Robin Hood – Heritage and forms through the ages

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, Dresden Technical University (Anglistik), course: Medievalism in Popular Culture , language: English, abstract: "Many men speak of Robin Hood who never drew his bow: so runs the old proverb, suggesting both the popularity and the mystery of the Robin Hood tradition. A modern equivalent might be: Many people know about Robin Hood but have never read the texts." (Knight 1997, xiii) This quotation is a very good evaluation of the status of knowledge considering the Robin Hood related texts. Most people only know Robin Hood from various film adaptations. They are not aware of the fact that the Robin Hood legend has now endured in written form for over 600 years. When speaking of Robin Hood we think of attributes like "outlaws", "rob the rich to feed the poor", "Maid Marian", "arrow and bow" or "noble man" as the common features of the Robin Hood myth. In fact, only few of these stereotypes are a part of the early written tradition as it will be illustrated in the following. [...]