Perhaps no one will argue with the statement that the most famous robber in the world is Robin Hood. In our view, 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, resourcefulness, he avoided death many times, although many of the rich Englishmen wanted to catch and send him to the gallows. This article talks about who wrote Robin Hood and why writers often make this outlaw and his friends the main characters in their stories. Let's try together to find the right answers to these questions.

Robin Hood. Book. Author

Those who write about Robin Hood are legion, because the image of this hero attracts with terrible force, like adventures beckon adventurers. Why do these workers of the pen make him the hero of their novels? The answer, apparently, can be given as follows: Robin Hood is an established, very popular character, his features 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 an image. This greatly simplifies the creation process. It is also not necessary to rack your brains too much, inventing enemies and friends of the protagonist. The first are the rich, the second are the poor.

Did he exist

If you ask yourself who wrote "Robin Hood", you must first understand what kind of hero this is, whether he really was. English historians have long dealt with the problem of identifying Robin Hood. They raise 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 written off has not yet been found. Today, scientists already agree that Good is still a literary figure, although he has absorbed the features of many real people - from criminals to the righteous. 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 help to 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. The Robin Hood of the 20th century has little in common with the Robin Hood of the 19th century, and even more so - the 18th or 17th centuries.

original source

If you ask an Englishman about who wrote "Robin Hood", he will most likely answer that it is Howard Pyle. The writer published 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 robbers in all his stories about Robin Hood, in Pyle's imagination 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 when opening the book and plunging into the world of this illustrious hero. Pyle's book is not easy to read, as it is written in a somewhat archaic manner, but it is she who is the basis for creating new works and films about Robin Hood.

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

Hood is not the first

In general, it's hard 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, often he is pushed into the background, and other, albeit familiar faces, are selected forward. Michael Cadnam, for example, cannot be counted among those authors who wrote "Robin Hood", since he made his hero a "thunderstorm of the rich", and his faithful assistant - Little John in the book "Forbidden Forest". In another work, the same writer again left Hood out of work, offering to look at the world through the eyes of Jeffrey, the sheriff who opposes him. So this author can be included in 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 is the hero of the second plan. Apparently, the writer decided that the attitude of readers to Robin will change if you look at him from the side of his main opponent, the antipode. Representatives of the fair sex, who can also rightfully be included in the list of those who wrote "Robin Hood", act no less imposingly with Robin. Teresa Tomlinson, author of The Forestwife series of books, for example, brings Marion to the fore. If you look at Robin Hood from the point of view of this writer, then the understanding comes that as a hero he was formed 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 in time. Here at Godwin Park in the book "Sherwood" Robin fights with the sheriff in the era of William the Red. There are those who are not interested in Robin himself, but in his descendants. Writer Nancy Springer introduces readers to a brave girl - his daughter (in the book "Rowan Good").

And in the genre of fantasy, it was not without the participation of Robin Hood. In The Sherwood Game, written by Esther Friesner, programmer Karl Fischner manages to somehow turn the game into reality, and his virtual Robin Hood suddenly comes to life.

Jane Yolen, who created the Sherwood cycle, 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 to the Internet, where he, with the dexterity of a spider, began to take over the world's wealth.

Is Robin Hood Noble

The earliest Robin Hood was not seen in the transfer of the stolen money to the poor. This hero took wealth from the wicked, but gave it not to the poor, but to those who were close and dear to him. In the first legends about Robin Hood, it is said that he almost always acted quite simply during a robbery: he called the traveler to a meal, for which he demanded payment in return. And the one who accepted the offer to dine or dine had to lay out everything that was in his pockets. However, it’s not worth judging Hood - after all, later he corrected himself and transformed into a real hero, selfless, noble, giving everything of himself to help the poor. For this we love him, and therefore we are always glad to see 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?

Who really was Robin Hood?

A romantic hero who robbed the rich to help the poor, or a bloodthirsty bandit who was idealized by later generations? What is the true face of a daring daredevil named Robin Hood?

In the historical chronicles of six hundred years ago, it is possible to find only a brief mention of the rogue of the same name, who hunted in the forests of Central England.

However, it is unlikely that the petty villain would have been awarded the attention of chroniclers if his deeds did not stand out in any way from a number of other events of those troubled times. And yet, when wars, plague and famine were commonplace, the historiography of that time gives him a few lines. The rest was taken care of by popular rumor.

Through the depths of time, numerous legends about a romantic robber have come down to our days, whose name, oddly enough, is now more widely known than during his lifetime. That name is Robin Hood.

Truth and fiction

1988, March - Nottingham city council, in the east-central part of the UK, released a report on the most famous citizen of the city. Because over the years the council has received thousands of inquiries about Robin Hood and his brave squad, the council decided to make a definite statement on this matter.

Despite the fact that the legends about Robin Hood have a long history, the members of the city council took it upon themselves to question the veracity of the legend of the elusive Robin and find out who Robin Hood was.

After a thorough study of the distant past of Nottingham, the researchers came to the conclusion that the brave hero, who robbed the rich to help the poor, did not even know the maiden Marian - according to legend, Robin Hood's beloved. Monk Tuk, they believe, is a completely fictional person. Little John was a vicious and grumpy man who had nothing in common with a carefree character from folklore. This interpretation was obtained by the results of the research.

Having debunked the legend, the members of the council hoped by this to gain fame for themselves as discoverers. However, they were only the latest in a series of skeptics. Because when studying the history of Robin Hood, it is almost impossible to separate fact from fiction. And before them, many undertook to explore this exciting story, but the image of Robin did not fade from this at all.

So, who is Robin Hood, where is the truth, and where is the fiction about a man whose exploits still excite readers, cinema and TV viewers? Some tend to take for granted what serious investigators have uncovered: Robin robbed passers-by on the Great North Road near Barnsdale in South Yorkshire and looted with his gang of outlaws in Sherwood Forest 30 miles from Nottingham. Others are more attracted by the romantic version of the legend that this handsome hero actually robbed, but only the rich, in order to give the stolen goods to the poor.

Facts in history

The first reports that Robin Hood was in charge in the forests and wastelands of England date back to 1261. However, in written sources, he was first mentioned only a hundred years later. This was done by the Scottish historian Fordun, who died in 1386.

The following information about Robin Hood in the chronicles refers to the 16th century.

According to the chronicler John Stowe, it was a robber during the reign of Richard I. He was the leader of a gang, which included a hundred brave outcasts. They were all excellent archers. Although they traded in robbery, yet Robin Hood “did not allow oppression or other violence against women. He did not touch the poor, distributing to them everything that he took away from the saints and noble rich.

We will consider this story from the most benevolent positions. Let's start with the fact that the existence of Robin Hood is documented. He lived in Wakefield, Yorkshire, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

The documents record that the legendary robber was born in 1290 and was named Robert Hood. In the old registers, three spellings of the surname are given: God, Goad and Good. But no one disputes the origin of Robin: he was a servant of the Earl of Warren.

How did the peasant son get on the path of robbers?

1322 - Robin passed into the service of a new master, Sir Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. When the earl led a rebellion against King Edward II, Robin, like the other servants of the earl, had no choice but to obey his master and take up arms. However, the uprising was crushed, Lancaster was captured and beheaded for treason. His possessions were confiscated by the king, and the count's people who took part in the rebellion were outlawed.

Robin has found the perfect hideout in the wilderness of Sherwood Forest, in Yorkshire.

Sherwood Forest covered an area of ​​25 square miles and adjoined Yorkshire. Through the Sherwood and Barnsdale woodlands, the Great North Road, laid out by the Romans, passed through, on which there was heavy traffic. This attracted the attention of outcast robbers.

So there was a legend about Robin Hood, a man in green clothes, the color of the forest.

New stories

The legends about Robin abound with many funny stories about his daring adventures and antics. One of them tells how the swaggering and narrow-minded Bishop of Hertsford, on his way to York, met with Robin and his people, who were roasting venison, obtained in the royal hunting forests.

Mistaking Robin's men for simple peasants, the bishop ordered those who killed the deer to be seized. The robbers calmly refused: the deer can no longer be resurrected, and everyone is terribly hungry. Then, at the sign of the bishop, those around the fire were surrounded by his servants. The robbers, laughing, began to beg for mercy, but the bishop was adamant. Robin eventually got fed up with the bickering. He gave a signal, and the rest of the gang arrived from the forest. The dumbfounded bishop was taken prisoner and demanded a ransom.

Wanting to teach his hapless hostage a lesson, Robin made him dance a jig around a huge oak tree. To this day, that place in the forest is called the "bishop's oak."

It is also said that one day Robin, accompanied by his best friend Little John, paid a visit to Whitby Priory. The abbot asked them to show their vaunted skill in archery. It was necessary to shoot from the monastery roof. Robin and Baby John gladly granted his request. They did not shame their glory.

Passed from mouth to mouth, one of the most beloved stories about how Robin met Edward II has been preserved in the people's memory. According to legend: the king, worried that his deer population was melting before his eyes, disappearing into the insatiable wombs of robbers, wanted to clear his forest of poachers once and for all.

The king and his knights, disguised as monks, went to Sherwood Forest, knowing that Robin Hood and a gang were waiting for unlucky travelers there. And they were not wrong. The robbers stopped them and demanded money.

The disguised king declared that he had only 40 pounds (a rather insignificant amount for that time). Robin took 20 pounds for his men and returned the rest to the king.

Then Edward told the leader that he was called to Nottingham to meet with the king. Robin and his men fell to their knees and swore their love and devotion to Edward, then invited the "monks" to dine with them - to taste the king's own venison!

In the end, Edward realized that Robin was simply mocking him. Then he revealed himself to the robbers and forgave them on the condition that they all come to the court for service as soon as he called them.

This story, of course, seems implausible, created by the imagination of fans of Robin Hood. But in the end, maybe not everything in it is fiction.

The fact is that this case is described in Robin Hood's Little Feat, published in 1459. It is known for certain that the king visited Nottingham in 1332. We also know that a few months after this, the name of Robin Hood is mentioned in reports of Edward's court.

However, he soon suddenly disappeared from the royal court, only to reappear in the forest and in popular rumor.

So, let's continue the story of the daring adventures of Robin Hood. He appeared at the church of St. Mary in Nottingham, where a monk recognized the robber and informed the sheriff. Robin was captured only after he single-handedly killed 12 soldiers with his sword. Even being imprisoned, the fearless leader had no doubt that his true friends would not leave him. Shortly before Robin was due to stand trial, Little John organized a daring attack and returned their leader to the bandit brethren. For complete justice, the robbers tracked down and killed the monk who betrayed Robin.

forest brotherhood

It is impossible to talk about Robin Hood without paying tribute to his cheerful gang and legendary girlfriend, Maid Marian.

Robin's closest assistant was Little John, presumably not a merry fellow at all, but a gloomy and very vulnerable guy. Most likely, he was called the Kid as a joke, since he was quite tall. This was discovered when, in 1784, his grave was opened at Hathersage and the bones of a rather tall man were found.

As for Brother Took, opinions differ about him. Some believe that this legendary character combines the features of two fat monks, others believe that there really was such a cheerful person who loved to have fun and dance in the company of forest brothers. Perhaps it was Robert Stafford, a priest from Sussex (early 15th century), who sometimes, under the pseudonym of Brother Took, participated in the adventures of a gay gang.

Maid Marian as a character also fits well with the theory that the image of Robin came from folk tales of traditional May festivities and games. Marian could simply be a girl chosen for her beauty as the "Queen of May".

The inconsistency of the image

The legendary adventures of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest supposedly ended in 1346. It is believed that he died in Kirkless Monastery after a serious illness. The abbess treated Robin with copious bloodletting, as a result of which, weakened and exsanguinated, he never recovered from his illness.

Such is the romantic image of Robin Hood, a daredevil and benefactor. But the Anglo-Saxons have a strange tendency to denigrate their idols, and Robin suffered more than others from this.

Graham Black, director of the Nottanham Tales of Robin Hood exhibition, said: "We have come close to knowing the true identity of Robin Hood."

According to Black, the real story of Robin dates back to 1261, when William, son of Robert Smith, was outlawed in Berkshire. The law clerk who wrote the decree named him William Robinhood.

Other court documents survive that mention people named Robinhood, most of whom are criminals. Therefore, researchers believe that if Robin Hood actually existed, then he most likely acted before that time.

The most likely candidate for this dubious role, according to Graham Black, is Robert Hod, an inhabitant of the Archbishopric of York, who escaped justice in 1225. Two years later he is mentioned in written documents as Hobhod.

Where does the romantic version of the legend come from?

According to some versions, Robin was a nobleman. But this is an obvious invention of the playwright, who in 1597 wanted to attract the nobility to his theater. Previously, Robin was considered a vassal of the lord.

The glory of Robin Hood as the greatest archer comes from wandering storytellers who passed from mouth to mouth ballads about the legendary robber, recorded in the second half of the 15th century.

As for the girl Marian, it is believed that she was a beauty guarded by the treacherous Prince John. She first met Robin when she was ambushed by his men. However, scholars do not agree with this version, claiming that Marian appeared in a French poem of the 13th century as a shepherdess with her shepherd Robin. Only 200 years after the appearance of this poem, she finally entered the legend of Robin Hood. And the reputation of the immaculate virgin Marian gained much later under the influence of chaste Victorian morality.

According to legend, Brother Tuk was a merry glutton who amused the robbers with his funny antics and jokes. The monk was unsurpassed in stick fights. In fact, it turns out that Brother Tuk also existed. This name was given to the priest of Lindfield parish from Sussex, in fact a murderer and robber, when in 1417 a royal decree was issued for his arrest, the priest went on the run.

James Holt, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Cambridge and author of a book on Robin Hood, wrote: “Written evidence shows that Brother Took organized his band of robbers two hundred miles from Sherwood Forest, centuries after Robin Hood. In fact, Brother Tuk was quite far from harmless gaiety, for he ruined and burned the hearths of his enemies.

Little John, Robin's right hand, was capable of brutal murders. It was he who killed the monk, suspected of betraying Robin, then beheaded the young servant of the monk, a witness to the murder.

But Little John did a lot of brave things. One of them, which has already been mentioned, is the rescue of Robin Hood from a well-fortified prison guarded by the guards of the notorious Sheriff of Nottingham.

Regarding Robin Hood, Professor Holt wrote: “He was absolutely not the way he is described. He wore a cap like a monastic hood. There is absolutely no evidence that he robbed the rich to give money to the poor. The legend acquired these fabrications 200 or more years after his death. And during his lifetime he was known as a notorious marauder.

And yet, following the legends of hoary antiquity, we prefer to see in Robin Hood the protector of the oppressed and disenfranchised, the brave and cheerful chieftain, now and then wiping the nose of those in power.

And we want to believe that, ending his life path, full of various feats, our hero, on the verge of death, blew a horn with his last strength, as if sending news of himself to the future, and we still hear the echoes of this signal with our hearts.

As they said in the famous French comedy - "Even if Fantômas does not exist, invent it." It is still not known for certain whether the prototype of the most famous criminal of France, created on the pages of writers Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Alain, existed.

But this is not about him, but about the fact that people at all times believed that evil must be fought by a daredevil who is not afraid to challenge the harsh reality and protect the poor and disadvantaged. Sometimes such heroes really existed, and sometimes someone, fearing to be caught, performed feats of arms against the state under the guise of someone else, invented to avert suspicion. Probably one of the biggest mysteries is in the UK. And her name is Robin Hood.

Robin Hood is one of the greatest legends of this country. A fallen nobleman who was aided by a gang of outlaws who lived in Sherwood Forest and robbed the rich to give to the poor, while at the same time defying a corrupt sheriff and king who, in the opinion of many, had no right to rule England. But what do we know about him? And does it exist at all? Let's try to figure it out.

His legend has been alive for centuries because he is a timeless symbol of a noble, selfless man who brought his own concept of justice to the people. In this case, Robin Hood represents the elimination of the imbalance between the haves and the have-nots (note that Nottingham only benefited from this - thousands of tourists come to this city every year to touch the legend).

Criminal or savior?

The legend of Robin Hood dates back to medieval times, with the oldest references being found not in historical chronicles, but simply as remarks and notes in various writings. Since the beginning of the 13th century, several English judges throughout the country have referred to the names "Robinhood", "Robehod" or "Rabunhod" in their written records. In this case, most likely, there is a place to be a generalized name for all fugitives and criminals. However, the first mention of the alleged historical Robin Hood can be found in a chronicle written around 1420. It also mentions for the first time "Lytil John", who became known to everyone as Robin Hood's assistant - Little John.

An earlier (but therefore not entirely accurate) reference is found in the work of the Scottish chronicler John Fordun, written between 1377 and 1384. The source mentions the year 1266 - a year before that, a conflict occurred between King Henry II and the aristocrat Simon de Montfort, as a result of which the latter wanted to overthrow the king. It was then that the famous killer Robert Hood arose, as well as Little John, along with his accomplices from among the disinherited (for various reasons).

Over time, many ballads and stories about the character of Robin Hood have appeared, but none of them gives a single description of this man, what he actually did. Some of these ballads link Robin to the historical figure Robert Hood of Wakefield who, as a Sherwood hero, may have been an agent of King Edward II. after the Lancaster rebellion of 1322. Other stories say that Robin Hood was actually Robin of Loxley, a Yorkshire nobleman who lost all his lands and wealth as a result of local government intrigues. However, the question is still open - when (at least theoretically) did Robin Hood exist? Under what king did he live and "work"?

The 16th century was marked by the fact that the legend of Robin Hood received a historical setting - the end of the 12th century, namely the 1190s, when the king left to fight in the crusades. The stories were filled with new details, such as the short-sighted and pathetic new King John, who ruled England while Richard was away, and the evil Sheriff of Nottingham appears. The Victorian era even made Robin a national figure, a Saxon leading his brethren against the Norman invaders.

Why Nottingham?

To this day, Nottingham - in particular Sherwood Forest - is the spiritual home of Robin Hood, but there is no real reason for this; although there are references to Nottingham and Sherwood in many ballads composed over the centuries. However, we do not know the real reasons. But here's an interesting detail - there are two Loxleys in England - northwest of the city of Sheffield is a small village called Loxley, which has long been associated with the legends of Robin Hood and the Robin Hood Inn, built in 1799, being an attempt to exploit this glory.

There is also another Loxley in Warwickshire, near Stratford-upon-Avon, and here some historians have traced Robin Hood to an ancestor of one of the Norman invaders who came with William the Conqueror and settled there.

However, Nottingham will always be Robin Hood territory, and the city attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world each year to see, among other things, the famous 1000-year-old large oak tree, called the home of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest.

Now, after so many centuries, it is difficult to say whether Robin Hood really existed, or was it a figment of the imagination of the oppressed people who wanted to believe in a miracle? The combination of various traditions, historical characters and romantic ideals came together in one picture called Robin Hood, the noble robber. And you can finish with a quote from the same famous French comedy: “- I would like him to really exist, and for you to meet him.
-Me too. Do you think I'm afraid of him? This man fascinates me."

Sergey Lvov

He spent his life in the forest. Barons, bishops and abbots feared him. He was loved by peasants and artisans, widows and the poor. (From old chronicles.)

This is what is said about his death. One day, a glorious archer felt: there was not enough strength in his hands to pull the bowstring, and it was difficult for his legs to follow the usual forest path. And then he realized: old age approached ...
He went to the monastery, the abbess of which was known as a skilled healer, and asked to be treated. The nun pretended to be delighted with his arrival, kindly escorted the stranger to a distant cell, carefully laid him on the bed, and with a sharp knife opened a vein on a powerful arm (bloodletting was then considered a good remedy for many ailments). And, saying that she would return immediately, she left.
Time passed slowly. The blood flowed faster. But the nun did not return. Night has come. Dawn followed the night, and then the shooter realized that he had become a victim of betrayal. Above the head of his bed was a window into the forest. But the bleeding man already lacked the strength to reach the window. There was barely enough breath in his chest to blast his curved hunting horn for the last time. Weak, trembling sound, horns sounded over the forest. A faithful friend heard the call signal. Anxious, he rushed to help.
Late! No one could have saved the shooter. So the enemies, who for many years did not know how to defeat Robin Gul either in a hot battle or in a stubborn duel, plagued him with black betrayal.
An ancient historian names the year and day when this happened: November 18, 1247.
Several centuries have passed. Wars have begun and ended. The shortest lasted a few days, the longest - a hundred years. Devastating epidemics swept through the cities and villages of England. Revolts broke out. Kings changed on the throne. People were born and died, generations succeeded generations.
However, a turbulent series of events, as they liked to say in old books, could not erase the name of Robin Hood from the memory of the British.
One day, it was about two hundred and fifty years ago, a heavy carriage drove slowly into a small town near London. The carriage was smart, magnificent: only the most important people of the kingdom rode around in such. Indeed, an important gentleman was sitting in the carriage: the Bishop of London himself! He came to the town to read a sermon to the townspeople. While the carriage was driving from the city gates to the church square, the bishop managed to notice that the town seemed to have died out. The bishop was not surprised by this. This means that the rumor of his arrival preceded the carriage, and the townspeople hurried to the church: they do not often see and hear his Eminence. And he habitually imagined how he would get out of the carriage, how he would slowly climb the steps of the church through the respectfully parting crowd... But the church square was empty. There was a heavy padlock on the church doors.
For a long time the bishop stood in the empty square, turning purple with anger and trying to maintain a dignified appearance befitting his rank and solemn robes, which was not at all easy before the locked door.
Finally, a passer-by, hurrying by no means to the church, threw out to the bishop on the way:
- Sir, you are waiting in vain, we are celebrating Robin Hood today, the whole city is in the forest, and there will be no one in the church.
What happens next is told in different ways. Some say that the bishop got into the carriage and returned to London, uttering in his mind such words as bishops usually do not utter. Others claim that he went to the city meadow, where the townspeople, dressed in green caftans, depicted scenes from the life of Robin Hood, and joined the audience.
What was this life? Why is her memory preserved for centuries? Why could a whole city remember Robin Hood for many hours in a row and think only about him?
What do you know about Robin Hood, except for those pages of Walter Scott's novel "Ivanhoe", where he is bred under the name of the brave yeoman, the free peasant Loxley?
Robin Hood has two biographies. One is very short. Scientists have collected it bit by bit in ancient chronicles. From this biography, we can learn that Robin Hood was ruined by wealthy enemies and fled from them into Sherwood Forest, a deaf and thick bowl that stretched for many tens of miles. He was joined by fugitives like him. He united them under his command into a formidable detachment of "forest brothers" and soon became the real ruler of Sherwood Forest. Robin Hood and his shooters, numbering more than a hundred, hunted forbidden royal game, feuded with rich monasteries, robbed passing Norman knights, and helped the persecuted and the poor.
For the capture of Robin Hood, the authorities announced a reward many times. But not a single peasant, whose hut he entered, not a single one of the "forest brothers" was tempted by these promises.
Here is everything or almost everything that is known to historians about Robin Hood.
The second biography of Robin Hood is much more detailed. From it you can find out how he first encountered the royal foresters and how this meeting ended; how he met a fugitive monk - Brother Took - and Little John, who became his assistants, and how Robin Hood won archery competitions, how he was at enmity with the sheriff of Nottingham, who oppressed the peasants, how he refused to serve King Richard the Lionheart.
Where is all this and much more about Robin Hood recorded? Not in historical works, but in folk songs - ballads, as literary historians call them.
They were composed throughout England for many centuries. The author of these songs was the people, and the performers were wandering singers. The songs about Robin Hood were overgrown with various details, several small songs merged into one, or one big one fell apart into several small ones ... The singers who sang these ballads, if they knew how to write, wrote down the words of the song and gave them to those who wished to write them off for a fee. And when the first printing houses appeared in England, songs about Robin Hood began to be printed. At first, these were separate sheets with prints of songs. They were eagerly bought up by residents of cities and villages, who once a year, in the summer, celebrated Robin Hood Day.
It was in these songs that the second biography of Robin Hood gradually developed. In him, he is what the people imagined him to be. If the old Latin chronicle claims that Robin Hood was a nobleman, then the folk song decisively calls him the son of a peasant. The ordinary people of England began to consider the legendary biography of Robin Hood to be his real biography. For many decades and even centuries, everything that was told about Robin Hood in songs was believed by the British as an indisputable historical fact.
There is interesting evidence for this. One of the oldest ballads tells how Robin Hood, at the age of fifteen, went to the city of Nottingham to compete in archery. Halfway through, he was stopped by the royal foresters and began to mock him. "Does this boy, who can barely bend his own bow, dare to appear before the king in a contest!" they exclaimed. Robin Hood made a bet with them that he would hit the target a hundred feet, and he won the bet. But the royal foresters not only did not pay him the winnings, but threatened that they would beat him if he dared to appear at the competitions.
Then Robin Hood, as the ballad reports with delight, shot all the scoffers with his bow. The people did not like the royal foresters, who did not allow the poor to either collect brushwood in the forest, let alone hunt forest game or fish in forest streams and rivers. Not loving the royal foresters, folk singers sang this ballad with delight.
And in April 1796, that is, five centuries after Robin Hood lived, a message appeared in one of the English magazines. Here it is: "While a few days ago, workers were digging in a garden in the town of Coxlein, near Nottingham, they came across six human skeletons that lay close to each other, neatly side by side. It is believed that this is part of the fifteen foresters whom he killed in his time for Robin Hood.
One can imagine how the publisher of the magazine asked the author of the note: "Are you sure that these are the same skeletons?". And the author replied, as journalists of all times answer: "Well, let's put in for caution the word" suggest ". But it never occurred to either the author or the publisher to doubt that Robin Hood really fought with the royal foresters on the way to the glorious city of Nottingham : after all, this is sung in ballads!
Why did Robin Hood become a favorite hero of folk songs? To answer this question, you will probably have to remind you of what you learned in history lessons: in 1066, England was captured by the Normans, led by William the Conqueror. From the indigenous population of England - the Saxons - they took away land, houses and property, imposed their laws on them with fire and sword. An ancient historian calls Robin Hood one of those who were deprived of the land.
The enmity between the old and new rulers persisted two centuries later. Do you remember what place the feud between the Saxon and Norman nobles occupies in Walter Scott's Ivanhoe? However, the Saxon nobles soon reconciled with the conquerors. But the songs about Robin Hood were not forgotten. They were sung in detachments of peasants who rebelled under the leadership of Watt Tyler. The people felt in their hearts: the struggle of Robin Hood, glorified in songs, is not only the struggle of the Saxons against the Normans, but in general the struggle of the people against the oppressors.
I leaf through an old book that contains one after the other ballads about Robin Hood. Here is a ballad about how Robin Hood fought his other worst enemy - the knight Guy Guysbourne, and how, having defeated him and dressed in his attire - and you need to know that Guy Guysbourne always wore dressed horseskin over armor - he again outwitted Sheriff of Nottingham. Here is the ballad "Robin Hood and the Bishop", which tells how Robin Hood took out his anger against the church on the bishop. Here is a ballad about how Robin Hood saved the three sons of a poor widow - and in each of these ballads he is always the same: brave in battle, loyal in friendship, a joker, a merry fellow, a mocker, a folk hero who does not grow old.
I have told you about Robin Hood, how he was portrayed in folk ballads, and now you can see for yourself how Walter Scott changed this image when he brought him to Ivanhoe.
Walter Scott's yeoman Loxley, the name under which Robin God is bred in the novel, becomes Richard's faithful assistant. Robin Hood, as his people sang, refused to serve King Richard the Lionheart.
The people remember Robin Hood exactly as he is sung in old folk songs. And this is the immortality of Robin Hood.

Drawings by P. Bunin.

“He didn’t shave his beard yet, but he was already a shooter ...”

A long time ago, in good old England, in the green Sherwood forest, there lived a noble robber named Robin Hood ... So, or something like this, each of the stories about Robin Hood begins. And every year there are more and more of these stories, they are invented and told by everyone who is not lazy. The English bards with their uncomplicated ballads were replaced first by novelists led by Walter Scott and Alexandre Dumas, and then, with the development of technology, screenwriters of films, television series and cartoons. And what is characteristic: each of these storytellers invariably came out with their own Robin Hood, which cannot be confused with the rest. As a result of such collective creativity, the legend of Robin acquired new details, became incredibly complex and confusing, even contradictory.

Historians could not help but be interested in the personality of Robin Hood. With the words “now we will definitely find out who this Robin Hood was” they put forward several mutually exclusive versions about the true Robin. The Sherwood Rogue has finally evolved into a character that everyone can think whatever they want about. And here also the creators of computer games have made their contribution. Moreover, they thought not so much about following the letter of the legend (in one form or another), but about game balance, fascination and other things that had nothing to do with Robin Hood himself. As a result, several more new Robins were born.

Now the legend of Robin Hood is a legend without a hero. That is, everyone, of course, knows who Robin Hood is, only everyone has this Robin at least a little, but his own. This, perhaps, makes his image so attractive, because the lack of a clear canon opens up huge opportunities for the imagination. The legend of Robin is never boring because it changes all the time.

But behind the beautiful legend, most likely, there was a very real person. Researchers have not yet come to a final conclusion about whether the legendary robber actually existed. But a lot of circumstantial evidence has been preserved confirming that there is a fair amount of truth in the legend of Robin Hood.

Place and time of action

This is what the legendary Bishop's Oak looks like now.

All versions of the legend agree on one thing: the gang Robin Hood acted in sherwood forest located on the county border Nottinghamshire And Yorkshire. Yorkshiremen, by the way, still consider Robin Hood their fellow countryman and take offense at the inhabitants Nottingham who appropriated the great robber.

The name Sherwood comes from "shire wood", which means "county forest". In the Middle Ages, Sherwood Forest covered an area of ​​​​about 25 square miles and was a reserve in which only the king could hunt. Of course, the locals didn't care about the bans and regularly supplemented their meager diet with fresh venison from Sherwood. The authorities, in turn, severely punished the caught poachers.

Through Sherwood and neighboring barnsdale the woods passed Great Northern Route, laid by the Romans and connecting the capital of northern England York with the southern counties. It was one of the most important roads in the country, and the traffic on it was always very busy. It is not surprising that the tract was literally teeming with robbers. In general, highway robbery was one of the hallmarks of England in the Middle Ages, and the authorities were finally able to deal with it only by the beginning of the 19th century.

Sherwood Forest still exists today. This is a small, only 4 square kilometers, nature reserve in the northern part of the sprawling city of Nottingham. Every summer it hosts the Robin Hood Festival. The main attraction of modern Sherwood is an ancient oak, around which, it is believed, the bishop caught by Robin danced a jig. Oak is called - Episcopal.

Monument to Robin Hood in Nottingham.

This is interesting: The Bishop's Oak is possibly thousands of years old. Its branches are so large and heavy that back in the 19th century. I had to install special props for them. A project is currently underway to grow clones of the Bishop's Oak in major cities around the world.

To what time can the events described in the legend be attributed? There is no single answer to this question. The first written references to the legend of Robin date back to the end of the 14th century. Thus, there was no way he could live after that time.

Robin Hood is mentioned in folk ballads archery competition, which began to be held in England only in the XIII century. In addition, in one of the ballads there is a king named Edward. Three kings with this name ruled in England from 1272 to 1377. So, if you rely on the text of the ballads, Robin Hood lived in the late XIII - early XIV centuries.

However, evidence has survived that relates the activities of Robin Hood to an earlier period. In 1261, a certain William Smith was outlawed. In the text of the corresponding decree, Smith was named Robinhood. That is, even then the name of Robin Hood was a household name. Historians of the XV-XVI centuries. it was claimed that Robin lived either in the thirteenth century, or even earlier, at the end of the twelfth century, during the time of the king Richard I the Lionheart. With the light hand of Walter Scott, the version according to which Robin was a contemporary of Richard I and his younger brother John became the most popular.

Candidates for Heroes

What's in a name?

It will die like a sad noise

Waves splashing on the distant shore,

Like the sound of the night in a deaf forest.

It's on a memento

Leave a dead trail like

Tombstone lettering pattern

In an unknown language.

A. Pushkin

A lot can be said about Robin Hood: he robbed the rich, helped the poor, mocked the priests and the sheriff, shot from a bow without a miss ... But there is only one clue that allows you to find the real Robin among the many "outlaw"(outlawed robbers) who hunted in Sherwood Forest in the XII - XIV centuries. This lead is his name.

"Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown". Robin Hood shoots money from people passing through Sherwood.

By the way, it leads to certain suspicions. It has long been noticed that the name Robin Hood (Robin Hood), looks a lot like Robin Goodfellow(Robin the Good Guy, aka Pak). That was the name of the mischievous forest spirit from pagan legends, the leader of a gang of fabulous creatures. This is not the only circumstance that connects the legend of the Sherwood robber with pre-Christian tradition. For example, in one of the ballads about Robin, it is stated that there are not twelve months in a year (as in the church calendar), but thirteen months. The holiday dedicated to Robin Hood, which was celebrated by English peasants for a long time, also had a clearly pagan character. So the legend of Robin Hood may well be the latest version of the pagan legend, and one of the candidates for the legendary robbers is not a real person, but an ancient forest deity.

However, this version is not very popular, since in ancient documents there were plenty of references to robbers, whose name was Robin or even Robin Hood. Among the many versions, three seem to be the most plausible.

According to the first one, Robert Goad, he is Hood or Hod, was born in 1290 in Yorkshire. He was a servant of the Earl of Warren and lived with his wife Matilda in the village of Wakefield. In 1322 Robert entered the service of Sir Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. The count soon led a rebellion against the king. Edward II, was defeated and executed, and all participants in the rebellion, including, possibly, Robert Goad, were outlawed.

No documents have been preserved indicating that the former servant of the Earl of Lancaster hunted robbery in Sherwood Forest. However, it is known that in 1323 Edward II visited Nottingham, and the very next year a man named Robert Goad appeared among his servants, perhaps the same one who had recently participated in the rebellion. This fact goes very well with one of the ballads. It tells how King Edward visited the bandit camp at Sherwood, was warmly received by them, granted amnesty to Robin and his friends, and then accepted them into his service. This Robin Hood died in 1346.

Second Candidate for Sherwood Legends, Robin God of Witherby, nicknamed Brownie, lived at the beginning of the XIII century. In 1226, he fled from justice, and all his property, worth 32 shillings and 6 pence, was taken into the hands of the sheriff of York. Soon this sheriff moved to the neighboring city of Nottingham. There he announced a reward for the "criminal and villain" Robin of Witherby. As a result of "operational-search measures" Robin was caught and hanged.

However, the third version is the most popular. According to her, the true Robin Hood was someone Robert Fitz-Uth, Earl of Huntington. He was born sometime around 1160 and died on November 18, 1247. This Robin Hood could not see King Edward, but speaks in his favor the only direct evidence. The point is that next to Kirklei monastery in Yorkshire, which in all legends is called the place of death of the legendary robber, has survived Robin Hood's grave. A barely distinguishable epitaph has been preserved on the tombstone. Here is its text, recorded in 1702 by Thomas Gale: “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. Exiles like him and his people England will never see again.".

Robin Hood dies surrounded by his closest friends. The noble robber bequeathed to bury himself where the last arrow he fired would fall.

This is interesting: the current owner of the estate, on the territory of which Robert Fitz-Ut is buried, cannot stand the legend of the Sherwood robber and wages a relentless struggle with the admirers of Robin Hood. Every time someone tries to look at the grave of the Earl of Huntington, the owner of the estate calls the police. The local kids refer to him as "the Sheriff of Nottingham" and regularly shoot at his house with homemade bows.

However, there are big doubts that the same Robin Hood really lies under this stone. Now the text of the epitaph is already impossible to read in full, and Thomas Gale could well have confused something when he rewrote it. Author of two Robin Hood books Richard Rutherford-Moore, although he believes in the authenticity of the grave of the robber, claims that he was reburied, and his old grave was in a completely different place.

Robert Fitz-Ut was deprived of his inheritance, and in 1219 his younger brother John became the next Earl of Huntington. Perhaps this was a consequence of the dissolute character of Count Robert. The modern Earls of Huntington claim to be related to Robin Hood, although in reality they have nothing to do with Robert Fitz-Ut. The Yorkshire Huntington family has long since died out, and the title has since changed hands several times.

It is also possible that all three were the prototypes of Robin Hood from folk ballads, and different plots of the legends go back to the activities of different robbers.

Attention is a myth: Robin Hood is often referred to as the Robin of Loxley or simply Loxley. Three villages with this name claim to be the birthplace of the legendary robber. However, none of the possible prototypes of Robin Hood had anything to do with any of these villages.

Merry fellows from the green forest

Let there be no stake and no yard,

But they don't pay taxes to the king

Knife and ax workers -

Romance from the high road.

Y. Entin, "Romantics from the High Road"

Robin's first encounter with Baby John nearly ended in self-mutilation.

“Do not have a hundred rubles, but have a hundred friends,” says a Russian folk proverb. Robin Hood, according to legend, had well over a hundred friends. There were 140 outlawed yeomen in his band alone. These people were called Merry Men, which is usually translated into Russian as "funny boys" or "fun men". But the word merry also has another meaning: "follower and ally of a man outlawed."

"Merry Fellows" usually act in stories about Robin as a kind of extras, but some of them are not only named by name, but also in color will not yield to the leader.

Baby John was the right hand of Robin Hood. He is already mentioned in the earliest ballads, where he is portrayed as a very intelligent and talented person. In later ballads, it is said that John was a real giant, and the nickname "Baby" was given by his friends as a joke. He joined the gang of "jolly guys" after he defeated Robin Hood in a stick fight. Later, Little John saved Robin more than once and was the only person present at his death. John was a rather cruel man: once he personally killed a monk who betrayed Robin to the sheriff. Another story tells how John entered the service of the sheriff, calling himself Reynold Greenleaf (and set up a trap for the sheriff).

As with Robin Hood, there is some evidence that indicates that Little John actually existed. In the village of Hathersage in Derbyshire, one can still see his grave. When this burial was opened in 1784, the skeleton of a very tall man was indeed found in it. Since this grave belonged to the Naylor family, Baby John is also sometimes referred to as John Naylor.

Along with Little John, the earliest ballads also mention Will Scarlet, or Scatlock, And Much, son of a miller.

Little John's grave.

Will Scarlet is one of the youngest members of the Robin Hood gang. He was quick-tempered, hot-tempered, liked to flaunt in beautiful clothes. He received the nickname Scarlet (that is, "dressed in red") for the fact that he often wore clothes made of red silk. Will fought with swords better than all the other "jolly guys". One of the ballads states that Scarlet's real name is Gamwell and that he was Robin Hood's nephew. Robin accepted Will into his squad after he killed a man and fled from justice in the woods. Scarlet is believed to have been buried in the churchyard at Bleedworth, near Nottingham.

Much, the miller's son, is usually depicted as almost a boy, although in the early ballads this name is given to an adult and experienced person. Forest robbers saved him from hanging, to which he was sentenced for poaching. In most stories, Much turns out to be something like the "son of the regiment" with the "jolly guys." Sometimes it is called not Much, but Mayge.

Will Stutley appears in two later ballads. He is sometimes confused with Will Scarlet. When Little John joined the Jolly Boys, it was Stutley who acted as his "godfather" and named him "Baby". One day, Stutley was spying on the sheriff and was caught by the guards. But the "merry guys" did not leave their friend in trouble and rescued him from the sheriff's dungeons.

Monk Tuk was a kind of chaplain in a detachment of forest robbers. However, he became famous not for his piety, but for drunkenness, gluttony and the ability to fight with sticks. He was expelled from the monastery for disobedience and lack of respect for the authorities. Usually, Took is portrayed as a bald and fat merry fellow, although sometimes he demonstrates remarkable physical strength.

Robin crosses the river, sitting on the back of the monk Took.

Tuka is commonly referred to as friar, that is, a member of a mendicant monastic order. Such orders appeared in England after the death of Richard the Lionheart. So, if Robin Hood lived during the time of Richard, there could be no friar in his squad.

The prototype of the monk Tuk is usually called a certain Robert Stafford who lived at the beginning of the fifteenth century. This monk from Sussex was indeed known as Took. He was the leader of a gang of forest robbers operating 200 miles from Sherwood, and later stories of his adventures became part of the legend of Robin Hood. According to another version, the monk Tuk is a collective image that combines the features of several monks who lived in Sherwood Forest at once.

Alan-e-Dale was a wandering minstrel. His beloved was to be given in marriage to an old knight. But the "jolly guys" disrupted this wedding, after which one of the forest robbers, either Little John or the monk Tuk, dressed up as a bishop and married Alan to his beloved. Alan-e-Dale appeared in the legends of Robin rather late, but became a very popular character. It was Alan-e-Dale who inspired the authors of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game to create the Bard class. The village of Dale Abbey, halfway between Nottingham and Derby, claims to be Alan's birthplace.

Arthur Bland, like Baby John, joined the gang after defeating Robin Hood in a duel. He is sometimes referred to as Little John's cousin.

This young man in red is the wandering minstrel Alan-e-Dale.

ABOUT Davide from Doncaster very little is known. This "brave young man" strongly advised Robin Hood not to go to the archery competition arranged by the sheriff. David felt that this was a trap, and in the end he was right.

The "jolly guys" had many friends and intercessors. For example, in some versions of the legend, the king himself is on their side. The poor adored Robin because he protected them from the arbitrariness of the authorities and helped in difficult times. Knight Richard Lee once saved the "jolly guys" from the sheriff, hiding them in his castle. Shortly before this, Robin helped Sir Richard pay off his debt to the abbot and regain his lands.

A special place in the stories of Robin Hood is occupied by his beloved, Maid Marian. Her character varies greatly from story to story. Sometimes she is portrayed as a commoner, sometimes as a noble lady, even a princess. In one version of the legend, Robin and Marian, after a long separation, do not recognize each other and begin to fight with swords.

In fact none of the Robin Hood ballads has a character named Marian. They also say nothing about whether Robin had a lover. However, a character named Marian has a history as long as Robin Hood himself.

Initially Maid Marian was one of the central figures in the traditional May games. Sometimes she was also called May Queen. Since these games have always been closely associated with the forest and archery, they soon began to be called Happy Robin Hood. And Marian turned into the bride of a Sherwood robber. According to another version, the name Marian came into the legend from a French pastoral play. Robin and Marian first joined in the 16th century. and since then go hand in hand through the pages of books and cinema screens.

Task Force from Nottingham

Our role is honorable and enviable.

The king cannot live without guards.

When we go, the earth trembles all around.

We are always near, near the king.

Y. Entin, "Royal Guard"

Since the good guys in the legends of Robin Hood are all robbers, poachers and their accomplices, the guardians of law and order inevitably turned out to be the villains.

Robin Hood's biggest enemy Sheriff of Nottingham. He commands all kinds of guards and foresters, he is supported by the church and the feudal nobility. On his side are the law and chests full of gold. But he cannot do anything with the brave Robin, on whose side is not only the ability to shoot accurately from a bow, but also an outstanding mind and the support of the broad masses of the people...

Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood. The final showdown between Robin and the sheriff.

Sheriff in medieval England was an official responsible for the fight against crime, in fact - the head of the criminal police. This position appeared even before the Norman conquest in 1066. However, only under the Normans was England divided into districts, each of which had its own sheriff. These districts did not always coincide with the counties. For example, the Sheriff of Nottinghamshire also had jurisdiction over the neighboring county of Derbyshire.

The Sheriff is the protagonist of all the Robin Hood ballads, but he is not named in any of them. Among its possible prototypes are usually William de Vendenal, Roger de Lacy And William de Brewer. In any case, there is no doubt about the reality of the existence of the Nottingham Sheriff.

In the early ballads, the sheriff was the enemy of the "jolly guys" simply because he was the sheriff and was obliged to fight robbers and poachers. However, in later legends, he turns into an inveterate villain. He mercilessly oppresses the poor, illegally seizes foreign lands, imposes exorbitant taxes, and generally abuses his official position in every possible way. In some stories, he also harasses Lady Marian and tries to take the throne of England.

This is interesting: A few years ago Nottingham City Council decided to remove the image of Robin Hood from the city coat of arms. The only one who voted against this decision was Derek Cresswell, who at that time held the post of Sheriff of Nottingham. Mr. Cresswell, explaining his position, said that the rumors about his enmity with Robin Hood are greatly exaggerated.

In most stories, the sheriff is not particularly brave. He usually sits in his castle and thinks about new plans to capture Robin Hood. All the dirty work for him is usually done by his subordinates.

Another enemy of Robin behaves quite differently - Sir Guy of Gisborne. This is a skillful and brave warrior, who fights well with swords and shoots well with a bow. One of the ballads tells how Gisborne went into the woods to kill Robin and receive a reward from the sheriff for this. As a result, Sir Guy himself fell at the hands of Robin Hood. Usually Gisborne is called a noble knight, although in some stories he turns out to be a cruel and bloodthirsty murderer who stands outside the law. Sometimes he also becomes a suitor or even a suitor to Maid Marian. His appearance is quite unusual - instead of a cloak, he wears a horseskin. Gisborne is a fictional character. Perhaps he was once the hero of a separate legend, which later merged with the legend of Robin.

The bandits of the forest greet King Richard the Lionheart.

Prince John, the future King John Landless, got into the legend of Robin Hood through the efforts of Walter Scott. In the novel Ivanhoe, Robin Hood helps King Richard, who returned to England after the crusade and captivity, regain his throne, usurped by his younger brother John. Later, this story was repeated many times (with slight variations) in numerous books, films and computer games.

John really took the throne of England during the absence of his brother and was in no hurry to redeem Richard from captivity. He even sent a letter to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, who was holding Richard captive, asking him to keep the legitimate English king away from England. Some historians claim that John was trying to protect his country from Richard's less than wise rule. However, he himself did not shine with talents at all. His own reign, which began after Richard's death in 1199, was one continuous disaster. John miserably lost the war with France and was forced to cede Normandy to her. Having quarreled with the Pope, he brought excommunication on England. As a result, he brought his country to complete ruin and forced his subjects to take up arms. The rebels prevailed and forced John to sign the famous Magna Carta which underlies modern English democracy.

As for the simple henchmen of the sheriff and other enemies of Robin Hood, they are for the most part nameless. Sometimes, however, in the text of the ballads there are names of individual guards and foresters, inserted there, presumably, for greater persuasiveness.

The Dark Side of Robin Hood

I'm the terrible Robin Bad.

I hurt people.

I hate the poor

Widows, orphans and the elderly.

O. Arch, "Robin Bad"

Recently in England there have been several attempts to debunk the beautiful legend of Robin Hood.

The city council of Nottingham, which has long been very concerned about the fact that their dynamically developing city around the world is associated exclusively with a robber, has made its contribution to this endeavor. In 1988, the city government issued an official statement declaring Marian, Monk Took, Alan-e-Dale, and Will Scarlet to be fictional characters. Little John was recognized as a historical person, but from a noble robber he turned into an evil grumbler and a bloodthirsty killer. Robin Hood has received less from the current authorities in Nottingham than his associates, but the impeccability of his reputation has also been questioned.

The Merry Boys are helping themselves to ale after a successful operation to rob the rich of excess cash.

A book by a professor at Cambridge University made a lot of noise James Holt"Legends of Robin Hood. Between truth and error. Holt writes about Robin: “He was completely different from what he is portrayed in folk songs, legends, and later in books and films. There is absolutely no evidence that he robbed the rich to give money to the poor. The legend acquired these fabrications two hundred and more years after his death. And during his lifetime, he was known as a notorious marauder, a sadistic killer who tormented defenseless victims and a molester. In a word, if he lived now, Robin Hood would not have avoided a life sentence in prison ... ". The historian did not spare the monk Tuk, who, according to him, “was very far from harmless gaiety, because he ruined and burned the houses of his enemies ... killed them ... personally raped women and children, and then chopped them with axes, like cattle ... ".

However, everyone was surpassed by a professor of English literature from Cardiff University Stephen Knight. This pundit stated bluntly that both Robin Hood and his "fun boys" were in fact... gay. In support of his correctness, Knight refers to passages from ballads that seem ambiguous to him. He also points out that the original ballads don't mention Robin's lover, but mention his close friends like Little John or Will Scarlet too often. Knight's point of view is shared by a professor at the University of Cambridge Barry Dobson, who believes that "the relationship between Robin Hood and Baby John was very ambiguous." All sorts of fighters for the rights of sexual minorities adhere to this opinion. One of them, someone Peter Tatchell, requires that the gay version of the Sherwood Rogue be taught in school.

The desire to deprive Robin Hood of a romantic halo and turn him into a banal robber and murderer is so great that calls are already being made to demolish the statue of a noble robber in Nottingham and erect a monument in honor of the Nottingham sheriff in its place.

However, for a huge number of people around the world, Robin Hood remains a beloved hero and role model. After all, the Sherwood robber personifies such positive qualities as the desire for justice, devotion to friends and the desire to help those in trouble.

Robin Hood in fiction

Hair stuck to our sweaty foreheads,

And sucked sweetly from phrases in the spoon,

And the smell of struggle circled our heads,

From the yellowed pages flying down to us.

V. Vysotsky, "The Ballad of the Struggle".

Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood. Robin, Marian, Baby John, Stutley, Scarlet and Took in front of the trophies.

Many English writers addressed the topic of Robin Hood's adventures, for example, poets Robert Keats And Alfred Tennyson. Peru Tennyson owns the play "The Foresters, or Robin Hood and Maid Marian". In 1819, the famous novel was published Walter Scott"Ivanhoe". In this novel, Robin Hood is the leader of a detachment of Saxons fighting against the Norman knights who oppress them. We can say that the modern image of Robin Hood owes its appearance to Walter Scott. He did not bypass the attention of the noble robber and Alexandr Duma, who wrote the adventure novels "Robin Hood - King of Thieves" and "Robin Hood in Exile".

During the Victorian era, the legend of Robin Hood was adapted for children. In 1883, a collection considered a classic was published. Howard Pyle The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. It collected and literary processed all the stories about Robin Hood that existed at that time, with the exception of those that mentioned Marian (after all, the collection was intended mainly for children, and the requirements of Victorian morality were extremely strict). Pyle idealized medieval England. There is never winter in Sherwood Forest from his book, and there is no end to the fun. Robin Hood, on the other hand, appears in Pyle as a kind of ideal philanthropist and altruist. Pyle's collection was revised in 1956. Roger Green. His book differs from Pyle's only in that Lady Marian is present.

Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood. A mountain of corpses in the central square of Nottingham.

The twentieth century gave the world a huge number of new, sometimes completely original stories about Robin. Terence White made Robin the subject of his book The Sword in the Stone, about the childhood of King Arthur. Michael Cadnam wrote two novels based on the legends of Robin Hood: The Forbidden Forest and Into the Dark Forest. The protagonist of the first book is Little John, and the second is none other than the Sheriff of Nottingham himself. In the novel Teresa Tomlinson Lady Marian comes to the fore, turning uncouth highwaymen into legendary fighters for justice. In the novel Gary Blackwood"The Lion and the Unicorn" tells how the insidious Alan-e-Dale takes away his beloved from Robin. In the dilogy Godwin Park"Sherwood" takes place during the time of King William the Red, and in the trilogy Stephen Lohed— in Wales. In the novel Robin McKinley"Outlaw of Sherwood" Robin Hood does not know how to shoot a bow at all, but more than compensates for this shortcoming due to his quick wits. From the pen Jennifer Roberson came out a love-adventure dilogy about Robin and Marien. In the book Clayton Emery The story is told from the perspective of the animals and fairy-tale creatures inhabiting Sherwood Forest. Among the huge number of books for children, one can single out the cycle Nancy Springer dedicated to the adventures of the young daughter of Robin Hood. American writer Esther Friesner made Robin the hero of the science fiction novel Sherwood's Game. In this book, talented programmer Carl Sherwood creates a virtual world for a game about Robin Hood. Suddenly, this world is out of control of its creator, and Robin Hood and other characters in the game begin to live independent lives. In the story Adam Stemple the action also takes place in virtual reality: the spirit of Robin Hood who has entered the computer is engaged in the redistribution of world wealth via the Internet.

"Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown". Sherwood forest from a bird's eye view.

Russian writers did not stand aside either. Ballads about Robin were translated into Russian Nikolay Gumilyov And Marina Tsvetaeva. Moreover, Tsvetaeva's translation came out very free. Robin Hood, according to the poetess, did not live at all in the vicinity of Nottingham, but somewhere in Scotland. Mikhail Gershenzon made a classic Russian-language retelling of the legends about Robin. If in Soviet times Robin Hood was the hero of mostly children's books, then recently domestic science fiction writers have taken him seriously. In "Sword and Rainbow" Elena Khaetskaya Robin Hood is a minor but very colorful character. Anna Ovchinnikova offered a very unusual version of the adventures of Sherwood outlaws. The protagonist of her book "Friend and Lieutenant of Robin Hood" is our contemporary and compatriot Ivan Menshov, who moved in time and space and became Little John. Robin's gang, according to Ovchinnikova, consisted of only ten people, the monk Tuk was a vagant, and one of the negative characters in the book is named Huntington.

Many writers, although not writing directly about Robin Hood, have invested some of his traits in their characters. For example, it is very reminiscent of Robin Hood forest robber John Avengers-for-all from the "Black Arrow" Robert Louis Stevenson.

Screen life of Robin Hood

A character like Robin Hood simply could not miss the movie screen. The legend about him has everything you need to create a spectacular film doomed to box office success: medieval romance, beautiful forest landscapes, a love story, the struggle between good and evil, humor, brawls using all types of edged weapons...

This movie poster shows Errol Flynn as Robin Hood.

The first film about Robin was made back in 1908. However, the first truly successful film adaptation of the legend was made only fourteen years later. In the 1922 film, the role of Robin Hood was played by Douglas Fairbanks, one of the main stars of the silent film era. And in 1938 the film was released "The Adventures of Robin Hood" starring the inimitable Errol Flynn. This picture had a huge impact not only on all subsequent Hollywood films about the Sherwood robber, but also on all films of the same genre.

The classic legend that Robin was killed by a treacherous nun gets a completely unexpected interpretation in the film. "Robin and Marian"(1976). An old and grey-haired Robin Hood (Sean Connery) returns to Sherwood Forest after a very long absence. And he discovers that his beloved Marian (Audrey Hepburn) has long gone to the monastery and even managed to become abbess. Marian, forced to choose between being faithful to her monastic vows and loving Robin, ends up killing her lover and then commits suicide.

In 1991, Sean Connery again starred in a film about Robin Hood. But this time he is not playing Robin, but King Richard. The role of Robin Loxley in the Hollywood blockbuster "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" went to Kevin Costner. The filmmakers said a new word in "Robin Hood" by introducing a black Saracen into the Robin Hood gang.

In 1993, a brilliant comedy appeared "Robin Hood: men in tights", parodying films with Eroll Flynn and Kevin Costner.

Soviet filmmakers went their own way. If in Western films Robin Hoods are all knights and nobles, then our Soviet Robin Hood is a bearded peasant played by Boris Khmelnitsky. Films by Sergei Tarasov "Arrows of Robin Hood"(1975) and "The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe"(1983) were remembered by many thanks to the wonderful songs of Vladimir Vysotsky.

Of course, there was a place for Robin in cartoons. Who just did not play the role of Robin Hood or his friends! And Bugs Bunny the rabbit, and Duffy the duck, and even the Pink Panther...

"Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown". Whack-whack-whack! Take away the prepared...

In 1967, during the period of huge popularity of science fiction films and serials, a multi-part cartoon was filmed. Rocket Robin Hood. The action of this series takes place in the year 3000. Robin and his gang of "jolly astronauts" live on the Sherwood asteroid and fight against the evil sheriff ... In general, everything is the same as in the 13th century, only the surroundings have changed.

Finally, in 1973, the Walt Disney Company took over. In their cartoon, all the characters are humanoid animals. Robin and Marian became foxes, Little John naturally became a bear, the Sheriff became a wolf, Took became a badger, and Alan-e-Dale became a rooster. Not without Robin in the cartoon "Shrek". True, he is an episodic hero there and, moreover, not very positive.

Robin Hood has appeared on television more than once. The most famous of the television series about Robin was called "Robin of Sherwood" and ran on British television from 1984 to 1986. Unlike the vast majority of books and films about Robin, this series was made in the fantasy genre. The main villain in Robin of Sherwood is the powerful sorcerer Baron de Balem. And there are two main positive characters at once: after the death of the peasant Robin Loxley, Count Robert Huntington continues his work. By the way, both really wear hoods, not green caps with a feather. The music for the series was written by the famous Irish band Clannad.

The creators of the sci-fi series also paid tribute to the legend of Robin Hood "Star Trek: The Next Generation". In one of the episodes, the crew of the starship Enterprise have to temporarily transform into the characters of the legend and feel like real forest robbers.

Robin Hood in video games

You can become Good, neighbor,

Or maybe I'll be

That's why for hundreds of years

No death to Robin Hood!

Evgeny Agranovich, "Brave Robin Hood"

"Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown". The Sheriff of Nottingham listens to the complaint of a merchant who was robbed by "merry boys".

Computer games have opened up new opportunities for fans of the legend of Robin Hood. If, while reading a book or watching a movie, a person passively perceives ready-made information, then in a computer game, he can actively influence the development of the plot. In other words, computer games allow the player to feel like a Sherwood outlaw for a while.

The first video game about Robin came out in 1985. It was an action movie called "Super Robin Hood". In the same year, the game Robin of the Wood. In the classic game "Defender of the Crown"(1986) Robin is one of the player's allies in the fight to unify the civil war-torn England. However, you cannot play directly as Robin in this game.

In the wake of the popularity of the film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" several games were released at once. The Adventures of Robin Hood- role-playing game with action elements. The player controls a brave Robin, who performs all sorts of heroic deeds, thereby increasing his popularity among the local population. On a quest Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood a lot depends on the size of Robin's gang and how well the player commands it. The plot of the game is non-linear. The case can end with a gallows and a wedding.

Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood. Drummers made from Sherwood Forest.

In strategy Age of Empires II heroes such as Robin Hood, Took and the Sheriff of Nottingham are present. It also contains Sherwood Forest and Heroes of Sherwood cards. In many role-playing games, you can find characters that strongly resemble Robin, albeit with a different name. IN Medieval II: Total War Robin is not. But by playing as England and building a guild of foresters, you can get access to a fighter called "Sherwood Archer". You can play as Robin, although not immediately, in the game Shrek SuperSlam.

In 2003, a remake of Defender of the Crown was made. In a new game called Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown, the player no longer controls one of the English barons, but Robin Hood himself. And he will have to fight against the Sheriff of Nottingham.

As in the original game, the action takes place on a map divided into several counties. Only this is not a map of England, but of the immediate environs of Nottingham or some other city. As a result, the "counties" have rather strange names for the counties: Forest, Paths, Bridge, Mills, Tract. The player has many options. He can command armies in battle, storm castles, fight in tournaments, raid the sheriff's treasury, and shoot enemies passing through Sherwood Forest with a bow. Only here it all looks rather monotonous and very soon gets bored. It is much more fun to rescue beautiful ladies from captivity. By the end of the game Robin collects a whole collection of noble maidens. And where is Lady Marian looking? Between fights, you can chat with one of the "fun guys" or read stories about the exploits of Robin.

Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood. Robin Hood and Baby John came to visit Prince John.

A game Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood(2002) from Spellbound Studios was released in a series of tactical games that also includes Desperados and Chicago 1930. The player controls the actions of Robin Hood and other "fun guys". In order to achieve victory in the game, you must successfully complete several missions, the complexity of which is constantly increasing. In addition to the missions that are required to complete, there are several missions that can be skipped by bribing the enemy army or choosing another task.

Each task is sent from one to five characters. It can be both Robin himself and his friends. Robin starts out alone, but will gradually be joined by Will Stutley, Scarlet, Took, Little John and Lady Marian. In addition to these characters, whose death means the end of the game, there are many ordinary gang members who can be used as cannon fodder or free labor. A forest bandit who is not sent on a mission can produce all sorts of useful things or improve his combat skills. Each character has unique skills. For example, Robin and John can knock out the enemy without killing him, Scarlet accurately shoots from a slingshot, Stutley pretends to be a beggar, and Took ties the prisoners and can solder the guards.

"Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown". Robin Hood and Will Scarlet.

The plot of the game is quite simple: it is necessary to put an end to the evil machinations of the Sheriff and Prince John. Tasks are of two types: in the forest and in the city. And here and there you can rob the loot with might and main, replenishing your treasury. The amount of money, however, does not affect the success of the game. The fact is that the gang is growing at the expense of volunteers who come to Sherwood after each mission. Their number directly depends on the percentage spared enemies. So being too bloodthirsty in this game is not recommended. If you regularly complete missions without a single corpse, then at the end of the game Sherwood will be roamed by a crowd that far exceeds your needs for manpower.

The undoubted success of the game developers is mouse fencing. All fights are very tense and exciting. True, sometimes in a one-on-one battle it can be more difficult to win than to cope with a detachment of a dozen guards. The enemy behaves quite adequately: archers do not climb on the rampage and shoot from cover, armored men cover themselves from arrows with shields, and mounted knights prefer to attack from dispersal. If the guards are outnumbered, they scatter in different directions and raise the alarm.

Not all game situations, however, look realistic. But that's why it's a game, to differ from reality.

The legend of Robin Hood was, without a doubt, excellent material for creating computer games. But its potential has not yet been fully revealed. Let's hope that in the future we will have many new wonderful games about the noble robber from Sherwood Forest.