Robin Hood - real person or myth? Robin Hood: did the “noble robber” really exist? Who is Robin Hood briefly about him?

Perhaps no one will argue with the statement that the most famous robber in the world is Robin Hood. In our minds, this hero is purely positive, he is an ardent supporter of the poor and deceived, always ready to restore justice. With the help of his dexterity, cunning, and resourcefulness, he avoided death many times, although many of the rich Englishmen wanted to catch him and send him to the gallows. This article looks at who wrote Robin Hood and why writers often make this outlaw and his friends the main characters in their stories. Let's try to find the right answers to these questions together.

Robin Hood. Book. Author

Those who write about Robin Hood are legion, because the image of this hero attracts people with terrible force, just as adventures attract adventurers. Why do these writers make him the hero of their novels? The answer, apparently, can be given as follows: Robin Hood is an established, very popular character, his traits and character are known to everyone, which means that the writer’s work is simplified and he does not need to bother himself with drawing the image. This greatly simplifies the process of creating a work. It is also not necessary to really rack your brains when coming up with enemies and friends of the main character. The first are the rich, the second are the poor.

Did he exist

If you ask the question of who wrote “Robin Hood,” you must first understand what kind of hero he was, whether he really existed. English historians have long been dealing with the problem of identifying Robin Hood. They pick up documents, study folklore, court records of those distant times. So far, work in this direction has not yielded results and the person from whom the image of Robin Hood was based has not yet been discovered. Today, scientists already agree that Hood is still a literary figure, although he has absorbed the features of many real people - from criminals to righteous people. By the way, Robin Hood is a rather vague and versatile image, although the main definitions and behavioral motives of the hero almost always remained the same (nobility and helping the disadvantaged, the fight against dishonest rich people, and so on), commoners and writers still changed it in accordance with the era, in which they lived. Robin Hood of the 20th century has little in common with Robin Hood of the 19th century, much less the 18th or 17th century.

Original source

If you ask an Englishman who wrote Robin Hood, he will most likely answer that it was Howard Pyle. The writer published the book “The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood” in 1883. When working on the work, he took as a basis the legends and ballads about this noble robber and his team of associates. which is designated as the abode of bandits in all his stories of Robin Hood, in Pyle's mind it is a charming and bright place. Here Robin and his friends feel at ease and liberated, which is why the reader feels the same way when opening the book and plunging into the world of this famous hero. Pyle's book is not easy to read, as it is written in a somewhat archaic manner, but it is the basis for the creation of new works and films about Robin Hood.

Robin Hood is a book whose author is always less famous than his hero. For example, Roger Lancelyn Green, who published the book “The Adventures of Robin Hood” in 1956. This brainchild - an improved version of Pyle's work, already appears here love line together with the heroine Marion - the chosen one of our brave hero.

Good is not the first

In general, it is difficult for writers not to be tempted to create their own story about the outlaws of Sherwood Forest. And it is not at all necessary that the main character should be Robin; he is often pushed into the background, and other, albeit familiar, faces are chosen ahead. Michael Cadnam, for example, cannot be counted among those authors who wrote “Robin Hood,” since he made his hero the “thunderstorm of the rich,” and his faithful assistant was Little John in the book “Forbidden Forest.” In another work, the same writer again left Good out of work, offering to look at the world through the eyes of Geoffrey, the sheriff who opposes him. So this author can be added to the list of selected, extraordinary writers - those who wrote the book "Robin Hood and the Sheriff", in which the latter plays the main role, and the former plays a supporting character. Apparently, the writer decided that the readers' attitude towards Robin would change if they looked at him from the side of his main opponent, the antipode. Representatives of the fair sex act no less impressively with Robin, who can also rightfully be included in the list of those who wrote “Robin Hood”. The author of The Forestwife series, Teresa Tomlinson, for example, brings Marion to the fore. If you look at Robin Hood from the point of view of this writer, you come to the understanding that he was formed as a hero only thanks to the positive influence of his beloved.

Hood and the world of fantasy

Some of those who wrote Robin Hood allow themselves to throw the hero back in time. Here in Park Godwin's book "Sherwood" Robin fights the sheriff in the era of William the Red. There are also those who are interested not in Robin himself, but in his descendants. Writer Nancy Springer introduces readers to a brave girl - his daughter (in the book “Rowan Hood”).

And the fantasy genre could not do without the participation of Robin Hood. In the book “The Sherwood Game,” written by Esther Friesner, programmer Karl Fischner somehow managed to turn the game into reality, and his virtual Robin Hood suddenly comes to life.

Jane Yolen, who created the “Sherwood” series, consisting of nine books, worked very fruitfully on the image of the hero. In one of her stories, the author sent the spirit of Robin Hood into the web of the Internet, where he, with the dexterity of a spider, began to lay his hands on the world's riches.

Is Robin Hood noble?

The earliest Robin Hood was not seen transferring stolen money specifically to the poor. This hero took wealth from the wicked, but gave it not to the poor, but to those who were near and dear to him. The first legends about Robin Hood say that he almost always acted quite simply when robbing: he invited the traveler to a meal, for which he demanded payment in return. And the one who accepted the offer to have dinner or dinner had to lay out everything that was in his pockets. However, one should not condemn Goode - after all, he later corrected himself and transformed into a real hero, selfless, noble, giving all of himself to help the poor. This is why we love him, and therefore we are always happy to see him on television or read the new adventures of Robin Hood - a robber with the heart of a knight. It doesn't matter who wrote the book. Robin Hood will always be remembered, but what about the authors of works about him?

By the name of which Robin himself is sometimes called - Robin Loxley. His forest army numbers several dozen free shooters. All of them are excellent archers, brave, inventive and noble people in their own way.

Robin Hood is one of the few, along with King Arthur, legendary heroes of English ballads who went beyond folklore and became an important cultural reality - ballads are written about him literary works, performances are staged, numerous films are made, etc.

Etymology

Word "hood" in English means "hood" and indicates an element of Robin Hood's clothing, and with an erroneous Russian etymology from the English. "good"- “good” is connected only by a similar sound. At all " hood"- this is not only a hood, but also several other similar headdresses - a bashlyk, a cap, a hood, a human or horse helmet (the main thing is that it covers/protects the entire head). Robin Hood and his opponent Guy of Gisborne wear headdresses called the same word - a hood and a knight's helmet. But the word “hood” also has a figurative meaning - “to hide (cover with a hood).”

The word "robin" translates as "robin", but it is possible that the name of the hero is the result of a reinterpretation of the expression "Rob in hood" - "Robert ("rob", "robber" also means "robber") in the hood." This is what Robin called Marian when he won the archery tournament and proclaimed her queen of the tournament.

Both of these meanings, hood-hood and robin, are played out in the popular television series “Robin of Sherwood” (“Robin of Sherwood”, UK, 1984-1986), where main character often called "Robin in the Hood".

There is also a known association of Robin Hood with Robin Goodfellow, or Puck - a forest spirit in the folklore of the Frisians, Saxons and Scandinavians.

Also, according to the book "Robin Hood" by Stephen R. Lawhead, the word "hood" means "sorcerer" in the Celtic language.

Similar personalities and characters

Kotovsky, Grigory Ivanovich, a hero of the Civil War in Russia, gained fame for the fact that at the beginning of the 20th century he burned landowners' estates in Bessarabia and enjoyed the support of peasants who sheltered him from the gendarmes. In the song of the group “Forbidden Drummers,” Kotovsky is compared to Robin Hood.

Vasily Fedorov, or Manchaary (1805-1870) is a Yakut national hero who opposed the oppression of local feudal lords. Widely known narrator and singer, master of improvisation. The image of Manchaara has been repeatedly highlighted in Russian, Yakut and Soviet literature.

The image of Robin Hood in culture

Books

Walter Scott, Ivanhoe. Here Robin Hood first entered European literature New times (as a minor but very important character).
Alexandre Dumas, "Robin Hood - King of Robbers."
Alexandre Dumas, "Robin Hood in Exile".
Donald Angus, Robin Hood. Robber."
Stephen Lawhead, Robin Hood. The Raven King."
Diana King, Robin Hood
Ascott Lyn, Robin Hood and His Merry Friends
Mikhail Gershenzon, "Robin Hood".
Leonid Filatov, “The Great Love of Robin Hood.”
Elena Khaetskaya (under the pseudonym Medelaine Simons), “The Sword and the Rainbow”.
Sofia Radzievskaya, “The Thousand Year Night”.
Irina Tokmakova, “Robin Hood”
Anna Ovchinnikova, “Robin Hood's Friend and Lieutenant” (a book in the genre of historical fantasy about our contemporary who, by chance, ended up in medieval England and became Robin Hood’s faithful companion, later known as Little Joni).
Catherine Lasky. “Falcon Girl” (a book in the genre of historical fantasy, where the main character is Maid Marian, who understands the language of birds and is able to transform into them).
Tadeusz Kraszewski. "Robin Hood", "Marianne, Robin Hood's Wife" - Robin Hood appears as the son of an Anglo-Saxon nobleman, whose estate was destroyed and he himself was killed during the Norman yoke. The role of oppressors is emphasized by the Normans ruling in England, while the remnants of the Anglo-Saxon landowners lead a patriarchal lifestyle and suffer from tyranny along with the common people.
Kir Bulychev, story “Dragonosaurus”.
Dalia Truskinovskaya, “Luce-A-Garde” (a book in the genre of historical fantasy)

Theater productions

Robin Hood - forest robber. Play by Semyon Zayaitsky, staged story by Viktor Dubrovsky, music by Mark Karminsky, poetry by R. Burns, translation by S. Marshak.
Robin Hood's Arrow. A play by S. Prokofieva and I. Tokmakova, staged in 1981 at the Central Theater of the Soviet Army (dir. S. Artsibashev and A. Burdonsky. Starring: Robin Hood - Nikolai Sakharov, Sir Guy Gisborne - Alexander Baluev). In 1984, the play was filmed for television by director M. Muat (TO “Ekran”).

Film and television films

Robin Hood (USA,) directed by Allan Duon, in the role of Robin Hood: Douglas Fairbanks.
The Adventures of Robin Hood (USA,) directed by Michael Curtis and William Keeley, starring Errol Flynn. The film received three Oscars and one nomination.
The Bandit and the Queen / The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (USA, ). Starring: Russell Hicks.
Robin Hood's Revenge / Rogues of Sherwood Forest (USA, ). Starring: John Derek.
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (USA, ). Starring Richard Todd. The film has not been translated into Russian.
Ivanhoe (USA, 1952). Robin Hood is played by Harold Warrender.
Sword of Sherwood Forest (UK,). Starring: Richard Greene. The same actor starred in the British television series “The Adventures of Robin Hood” in 1955-1960 (see TV series).
The Legend of Robin Hood / Magnifico Robin Hood, Il (Spain, Italy, ). Starring: George Martin.
Arrows of Robin Hood (USSR,) directed by Sergei Tarasov, in the role of Robin: Boris Khmelnitsky.
Robin and Marian (USA, ). As Robin: Sean Connery, as Marian: Audrey Hepburn. In Soviet film distribution it was called Return of Robin Hood.
Ivanhoe (USA, 1982). David Robb plays Robin Hood.
Ballad about the valiant knight Ivanhoe (USSR,) directed by Sergei Tarasov, in the role of Robin Hood: Boris Khmelnitsky.
Robin Hood (Canada, Germany, UK, USA, ). Starring: Patrick Bergin, Uma Thurman.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (USA, ). Starring: Kevin Costner.
Robin Hood: Men in Tights / Robin Hood: Men in Tights (France, USA, ). Comedy parody. Starring: Cary Elwes.
Robin Hood's Daughter: Princess of Thieves (USA, ). The story of Robin Hood's daughter. Starring: Keira Knightley, Robin Hood played by Stuart Wilson
Sherwood Forest / Beyond Sherwood Forest (Canada, ). As Robin Hood: Robin Dunne.
Robin Hood (USA, UK,) directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe.
Robin Hood: Ghosts of Sherwood / Robin Hood: Ghosts of Sherwood (Germany, ). Horror film directed by Oliver Krekel. Starring: Martin Thon

TV series

The Adventures of Robin Hood (-). 4 seasons, 143 episodes in total. Starring: Richard Greene. It has not been translated into Russian.
"Robin from Sherwood" (UK, -). 3 seasons, 26 episodes in total. Starring: Michael Praed, Jason Connery.
The New Adventures of Robin Hood (-). 4 seasons of 13 episodes. As Robin Hood: Matthew Porretta.
Back to Sherwood (1999). Starring: Aimee Castle.
"Robin Hood" / Robin Hood (-). 3 seasons of 13 episodes. The series was produced by the BBC. As Robin Hood: Jonas Armstrong.
"Once Upon a Time" / Once Upon a Time(). The series was produced by ABC. As Robin Hood: Sean Maguire, as well as Tom Ellis.
"Doctor Who" / Doctor Who(). Season 8 episode 3. The series was produced by the BBC. As Robin Hood: Tom Riley.

Cartoons

Animated series Jet Robin Hood/ Rocket Robin Hood (Canada, USA, -). The action takes place in the year 3000 on the Sherwood asteroid, where Robin Hood and his band of "merry astronauts" fight against the evil sheriff.
Brave Robin Hood (USSR, ). This cartoon featured a song by M. Ziv to the verses of Evgeniy Agranovich (“The sorcerers performed a miracle on Robin Hood in the thicket...”).
Robin Hood (USA, ). The cartoon, created by Walt Disney Studios, retells the traditional legends of Robin Hood with anthropomorphic animals as characters(Robin Hood and his beloved Marian are foxes, Little John is a bear, the Sheriff of Nottingham is a wolf, Prince John is a mangy lion, and the like).
The Adventures of Robin Good (Australia, ).
Robin Hood (Japan, ).
Robin Hood - The Prankster from Sherwood (France, 2013-2015).

Documentaries

Unraveling the mysteries of the story with Ollie Steeds. Robin Hood(English) Solving History with Olly Steeds. Robin Hood) - Discovery TV channel, 2010.

Computer games

Robin of the Wood (1985) - a quest with action movie elements.
Super Robin Hood (1985) - action movie.
Defender of the Crown (1986) - a strategy game about civil war in England. In it, Robin Hood is the player's ally in the unification of the state.
Amazing Adventures of Robin Hood, The (1993) - action film.
Conquest of the Longbow (1990) - a quest with arcade elements.
Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood (2002) - a tactics game similar to Commandos.
Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown (2003) - a game that tells the story of Robin Hood's struggle with Prince John for the throne, for the sake of the real king. The game contains elements of arcade, strategy, and shooter. It is a remake of the 1986 game.
In the mission editor of the Age of Empires II strategy there are units Robin Hood, Took and Sheriff of Nottingham. It also contains the Sherwood Forest and Heroes of Sherwood cards.
In the strategy Medieval II: Total War There is a unique unit of the English crown, the Sherwood Fusiliers.

Songs

“The Ballad of Free Shooters” - V. Vysotsky
“Robin Hood and the Tanner” (translation by Yuri Ivanov) - group “Sherwood”, album Crafty Joanna, 2010
"Robin Hood" - group "Kar-man"
“Robin Hood” - group “Edguy”, album “Age of Joker”
“Carmen Horrendum” - group “Zimovye Zverey”
“Robin Hood” - group “Marco Polo”, album “Alexandria”, 2015

Additionally

Record “Robin Hood”, USSR, All-Union recording studio “Melodiya”. Children's musical based on the play by Semyon Zayaitsky. Most of the songs are adaptations of Robert Burns's poems translated by S. Marshak. The songs are performed by many leading artists of the USSR.
In the series "Charmed" episode 14 of season 7, the ex-demon Drake thinks that he is Robin Hood due to a spell. Also in the same episode, some scenes from the story of Robin Hood are parodied.
In the animated series "Transformers: Animated" one of negative characters, a Detroit thief nicknamed "The Dread Archer", dresses like Robin Hood and uses a bow and arrow as his weapon.
The cartoon "Shrek" features Robin Hood and his gang, who were taught a lesson by Fiona.
In the movie “Superfantozzi”, the bankrupt Fantozzi receives a huge amount of money from Robin Hood, and when he rejoices at the wealth that has fallen on him, he takes it back.
In M. Dahlin's book To Kill the Necromancer, there is a character called Good Robin, which is a reference to Robin Hood, but in the book he is a negative character.
"Robin Hood" is a RASH skinhead band from St. Petersburg, playing Oi/Streetpunk since 2010.

Notes

Links

Gershenzon M. A. Robin Hood.
Morozov M. M. Ballads about Robin Hood // Selected articles and translations - M.: GIHL, 1954.
Boris Nevsky. Forward to the past. Robin Hood // World of Fantasy.
Robin Hood - Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood (eng.)
site with Robin Hood plays, poems, ballads, etc. (English)

Scientists still do not agree on whether the robber Robin Hood actually existed. There is a version that the legends about the noble robber are echoes of ancient pagan cults of forest creatures. Proponents of this hypothesis cite as evidence one of the nicknames of the Celtic god Puck, who always walked with a retinue of not very kind spirits. This Puck was called Robin Goodfellow. However, today the mythological origin of Robin Hood is not taken seriously by most historians. The fifty legends and legends about the forest robber that have reached us do not contain anything fantastic. The images of Robin Hood and his associates are extremely down-to-earth; they are endowed with many features of real people.

The period in which the Robin Hood legends originated is almost non-controversial. The first mention of people singing ballads about the terrible robber Robin Hood is found in a poem by William Langland dated 1377. So the ballads about Robin appeared, apparently, in the 14th century.

Strange as it may seem to the modern reader, neither the legendary Robin Hood nor his possible historical prototype could have met Richard the Lionheart and even been contemporaries of the famous crusader king. The introduction of the robber and the monarch was invented in the middle of the 18th century, and it was popularized by Walter Scott. The Scottish novelist was not very concerned about the historical accuracy of his books, but the power of his talent has been making readers believe for 200 years that Robin Hood lived in the 12th century. This opinion was “cemented” by numerous followers of Sir Scott, who forced Robin and Richard to meet on the pages of books, movie screens and computer monitors.

Robin Hood's Gang

In fact, Robin Hood could live and rob only at least a century after the reign of Richard. Only in the 13th century did archery competitions appear in England - an invariable feature of the ballads about Robin Hood. An active member of the Sherwood gang, Brother Tuck in legend is called a “friar,” that is, a member of a mendicant monastic order. Such orders appeared in England only a few decades after the death of Richard the Lionheart.

It turns out that if the real Robin Hood existed, he could have lived between the mid-13th and 14th centuries. Are there any contenders for the title of prototype of the Sherwood robber who lived at this time? It turns out there is, and more than one.

Most often, a certain Robert Hoad is named as the “real” Robin Hood. Some Russian-speaking supporters of this version, violating modern rules for transcribing English proper names, prefer to write the surname Hode as “Goud” or even “Good”. But phonetic tricks as arguments in a historical dispute hardly look convincing. Nothing in Robert Hoad's biography indicates that he was interested in robbery.

Possible grave of Robin Hood

He was born in 1290 in the family of forester Adam Hoad, who lived near the town of Wakefield in northern England. In 1322, Earl Warren, master of Howde, joined the Duke of Lancaster's rebellion against King Edward. The rebellion was defeated, its leaders were executed, and ordinary participants were declared outlaws. Robert Hoad's house, where his wife Matilda was already raising several children, was confiscated by the authorities. In 1323, Edward II paid a visit to Nottingham, and a few months later the name of Robert Howde appeared on the lists of the king's servants for a couple of years. The Gazette, dated November 22, 1324, reads: "By order of His Majesty the King, that Robert Howde, ex-Guardsman, should be given 5s. in view of his no longer serving in the palace." Houd died in 1346. This biography is easily combined with one of the ballads, in which Edward II, disguised as an abbot, visits Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest, forgives all the robbers and takes them into his service. However, all this may be nothing more than a coincidence.

Even less is known about the other applicant for the title of Robin Hood prototype. The name of one Robin Hoad appears in the year 1226 in the court records of the city of York. It says that the man's property, valued at 32 shillings and 6 pence, was confiscated and he was declared an outlaw. Further traces of Robin Hod are lost, and not necessarily in Sherwood Forest.

Finally, the third applicant is of noble origin. His name was Robert Fitzut, Earl of Huntington. The only reason for appointing a scion of an ancient family as the leader of a bandit gang is a gravestone near Kirklees Abbey, where, according to legend, Robin Hood died. The famous archer bequeathed to bury himself where the last arrow fired from his bow would fall. And then in the middle of the 18th century a sensation broke out: the grave of Robin Hood was found. A certain William Stukeley, a doctor, freemason and amateur historian, wrote in his book “Paleographica Britannica” that the Sherwood robber belonged to the family of the Earls of Huntington. As evidence, he cited an inscription on a grave near Kirklees Abbey. It read: “Here, under this little stone, lies Robert, the true Earl of Huntington. There was no archer more skillful than him. And people called him Robin Hood. England will never see criminals like him and his men again.”

Robin Hood and Little John

This stone can still be seen today, although it is located on private property. True, it is almost impossible to see the inscription - it has been almost completely erased. The authenticity of it, and of the grave itself, was already in great doubt in the 19th century: the text was written not in Old English, but in the language of the 18th century, “aged” with the help of gross errors. The date of death at the end of the inscription aroused even greater suspicion: “24 cal: Dekembris, 1247.” If we use the Roman calendar format adopted in 13th-century England, we get “23 days before December.” No inscription with a similar spelling of the date is known. Modern scientists believe that both the inscription and the stone are fakes of the 18th century.

By the way, the origin of Robin Hood from the village of Loxley, which became especially popular after the film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” is not seriously considered by anyone. This name is not mentioned either in the ballads about Robin Hood or in documents associated with its possible prototypes. Loxley was first mentioned as the birthplace of the Earl of Huntington by Joseph Wriston in 1795, defending the theory of the archer's noble origins. It is not clear what motivated him in doing so.

Sheriff of Nottingham

It is quite possible that Robin Hood does not have a specific prototype known to historians. Perhaps in the 13th century there lived in Sherwood Forest a cheerful and successful robber, of which there were many in England at that time. He helped peasants he knew several times, and stories about this, growing with new details and conjectures, turned into folk legends. At least several of Robin Hood's friends and enemies known from the ballads have clearly legendary origins.

Of the entire Sherwood gang, only Little John left some material traces. The Derbyshire village of Heathersage proudly calls itself the birthplace of Robin Hood's closest friend. At the local cemetery they will readily show you his grave, albeit with a modern stone slab without indicating the date of death. When this burial was opened in 1784, they found the skeleton of a real giant. This convinced everyone that the grave was genuine: after all, John was nicknamed the Kid as a joke; according to legend, he was seven feet tall (213 centimeters). In court documents of the 14th century, it was also possible to find a mention of a certain John Le Little, who robbed people in the vicinity of Wakefield. But this can hardly be considered another proof of the reality of Little John’s existence, since nicknames given by height are not uncommon.

Robin Hood and Maid Marian, 1866. Painting by Thomas Frank Hafey

Traces of Robin Hood's remaining associates can only be found in folklore. Some of his friends do not appear in the early versions of the legends; they became members of the gang already in late Middle Ages. Around the same time, Robin Hood had a lover. The name Marian is not mentioned in folk ballads, but this character was traditionally present at folk May holidays as the May Queen. Somewhere in the 15th century, Robin Hood became the hero of these walks, usually held at the edge of the forest. How could you not make up wonderful couple? The rest is the work of writers and filmmakers.

The origin of Robin Hood's eternal opponents is also rather vague. The Sheriff of Nottingham, of course, existed, but none of the legends mentions his name. So a dozen royal officials who took turns in this post for several centuries could have felt an acute personal hostility towards the Sherwood robber. The cruel knight Guy of Gisborne, who wore horse skin instead of a cloak, is a legendary figure. At the beginning of the millennium, there were separate legends about him, and at the end of the 15th century he appeared in the ballads about Robin Hood.

Bishop's oak

Who the heroes and anti-heroes of Sherwood Forest really were is known for certain today only by the huge oak tree standing in the thicket at the crossroads of major roads. It is more than a thousand years old; back in the 19th century, special supports had to be made for the huge branches. According to legend, it was under this giant that Robin Hood forced the captured bishop to dance. Since then, the tree has been called the Bishop's Oak. Whether this actually happened or not is a mystery.

Robin Hood doesn't owe his name to English word"good", that is, "good", as Russian readers usually think. The most common belief is that he got his nickname from “hood,” that is, a hood or other headdress. Robin Hood - Robin in the hood.

A character from English folklore, a skilled archer and warrior from Sherwood Forest who robs the rich and distributes his loot to the poor. Interestingly, this trait was not part of the original ballad character and did not appear until the 19th century. It is unknown whether the legend of the noble robber had a real prototype or whether it was based only on medieval ballads and tales, but over the past centuries Robin Hood has become one of the most popular elements of English culture, and the story about him feels great in the age of cinema and television.

Robin Hood owes his name not to the English word “good,” that is, “good,” as Russian readers usually believe. The most common belief is that he got his nickname from “hood,” that is, a hood or other headdress. Robin Hood - Robin in the hood. Attempts to connect this name with a real person have led nowhere, in particular because Robert has been one of the most popular names in England over the past ten centuries, and Robin is perhaps the most popular diminutive version of it. . It is not surprising that in medieval records there were many people named Robert or Robin Hood, and some of them were indeed criminals - but not so famous or significant as to contribute to the birth of the legend.

Robin Hood is accompanied by a squad of loyal companions, all of whom live together in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, where the action of the first Robin ballads and modern films and television films mainly takes place. In the earliest accounts he was a yeoman gone into the woods, a free peasant, but later he was often portrayed as an exiled aristocrat, unjustly deprived of his possessions due to the machinations of an unscrupulous sheriff. The Forest Archer is often called Robin of Loxley - he is believed to have been born in this village near Sheffield, but this version dates from the late 16th century, while there are earlier versions of his birthplace, such as the village of Skelough in South Yorkshire (Skellow, South Yorkshire), which has been associated with the name of Robin Hood since 1422.

The first reference to the poems about Robin Hood dates from the end of the 14th century, but the ballads themselves were written down only in the 15th and 16th centuries, and already in them Robin Hood has all his main features - he comes from the common people, worships the Virgin Mary, enjoys increased attention from women, he is a skilled archer, cannot stand clergymen and is at enmity with the Sheriff of Nottingham. Little John, Will Scarlet and Much the Miller's Son have already appeared in Robin's squad, but there is still no mention of Maid Marian and the cheerful monk Friar Tuck Tuck) - they will appear a little later. In popular culture, Robin Hood is considered a contemporary and supporter of King Richard the Lionheart, that is, he lives in England in the 12th century.

Interestingly, the first ballads give readers a few details to determine the time of the action, such as King Edward, for example, but the ballads, of course, cannot be considered a reliable historical source in such matters. Moreover, there were several kings with this name - King Edward I ascended the throne in 1272, and Edward III died in 1377. Since the 16th century, Robin Hood "becomes" a nobleman, usually considered the Earl of Huntingdon, and this version is still very popular today.

In any case, Robin Hood is a model for any noble robber. He collects tribute from wealthy merchants, knights or high-ranking clerics who were not lucky enough to meet him in Sherwood Forest, offering them to dine on juicy venison, obtained, of course, by poaching. True, the payment for such a dinner is usually the “guest’s” wallet. There are exceptions to the rules - in one of the ballads, Robin Hood invites a knight to dinner, intending to rob him completely, but upon learning that the knight is about to lose his land, which the greedy abbot has his eye on, he gives him enough money to pay debt to the abbot.

Robin Hood is young, tall, handsome and very intelligent, despite his simple origins. He and his men usually dress in green, which helps them hide in the dense forests. He has a sharp tongue, loves to joke, and can be quick-tempered and quick to kill. It is very interesting that in the ballads Robin holds his people in strict obedience, and, recognizing his supremacy, they kneel before him as before their lord - in medieval tales there is no hint of modern ideals of equality and brotherhood. Historians argue that the legend of Robin Hood was cultivated mainly among the gentry, the minor nobility, and it would be a mistake to see him as the embodiment of a peasant revolt. He does not so much rebel against the social standards of the Middle Ages as he embodies them - generous, moderately pious and courtly, despising greedy, effeminate and discourteous enemies. Although there are more than a hundred people in his squad of "Merry Men", only four or five of them, Robin's closest friends and associates, are regularly described in ballads.

At the latest, by the beginning of the 15th century, Robin Hood had become associated with the May holidays, and around the same time, Robin Hood's romantic attachment to Maid Marian (or Marion), who eventually became his lifelong friend, appeared in the sources. Marian is also portrayed either as a commoner or as an heir to a noble family, and in modern culture it is believed that eventually Robin and Marian marry and leave the forest, returning to a rich and civilized life.

The Victorian era created its own Robin Hood - it was during this period that he became a philanthropist who robbed the rich to give gifts to the poor - and the 20th century brought its own changes: from book to book, from film to film, Robin Hood turned from a merry bandit to a national one. a hero of epic proportions who not only cares for the weak, but also bravely defends the English throne from unworthy and corrupt lords.

Most of us know the legend of the noble robber Robin Hood. He stole from the rich and gave to the poor, whom the rich robbed. In any legend there is some truth and a lot of fiction. The legend of Robin Hood is no different in this sense. Scientists have long been trying to understand who was the prototype of this folk hero. Over the entire period of studying this issue, several common versions have emerged. Let's figure it out.

Robin Dobry Maly

Let's start a little unconventionally and from afar, namely with the folklore of the Saxons and Scandinavians - more precisely, with the forest spirit Puck, or Peck, or Pook ( English Puck), who in England itself is called Hob ( English Hob). The folklore of the Saxons is important here, since part of this ancient Germanic tribe participated in the formation of the ethnic composition of the population of the British Isles. The Scandinavians also participated, but later, starting with the era of the Norman Conquest of England 1066-1072.

Actually, Puck is a forest spirit who scares people and makes them wander through the thickets. And if in Scandinavian folklore Puck is a creature associated more with evil, then for the British he is a joker and a spoiler, a trickster (he can either help or harm). Rudyard Kipling in Tales of Old England described him as an elf dressed all in green. In addition to the colors of clothing (Robin Hood wore a green cloak/cape with a pointed hood) and dual behavior (a robber, but a good robber), there is also a similarity in the name, since the English call Puck, or Hob, also by the name Robin Goodfellow - Robin the Good Fellow . One might assume that at some stage Hob “incarnated” himself into the character of the Robin Hood legend, but this is not entirely true.

Historical prototypes

The most common version of Robin Hood is the one in which the robber is a contemporary of King Richard I the Lionheart (second half of the 12th century). This is reported in a chronicle of the 16th century. But there is a nuance here - the famous episode from the legend of Robin Hood, which describes his participation in archery competitions. The fact is that such competitions in England began to be held no earlier than the 13th century. However, nothing prevented this story from becoming a legend right away.

Other information relating to 1261 tells us about a certain robber Robin, who ruled the forests of England at that time. There is also evidence according to which Robert Goad (Hood or Hod) was born in 1290, lived in the era of Edward II, at the age of 32 he found himself in the service of the Earl of Lancaster, who was defeated during the uprising he raised against the king, and his servants were declared outlawed. To avoid justice, Robert went to Sherwood Forest, where he gathered a band of robbers with the aim of extorting money from the rich. There is a record about this same Robert that he worked for several months at the court of Edward II - the legend beautifully played out this episode, building its own chronological sequence of events. Robert died in 1346 in the Kirkley monastery from a serious illness.

It turns out that the fact of the existence of the famous robber (or several) is documented and dates back to the 13th-14th centuries. But did he and his gang really live up to the image that popular rumor created?

Daniel Maclise. Robin Hood and his men entertain Richard the Lionheart in Sherwood Forest

It seems not, but most likely not at all. Even if he helped the poor, this is not recorded in any document. He did not know the girl Marian (Robin's legendary lover). Marian got into the legend of a noble robber from a 13th-century French poem, where she plays the role of the shepherd Robin's girlfriend. Monk Took, a drinker, a merry fellow and an unsurpassed stick fight fighter, either entirely fictional character, or its prototype was a real priest of a local church, who in reality created his own band of robbers and lived in the XIV-XV centuries. Robin Hood's faithful friend Little John, whose grave was opened in 1784, was indeed a very tall man. But he was not a merry fellow at all. On the contrary, he is stern, touchy and capable of brutal murders.

It turns out that the real prototype that formed the basis of the legend about the noble robber Robin Hood and his gang did exist. But people in those harsh times wanted a “ray of light” so much that its collective image turned out to be completely unrecognizable...