Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne

Ballad
Child	118
Title	Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne
Versions	1
Variants	1
Stanzas	58
Date	c. 1650

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-07-11. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2022-05-27.

Editions

Separate editions

• Anonymous. A Ballad of Robin Hood: from the Original Version in the Famous Old Percy Ballads (London, 1911).

Scholarly collections

• Armes, William Dallam, ed. Old English Ballads and Folk Songs (New York; London, 1904), pp. 88-93
  • Armes, William Dallam, ed. Old English Ballads and Folk Songs (Macmillan's Pocket American and English Classics) (New York; London, 1920), pp. 88-93
• Child, Francis James, ed.; [Kittredge, G. L.], ed.; [Ireland, Catharine Innes], bibl. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Boston and New York; Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, ©1882-98), vol. III, pp. 89-94
• Gummere, Francis Barton, ed. Old English Ballads (Boston; New York; Chicago; London, ©1894), pp. 68-76; notes, pp. 320-21
  • Gummere, Francis Barton, ed. Old English Ballads (Boston; New York; Chicago; London, [1914]), pp. 68-76; notes, pp. 320-21
• Mabie, Hamilton W., introd. A Book of Old English Ballads (New York, ©1896), pp. 106-118
  • Mabie, Hamilton W., introd. A Book of Old English Ballads (New York, 1902), pp. 106-118
  • Mabie, Hamilton W., introd. A Book of Old English Ballads (New York, 1906), pp. 106-118
  • Mabie, Hamilton W., introd. A Book of Old English Ballads (New York, 1907), pp. 106-118
  • Mabie, Hamilton W., introd. A Book of Old English Ballads (New York, 1910), pp. 106-118
  • Mabie, Hamilton W., introd. A Book of Old English Ballads (New York, 1914), pp. 106-118
• Neilson, William Allan, ed.; Webster, Kenneth Grant Tremayne, ed. Chief British Poets of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries: Selected Poems (The Chief Poets series) (Boston, New York, Chicago; Cambridge, MA, ©1916), pp. 303-306; modernized text

Translations

Danish

• [Blicher, Steen Steensen], transl. 'Robin Hood', Nordlyset, vol. I (Randers, 1827), pp. 108-13.

German

• Grün, Anastasius, transl. Robin Hood. Ein Balladenkranz nach Altenglischen Volksliedern (Stuttgart, 1864), pp. 103-12: "Robin Hood und Guy von Gisborne"; notes, pp. 214-15.
  • Grün, Anastasius, transl.; Frankl, Ludwig August, ed. Anastasius Grüns Gesammelte Werke (Berlin, 1877), pp. 248-56: "Robin Hood und Guy von Gisborne".

Criticism

• B., E. A. '"The Woodville Sung," &c.', Notes & Queries, Series 1, vol. XI (1855), p. 87; on species of bird referred to in st. 2.
• Symons, Dana. 'Relishing the kill, Becoming a Man: Robin Hood's Rivalry with Guy of Gisborne', in: Coote, Lesley, ed.; Johnson, Valerie B., ed. Robin Hood in Outlaw/ed Spaces: Media, Performance, and Other New Directions (Outlaws in Literature, History and Culture) (Abingdon, Oxon; New York, 2017), pp. 147-62.
• W., J.K.R. '"The Woodweele sang, and wold not cease," &c.', Notes & Queries, Series 1, vol. XI (1855), p. 154; on species of bird referred to in st. 2.
• Warwick, Eden. '"The Woodville Sung," &c.', Notes & Queries, Series 1, vol. XI (1855), p. 213; on species of bird referred to in st. 2.

Sources and analogues

For general discussion of, and sources relating to, other outlaw traditions and tales, see the Analogues section.

Stanzas	Matter	Title	Analogue
3-4	Portentous dream	Marsk Stig (DgF 145A, B, H-I, M)	Marsk Stig has portentous dream, but his wife tells him not to worry, cf. Little John's words to Robin. Analogous scenes in several other Danish ballads; see page on Marsk Stig.

Also see

• Place-names in Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne

 Ballads