Robin Hood

Robin Hood, legendary hero of 12th-century England who robbed the rich to help the poor. Chivalrous, manly, fair, and always ready for a joke, Robin Hood reflected many of the ideals of the English yeoman. He lived in Sherwood Forest with Little John (his chief archer), Friar Tuck, Maid Marion (his beloved), and his band. Robin Hood was the hero of at least 30 Middle English ballads and of many later stories and plays. He is mentioned in such diverse works as Piers Plowman, Ivanhoe (1820) by Sir Walter Scott, and The Once and Future King (1958) by T. H. White.

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Robin Hood

Legendary English outlaw. The hero of ballads dating from as early as the 14th century, Robin Hood was a rebel who robbed and killed landowners and government officials and gave his gains to the poor. He treated women and common people with courtesy, and he ignored the laws of the forest that restricted hunting rights. His greatest enemy was the sheriff of Nottingham. The ballads emerged during a time of agrarian unrest that culminated in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. There is no evidence of Robin Hood's historical existence, though later tradition places him in the reign of King John. In postmedieval ballads and stories he was a nobleman who took refuge in Sherwood Forest after losing his lands. His men included Little John and Friar Tuck; his beloved was Maid Marion.

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Robin Hood

(13th century) legendary outlaw of England who robbed the rich to help the poor. [Br. Hist.: EB, VIII: 615–616]

See : Outlawry