Robin Hood: The Shaping of the Legend

Charts the genesis and development of the Robin Hood legend from the Middle Ages through 1700. Robin Hood’s uniqueness and importance begins with his status as the only English contribution to world mythology. His is also the only lasting myth to arise from the High Middle AGes and the last Western legend to achieve a sustained international appeal. Several Robin Hood ballads survive from the Middle Ages, and from the 15th to the 17th centuries he figured prominently in folk drama. The book incorporates both historical and literary approaches, examining both the circumstances of the historic setting and the legend’s status as a fiction creation. The principle focus of the book is the interaction between the text and the social context in which the legend arose and developed. The first two chapters examine the early Robin Hood tradition, including the initial nondramatic manifestations of the legend and the later dramatic representations. The volume then looks at the transformation of the legend in the 16th and 17th centuries and considers how the various elements of the legend interacted with each other and with society as a whole.