Robin Hood is easily one of the most beloved characters in English storytelling. For centuries the forest outlaw has been the ultimate hero of the downtrodden. He steals from the rich, gives to the poor, and resists tyranny in all of its forms. But, is Robin Hood just a fictional character, or could there have been a real person who inspired the legend? By taking a close look at the earliest Robin Hood ballads perhaps we can find some clues about the true identity of this mythic outlaw. Tune in and find out how forest elves, Kurt Cobain, and Kevin Costner’s bad accent all play a role in the story.

Works Cited

Dacre, Michael. Tales of Robin Hood: the Five Early Ballads. History, 2013.

Johnston, Andrew James. “Robin Hood.” 2013, doi:10.17104/9783406645426.

Knight, Stephen. Robin Hood: a Complete Study of the English Outlaw. Blackwell Publishers, 1995.

Knight, Stephen Thomas. Robin Hood: a Mythic Biography. Cornell Univ. Press, 2009.

Knight, Stephen. Robin Hood: an Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism. D.S. Brewer, 1999.

Phillips, Graham, and Martin Keatman. Robin Hood: the Man behind the Myth. O’Mara, 1995.

Sheffield, John. The Original Robin Hood: a Translation of the Early Tales. Sheffield & Broad, 1982.