Robin Hood is an archetypal figure in English folklore, whose story originates from medieval times but who remains significant in popular culture where he is painted as a man known for robbing the rich to give to the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny. His band consists of a "seven score" group of fellow outlawed yeomen – called his "Merry Men". He has been the subject of numerous films, television series, books, comics, and plays. In the earliest sources Robin Hood is a commoner, but he would often later be portrayed as the dispossessed Earl of Huntingdon. There is no consensus as to whether or not Robin Hood is based on any historical figure and little reliable historical evidence exists to support either side of this debate.

Overview

In popular culture Robin Hood and his band are usually seen as living in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. Much of the action of the early ballads does take place in Nottinghamshire, and the very earliest known ballad does show the outlaws operating in Sherwood Forest.Robin Hood and the Monk. From Child's edition of the ballad, online at Sacred Texts, 119A: Robin Hood and the Monk Stanza 16:

Then Robyn goes to Notyngham,

Hym selfe mornyng allone,

And Litull John to mery Scherwode,

The pathes he knew ilkone.

The first clear reference to "rhymes of Robin Hood" is from the late-14th century poem Piers Plowman, but the earliest surviving copies of the narrative ballads which tell his story have been dated to the 15th century or the first decade of the 16th century. In these early accounts Robin Hood's partisanship of the lower classes, his Marianism and associated special regard for women, his outstanding skill as an archer, his anti-clericalism and his particular animus towards the Sheriff of Nottingham are already clear. Little John, Much the Miller's Son and Will Scarlet (as Will "Scarlok" or "Scathelocke") all appear, although not yet Maid Marian or Friar Tuck. It is not certain what should be made of these latter two absences as it is known that Friar Tuck for one was part of the legend since at least the later 15th century.

In popular culture Robin Hood is typically seen as a contemporary and supporter of the late-12th century king Richard the Lionheart, Robin being driven to outlawry during the misrule of Richard's evil brother John while Richard was away at the Third Crusade. This view first gained currency in the 16th century and has very little scholarly support. It is certainly not supported by the earliest ballads. The early compilation A Gest of Robyn Hode names the king as "Edward", and while it does show Robin Hood as accepting the king's pardon he later repudiates it and returns to the greenwood. The oldest surviving ballad, Robin Hood and the Monk gives even less support to the picture of Robin Hood as a partisan of the true king. The setting of the early ballads is usually attributed by scholars to either the 13th century or the 14th, although it is recognised they are not necessarily historically consistent.