Robin Hood

by J. C. Holt

Hardcover, 2010

Status

Available

Call number

398.352

Genres

History

All Topics

Nonfiction

Collections

Folio Society books, Non-fiction & Reference, Myths, Legends & Folklore

Publication

Folio Society (2010). Hardcover in slipcase. 12 pages of colour and b&w plates. Bound in green cloth blocked with a gilt and red illustration by Neil Gower, based on a design by Gavin Morris. 280pp. 23.7x17cm.

Description

The legend of Robin Hood began more than 600 years ago. The man, if he existed at all, lived even earlier. In this definitive work, Professor Sir James Holt, one of Britain's premier historians and author of the standard work on the Magna Carta, unravels pure invention from real possibility and offers the results of some thirty years of research.He assesses the evidence for the historical Robin Hood and finds that the tale originated with the yeomen and hangers-on of the households of noblemen and gentry in the later Middle Ages. Parts of the story that we now take for granted--Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, Robin as robber of the rich and giver to the poor, even Sherwood Forest--played little or no part in the original tales, and were added as the centuries passed and the legends grew.The legend of Robin Hood has enthralled people from the first ballads to contemporary movies. Holt reconstructs the historical basis of the stories but never loses sight of the human imagination that sustained them. This edition includes new illustrations and The Gest of Robyn Hood, one of the oldest surviving tales.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member RMMee

A scholarly, but eminently readble, study of the legend of Robin Hood. Based primarily around the earliest written ballads on the subject (and The Gest of Robin Hood is included in full), the author explores the geography, the links to possible factual history, and much more. This is not a telling

of the legend, but an examination of how the legend developed over the years, merging in with other stories.

If you know anything about Robin Hood, even if only from Kevin Costner (!), then it will be an interesting read. If, like me, you have lived your entire life within 10 miles of Nottingham, then it is truly fascinating.

I read the Folio Society edition, which is a beautifully bound copy.

Thoroughly recommended.

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LibraryThing member DinadansFriend

Someone has written a book about the legend of Robin Hood, possible sources and inspirstions, and some findings about social conditions that might have led to the creation of the Legend. Robin hood is not so dignified a story as Arthur, and it seems to be more recent. the corpus has certainly been

not carefully cared for, and is prey to commercial interests. A good critical book on the legend.

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LibraryThing member antiquary

This is a serious scholarly book about Robin Hood , probably the most serious argument for a historical 13th century Robin Hood, with careful discussions of the early evidence such as it is, and the geography of the early Robin Hood poems, especially the Gest, which seems to be set in the Barnsdale

region of southern Yorkshire, though mixed with (later?) references to the traditional Sherwood in Nottinghamshire. It also includes a well-known discussion of the audience of Robin Hood, subject on which there has been much debate.

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Language

English

Original language

English

Original publication date

1982

1989 (revised and enlarged)

Local notes

Holt brings academic rigour to bear on the fragmentary records of the early Middle Ages to examine Robin's first appearances, not only in ballads, romances and pageants, but also in court records and rolls. This authoritative exploration of the myth and history of England's greatest folk hero is considered the definitive work on the subject.

Illustrated with colour reproductions from contemporary sources.