

Buckley died with little to his name beyond the musical legacy of his nine albums. All he owned was a guitar and an amplifier and he died in debt.^[4] Friends and family, some 200 in number, attended the funeral at the Wilshire Funeral Home in Santa Monica. Those in attendance included: manager Herb Cohen, guitarist Lee Underwood, Tim's mother Elaine and sister Katey, and Buckley's widow, Judy. Also in attendance was Buckley's adopted son, Taylor Buckley. Taylor, who would eventually join the U.S. Marines, currently resides in Arizona. Reportedly, on the evening of June 29, 1975, Richard Keeling heard Buckley's last words: "Bye, bye, baby", almost surely addressed to his wife Judy.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Tim Buckley (1966)
• Goodbye and Hello (1967)
• Happy Sad (1969)
• Blue Afternoon (1969)
• Lorca (1970)
• Starsailor (1970)
• Greetings from L.A. (1972)
• Sefronia (1973)
• Look at the Fool (1974)

Live albums[link]

• Dream Letter: Live in London 1968 (1990)
• Peel Sessions (1991)
• Live at the Troubadour 1969 (1994)
• Honeyman: Live 1973 (1995)
• Once I Was (1999)
• Copenhagen Tapes (2000)
• Live at the Folklore Center 1967 (2009)

Compilations[link]

• The Late Great Tim Buckley (1978) Released in Australia only.
• The Best of Tim Buckley (1983)
• Morning Glory (1994)
• Works in Progress (1999)
• The Dream Belongs to Me: Rare and Unreleased 1968–1973 (2001)
• Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology (2001)
• Tim Buckley/Goodbye and Hello (2001) Compilation of first two albums.
• Take 2: Greetings from L.A./Tim Buckley (2005) Compilation of the two albums.
• Tim Buckley (2011) Rhino Handmade two-disc set. Disc One: Both the stereo and mono versions of his debut album. Disc Two: 22 unreleased recordings Buckley from Nov. 1965 with The Bohemians (12 tracks) and in 1966 with Larry Beckett (10 tracks).

Other releases[link]

• Thin Wires In The Voice (1999) A 120 page booklet with a 3 track CD EP included.
• Tim Buckley: My Fleeting House (2007) DVD of filmed live performances.

Books[link]

• Once He Was: the Tim Buckley Story, (1997). Barrera, Paul.
• Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley, (2001) Browne, David.
• Blue Melody:Tim Buckley Remembered, (2002). Underwood, Lee.

Tribute albums[link]

• Sing a Song for You: Tribute to Tim Buckley (2000)
• Dream Brother: The Songs of Tim and Jeff Buckley (2005)

References and notes[link]

External links[link]

• TimBuckley.com official
• The Tim Buckley Archives
• Tim Buckley Music
• Lee Underwood's official site
• Rhino Entertainment – Tim Buckley
• Tim Buckley Newport Folk Recordings at Wolfgangsvault

Robin Hood statue in Nottingham

Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor",^[1] assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men".^[2] Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes.^[3] The origin of the legend is claimed by some to have stemmed from actual outlaws, or from ballads or tales of outlaws.^[4]

Robin Hood became a popular folk figure in the medieval period continuing through to modern literature, films and television. In the earliest sources, Robin Hood is a yeoman, but he was often later portrayed as an aristocrat wrongfully dispossessed of his lands and made into an outlaw by an unscrupulous sheriff.^[5]

History[link]

In popular culture, Robin Hood and his band of "merry men" are usually portrayed as living in Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, where much of the action in the early ballads takes place.^[6] So does the very first recorded Robin Hood rhyme, four lines from the early 15th century, beginning: "Robyn hode in scherewode stod."^[7] However, the overall picture from the surviving early ballads and other early references^[7] suggest that Robin Hood may have been based in the Barnsdale area of what is now South Yorkshire (which borders Nottinghamshire).

Other traditions point to a variety of locations as Robin's "true" home both inside Yorkshire and elsewhere, with the abundance of places named for Robin causing further confusion.^[8][9] A tradition dating back at least to the end of the 16th century gives his birthplace as Loxley, Sheffield in South Yorkshire, while the site of Robin Hood's Well in Skellow, South Yorkshire, has been associated with Robin Hood since at least 1422. Records show a man named Robin Hood lived in Wakefield, Yorkshire, in the 13th and 14th centuries.^[10] His grave has been claimed to be at Kirklees Priory near Mirfield in West Yorkshire, as implied by the 18th-century version of Robin Hood's Death, and there is a headstone there of dubious authenticity.^[11]

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 that tell his story date 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 Marianism and associated special regard for women, his outstanding skill as an archer, his anti-clericalism, and his particular animosity towards the Sheriff of Nottingham are already clear.^[12] 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, has been part of the legend since at least the later 15th century.^[13]

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 brother John while Richard was away at the Third Crusade. This view first gained currency in the 16th century.^[14] It is 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.^[15]

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".^[16] We know that artisans (such as millers) were among those regarded as "yeomen" in the 14th century.^[17] 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.^[18]

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 16th centuries.^[19] 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.^[20]

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 nickname disguising a medieval bandit perhaps known to history under another name.^[21] One historian claims Robin Hood was a pseudonym by which the ancient Lords of Wellow, Nottinghamshire, were once known.^[22] It is interesting that the village has such a strong connection with maypole celebrations, considering Robin Hood's links with the same thing.

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 been neither proven or disproven.^[23] Another view is that Robin Hood's origins must be sought in folklore or mythology;^[24] Despite the frequent Christian references in the early ballads, Robin Hood has been claimed for the pagan witch-cult supposed by Margaret Murray to have existed in medieval Europe.^[25]

Early references[link]

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 'Robbehod' 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.^[26]

In a petition presented to Parliament in 1439, the name is 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."^[27] 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 and Randolf Erl of Chestre."^[28]

The first mention of a quasi-historical Robin Hood is given in Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Chronicle, written in 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 that 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 Montfort's cause.^[29] 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.^[30][31]

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 as "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.^[32]

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.^[33]

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!"^[34] Robin Hood is also mentioned in As You Like It. When asked about the exiled Duke Senior, the character of Charles says that he is "already in the forest of Arden, and a many merry men with him; and there they live like the old Robin Hood of England."

References to Robin as Earl of Huntington[link]

Another reference is provided by Thomas Gale, Dean of York (c. 1635–1702),^[35] 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 87th 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).

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.^[36][37]

Sources[link]

"Robin shoots with Sir Guy" by Louis Rhead

There is at present little scholarly support for the view that tales of Robin Hood have stemmed from mythology or folklore, from fairies or other mythological origins, any such associations being regarded as later development.^[38] The mythological theory does go back to at least to 1584, when Reginald Scot identified Robin Hood with the Germanic goblin "Hudgin" or Hodekin and associated him with Robin Goodfellow.^[39] Maurice Keen^[40] provides a brief summary and useful critique of the once-popular view that Robin Hood had mythological origins, while (unlike some)^[41] refraining from utterly and finally dismissing it.^[42] While Robin Hood and his men often show great 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.^[43]

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 c. 1280 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."^[44]

In the Jeu de Robin and Marion, Robin and his companions have to rescue Marion from the clutches of a "lustful knight".^[45] 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.^[44]

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^[4] and William Wallace.^[46] 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.^[47]

Some early Robin Hood stories appear to be unique, such as the story wherein 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.^[48]

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.^[49] 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 afoul of the law, but this is not necessarily significant to the legend.^[50]

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.^[51] 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 apparently because he had been outlawed.^[52] 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.^[53] The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica remarks that 'hood' was a common dialectical form of 'wood'; and that the outlaw's name has been given as "Robin Wood".^[24] 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.^[54]

One well-known theory of origin was 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 Hode 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 the origin 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.^[55]

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.^[56] Finally, recent research has shown that Hunter's Robyn Hood had been employed by the king at an earlier stage, thus casting doubt on this Robyn Hood's supposed earlier career as outlaw and rebel.^[57]

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.^[21] 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".^[58] 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.^[56]

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.^[59][60] There is no evidence however that this Robert Hood, although an outlaw, was also a bandit.^[61]

Ballads and tales[link]

The earliest surviving text of a Robin Hood ballad is "Robin Hood and the Monk".^[62] This is preserved in Cambridge University manuscript Ff.5.48. It was written shortly after 1450.^[63] It contains many of the elements still associated with the legend, from the Nottingham setting to the bitter enmity between Robin and the local sheriff.

Douglas Fairbanks as Robin Hood; the sword he is depicted with was common in the oldest ballads

The first printed version is A Gest of Robyn Hode (c. 1475), a collection of separate stories which attempts to unite the episodes into a single continuous narrative.^[64] After this comes "Robin Hood and the Potter",^[65] contained in a manuscript of c. 1503. "The Potter" is markedly different in tone from "The Monk": whereas the earlier tale is "a thriller"^[26] the latter is more comic, its plot involving trickery and cunning rather than straightforward force. The difference between the two texts recalls Bower's claim that Robin-tales may be both 'comedies and tragedies'.

Other early texts are dramatic pieces such as the fragmentary Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham^[66] (c. 1472). These are particularly noteworthy as they show Robin's integration into May Day rituals towards the end of the Middle Ages; Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham, among other points of interest, contains the earliest reference to Friar Tuck.

The plots of neither "the Monk" nor "the Potter" are included in the Gest; and neither is the plot of "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" which is probably at least as old as those two ballads although preserved in a more recent copy. Each of these three ballads survived in a single copy, so it is unclear how much of the medieval legend has survived, and what has survived may not be typical of the medieval legend. It has been argued that the fact that the surviving ballads were preserved in written form in itself makes it unlikely they were typical; in particular stories with an interest for the gentry were by this view more likely to be preserved.^[67] The story of Robin's aid to the "poor knight" that takes up much of the Gest may be an example.

The character of Robin in these first texts is rougher edged than in his later incarnations. In "Robin Hood and the Monk", for example, he is shown as quick tempered and violent, assaulting Little John for defeating him in an archery contest; in the same ballad Much the Miller's Son casually kills a "little page" in the course of rescuing Robin Hood from prison.^[6] No extant ballad actually shows Robin Hood "giving to the poor", although in a "A Gest of Robyn Hode" Robin does make a large loan to an unfortunate knight which he does not in the end require to be repaid;^[68] and later in the same ballad Robin Hood states his intention of giving money to the next traveller to come down the road if he happens to be poor.

Of my good he shall haue some,

Yf he be a por man.^[69]

As it happens the next traveller is not poor, but it seems in context that Robin Hood is stating a general policy. From the beginning Robin Hood is on the side of the poor; the Gest quotes Robin Hood as instructing his men that when they rob:

loke ye do no husbonde harme

That tilleth with his ploughe.

No more ye shall no gode yeman

That walketh by gren-wode shawe;

Ne no knyght ne no squyer

That wol be a gode felawe.^[70]

And in its final lines the Gest sums up:

he was a good outlawe,

And dyde pore men moch god.

Within Robin Hood's band medieval forms of courtesy rather than modern ideals of equality are generally in evidence. In the early ballads Robin's men usually kneel before him in strict obedience: in A Gest of Robyn Hode the king even observes that "His men are more at his byddynge/Then my men be at myn." Their social status, as yeomen, is shown by their weapons; they use swords rather than quarterstaffs. The only character to use a quarterstaff in the early ballads is the potter, and Robin Hood does not take to a staff until the 18th century Robin Hood and Little John.^[71]

The political and social assumptions underlying the early Robin Hood ballads have long been controversial. It has been influentially argued by J. C. Holt that the Robin Hood legend was cultivated in the households of the gentry, and that it would be mistaken to see in him a figure of peasant revolt. He is not a peasant but a yeoman, and his tales make no mention of the complaints of the peasants, such as oppressive taxes.^[72] He appears not so much as a revolt against societal standards as an embodiment of them, being generous, pious, and courteous, opposed to stingy, worldly, and churlish foes.^[73] Other scholars have by contrast stressed the subversive aspects of the legend, and see in the medieval Robin Hood ballads a plebeian literature hostile to the feudal order.^[74]

"Little John and Robin Hood" by Frank Godwin

Although the term "Merry Men" belongs to a later period, the ballads do name several of Robin's companions.^[75] These include Will Scarlet (or Scathlock), Much the Miller's Son, and Little John - who was called "little" as a joke, as he was quite the opposite.^[76] Even though the band is regularly described as being over a hundred men, usually only three or four are specified. Some appear only once or twice in a ballad: Will Stutely in Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly and Robin Hood and Little John; David of Doncaster in Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow; Gilbert with the White Hand in A Gest of Robyn Hode; and Arthur a Bland in Robin Hood and the Tanner.^[76]

Printed versions of the Robin Hood ballads, generally based on the Gest, appear in the early 16th century, shortly after the introduction of printing in England. Later that century Robin is promoted to the level of nobleman: he is styled Earl of Huntingdon, Robert of Locksley, or Robert Fitz Ooth. In the early ballads, by contrast, he was a member of the yeoman classes, which included common freeholders possessing a small landed estate.^[77]

By the early 15th century at the latest, Robin Hood had become associated with May Day celebrations, with revellers dressing as Robin or as members of his band for the festivities. This was not common throughout England, but in some regions the custom lasted until Elizabethan times, and during the reign of Henry VIII, was briefly popular at court.^[78] Robin was often allocated the role of a May King, presiding over games and processions, but plays were also performed with the characters in the roles,^[79] sometimes performed at church ales, a means by which churches raised funds.^[80]

A complaint of 1492, brought to the Star Chamber, accuses men of acting riotously by coming to a fair as Robin Hood and his men; the accused defended themselves on the grounds that the practice was a long-standing custom to raise money for churches, and they had not acted riotously but peaceably.^[81]

Robin Hood and Maid Marian

It is from the association with the May Games that Robin's romantic attachment to Maid Marian (or Marion) apparently stems. The naming of Marian may have come from the French pastoral play of c. 1280, the Jeu de Robin et Marion, although this play is distinct from the English legends.^[78] Both Robin and Marian were certainly associated with May Day festivities in England (as was Friar Tuck), but these may have been originally two distinct types of performance - Alexander Barclay in his Ship of Fools, writing in c. 1500, refers to "some merry fytte of Maid Marian or else of Robin Hood" - but the characters were brought together.^[75] Marian did not immediately gain the unquestioned role; in Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage, his sweetheart is 'Clorinda the Queen of the Shepherdesses'.^[82] Clorinda survives in some later stories as an alias of Marian.^[76]

In the 16th century, Robin Hood is given a specific historical setting. Up until this point there was little interest in exactly when Robin's adventures took place. The original ballads refer at various points to "King Edward", without stipulating whether this is Edward I, Edward II, or Edward III.^[83] Hood may thus have been active at any point between 1272 and 1377. However, during the 16th century the stories become fixed to the 1190s, the period in which King Richard was absent from his throne, fighting in the crusades.^[84] This date is first proposed by John Mair in his Historia Majoris Britanniæ (1521), and gains popular acceptance by the end of the century.

Giving Robin an aristocratic title and female love interest, and placing him in the historical context of the true king's absence, all represent moves to domesticate his legend and reconcile it to ruling powers. In this, his legend is similar to that of King Arthur, which morphed from a dangerous male-centred story to a more comfortable, chivalrous romance under the troubadours serving Eleanor of Aquitaine. From the 16th century on, the legend of Robin Hood is often used to promote the hereditary ruling class, romance, and religious piety. The "criminal" element is retained to provide dramatic colour, rather than as a real challenge to convention.^[85]

In 1598, Anthony Munday wrote a pair of plays on the Robin Hood legend, The Downfall and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington (published 1601). The 17th century introduced the minstrel Alan-a-Dale. He first appeared in a 17th century broadside ballad, and unlike many of the characters thus associated, managed to adhere to the legend.^[82] This is also the era in which the character of Robin became fixed as stealing from the rich to give to the poor.^[86]

In the 18th century, the stories began to develop a slightly more farcical vein. From this period there are a number of ballads in which Robin is severely "drubbed" by a succession of professionals including a tanner, a tinker and a ranger.^[84] In fact, the only character who does not get the better of Hood is the luckless Sheriff. Yet even in these ballads Robin is more than a mere simpleton: on the contrary, he often acts with great shrewdness. The tinker, setting out to capture Robin, only manages to fight with him after he has been cheated out of his money and the arrest warrant he is carrying. In Robin Hood's Golden Prize, Robin disguises himself as a friar and cheats two priests out of their cash. Even when Robin is defeated, he usually tricks his foe into letting him sound his horn, summoning the Merry Men to his aid. When his enemies do not fall for this ruse, he persuades them to drink with him instead.

The continued popularity of the Robin Hood tales is attested by a number of literary references. In As You Like It, the exiled duke and his men "live like the old Robin Hood of England", while Ben Jonson produced the (incomplete) masque The Sad Shepherd, or a Tale of Robin Hood^[87] as a satire on Puritanism. Somewhat later, the Romantic poet John Keats composed Robin Hood. To A Friend^[88] and Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote a play The Foresters, or Robin Hood and Maid Marian,^[89] which was presented with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan in 1892. Later still, T. H. White featured Robin and his band in The Sword in the Stone - anachronistically, since the novel's chief theme is the childhood of King Arthur.^[90]

The title page of Howard Pyle's 1883 novel, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

The Victorian era^[91] generated its own distinct versions of Robin Hood. The traditional tales were often adapted for children, most notably in Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, which influenced accounts of Robin Hood through the 20th century.^[1] These versions firmly stamp Robin as a staunch philanthropist, a man who takes from the rich to give to the poor. Nevertheless, the adventures are still more local than national in scope: while King Richard's participation in the Crusades is mentioned in passing, Robin takes no stand against Prince John, and plays no part in raising the ransom to free Richard. These developments are part of the 20th century Robin Hood myth.

The idea of Robin Hood as a high-minded Saxon fighting Norman lords also originates in the 19th century. The most notable contributions to this idea of Robin are Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry's Histoire de la Conquête de l'Angleterre par les Normands (1825) and Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1819). In this last work in particular, the modern Robin Hood - "King of Outlaws and prince of good fellows!" as Richard the Lionheart calls him - makes his debut.^[92]

The 20th century grafted still further details on to the original legends. The 1938 film, The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, portrayed Robin as a hero on a national scale, leading the oppressed Saxons in revolt against their Norman overlords while Richard the Lionheart fought in the Crusades; this movie established itself so definitively that many studios resorted to movies about his son (invented for that purpose) rather than compete with the image of this one.^[93]

In the 1973 animated Disney film, Robin Hood, the title character is portrayed as an anthropomorphic fox voiced by Brian Bedford. Years before Robin Hood had even entered production, Disney had considered doing a project on Reynard the Fox. However, due to concerns that Reynard was unsuitable as a hero, animator Ken Anderson lifted many elements from Reynard into Robin Hood, thus making the titular character a fox.^{[citation needed]}

The 1976 British-American film Robin and Marian, starring Sean Connery as Robin Hood and Audrey Hepburn as Maid Marian, portrays the figures in later years after Robin has returned from service with Richard the Lionheart in a foreign crusade and Marian has gone into seclusion in a nunnery. This is the first in popular culture to portray King Richard as less than perfect.

Since the 1980s, it has become commonplace to include a Saracen among the Merry Men, a trend which began with the character Nasir in the Robin of Sherwood television series. Later versions of the story have followed suit: the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and 2006 BBC TV series Robin Hood each contain equivalents of Nasir, in the figures of Azeem and Djaq respectively.^[93] The latest movie version released in spring of 2010 is simply entitled Robin Hood and is directed by Ridley Scott, with Robin played by Russell Crowe. The Saracen character was dropped from this version.

The Robin Hood legend has thus been subject to numerous shifts and mutations throughout its history. Robin himself has evolved from a yeoman bandit to a national hero of epic proportions, who not only supports the poor by taking from the rich, but heroically defends the throne of England itself from unworthy and venal claimants.

Connections to existing locations[link]

The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest

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 and the county is home to literally thousands of other places, roads, inns and objects bearing Robin's name.^{[citation needed]}

Specific sites linked to Robin Hood include the Major Oak tree, claimed to have been used by him as a hideout,^[94] Robin Hood's Well, located near Newstead Abbey (within the boundaries of Sherwood Forest), and the Church of St. Mary in the village of Edwinstowe, where Robin and Maid Marian are historically thought to have wed.^[95] To reinforce this belief, the University of Nottingham in 2010 has begun the Nottingham Caves Survey with the goal "to increase the tourist potential of these sites". The project "will use a 3D laser scanner to produce a three dimensional record of more than 450 sandstone caves around Nottingham".^[96]

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, certain of the original ballads (even those with Nottingham references) locate Robin on occasion in Barnsdale (the area between Pontefract and Doncaster), approximately fifty miles north of Nottingham, in the county of Yorkshire; furthermore, it has been suggested that the ballads placed in this area are far more geographically specific and accurate.^[97] This is reinforced for some by the alleged similarity of Locksley to the area of Loxley, South Yorkshire, in Sheffield, where in nearby Tideswell, which was the "Kings Larder" in the Royal Forest of the Peak, a record of the appearance of a "Robert de Lockesly" in court is found, dated 1245. As "Robert" and its diminutives were amongst the most common of names at the time, and also since it was usual for men to adopt the name of their hometown ("De Lockesly" means simply, "Of [or from] Lockesly"), the record could just as easily be referring to any man from the area named Robert. Although it cannot be proven whether or not this is the man himself, it is further believed by some that Robin had a brother called Thomas - an assertion with no documentary evidence whatsoever to support it in any of the stories, tales or ballads. If the Robert mentioned above was indeed Robin Hood, and if he did have a brother named Thomas, then consideration of the following reference may lend this theory a modicum of credence:

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).

It is again, however, equally likely that Nicolas, John, Robert and Thomas were simply members of a family which came from the area.

In Barnsdale Forest, Yorkshire, there is a well known as Robin Hood's Well (by the side of the Great North Road), a 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 attempt to claim 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.

In the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, at 71 Vicar Lane, is a retail clothing store operated by Hugo Boss. This was the previous location of a pub/music venue known as The Duchess of York which was previously known as the Robin Hood. During an interior refurbishment, wallpaper was removed to reveal a wall mural depicting Robin Hood and his Merry Men in the small snug of the pub. The Landlord at the time, Robin Dover, was photographed standing next to the mural which was published in The Yorkshire Evening Post.

There have been further claims made that he is from Swannington in Leicestershire^[98] or Loxley, Warwickshire.

Robin Hood Tree aka Sycamore Gap, Hadrian's Wall, UK. This location was used in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

This debate is hardly surprising of course, given the considerable value that the Robin Hood legend has for local tourism. 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, amongst other places both far and wide including Hazlebadge Hall, Peveril Castle and Haddon Hall. Mercia, to which Nottingham belonged, came to within three miles of Sheffield City Centre. But before the Law of the Normans was the Law of the Danes, The Danelaw had a similar boundary to that of Mercia but had a population of Free Peasantry which were known to have resisted the Norman occupation. Many outlaws could have been created by the refusal to recognise Norman Forest Law.^[99] The supposed grave of Little John can be found in Hathersage, also in the Peak District.

Robin Hood himself was once thought to have been buried in the grounds of Kirklees Priory between Brighouse and Mirfield in West Yorkshire, although for the reasons given above this theory has now largely been abandoned. There is an elaborate grave there with the inscription referred to above. The story said 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 grave with the inscription is within sight of the ruins of the Kirklees Priory, behind the Three Nuns pub in Mirfield, West Yorkshire. 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. Considering 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 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.

List of traditional ballads[link]

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 share 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.^[100] 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^[101] 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.^[102]

Early ballads (i.e., surviving in 15th- or early 16th-century copies)[link]

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

Ballads appearing in 17th-century Percy Folio[link]

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.^[103]

• 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
• Robin Hood and Queen Katherine

Other ballads[link]

• 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 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 Newly Revived
• 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.^[104] 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."^[105] 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.^[106]

Popular culture[link]

Main characters of the folklore[link]

• Robin Hood (a.k.a., Robin Longstride, Robin of Loxley or Locksley)
• The band of "Merry Men"
  • Little John
  • Friar Tuck
  • Will Scarlett
  • Allan A'Dayle
• Maid Marian
• King Richard the Lionheart
• Prince John
• Sir Guy of Gisbourne
• The Sheriff of Nottingham

See also[link]

• Tadas Blinda
• Eustace Folville
• Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd
• Juraj Jánošík
• Iancu Jianu
• Rummu Jüri
• Ustym Karmaliuk
• Ned Kelly
• Kayamkulam Kochunni
• Nezumi Kozō
• Chucho el Roto
• Schinderhannes
• Robin Hood tax
• Kobus van der Schlossen
• Trysting Tree
• Verysdale
• William de Wendenal
• Redistribution of wealth

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Robin Hood

• Robin Hood on In Our Time at the BBC. (listen now)
• Robin Hood the Facts and the Fiction, has a lot of information on Robin Hood, ballads, medieval records, place names, analysis on the legend etc.
• BBC History: Robin Hood and his Historical Context
• Home of the World Wide Robin Hood Society in Sherwood, Nottingham, England
• Archaeology and History of Medieval Sherwood Forest
• Robin Hood, Friend of Liberty - Ludwig von Mises Institute
• 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
• Robin Hood - from Internet Archive, Project Gutenberg and Google Books (scanned books original editions color illustrated)
• Nottingham Caves Survey
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Robin Hood". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
•  "Robin Hood". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921. 

Yang Zi
Nationality	Singapore
Playing style	Left-handed, shakehand grip
Highest ranking	21 (January 2008)[1]
Born	(1984-06-19) June 19, 1984 (age 28) Beijing, China
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Weight	72 kg (160 lb; 11.3 st)[2]
Medal record Men's table tennis[3] Competitor for  Singapore Asian Games Bronze 2006 Doha Mixed Doubles Southeast Asian Games Gold 2005 Manila Men's Doubles Gold 2005 Manila Men's Team Gold 2005 Manila Mixed Doubles Bronze 2005 Manila Men's Singles Gold 2007 Korat Men's Doubles Gold 2007 Korat Men's Team Gold 2007 Korat Mixed Doubles Gold 2009 Vientiane Men's Team Gold 2009 Vientiane Mixed Doubles Silver 2009 Vientiane Men's Singles Bronze 2009 Vientiane Men's Doubles Commonwealth Games Gold 2006 Melbourne Mixed Doubles Silver 2006 Melbourne Men's Team Bronze 2006 Melbourne Men's Doubles Gold 2010 Delhi Men's Singles Gold 2010 Delhi Men's Team Gold 2010 Delhi Mixed Doubles Silver 2010 Delhi Men's Doubles

Yang Zi (born 19 June 1984 in Beijing, China) is a table tennis player representing Singapore.^[2]

Yang Zi began his table tennis in 2004 when he first participated in the ITTF Pro Tour.^[3] He has represented Singapore in many major events such as 15th Asian Games, 18th Commonwealth Games and 23rd SEA Games. He is currently Singapore's second-ranked male table tennis player.

In 2005, he won 2 Pro Tour Men's Singles U21 titles and won the Pro Tour Grand Finals Men's Singles U21 title. He also won the silver medal in the Beijing Invitational. Later he also managed to clinch 3 gold medals in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games and 2 golds in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. During the world's second largest sports event, 15th Asian Games, Yang Zi, together with partner Li Jiawei, won the bronze medal for the mixed doubles event. The pair made up of Yang and Gao Ning has also won many medals in the ITTF Pro Tour Events.

At the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Yang Zi made it to the 4th round losing to Zoran Primorac of Croatia by a score of 4-2, however managing to defeat Marcos Freitas(POR) and Chuang Chih-yuan(TPE) in the 2nd and 3rd rounds respectively.

Biodata[link]

Weight: 70 kg
Height: 1.84m
Hobbies: Watching Movies, Surfing the Internet

Achievements[link]

• 2008
  • ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals
    • Men's Doubles - Gold (Gao Ning)
  • Beijing Olympic Games
    • Round of 16
  • ITTF Pro Tour China Open
    • Men's Team - Top 4 (Gao Ning, Cai Xiao Li)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Chile Open
    • Men's Doubles - 1st (Gao Ning)
• 2007
  • 24th SEA Games
    • Men's Team - Gold
    • Men's Doubles - Gold (Gao Ning)
    • Mixed Doubles - Gold (Li Jia Wei)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Sweden Open
    • Men's Doubles - 2nd (Gao Ning)
  • ITTF Pro Tour German Open
    • Men's Doubles - 2nd (Gao Ning)
  • ITTF Pro Tour French Open
    • Men's Doubles - Top 4 (Gao Ning)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Austria Open
    • Men's Doubles - 1st (Gao Ning)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Taipei Open
    • Men's Doubles - 2nd (Gao Ning)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Japan Open
    • Men's Doubles - Top 4 (Gao Ning)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Korea Open
    • Men's Doubles - 2nd (Gao Ning)
  • 17th Commonwealth Championships, India, Jaipur
    • Men's Team - Gold
    • Men's Singles - Silver
    • Men's Doubles - Silver (Gao Ning)
    • Mixed Doubles - Gold (Wang Yue Gu)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Chille Open
    • Men's Singles - Top 4
    • Men's Doubles - 2nd (Gao Ning)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Brazilian Open
    • Men's Doubles - 2nd (Gao Ning)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Indian Open
    • Men's Doubles - 1st (Gao Ning)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Taipei Open
    • Men's Doubles - 2nd (Gao Ning)
• 2006
  • 15th ASIAN Games
    • Mixed Doubles - Bronze (Li Jia Wei)
  • 18th Commonwealth Games
    • Men's Doubles - Gold (Cai Xiao Li)
    • Mixed Doubles - Gold (Zhang Xueling)
    • Men's Team - Silver
  • ITTF Pro Tour German Open
    • Men's Doubles - 2nd (partner: Gao Ning)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Russia Open
    • Men's Doubles - 2nd (partner: Gao Ning)
  • ITTF Pro Tour Solovenia Open
    • Men's Doubles - Top 4 (partner: Gao Ning)
• 2005
  • 23rd SEA Games
    • Men's Team - Gold
    • Men's Doubles - Gold (Cai Xiao Li)
    • Mixed Doubles - Gold (Zhang Xueling)
    • Men's Singles - Bronze
  • ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals
    • Men's Singles U21 - 1st
  • ITTF Pro Tour Chinese Taipei Open
    • Men's Singles U21 - 1st
  • ITTF Pro Tour Japan Open
    • Men's Singles U21 - 1st

References[link]

External links[link]

• Singapore Table Tennis Association
• International Table Tennis Ferderation