Scientists still do not agree on whether the robber Robin Hood actually existed. There is a version that the legends about noble robber- echoes of ancient pagan cults of forest creatures. Supporters of this hypothesis cite as proof one of the nicknames of the Celtic god Pak, who always walked around with a retinue of not very good spirits. This Puck was called Robin Goodfellow (Robin Nice Guy). Today, however, Robin Hood's mythological origins are not taken seriously by most historians. Fifty legends and legends about the forest robber that have come down to us do not contain anything fantastic. The images of Robin Hood and his associates are extremely mundane, they are endowed with many features of real people.

There is almost no controversy about the period of the emergence of Robin Hood legends. The first mention of the fact that people sing ballads about the terrible robber Robin Hood is found in a poem by William Langland dated 1377. So there were ballads about Robin, apparently in the XIV century.

As strange as it may seem modern reader, neither the legendary Robin Hood, nor his possible historical prototype could not meet with Richard the Lionheart and even be contemporaries of the famous crusader king. The acquaintance of the robber and the monarch was invented in mid-eighteenth century, and popularized by Walter Scott. The Scottish novelist did not care much about the historical accuracy of his books, but the strength of his talent for 200 years has led readers to believe 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 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 detail of the ballads about Robin Hood. An active member of the Sherwood gang, Brother Took is called a "friar" in legend, 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, then he could live between the middle of the XIII and XIV centuries. Are there any contenders for the title of the prototype of the Sherwood robber who lived at that time? It turns out there is, and not just one.

Most often, a certain Robert Hoad is called as the "real" Robin Hood. Some Russian-speaking supporters of this version, violating the 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 are hardly convincing. Nothing in the biography of Robert Howd indicates his passion for robbery.

Supposed grave of Robin Hood

He was born in 1290 in the family of the forester Adam Howe, who lived near the town of Wakefield in the north of England. In 1322, the Earl of Warren, master of Howd, joined the Duke of Lancaster's rebellion against King Edward. The rebellion was defeated, its leaders were executed, and ordinary participants were outlawed. The home of Robert Hoad, 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 Howe appeared on the lists of royal servants for a couple of years. A statement dated November 22, 1324 states: "By order of His Majesty the King, to give Robert Howe, a former guardsman, 5 shillings in view of the fact that he no longer serves in the palace." Howd 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, this may all be nothing more than a coincidence.

Even less is known about another applicant for the title of prototype Robin Hood. The name of a certain Robin Hod occurs in 1226 in the court records of the city of York. It says that this person's property total cost 32 shillings and 6 pence were confiscated, and he himself was outlawed. 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 the offspring of an ancient family as the leader of a band of robbers 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 falls. And in the middle of the 18th century, a sensation struck: the grave of Robin Hood was found. A certain William Stukeley, a physician, Freemason and amateur historian, in his book Paleographica Britannica, wrote 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. Such criminals as he and his people, England will never see again.

Robin Hood and Baby John

This stone can still be seen today, although it is located on the territory of private ownership. True, it is almost impossible to make out the inscription - it is almost completely erased. The authenticity of it, and of the grave itself, already in the 19th century raised serious doubts: the text was written not in Old English, but in the language of the 18th century, “aged” with the help of gross errors. Even more suspicious was the date of death at the end of the inscription: "24 kal: Dekembris, 1247." If you use the format of the Roman calendar adopted in 13th-century England, you get "23 days before December." No inscription with a similar spelling of the date is known. Modern scholars believe that both the inscription and the stone are forgeries of the 18th century.

By the way, the origin of Robin Hood from the village of Loxley, which became especially popular after the movie "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves", is not seriously considered by anyone. This name is not mentioned in the ballads about Robin Hood, nor in documents related to his possible prototypes. Loxley was first mentioned as the birthplace of the Earl of Huntington by Joseph Wriston in 1795, defending the theory of noble origin archer. What he was guided by is not clear.

Sheriff of Nottingham

It is quite possible that Robin Hood does not have a specific prototype known to historians at all. Perhaps, in the XIII century, a cheerful and successful robber lived in Sherwood Forest, of which there were many in England at that time. He helped fellow peasants several times, and stories about this, acquiring more and more details and conjectures, turned into folk legends. At least a few of Robin Hood's friends and foes known from ballads have apparently legendary origins.

Of the entire Sherwood gang, only Little John left some material traces. The Derbyshire village of Hathersage proudly claims to be the home of Robin Hood's closest friend. At the local cemetery, they will readily show you his grave, however, already 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 the court documents of the XIV century, it was also possible to find a mention of a certain John Le Little, who robbed the people in the vicinity of Wakefield. But this can hardly be considered another proof of the reality of the existence of Little John, because the nickname given by growth is not uncommon.

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

Traces of other associates of Robin Hood 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. Marian's name is not mentioned in folk ballads ah, but this character was traditionally present at the folk May holidays as the Queen of May. Somewhere in the 15th century, Robin Hood also became the hero of these walks, usually held at the edge of the forest. How was it not to make a wonderful couple? The rest is the work of writers and filmmakers.

The origin of the eternal opponents of Robin Hood is also rather vague. The Sheriff of Nottingham certainly existed, but none of the legends mention his name. So a dozen of royal officials who replaced this post for several centuries could immediately experience a sharp personal dislike for the Sherwood robber. The cruel knight Guy of Gisburne, who wore a horseskin 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 surfaced in ballads about Robin Hood.

Bishop's Oak

Who the heroes and anti-heroes of Sherwood Forest really were, today only a huge oak tree, standing in a thicket at the crossroads of major roads, knows for sure. It is more than a thousand years old, back in the 19th century, special props had to be made for 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 so: Bishop's oak. Whether it actually happened or not is a mystery.

Since childhood, Robin Hood has been and remains a hero for many (eng. Robin Hood (and not “good” - “good”; “hood” - “hood”, it makes sense to “hide (cover with a hood)”, “robin” can be translated as "robin") - the noble leader of the forest robbers from medieval English folk ballads, according to them, Robin Hood acted with his gang in Sherwood Forest near Nottingham - robbed the rich, giving the spoils to the poor.
The legend of the noble robber has been living for more than six centuries, and the identity of the prototype of these ballads and legends has not been established.
In the 1377 edition of William Langland's Plowman Pierce, there is a reference to "poems about Robin Hood". Langland's contemporary Geoffrey Chaucer, in Troilus and Crisade, mentions "a hazel thicket where the merry Robin walked." Moreover, in The Tale of Gamelin, which was included by Chaucer in " The Canterbury Tales”, a robber hero is also depicted.

Several real historical figures , which could serve as the prototype of the legendary Robin. In the census registers for 1228 and 1230, the name of Robert Hood, nicknamed Brownie, is mentioned, about which it is said that he was a fugitive from justice. Around the same time, a popular movement arose under the leadership of Sir Robert Twing - the rebels raided the monasteries, and the looted grain was distributed to the poor. However, the name Robert Hood was quite common, so scientists are more inclined to believe that the prototype of Robin Hood was a certain Robert Fitzug, a contender for the title of Earl of Huntingdon, who was born around 1160 and died in 1247. In some reference books, these years even appear as dates for the life of Robin Hood, although written sources of that time do not contain any mention of a rebellious aristocrat named Robert Fitzug.

Who was king in the days of Robin Hood? Dating historical events is further complicated by the fact that various options legends mention various English monarchs. One of the first historians to deal with this problem, Sir Walter Bower, believed that Robin Hood was a participant in the 1265 uprising against King Henry III, which was led by a royal relative, Simon de Montfort. After the defeat of Montfort, many of the rebels did not disarm and continued to live like the hero of the ballads Robin Hood. “At this time,” Bower wrote, “the famous robber Robin Hood ... began to use great influence among those who were disinherited and outlawed for their part in the uprising.” The main contradiction of Bower's hypothesis is that the longbow mentioned in the Robin Hood ballads had not yet been invented at the time of de Montfort's rebellion.

A 1322 document mentions a "Robin Hood stone" in Yorkshire. It follows from this that the ballads, and perhaps the owner of the legendary name himself, were already well known by this time. Those inclined to look for traces of a genuine Robin Hood in the 1320s usually suggest the role of the noble robber Robert Hood, a tenant from Wakefield who in 1322 participated in the rebellion led by the Earl of Lancaster. In support of the hypothesis, information is given that in the following year King Edward II visited Nottingham and took into his service as a valet a certain Robert Hood, who was paid a salary for the next 12 months.

If we take the mention of King Edward II as a starting point, then it turns out that the hero-robber performed his exploits in the first quarter of the 14th century. However, according to other versions, he appears on the historical stage as a brave warrior of King Richard I the Lionheart, whose reign fell on the last decade of the 12th century - it is this version, in the artistic presentation of Walter Scott, that is currently most popular. Since Walter Scott used the image of Robin Hood as the prototype for one of the characters in Ivanhoe in 1819, the noble robber has continued to be popular hero children's books, film and television.

In one of the most complete collections of English ballads published by Francis Child in the 19th century, there are 40 works about Robin Hood, and in the 14th century there were only four:

In the first novel Robin lends money and his trusty squire Little John to an impoverished knight in order to get revenge on the greedy abbot.

In the second- cunningly forces the hated sheriff from Nottingham to dine with him venison, which the robbers got in the patrimony of the law enforcement officer - Sherwood Forest.

In the third- Robin recognizes King Edward in disguise, who arrives incognito in Nottingham to investigate violations of the law by local rulers, and enters his service.

artist Daniel Content Published by Rand McNally & Co ~ 1928

artist Frank Godwin (1889 ~ 1959) Published by Garden City Publiching Co ~ 1932

In the fourth- the final part of the ballad, published in 1495, tells of Robin's return to robbery and the betrayal of the abbess of Kirkleyskogo abbey, who brings him to death by bloodletting when he comes to her monastery for treatment.

artist N. C. Wyeth Published by David McKay ~ 1917

In the early ballads, there is no mention of the maiden Marianne, Robin's lover. She first appears in the later versions of the legend, which arose at the end of the 15th century.

artist Frank Godwin (1889 ~ 1959) Published by Garden City Publiching Co ~ 1932:

artist Lucy Fitch Perkins Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company ~ 1923

The giant, nicknamed Little John, is already present in the band of robbers in the original versions of the legend,

artist Lucy Fitch Perkins Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company ~ 1923

artist Lucy Fitch Perkins Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company ~ 1923

And brother Tak (a wandering monk, a jolly fat man) appears in a much later version. Yes, and Robin himself from a yeoman (a free peasant) eventually reincarnated into a noble exile.

artist Lucy Fitch Perkins Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company ~ 1923

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

artist Lucy Fitch Perkins Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company ~ 1923

Now most researchers agree that Robin Hood is " pure creation folk muse". And, according to M. Gorky, "... the poetic feeling of the people made a hero out of a simple, perhaps robber, a hero almost equal to a saint" (preface to the collection "The Ballads of Robin Hood", Pg. 1919, p. 12).

artist Frank Godwin (1889 ~ 1959) Published by Garden City Publiching Co ~ 1932

BALLAD OF ROBIN HOOD
(translated by I. Ivanovsky)

ABOUT brave guy there will be a speech
His name was Robin Hood.
No wonder the memory of a daredevil
The people are protected.

artist N. C. Wyeth Published by David McKay ~ 1917

He hasn't shaved his beard yet.
And there was a shooter
And the heaviest bearded man
Couldn't compete with him.

But his house was burned by enemies,
And Robin Hood is gone
With a gang of valiant shooters
Gone to Sherwood Forest.

artist N. C. Wyeth Published by David McKay ~ 1917

artist Frank Godwin (1889 ~ 1959) Published by Garden City Publiching Co ~ 1932

Anyone shot without a miss,
Jokingly wielded a sword;
Two to attack six
They didn't care.

artist Lucy Fitch Perkins Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company ~ 1923

There was a blacksmith, Little John -
Big man from big man,
Three healthy fellows
He carried it!

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 centuries of history, 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 it 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 peasant son fell into the path of robbery?

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 found the perfect hideout deep in Sherwood Forest, 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 while in prison, the fearless leader had no doubt that faithful friends they won't 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 about traditional May holiday 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 tricks 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 University of Cambridge and the author of a book on Robin Hood, wrote: “Written records indicate that Brother Took organized his gang of robbers two hundred miles from Sherwood Forest, and 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.

“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 then there are the creators. computer games 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 quite a a real man. 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 largest cities peace.

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 late XII I - the beginning of the 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 light hand Walter Scott's 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 also had a clearly pagan character, for a long time celebrated by English peasants. 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 right hand 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 real name Scarlet 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 collective image, combining 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 Hard time. 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 at least long history than 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 more 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 Ivanhoe, Robin Hood helps a man who has returned to England after crusade and captivity to King Richard to regain his throne, usurped him 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"

IN Lately in England, several attempts were made 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 saw the light famous novel 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".

IN Victorian era The legend of Robin Hood has been adapted for children. In 1883, a collection considered a classic was published. Howard Pyle « funny adventures 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, which tells about the childhood of King Arthur. Michael Cadnam wrote two novels based on the legends of Robin Hood: The Forbidden Forest and In the Dark Forest. Main character the first book - Little John, and the second - 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 treacherous 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, but 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 suggested very unusual version Sherwood Outlaw Adventures. 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, numbered 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", leading role in which the inimitable Errol Flynn performed. 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. Main villain in "Robin of Sherwood" - the powerful sorcerer Baron de Balem. And the main goodies two at once: after the death of the peasant Robin of 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 it is possible to find characters strongly resembling 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. Much more fun to rescue from captivity beautiful ladies. 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 sides 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.

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 terrible force how 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, it already appears here love line together 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 positive impact 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?