Luke Ellett

Robin Hood: Folklore or Historical Figure

Robin Hood is perhaps one of the most influential characters in Nottinghams
history, although it has been debated how much of the stories are actually true.
Some of the literature written of Robin Hoods deeds date back to 15 th century
but most of them date to the 16th or even 17th century1. However the fact that
these stories were made to be fictional has led to the belief that Robin Hood
never actually existed.
One factor that makes his existed widely debated is that many of the references
to him argue that he was around in different time eras. However others say that
there was more than one Robin Hood. Stephen Knight, the leading authority on
Robin Hood, argues that there have been at least four types of Robin Hoods. 2 All
this considered, is it actually possible that the Robin Hood from the stories
written in the 15th century are true but alongside them are a number of other
Robin Hoods from a number of other times that we havent acknowledged due to
the fact their stories arent as well known?
The first Robin Hood that Knight mentions isnt anything like the Robin Hood from
the stories but instead He does still rob, but for himself rather than for the
poor.3 This is a big comparison to the third Robin Hood which is more like the
one in the stories and songs. However this Robin, discovered in the 18 th century
also fights the medieval church and oppressive kings 4 which is definitely more of
a modern concept where philosophers saw themselves in a state of perpetual
opposition: to the church... 5 So there could be a possibility that the third Robin
Hood was created to voice certain modern thinkers views on hold the church
used to control medieval England and that he could have been a modern thinker
for his time.
Another reason why the figure of Robin Hood could have been created is to serve
a group a symbol of resistance to perceived oppression 6 like what was
suggested about the Robin Hood created in the 18 th century. However the
difference is that he was used as a symbol for hope instead of being ahead of his
time. However there is another factor that makes him less likely to have existed
1 Robert E. Morsberger, In Quest of Robin Hood ( Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association,
1971) Page 75 of 75-85

2Robert A. Segal, Journal of American Folklore ( University of Illinois Press, 2007) Page 366 of 366367

3 Robert A. Segal, Journal of American Folklore ( University of Illinois Press, 2007) Page 366 of 366367

4 Robert A. Segal, Journal of American Folklore ( University of Illinois Press, 2007) Page 366 of 366367

5 Charles W.J. Withers, Placing the Enlightenment (University of Chicago Press,

2007) Page 31
6 Graham Seal, The Robin Hood Principle: Folklore, History, and the Social Bandit
(Indiana University, 2009) Page 9

Luke Ellett
since he follows the same narrative frame work of other outlaw heroes like
Pancho Villa (a famous Mexican outlaw) as suggested by Seal.
Many cultures and countries have similar historical figures that are justified as
being symbols of hope but due to the evidence raised by Knight, its possible he
did exist after all and that the stories grew and were exaggerated to give people
hope.