Robin Hood

Rating:
Summary: Take a romp through Sherwood Forest
Review: Holt has written an enthralling study of Robin Hood, of both the man (what little remains of him in the ballads) and the legend. He discusses the five earliest surviving ballads - "A Gest of Robyn Hode," "Robin Hoode his Death," "Robin Hood and the Monk," "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne," and "Robin Hood and the Potter" - and from them details all that can be inferred of the original Hood and of the transmission of the legend in the 200 years before the songs of Robin Hood were first written down. Even after they began to be written down new elements in the legend emerged - Maid Marian and Friar Tuck only joined Robin's merry men in the 15th century. Although today we commonly think of Robin Hood as hanging around in Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, the early ballads most strongly connect him with Barnesdale ("My name is Robin Hood of Barnesdale," the outlaw once remarks in a ballad). Holt details the physical setting in which Robin Hood and his legend traversed, and also the type of people who were his original audience.

So who was Robin Hood? Holt answers, "There were more than one." Many outlaws later called themselves Hood, and some elements of the legends were possibly added on because a storyteller confused one Hood with our Robin Hood - this may explain why a actual march of Edward II's in 1322 is incorporated into the life of a bandit who probably lived a hundred years earlier. Holt does think there was an original Robin Hood, who inspired the legend, and believes that he lived in the first half of the 13th century. He is possibly identical with a certain outlaw named Robert Hod, aka Hobbehod, who is mentioned in records from 1225-26. Although there are many uncertainties, of all the suggested candidates for the "real" Robin Hood, Robert Hod is the most plausible, based on the existing evidence. If you get only one book about Robin Hood, make it this one.

Rating:
Summary: Take a romp through Sherwood Forest
Review: Holt has written an enthralling study of Robin Hood, of both the man (what little remains of him in the ballads) and the legend. He discusses the five earliest surviving ballads - "A Gest of Robyn Hode," "Robin Hoode his Death," "Robin Hood and the Monk," "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne," and "Robin Hood and the Potter" - and from them details all that can be inferred of the original Hood and of the transmission of the legend in the 200 years before the songs of Robin Hood were first written down. Even after they began to be written down new elements in the legend emerged - Maid Marian and Friar Tuck only joined Robin's merry men in the 15th century. Although today we commonly think of Robin Hood as hanging around in Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, the early ballads most strongly connect him with Barnesdale ("My name is Robin Hood of Barnesdale," the outlaw once remarks in a ballad). Holt details the physical setting in which Robin Hood and his legend traversed, and also the type of people who were his original audience.

So who was Robin Hood? Holt answers, "There were more than one." Many outlaws later called themselves Hood, and some elements of the legends were possibly added on because a storyteller confused one Hood with our Robin Hood - this may explain why a actual march of Edward II's in 1322 is incorporated into the life of a bandit who probably lived a hundred years earlier. Holt does think there was an original Robin Hood, who inspired the legend, and believes that he lived in the first half of the 13th century. He is possibly identical with a certain outlaw named Robert Hod, aka Hobbehod, who is mentioned in records from 1225-26. Although there are many uncertainties, of all the suggested candidates for the "real" Robin Hood, Robert Hod is the most plausible, based on the existing evidence. If you get only one book about Robin Hood, make it this one.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book !
Review: I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.
It's a great book for anyone inteested in Robin Hood.
I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

Rating:
Summary: The definitive source, I think.
Review: This book has the ring of authenticity about it. One British reviewer called it "Probably unsurpassable," and I agree. In this way it is like an Arthurian book by Ashe or Alcock. (I am thinking of "In Search of Arthur's Britain," which described the 1967 South Cadbury dig.)

You will learn the truth about the earliest Robin Hood stories - he was a yeoman, not a nobleman or a peasant, his earliest haunt was Barnsdale, not Sherwood. There was no Maid Marian at first, etc.

An excellent book for British history buffs and English lit types.

Rating:
Summary: The definitive source, I think.
Review: This book has the ring of authenticity about it. One British reviewer called it "Probably unsurpassable," and I agree. In this way it is like an Arthurian book by Ashe or Alcock. (I am thinking of "In Search of Arthur's Britain," which described the 1967 South Cadbury dig.)

You will learn the truth about the earliest Robin Hood stories - he was a yeoman, not a nobleman or a peasant, his earliest haunt was Barnsdale, not Sherwood. There was no Maid Marian at first, etc.

An excellent book for British history buffs and English lit types.