As with Santa Claus, the legend of Robin Hood has spread across many cultures through the centuries as an emblem of merriment, generosity, and other lovable aspects of human nature. Whether he’s robbing the rich to give to the poor, outwitting the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham, or laughing it up with his Merry Men in Sherwood Forest, the heroic outlaw has been immortalized through song, in print, and on the big screen by way of dashing A-listers from Douglas Fairbanks to Russell Crowe.
But unlike with Santa, there's something inherently realistic about this English folk hero. There are no flying reindeer in his tales — only flying arrows that highlight his skill as a marksman. And while he embodies such noble values as friendship, loyalty, and devotion to justice, he achieves his goals without the kind of extra-worldly powers that prominently feature in a superhero movie. As a result, it's not surprising that many historians over the years have sought to pinpoint whether there was an actual Robin Hood — or at least a real-life inspiration for the legend.
Part of the problem with taking on that task is sorting through Robin’s shifting identity in the various historical works that mention him. Depending on where you look, Robin Hood was either a yeoman or a fallen noble; a native of Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, or Barnsdale; a veteran of the Crusades or territorial battles against the Normans; and a contemporary of King John, Henry III, or Edward III.
So perhaps it's best to start by digging into the original material. The first ballads devoted to his exploits — A Gest of Robyn Hode, Robin Hood and the Monk, and Robin Hood and the Potter — are all dated to the 15th century. Familiar elements of Robin emerge from these narratives, including his camaraderie with Little John and his clashes with the Sheriff of Nottingham. On the other hand, there's no specific mention of redistributing wealth between the rich and the poor, and these early versions of Robin possess a pious devotion to the Virgin Mary instead of a yearning for Maid Marian.
But these tales aren't the earliest surviving mentions of the famed forest bandit. That distinction goes to the allegorical poem Piers Plowman, penned by William Langland circa 1377, which references a chaplain's fluency with the "rymes of Robyn Hood." In other words, Robin was already an established character in late-14th-century England.
Going back even further, we find what seems to be an important clue: The records of numerous 13th-century English towns list crimes perpetrated by a “Robehod,” “Rabunhod,” or other similarly named individuals. Thanks to careful cross-checking by researchers, which revealed that some of these monikers had been changed from their original form, we know that these variations of “Robin Hood” were commonly given to criminals of the time period.
Perhaps these names were derived from one particularly famous outlaw? That's the theory of longtime U.K. National Archives employee David Crook, who points to a criminal named Robert of Wetherby, aka Robert Hod, as ground zero of the legend. According to Crook's research, a manhunt spearheaded by the sheriff of the town of Nottingham led to the high-profile capture and execution of Wetherby in 1225. As the heavy taxes of the era were understandably unpopular throughout Henry III’s kingdom, it's certainly possible that an authority-defying figure like Wetherby became a folk hero among his fellow disgruntled subjects.
Following a different trail of clues, retired lecturer and author David Baldwin is among those who suggest that Robin’s real-life inspiration was drawn from another royal antagonist named Roger Godberd. A fugitive after participating in Simon De Montfort's failed rebellion in the 1260s, Godberd was known to terrorize wealthy travelers from his hideout in Sherwood Forest, and even once managed to escape imprisonment following his capture by the Nottingham sheriff.
Other historians have noted the similarities between Robin Hood and even earlier English outlaws. Both Fulk FitzWarren, a temperamental lord who clashed with King John, and Eustace the Monk, a man of the cloth turned pirate, were early-13th-century figures who saw their lives embellished in verse. According to the texts, both men camped out in the woods and managed to capture a local sheriff or count through deceptive means; specific lines from A Gest of Robin Hood are seemingly lifted from these predecessors' stories.
Or maybe the real Robin was a proponent of law and order as opposed to a thorn in the side of the English crown? To some, that presents a strong case for William of Kensham, a loyalist who rose from obscurity to help stop Louis VIII’s takeover of Britain from 1216 to 1217. Known for his skill with the longbow, and for ambushing French troops in the forests of southeast England, William was widely celebrated for his successes and may well have inspired subsequent generations with his record of gallantry.
Ultimately, given the lack of concrete information about his origins and the plausibility of several candidates, we’ll likely never know for sure whether this merriest of outlaws was inspired by one particular person. What we can say with more certainty is that the Robin Hood we know today is a composite of both real-life figures and the ruminations of numerous storytellers, his legend having been constantly reshaped, broken down, and reimagined into one that has endured for the ages.
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