lady_sarai

Well, just because.

Mind you, this is NOT as good as I would like it to be. We had to discuss certain things in our presentation and paper, and that's why it doesn't have more on things like the changing legend and whatnot.

We had to include these specific elements in our talk/paper:

-summary or explanation of topic(s)
-general impact topic has had on England/English literature/culture
-one or two specific aspects of the topic
-brief summary of sources of criticism
-connection/reference to one or two texts on our syllabus (this was somewhat difficult and I'm not sure I was terribly successful)

And we had 3/4 pages to do this in. My paper is 5. And I don't feel it's complete enough. But anyway...

Citations in MLA format. Fun. =P (I don't have page numbers for my e-book source or the website, and hoping that's not going to get me in trouble...)

I do not think that this is my best paper, by ANY means, and it drives me a bit nuts because there was so much MORE I would have included and I wish I had been given longer to research. BUT, it's interesting stuff.

At least, it is if you're remotely interested. Heh.



Robin Hood and the Ballad Tradition

The Robin Hood legend began in ballads; the name “Robin Hood” appeared as an acronym for bandits and thieves as early as the 1200s, which suggests that people were familiar with stories about Robin Hood. Ballads are typically songs that tell a story, usually in third person. There are many characteristics of ballads, some of which have survived into modern music.

Ballads are sung to simple melodies, using short sentences and simple rhymes. It is very difficult to attribute a ballad to an author because they were passed orally from person to person. This means that many versions of the same ballad may exist, and it is difficult to determine what the “real” version of a ballad is. Ballads generally focus on the action and events of a story, and usually have an underlying moral (Leach, 1). Ballads are considered folk songs, because they are generally attributed to the middle class—farmers, townspeople and “common folk,” as opposed to nobility and upper class members of society. This explains why most ballads are not about religion, courtly love or political subjects. Ballads reflect the everyday concerns of the people who listened to and sang them (Leach, 11). Because ballads were spread orally, the manuscripts we have today are generally attributed to the end of the middle ages; most ballads are dated in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, although ballads are being written (in different forms) even today. The earliest documented ballad is “Judas,” which is attributed to the thirteenth century (Leach, 28-29). It may be that the date of the “first” ballad is never discovered, and that most of the ballads that were popular in the Middle Ages are lost forever because they were never put into writing. The ballad has continued to exist as an art form into the twentieth century; the form has been used in popular American songs like “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” “The Ballad of New Orleans,” and even Don McLean’s “American Pie” is considered a ballad (Wikipedia).

One of the most popular subjects of ballads is Robin Hood—more than forty surviving ballads are about the adventures of this outlaw (Leach, 14). The legend of Robin Hood has undergone countless changes over the centuries, and the version most contemporary fans are familiar with does not resemble the original ballads as much as we might suppose. There have been additions and changes to the legend as late as the 1980s, when the British television show Robin of Sherwood introduced a Merry Man who returned with Robin from the Crusades—an idea used in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Wright). Some of the most traditional characteristics of the Robin Hood legend were not present in the ballads of the Middle Ages. Maid Marian did not appear before the sixteenth century, and her character changes with every appearance in a text. Sometimes she is a “damsel-in-distress,” who Robin must rescue. In one early story, she disguises herself as a man and meets a disguised Robin—neither recognizes the other—and they fight; Marian wins this fight, and only reveals her identity when Robin reveals his (Knight).

The first textual mention of Robin Hood is in Piers Plowman, which is dated 1377. The oldest Robin Hood ballads mention his Merry Men, specifically mentioning Little John, Will Scarlett, and Much the Miller’s Son (Knight). The earliest Robin Hood ballad is Robin Hood and the Monk, which is dated no earlier than 1450 (Dobson, 1). The details that most sources agree upon are that Robin was an outlaw; in the ballads, he was a yeoman, although exactly what that title means is sometimes debated (Knight). The idea that he stole from the rich to give to the poor is not present in the original ballads; he is a much more violent outlaw, as well. He beheads the Sheriff of Nottingham in The Gest of Robin Hood, and in another ballad, he beheads Guy of Gisbourne and impales his head on his bow.

The impact of the Robin Hood legends on England and English literature is clearly evident. There have been countless film and television versions of the legend in the last century, but the Robin Hood legend was a popular subject for plays even in the sixteenth century. Mentions of Robin Hood appear in Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Henry IV (Holt, 161). New Robin Hood ballads and stories continued appearing into the seventeenth century, introducing the now traditional characters of Friar Tuck, Maid Marian and Alan-a-Dale, the minstrel. In 1819, the novel Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott helped to popularize the idea that Robin lived during the reign of Richard I and served with him on the Crusades. In 1882, Howard Pyle wrote The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire, which has become a classic version of the tale—it has never been out of print (Wright). The tourism industry in parts of England relies on the Robin Hood legend for income; the Sherwood Forest Trust relies on the popularity and affection for the Robin Hood tales to earn money used to preserve the forest and educate visitors and children about the environment and history of Nottinghamshire (Wright).

Criticism about Robin Hood focuses on two central topics—the changes that have been made to the myth over the centuries (such as when Robin Hood lived), and whether or not a real Robin Hood existed. What is certain is that there are several possible “real” Robin Hoods, and in fact, several men existed who had a similar name; some were even outlaws (Wright). J. C. Holt writes, “It is more likely than not that Robert Hood, outlaw, original of the story, was a real person” (187). However, many critics and experts find this hard to agree upon; there are too many possible Robins, and too many discrepancies and inaccuracies concerning when he lived. It is generally assumed that the Robin Hood ballads must have been based on more than one outlaw (Knight). Robin Hood’s legend has changed many times; most of these changes reflect what the people listening to the ballads and tales needed to hear and believe in. Earliest tales have a yeoman outlawed, sometimes because he has killed a king’s deer, or lost his land to the sheriff—things commoners in the Middle Ages would understand and relate to. Later tales cast Robin as a nobleman who has become an outlaw by differing means; this change may reflect a changing audience—from peasants to nobility (Wright). The ballads mention King Edward, while later legends and most contemporary versions place Robin earlier in history, during King Richard’s reign; some even send him on the Crusades. In the thirteenth century, public documents list many “Robin Hood”s or men with similar names; many of these men were outlaws or bandits, suggesting that the name became an alias of sorts—it was fairly common to call a thief a “Robin Hood” as a noun. Similarly, the sheriff’s cry “Wolf’s-head,” which originally was used to alert townspeople of a bandit they were allowed to capture by whatever means they could, became a pseudonym of Robin Hood (Wright).

Robin Hood became associated with May Day games in the sixteenth century, and soon became associated with “the Green Man.” This association with spring and fertility have caused some scholars to claim that he is pagan in origin, although this is most likely not the case—no early ballads support this (Knight). There is also a connection to Gawain and the Green Knight, because the Green Knight is also associated with a “Green Man” who plays an important role in May Day celebrations. The “Green Man” myth originally referenced a fairy or spite who represented fertility and spring, and was closely associated with trees and forests. Because the Green Knight and Robin are associated with forests and the outdoors, the two became associated with May Day celebrations; Marian’s character is said to have originated with the character of the Queen in these celebrations. It is the association with spring and the outdoors that is most often cited as the connection between Robin and the Green Knight, but some authors have even placed Robin Hood in King Arthur’s time period. Scholars agree on this point—King Arthur and Camelot came long before Robin Hood. However, this interesting combination of legends has reappeared as recently as the last few years; Jane Yolan includes Robin Hood as a character in her young adult trilogy about King Arthur (Wright).


Works Cited

"Ballad." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. March 10, 2006. March 13, 2006. <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ballad&oldid=43205564>.

Dobson, R. B. and J. Taylor. Rymes of Robin Hood: An Introduction to the English Outlaw. Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg Press, 1976.

Holt, J. C. Robin Hood. New York: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1982.

Knight, Stephen Thomas. Robin Hood: An Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism. New York: Boydell & Brewer Ltd., 1990. March 12, 2006. <http://www.netlibrary.com/reader>.

Leach, MacEdward. The Ballad Book. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., Ltd., 1955.

"Robin Hood." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. March 14, 2006. March 14, 2006. <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=robin_hood&oldid=43689817>.

Wright, Allen. Robin Hood: Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood. 1997-2004. March 12, 2006. <http://www.boldoutlaw.com/robjour/index.html>


If anyone's interested, I have "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," "The Ballad of John and Yoko," "American Pie," and a version of "Tam Lin" (I think) on my computer. :) "Wreck" is a favorite of mine, actually.



Yeah, dunno why I decided to post this. Except maybe to use my new Robin Hood icon! =D

Now, off to figure out why my mood theme isn't working right. Hmm.





Also, yes! I am adoring my paid account! I wish you would tell me who you are! :) But anyway, if there is anything you'd like written or made, let me know! Really!!!!