Smith N. Robin Hood

Osprey Publishing, 2014. — 82 p. — (Myth 07). — ISBN 9781472856265.Of all the myriad characters inhabiting England’s vibrant past, two men stand out as representing something essential in the English identity. The first is King Arthur, who pulled the nation together in a common defence against invaders; the second is Robin Hood, who defied the odds to stand up to hypocrisy and injustice. Neither man may actually have existed, but they live on in the collective imagination, through the legends and myths told about them. This book focuses on Robin Hood, who remains as elusive today as he apparently did to the Sheriff of Nottingham during England’s Middle Ages.There are few in the English-speaking world that have never heard of Robin Hood. His name is synonymous with an outlaw whose motive is to do good deeds using unlawful methods. He is a trickster, fighter, lover, adventurer; he looks like Errol Flynn, or Russell Crowe, or Kevin Costner, or any of his television incarnations; he wears Lincoln green, carries a longbow, and knows how to use it. He lives deep in Sherwood Forest, leads a band of colourful outlaws known as the Merry Men, and his passion is reserved for the always-beautiful Maid Marian. Robin Hood takes from the rich and gives to the poor, and he fights against the corruption of the local law and the established Church. He is a placeholder for better times when Royal authority is more judiciously applied. All of the above is a combination of myth, fabrication, and pure fiction — almost all of it anyway.