Origins and history

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-07-07. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-05-26.

Essential

• Dobson, R.B.; Taylor, J. 'The Medieval Origins of the Robin Hood Legend: a Reassessment', Northern History, vol. 7 (1972), pp. 1-30
• Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 10-16
• Holt, J.C. 'The Origins and Audience of the Ballads of Robin Hood', Past & Present, No. 18 (1960), pp. 89-110
  • Holt, J.C. 'The Origins and Audience of the Ballads of Robin Hood', in: Hilton, R.H., ed. Peasants, Knights and Heretics: Studies in Medieval English Social History (Cambridge, London, New York, Melbourne, 1976), pp. 236-57
  • Holt, J.C. 'The Origins and Audience of the Ballads of Robin Hood', in: Hilton, R.H., ed. Peasants, Knights and Heretics: Studies in Medieval English Social History (Cambridge, 1981), pp. 236-57
  • Holt, J. C. 'The Origins and Audience of the Ballads of Robin Hood', in: Knight, Stephen, ed. Robin Hood: Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism (Cambridge, 1999), pp. 211-32
• Holt, J.C. Robin Hood (London, 1982)
  • Holt, J.C. Robin Hood. Revised and enlarged edition (London, 1989)
  • Holt, J.C. Robin Hood (London, 2010)
  • Holt, J.C. Robin Hood (London, 2011)
  • Holt, J.C. Robin Hood (London, 2011)
• Hunter, Joseph. The Great Hero of the Ancient Minstrelsy of England, "Robin Hood." His Period, Real Character, etc. investigated and perhaps ascertained (Critical and Historical Tracts, No. 4) (London, 1852)
  • Hunter, Joseph. The Great Hero of the Ancient Minstrelsy of England, "Robin Hood:" his Period, Real Character, etc., investigated, and perhaps ascertained (Worksop, 1883)
  • Hunter, Joseph. 'Robin Hood', in: Knight, Stephen, ed. Robin Hood: Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism (Cambridge, 1999), pp. 187-95

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Significant

• Bradbury, Jim. The Medieval Archer (Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1985), ch. 5 (pp. 58-70); 'Robin Hood'
• Holt, J.C. 'Robin Hood: Some Comments', Past & Present, No. 19 (1961), pp. 16-18 (reprinted 1976 and 1981
• Kirtley, Bacil F. 'Theories and Fantasies concerning Robin Hood', Southern Folklore Quarterly, vol. 19 (1956), pp. 108-15. Not seen
• Kaufman, Alexander L., ed. British Outlaws of Literature and History (Jefferson, NC, 2011)
• Keen, Maurice. 'Robin Hood: a Peasant Hero?', History Today, vol. 8 (1958), pp. 684-89
• Midgley Webpages: Robin Hood of Wakefield. On history and origins etc.
• Robin Hood: The Facts and the Fiction. Excellent site with information on many aspects of the Robin Hood tradition, with an emphasis on history and origins
• Robin Hood: Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood. Excellent site with information on many aspects of the tradition, history etc.

Useful

• Anonymous. '[Untitled letter to the editor]', Gentleman's Magazine, vol. XXXVI (1766), p. 400. Believes Robin Hood was a historical character, a yeoman and not an Earl of Huntingdon or other nobleman; he would have flourished during the reign of Richard I (1189-99) and had the Christian name Ode or Eudo, "Robin" being a later addition suggested by its similarity in sound to "robbing"
• Gutch, J.M. 'On the Veritable Existence of Robin Hood; and on the Ballads Relative to him', The Journal of the British Archæological Association, vol. VIII (1852), pp. 208-22. After discussing previous attempts to provide Robin Hood with a historical identity, Gutch discusses Joseph Hunter's hypothesis at length
• Halliwell, J.O. 'On the Era and Character of Robin Hood', The Journal of the British Archæological Association, vol. VIII (1852), pp. 223-29. Discusses and rejects Joseph Hunter's hypothesis. Sees Robin Hood as essentially a fictional character, thus foreshadowing Child's point of view
• Nielsen, Henrik Thiil. 'Rabbenhut', Levende Billeder, vol. 7 (1991), pp. 36-39 (in Danish)
• Rahman, Sabina. Robin Hood and the Three Estates of Medieval Society (unpublished Master of Philosophy thesis; Sydney: University of Sydney, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, 2016)

Perhaps of interest

• Harrison, Dick. 'Mannen bakom Myten', Populär Historia, No. 1 (Stockholm, 1998), pp. 18-23. In Swedish. The writer is a reader in history at the University of Lund, Sweden. While this is an interesting book, one might have expected more than a rather uncritical rehash of the Hunter/Harris/Bellamy thesis from a tenured academic with a degree in a relevant discipline.
• Harris, P. Valentine. 'Who Was Robin Hood?', Folklore, vol. 66 (1955), pp. 288-94
• Harris, P. Valentine. 'Who Was Robin Hood?', Folklore, vol. 67 (1956), pp. 103-105
• Harris, P. Valentine. 'More about Robin Hood', Folklore, vol. 88 (1977), pp. 236-37
• Orange, James. History and Antiquities of Nottingham, in which are Exhibited the Various Institutions, Manners, Customs, Arts, and Manufactures of the People; their Social and Domestic Habits; Civil and Political Conditions, under Every Successive Government, from their Conquests by the Normans, Danes, Saxons, Romans, and Early British Dependency, down to the Present Time: Forming a Condensed but Comprehensive English as well as Local History, Chronologically Arranged (London; Nottingham, 1840), vol. I, pp. 202-224 (Book VII, Ch. VII), "Robin Hood". On the Robin Hood figure and tradition in general, including the supposed historicity of Robin Hood.
• Rodgers, Joseph. The Scenery of Sherwood Forest with an Account of Some Eminent People once resident there (London, 1908), pp. 21-52: 'Robin Hood', refers to and comments on the Hunterian hypothesis (among other topics)
  • Rodgers, Joseph. The Scenery of Sherwood Forest with an Account of Some Eminent People once resident there (New York, 1908). As preceding.
• S., E. 'May Day: Moldekin of the Thirteenth Century', The Antiquary, vol. V (1882), pp. 188-94. Develops the well-known thesis that Robin Hood was a historical earl of Huntingdon.

Unacademic

• Greenwood, David; Greenwood, Aldona, introd.; Pakey, Neil, introd.; Ryall, David, introd. The Origins of Robin Hood ([Nottingham], 2004)
• Harris, P. Valentine. The Truth about Robin Hood: a Refutation of the Mythologists' Theories, with New Evidence of the Hero's Actual Existence (London, 1951)
  • Harris, P. Valentine. The Truth about Robin Hood: a Refutation of the Mythologists' Theories, with New Evidence of the Hero's Existence. Revised ed. (London, [1953])
  • Harris, P. Valentine. The Truth about Robin Hood: a Refutation of the Mythologists' Theories, with New Evidence of the Hero's Actual Existence. 3rd edition (London, 1954)
  • Harris, P. Valentine. The Truth about Robin Hood: a Refutation of the Mythologists' Theories, with New Evidence of the Hero's Actual Existence. 4th edition (London, 1955)
  • Harris, P. Valentine. The Truth about Robin Hood: a Refutation of the Mythologists' Theories, with New Evidence of the Hero's Actual Existence. 5th edition (London, 1956)
  • Harris, P. Valentine. The Truth about Robin Hood: a Refutation of the Mythologists' Theories, with New Evidence of the Hero's Actual Existence. 6th edition (London, 1957)
  • Harris, P. Valentine. The Truth about Robin Hood: a Refutation of the Mythologists' Theories, with New Evidence of the Hero's Actual Existence. 7th edition (London, 1959)
  • Harris, P. Valentine. The Truth about Robin Hood: a Refutation of the Mythologists' Theories, with New Evidence of the Hero's Actual Existence. 8th edition (London, 1960)
  • Harris, P. Valentine. Title: The Truth about Robin Hood: a Refutation of the Mythologists' Theories, with New Evidence of the Hero's Actual Existence (Mansfield, 1969)
  • Harris, P. Valentine. The Truth about Robin Hood: a Refutation of the Mythologists' Theories, with New Evidence of the Hero's Actual Existence (Mansfield, 1973)
• Lewis, Brian. Robin Hood: a Yorkshireman (Featherstone, 1994)
• Phillips, Graham; Keatman, Martin. Robin Hood: the Man behind the Myth (London, 1995).

Not seen

• Ayton, Andrew. 'Robin Hood and Military Service in the Fourteenth Century', Nottingham Medieval Studies, vol. XXXVI (1992), pp. 126-47
• Davis, Stephen M. Robin Hood's England (Time Traveler Guide) (Washington, D.C., 1991)
• Fox, Adam. 'Remembering the Past in Early Modern England: Oral and Written Tradition', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. 9 (1999), pp. 233-56
• La'Chance, S.A., The Origins and Development of the Legend of Robin Hood. M.A. thesis (Leeds: The University of Leeds, 2013)
• McGlynn, Sean. 'The Real Robin Hood', History Today, vol. 63, No. 3 (March 2013), pp. 22-28
• Richmond, Colin. 'An Outlaw and Some Peasants: The Possible Significance of Robin Hood', Nottingham Medieval Studies, vol. XXXVII (1993), pp. 90-101
• Seal, Graham. 'The Robin Hood Principle: Folklore, History, and the Social Bandit', Journal of Folklore Research, vol. 46 (2009), pp. 67-89
• Ville, Oscar de. 'The Deyvilles and the Genesis of the Robin Hood Legend', Nottingham Medieval Studies, vol. XLIII (1999), pp. 90-109

Brief mention

• Coss, Peter. 'R. H. Hilton', Past and Present, No. 176 (2010), pp. 7-10. Obituary; briefly discusses Hilton's foundational role in the modern historical debate on the significance of the early Robin Hood tradition.
• Planché, J. R. 'On the Family of Peverel of Nottingham, as Connected with the Castle and the Earldom', The Journal of the British Archæological Association, vol. VIII (1852), pp. 194-208; see p. 202: on "Ralph Fitz Odo, the reputed ancestor of Robert Fitz Odo, or Fitzooth, one of the presumed historical originals of the popular legendary hero, Robin Hood".

Historiography