Robin Hood and his mysterious story: why the robber, nicknamed the Hood, became more popular than the king

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

He is one of the most widely known and popular characters in English folklore. Over the course of several centuries, the details of his image have changed several times, but the most important thing in the noble robber has remained unchanged - "take it from the rich, give it to the poor." Among historians and writers from different countries, there are disputes today - whether Robin Hood was a historical character, whether he had historical prototypes, or is he still an exclusively folklore element and an eternal dream of justice.

To begin with, a little about the history of this literary character. Medieval English ballads about Robin Hood date back to the 14th century. Presumably, the heyday of folk tales about Robin Hood came during the reign of King Edward II, who was not particularly popular either among the people or among the nobility. Many historians argue that the appearance of Robin Hood, even as an exclusively literary character in these times, is quite reasonable. The situation of the common people was very difficult, and as you know, it is at such times that heroes appear, even if they are fictional. To date, about a hundred ballads have been found about this hero.

The romanticization of the hero took place much later. The English robber hero gained wide popularity thanks to the work of Walter Scott "Ivanhoe". The historical novel was published in 1820. In it, Robin Hood (Locksley) played, albeit a minor, nevertheless a very important role. Later, Robin Hood appeared as a hero of more and more novels. Interest in him did not cool down even in the XX century.

Ultimately, the hero's name became a household name. Robin began to identify "noble" robbery - the removal of excess from the possessors and the transfer of the loot to the needy. Both in ballads and in novels, Robin Hood appears as an intelligent, cunning, noble character, not devoid of sometimes a caustic sense of humor. Bad lords, greedy priests and nobles always become opponents of the robber. In the ballads, Robin's main enemy is the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The nickname Robin Hood comes from the English name "Robin" and the word "Hood". The latter traditionally means "hood" (many mistakenly believe that the name of the robber is written as Robin Good - "good", but this is not so) and is a very important detail of the hero's name. The English "Hood" is the best fit for the hero's occupation. In English, it has several meanings and can act as a noun - "hood", and as a verb "to hide". It is possible that even the name Robin was not real, but was a pseudonym. Proof of this is the fact that in ballads Robin often takes other names for himself for conspiracy or to achieve his goals. The extremely successful nickname of the folk hero somewhat reduces the likelihood of his real existence, however, one should not forget that already in the XIV century "Robin Hood" could be a household name for a robber, robbers or a whole movement.

The rationality of the existence of Robin Hood has been proven by historians from the point of view, primarily military-technical. English "long archers" were famous throughout Europe. An arrow fired from an English longbow, especially a canopy, easily coped even with heavy knightly armor. A direct shot from such a bow exceeded 100 steps, which at that time made it a very effective type of weapon. Effective shooting from such a bow could be carried out at 300 meters. A relatively simple and affordable weapon, it had excellent characteristics. With the help of it, as well as a set of various arrows, it was possible to effectively deal with any targets. Thus, a well-organized group of riflemen, who knew a lot about camouflage and ambushes, could easily deal with an entire army detachment, not to mention the church wagon train, without much difficulty and losses. And this means that the existence of Robin Hood as a robber robbing the rich on forest roads is quite possible.

Several times British historians conducted the experiment in conjunction with the SAS fighters. A group of soldiers had to cross the forest along the road, not knowing that they would be ambushed. The second group of soldiers organized an ambush and had to destroy the first. Using only simple traps, training longbows and arrows, as well as exclusively voice signals, gestures and preliminary planning, the second group of soldiers managed to destroy the group walking along the road in less than 14 seconds. At the same time, the ratio was 3 to 1 in favor of those walking on the road. Not the least role in the destruction of the detachment was played by the relative noiselessness of the bow. Scientists have come to the conclusion that medieval rogue archers, with sufficient training, would have coped no worse than the SAS fighters.

The uniqueness of Robin Hood as the defender of the poor is not excluded by historians. The most important and obvious fact that speaks in favor of the existence of Robin Hood is that there are indeed many analogous examples in history when "noble criminals" gave everything looted to the poor. However, to the disappointment of historians, there are no written sources other than ballads that would confirm the existence of Robin Hood - and the chronicles do not mention him, unlike, for example, stories about British expeditions to Greenland for the sake of "Fool's gold" … Thus, most likely, Robin Hood was a popular ideal, a dream of a fighter for justice and a defender of the common people. However, it is possible that the most interesting discoveries are yet to come.