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 the deceived, always ready to restore justice. With the help of his dexterity, cunning, resourcefulness, he avoided death many times, although many of the rich English wanted to catch and send him to the gallows. This article explains who wrote "Robin Hood" and why writers often make this robber and his friends the main characters in their stories. Let's try together to find the right answers to these questions.
Robin the Hood. Book. Author
Those who write about Robin Hood are a legion, because the image of this hero attracts to itself with terrible force, just as adventures attract adventurers. Why do these toilers 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 drawing an image. This greatly facilitates the process of creating a work. It is also not necessary to rack your brains too much, coming up with enemies and friends of the protagonist. The first are the rich, the second are the poor.
Did he exist
If you wonder who wrote "Robin Hood", you must first understand what kind of hero he was, whether he really was. English historians have long been dealing 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 copied has not yet been found. Today, scientists agree that Good is still a literary figure, albeit one that 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 basic 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 nevertheless changed it in accordance with the era, where they lived. Robin Hood of the XX century is not much like Robin Hood of the XIX century, and even more so - of the XVIII or XVII century.
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. labeled as the abode of robbers in all his Robin Hood stories, Pyle sees it as a charming and light place. Here Robin and his friends feel at ease and liberated, which is why the reader feels the same way, opening the book and plunging into the world of this famous hero. Pyle's book is not easy to read, as it is written in a somewhat archaic manner, but it is 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 Lancelyn Greene, who published 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.
Good is not the first
In general, writers find it hard not to be tempted to create their own story about the robbers from 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 chosen forward. Michael Cadnam, for example, cannot be counted among those authors who wrote "Robin Hood", since he made his hero "the storm of the rich", and his faithful assistant - Little John in the book "Forbidden Forest". In another work, the same writer once again left Goode out of business, offering to look at the world through the eyes of Jeffrey, the sheriff who opposed 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 a supporting character. Apparently, the writer decided that the attitude of readers will change towards Robin if you look at him from the side of his main opponent, the antipode. The fair sex, who can also rightfully be included in the list of those who wrote "Robin Hood", act no less imposingly with Robin. The author of The Forestwife, Theresa Tomlinson, for example, brings Marion to the fore. If you look at Robin Hood from the point of view of this writer, you will understand that as a hero he was formed only thanks to the positive influence of his beloved.
Good and the world of fiction
Some of those who wrote "Robin Hood" allow themselves to throw the hero in time. Here at Park Godwin 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. The writer Nancy Springer introduces a brave girl - his daughter (in the book "Rowan Goode").
And in the genre of fantasy, Robin Hood was involved. In the book The Sherwood Game, written by Esther Frizner, programmer Karl Fischner somehow managed to turn the game into reality, and his virtual Robin Hood suddenly comes to life.
Jane Yolen, who created the cycle "Sherwood", 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 web of the Internet, where he, with the dexterity of a spider, began to take possession of the world's riches.
Is Robin Hood Noble
The earliest Robin Hood was not seen in the transfer of the stolen money to the poor. This hero took the wealth from the wicked, but did not give it to the poor, but to those who were near and dear to him. In the first legends about Robin Hood, it is said that he almost always acted quite simply during the 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 is not worth condemning Hood - after all, he later reformed and transformed into a real hero, selfless, noble, giving all of himself to help the poor. For this we love him, and therefore we are always glad to see him on television or read the new adventures of Robin Hood - a robber with a knight's heart. It doesn't matter who wrote the book. Robin Hood will always be remembered, but the authors of works about him?
Robin Hood owes its name not to the English word "good", that is, "good", as Russian readers usually think. The most common belief is that he got his nickname from "hood", that is, a hood or other headgear. Robin Hood - Robin in the hood.
A character from English folklore, a skilled archer and warrior from the Sherwood Forest, who robs the rich and distributes his spoils to the poor. Curiously, this trait was not part of the original ballad character and only appeared in the 19th century. It is not known whether the legend of the noble robber had a real prototype or only medieval ballads and legends served as the basis for it, but over the past centuries, Robin Hood has become one of the most popular elements of English culture, and the story about him feels great in the age of cinema and television.
Robin Hood owes its name not to the English word "good", that is, "good", as Russian readers usually think. The most common belief is that he got his nickname from "hood", that is, a hood or other headgear. Robin Hood - Robin in the hood. Attempts to associate this name with a really existing person have led nowhere, in particular because Robert has been one of the most popular names in England over the past ten centuries, and Robin is perhaps the most popular diminutive version of it. ... It is not surprising that in the medieval records there were many people named Robert or Robin Hood, and some of them were indeed criminals - but not so famous and significant as to contribute to the birth of a legend.
Robin Hood is accompanied by a detachment of loyal companions, they all live together in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, where the first ballads about Robin and modern films and television films are mainly set. In the earliest sources, he was a yeoman, a free peasant who had gone into the forests, but later was often portrayed as an exiled aristocrat, unfairly deprived of his possessions due to the machinations of an unscrupulous sheriff. The forest archer is often referred to as Robin of Loxley - it is believed that he was born in this village near Sheffield, but this version dates back to the late 16th century, while there are earlier versions of his place of birth, for example, the village of Skelow in South Yorkshire (Skellow, South Yorkshire), which is associated with the name of Robin Hood since 1422.
The first reference to poems about Robin Hood dates from the end of the 14th century, but the ballads themselves were recorded only in the 15th and 16th centuries, and already in them Robin Hood has all its main features - he comes from commoners, worships the Virgin, enjoys increased attention from women, he is a skilled archer, cannot stand churchmen and feuds with the Sheriff of Nottingham. Robin's party has already included Little John, Will Scarlet and Much the Miller's Son, but there is no mention of Maid Marian and the jolly monk Brother Friar Tuck) - they will arise a little later.In popular culture, Robin Hood is considered a contemporary and supporter of King Richard the Lionheart, that is, lives in England (England) of the 12th century.
Interestingly, the early ballads give readers a few clues to time the action, such as King Edward, for example, but ballads certainly cannot be considered a reliable historical source in such matters. Moreover, there were several kings with this name - King Edward I ascended the throne in 1272, and Edward III died in 1377. From the 16th century, Robin Hood "became" a nobleman, usually considered the Earl of Huntingdon, and this version is still very popular.
In any case, Robin Hood is a model for any noble outlaw. He collects tribute from wealthy merchants, knights, or high-ranking churchmen who were not lucky enough to meet him in Sherwood Forest, inviting them to dine with juicy venison, obtained, of course, by poaching. True, the payment for such a meal is usually the "guest's" wallet. There are exceptions to the rule - in one of the ballads, Robin Hood invites a knight to dinner, intending to rob him to the bone, but when he learns that the knight is about to lose his land, which the greedy abbot has laid eyes on, he gives him enough money to pay debt to the abbot.
Robin Hood is young, tall, handsome and very intelligent, despite his simple origins. He and his men usually dress in green, which helps them hide in dense forest thickets. He has a sharp tongue, he loves to joke, and can be quick-tempered and quick to take punishment. It is very interesting that in the ballads Robin keeps his people in strict submission, and, recognizing his supremacy, they kneel before him as before their lord - in medieval legends there is not even a hint of modern ideals of equality and brotherhood. Historians argue that the legend of Robin Hood was cultivated mainly among the gentry, the petty nobility, and it would be a mistake to see in him the embodiment of the peasant uprising. He does not so much rebel against the social standards of the Middle Ages as embody them - generous, moderately pious and courtly, despising greedy, effeminate and discourteous enemies. Although there are more than a hundred people in his "Merry Men" squad, only four or five of them are regularly described in ballads, Robin's closest friends and associates.
At the latest, by the beginning of the 15th century, Robin Hood became associated with the May holidays, and at about the same time, Robin Hood's romantic affection for the maiden Marian (or Marion) appeared in the sources, which eventually becomes his life friend. Marian is also portrayed as either a commoner or heiress of a noble family, and in modern culture it is believed that, in the end, Robin and Marian marry and leave the forest, returning to a rich and civilized life.
The Victorian era created its own Robin Hood - it was during this period that he becomes a philanthropist who robs the rich to give gifts to the poor - and the 20th century brought its own changes: from book to book, from film to film, Robin Hood turned from a cheerful robber to national hero of epic proportions, which not only cares for the weak, but also bravely defends the English throne from unworthy and corrupt lords.
Monument to Robin Hood in Nottingham
The Robin Hood ballads were first mentioned around 1377 in William Langland's poem The Vision of Peter Pahar, and the earliest records date from the mid-15th century.
In the early ballads, Robin was a yeoman, that is, a free small landowner, in later ballads he appears to be unfairly deprived of his title and estate by the Earl of Huntingdon, who lived in the 13th century Footnote error: Invalid call: invalid keys, for example, too many keys were specified or the key was wrong.
The oldest of the ballads about the "noble robber" - "Robin Hood and the Monk", dates back to the middle of the 15th century, and at the end of the 15th century appears "A Small Gesture about Robin Hood" ( A lytell geste of robyn hode).
The homeland of Robin Hood is called the village of Locksley, by the name of which Robin himself is sometimes called - Robin Locksley. His forest army numbers several dozen free shooters. All of them are excellent archers, brave, inventive and in their own way noble people.
Etymology
Word "Hood" in English means "hood" and indicates an element of Robin Hood's clothing, and with an erroneous Russian etymology from the English. good - "good" is associated only with a similar sound. In general, "hood" is not only a hood, but also several other similar headdresses - a hood, a cap, a cowl, a human or horse helmet (the main thing is that it covers / protects the entire head). Robin Hood and his adversary Guy Gisborne wear headdresses that are called the same word - a hood and a knight's helmet. But the word “hood” also has a figurative meaning - “to hide (cover with a hood)”.
The word "robin" translates as "robin", but it is possible that the hero's name is the result of a rethinking of the expression "Rob in hood" - "Rob (Robert) (" rob "," robber "also means" robber ") in the hood." This is what Marian named Robina when he won the archery tournament and proclaimed her the queen of the tournament.
Both of these meanings, hood-hood and robin-robin, are played on in the popular television series Robin of Sherwood (UK, 1984-1986), where main character often referred to as "Robin in the Hood".
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.
According to the English writer Stephen R. Lawhead (English)russian, author of the trilogy "Robin Hood: King of the Ravens" (English)russian (2006-2009), the word "gud" in the Celtic language means "sorcerer" [ ] .
The image of Robin Hood in culture
Literature
Movies
TV serials
- Robin the Hood / Robin hood (). Six episodes. The series was filmed by the BBC. Starring: Patrick Troughton. First appearance of Robin Hood on television. The 30-minute episode was broadcast live and only survived in excerpts.
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1959, 4 seasons, total 143 episodes). Starring: Richard Greene. Not translated into Russian.
- The Misadventures of Robin Hood / The Misadventures Of Robin Hood (UK, 1976). A sketch from The Benny Hill Show. As Robin Hood: Benny Hill.
- "Robin of Sherwood" (UK, 1983-1985, 3 seasons, 26 episodes in total). Starring: Michael Praid, Jason Connery.
- The New Adventures of Robin Hood / The New Adventures of Robin Hood (1997-1999, 4 seasons of 13 episodes). As Robin Hood: Matthew Porrett.
- Back to Sherwood (Canada,). Starring: Aimee Castle ( Aimée Castle).
- "Robin Hood" / Robin Hood (2006-2009). 3 seasons of 13 episodes. The series was filmed by the BBC TV company. As Robin Hood: Jonas Armstrong.
- "Once upon a time, in a Fairytail " / Once upon a time (2011, ABC TV company). As Robin Hood: Sean Maguire and Tom Ellis.
- Doctor Who (2014, BBC). Season 8 Episode 3 as Robin Hood: Tom Riley.
- In the series "Charmed", episode 14 of season 7, the ex-demon Drake, due to a spell, thinks that he is Robin Hood. Also in the same series, some scenes from the story of Robin Hood are parodied.
- series of sketches "Robin and Marian Hood" in the Russian sketch show "Unreal Story" (STS, 2011-2013)
Animated series
- Animated series Jet Robin Hood / Rocket Robin Hood (Canada, USA, -). The action takes place in 3000 on the Sherwood asteroid, where Robin Hood and his gang of "cheerful astronauts" fight against the evil sheriff.
- The Brave Robin Hood (USSR, 1970). In this cartoon, M. Ziv's song sounded to the verses of Yevgeny Agranovich ("The sorcerers performed a miracle over Robin Hood in the thicket ...").
Since childhood, the hero for many has been and remains Robin Hood (English Robin Hood (not "good" - "good"; "hood" - "hood", it makes sense to "hide (cover with a hood)", "robin" as a "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 back to the poor.
The legend of the noble robber has lived 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 poem Plowman Pierce, there is a reference to the "Robin Hood Poem." Langland's contemporary Jeffrey Chaucer in Troilus and Crisade mentions "the hazel-grove where the jolly Robin walked." Moreover, The Tale of Gamelin, which Chaucer included in The Canterbury Tales, also depicts a robber hero.
Several real historical figures have been identifiedthat could serve as the prototype for the legendary Robin. The census registers for 1228 and 1230 contain the name of Robert Hood, nicknamed the Brownie, about whom it is said that he was hiding from justice. Around this time, a popular movement arose under the leadership of Sir Robert Twing - rebels raided monasteries and distributed the looted grain to the poor. However, the name Robert Hood was quite common, so scientists are more inclined to the version 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 the dates of Robin Hood's life, although the written sources of that time do not contain any mention of a rebellious aristocrat named Robert Fitzug.
Who was the king during the time of Robin Hood? The dating of historical events is further complicated by the fact that different versions of the legend mention different 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, 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. "During this time," wrote Bower, "the famous robber Robin Hood ... began to enjoy great influence among those who were disinherited and outlawed for participating in the uprising." The main contradiction with Bower's hypothesis is that the longbow mentioned in the ballads about Robin Hood had not yet been invented at the time of de Montfort's rebellion.
A document from 1322 mentions the "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 search for traces of the original Robin Hood in the 1320s usually offer the role of the noble robber Robert Hood, a tenant from Wakefield who participated in the revolt led by the Earl of Lancaster in 1322. In support of the hypothesis, information is given that the following year, King Edward II visited Nottingham and took into his service as 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, it turns out that the robber hero performed his feats in the first quarter of the XIV century. However, according to other versions, he appears on the historical scene as a brave warrior of King Richard I the Lionheart, whose reign fell on the last decade of the XII century - it is this version in the artistic presentation of Walter Scott that is currently most popular. Ever since 1819, Walter Scott used the image of Robin Hood as the prototype for one of the characters in Ivanhoe, the noble robber continues to be a popular hero in children's books, films and television.
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 story Robin lends money and his loyal squire Little John to an impoverished knight in order to take revenge on the greedy abbot.
In the second - by cunning makes the hated Sheriff from Nottingham to dine with him venison, which the robbers got in the patrimony of the guardian of order - Sherwood Forest.
In the third - Robin recognizes the disguised King Edward, who comes incognito to 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 the story of Robin's return to robbery and the betrayal of the abbess of Kyarkley Abbey, who brings him to death by bloodletting when he comes to her monastery to receive medical 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. It first appears in later versions of the legend that 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 present in the band of robbers already in the initial 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
Brother Tak (a wandering monk, a cheerful fat man) appears in a much later version. Yes, and Robin himself from the yeoman (free peasant) eventually reincarnated as 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 "a pure creation of the folk muse." And, according to M. Gorky - "... the poetic feeling of the people made a hero out of a simple, perhaps, a robber, almost equal to a saint" (preface to the collection "Ballads about Robin Hood", Pg. 1919, p. 12).
artist Frank Godwin (1889 ~ 1959) Published by Garden City Publiching Co ~ 1932
Ballad of Robin Hood
(lane by I. Ivanovsky)
A brave guy will be discussed
He was called Robin Hood.
No wonder the memory of the daredevil
The people cherish.
artist N. C. Wyeth Published by David McKay ~ 1917
He also did not shave his beard,
And there was already a shooter
And the sturdiest bearded man
I could not compete with him.
But his house was burned down by enemies,
And Robin Hood disappeared -
With a band of valiant riflemen
Went 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;
Attack six together
They didn't care.
artist Lucy Fitch Perkins Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company ~ 1923
There was a blacksmith, Little John -
Bigger from bigwigs,
Three healthy fellows
He carried on himself!
The most famous character of the medieval epic is the noble robber Robin Hood. What is the legend about? This article sets out summary... Robin Hood, in addition, is a person who has attracted the interest of historians for several centuries, inspires prose writers and poets. The article also contains works of art dedicated to the leader of the forest robbers.
Ballads of Robin Hood
A summary of the poetic work of the Scottish folklorist Robert Burns can be summarized in several sentences. The work of an eighteenth-century poet, based on a medieval legend, should be read in the original. The Burns legend is an example of poetic romanticism. The main role here is played not by the plot, but by the literary language. Nevertheless, we will present a brief summary.
Robin Hood lived contrary to fate. He was called a thief only because he did not allow others to steal. He was a robber, but he did not harm any poor man. Little John once struck up a conversation with Robin about his duties in the gang. He, of course, ordered the inexperienced robber to rob the moneybags.
It was time for lunch. However, the leader of the gang was not used to eating at his own expense. Therefore, he ordered John to go on the fulfillment of a noble predatory duty.
The young member of the gang did everything as taught by the mentor. However, the victim of a robbery was an impoverished knight who had once borrowed a large loan from the abbot. Robin Hood helped the poor fellow by providing armor and everything else needed to fulfill his knightly duty. The first song tells about this story. The following chapters deal with other glorious feats of Robin.
The most popular is the version of the writer and historian Walter Scott. Based on the medieval tradition, the Scottish author created the novel "Ivanhoe". The work is known all over the world. He was filmed more than once. Therefore, it is more important to analyze the image of the famous robber in the interpretation of the Scottish author than to present a summary.
Robin Hood in Walter Scott's prose
The novel depicts the era of contradictions between the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons. According to Scott's version, Robin Hood lived in the second half of the twelfth century. According to critics, the best chapters of this adventure work are devoted to the struggle of the people's liberators against the tyranny of the authorities. Glorious feats in the novel are performed by the squad of Robin Hood. People's liberators storm the Fron de Boefa castle. And before her onslaught the servants of the Norman feudal lord are not able to resist.
The image of Robin Hood in Scott's work symbolizes not only justice, but also freedom, strength, independence.
On the basis of legends about a just robber, he wrote two novels. The French prose writer significantly changed the canonical history. What can you find out by reading the summary?
"Robin Hood - King of Robbers", as well as other works of the classics, is a fascinating prose. The novel in question also has an unexpected ending. How is Robin Hood depicted in the work of the French writer?
In the book, Robin is surrounded, as expected, by loyal friends. Among them is John Baby. But the French writer paid attention not only to the exploits of the fearless robber. Robin Hood in Dumas's novel can also be called a lyrical hero. He flirts with women. But at the same time, she remains faithful to her beloved.
In the novel about Robin Hood, the characters are either positive or negative. This is due to the author's style and romantic stories born in the medieval era. However, Dumas's version is an unfinished story. The sequel is set out in the book "Robin Hood in Exile".
In Russian prose
Russian writers also dedicated works of art to the noble leader of the forest robbers. One of them is Mikhail Gershenzon (Robin Hood).
A summary of the story of the beloved hero of the English people in any of the versions is a presentation of an old legend. Robin Hood is a character with fearlessness, nobility, and a heightened sense of justice. The interpretation of this or that author is distinguished by a system of images, an interpretation of historical events. The image of the main character remains unchanged.
The story of Robin Hood was probably extremely close in spirit to Gershenzon. The writer died during the Great Patriotic War. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, he fell on the battlefield "a completely Robingudian death."
Robin Hood is a hero whose story will always inspire writers and filmmakers. It doesn't matter how true the plots of the books about him are. What matters is that the hero's image is an example of honor, courage and self-sacrifice.
