Imagining Robin Hood: The Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context

Robin Hood was ever as popular in England as he is now, judging by the earliest surviving tales from the fifteenth century. Over time he has transformed into the popular hero we know today: the dispossessed earl, outlawed in the woods with his band of merry men, and a skilled archer living by highway robbery and poaching. A. J. Pollard explores the different set of tales circulating when the legend was first recorded. Their hero is an outlaw indeed, but he does not rob from the rich to give to the poor. There is no Friar Tuck. There is no Maid Marion. And Robin Hood himself is not an earl, he is a plain yeoman. This compelling new study examines the earliest stories of Robin Hood afresh, and throws light on their cultural significance. Book jacket.

A. J. Pollard is Professor of History at the University of Teeside