Robin Hood has appeared in a number of plays throughout the medieval, early modern and modern periods. The first record of a Robin Hood play being performed is in Exeter in 1426-27.[1] The earliest surviving text of a Robin Hood play is dated c.1475 and entitled Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham.[2][3]
The plays which perhaps have been most influential upon the Robin Hood legend as a whole are Anthony Munday's The Downfall of Robert, Earle of Huntington and The Death of Robert, Earle of Huntingdon (1597–98). It is in these plays that Robin is first depicted as a nobleman. Further plays followed during the early modern period such as the anonymous Looke About You (1600) and Robin Hood and his Crew of Soldiers (1661).
On 18 April 1992, BBC Radio 4 first broadcast John Fletcher's 90-minute radio play entitled The Legend of Robin Hood, which was a full cast drama that drew closely on the original Robin Hood ballads.[4] It was directed by Nigel Bryant and featured music composed by Vic Gammon. As well as depicting some of Robin Hood's adventures in Sherwood Forest and Nottingham, it also covers a fruitless quest that Robin makes Little John to the Holy Land to help the crusaders.
On May 18, 2019, Augustine Institute released a full cast 12-part audio drama written and directed by Paul McCusker entitled The Legends of Robin Hood. Starring Gwilym Lee as Robin Hood (a.k.a. Robert of Locksley), Katie Foster-Barnes as Maid Marian (named Marian Fitzwalter in this version), with Robert Portal as Sir Guy of Gisbourne and Nicholas Boulton as Richard the Lionheart.
The first published prose account of Robin Hood's life appears to be the anonymously authored The Noble Birth and Gallant Atchievements of that Remarkable Out-Law, Robin Hood (1678). Material from this work was often plagiarised by criminal biographers in works such as: The Whole Life and Merry Exploits of Bold Robin Hood (1712), Alexander Smith's A Complete History of the Lives and Robberies of the Most Notorious Highwaymen, Footpads, Shoplifts and Cheats (1719), Charles Johnson's Lives and Exploits of the Most Noted Highwaymen (1734).[5] In addition, there were numerous books printed throughout the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that went by the name of Robin Hood's Garland. These were cheaply printed collections of later Robin Hood ballads.
The first Robin Hood novel written, although not published, is Robert Southey's 'Harold, or, The Castle of Morford' (1791).[6][7] This exists in manuscript form in the Bodleian Library. The first published Robin Hood novel was the anonymous Robin Hood: A Tale of the Olden Time (1819), and a few months later IvanhoebyWalter Scott, 1819. Ivanhoe was Scott's first novel where history and romance is combined. Robin Hood in this book is the saviour of the nation. The Upper classes need the working classes as much as the working classes rely on their 'betters'.[8] Scott's tale is significant because it is the first time that Robin is presented as an Anglo-Saxon freedom fighter, a theme which many later Victorian Robin Hood novels would utilise. The next novel following Scott was Thomas Love Peacock's novella Maid Marian. The novel was originally intended as a satire on continental conservatism and its enthusiasm for all things feudal and medieval, and in particular the unwarranted praise of aristocracy. Thus through his novella Peacock attempted to show how man’s feudal overlords have always been the same: greedy, violent, cynical, and self-interested.[9] Robin also appears as the principal protagonist of two tales printed in an early penny blood entitled Lives of the Highwaymen in 1836. This serialised tale, however, is little more than a reprint of the earlier biography of Robin Hood that appeared in Charles Johnson's work. In Thomas Miller's Royston Gower; or, The Days of King John (1838), Robin is not the principal protagonist but is an outlaw who comes to the aid of the title character after he defects from the Normans and decides to fight against King John for the establishment of a 'charter of rights'. G. P. R. James' Forest Days (1843), while not intended as a political or social commentary, is significant because it abandons the traditional dating of the Robin Hood story in the 1190s and instead places the Robin Hood legend during the Simon de Montfort rebellion (1264-67). By far the longest Robin Hood novel, standing at almost half-a-million words, is Pierce Egan the Younger's Robin Hood and Little John; or, The Merrie Men of Sherwood Forest (serialised 1838-1840). As in Ivanhoe, Robin is a Saxon, although he is not actually outlawed in the novel until nearly the end of the first book. The novel traces Robin's life from birth to death. Egan's text was translated into two French books, Le prince des voleurs (The Prince of Thieves), and Robin Hood le proscrit (Robin Hood the Outlaw), by Alexandre Dumas, between 1863–64. Dumas' works were then retranslated back into English by Alfred Allinson in 1904. A 'companion' novel to Egan's text was published by J. H. Stocqueler in 1849 entitled Maid Marian, the Forest Queen; Being a Companion to "Robin Hood". The first Robin Hood novel written specifically for children appears to be Stephen Percy's Tales of Robin Hood (1840). John B. Marsh's children's book Robin Hood appeared in 1865, as did a penny dreadful entitled Little John and Will Scarlet (1865). The next major novel written was entitled The Merry Adventures of Robin HoodbyHoward Pyle in 1883.
In T. H. White's novel The Sword in the Stone (1938, later incorporated into The Once and Future King), young Wart (Arthur) and Kay have an adventure with a man they initially call Robin Hood, but are told that his real name is Robin Wood. His merry men refer to him as "Robin 'ood," dropping Ws instead of Hs, in the Nottinghamshire accent of the time. White's theory is supported by the fact that the French call him Robin des Bois, or Robin of the Woods.
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The Life and Adventures of Robin Hood by John B. Marsh (1835-1910), 1865.
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Robin Hood and His Merry Outlaws by J. Walker McSpadden (1874-1960), 1898.
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Young Robin HoodbyGeorge Manville Fenn, 1899, focuses on the young son, also named Robin, of the Sheriff of Nottingham learning from Robin Hood and Little John.
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Stories of Robin Hood Told to the Children H. E. Marshall, 1905.
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Robin Hood; His Deeds and Adventures as Recounted in the Old English BalladsbyLucy Fitch Perkins, 1906.
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The Story of Robin Hood and His Merry MenbyJohn Finnemore (1863–1915), 1909.
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Bold Robin Hood and His Outlaw BandbyLouis Rhead, 1912.
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Robin HoodbyHenry Gilbert, 1912.
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Robin Hood by Paul Creswick (1866-1947), 1917.
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Robin Hood and His Merry MenbySara Hawks Sterling, 1921.
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Robin Hood and His Merry MenbyE. C. Vivian, 1927.
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Robin Hood by Edith Heal, 1928.
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Bows Against the BaronsbyGeoffrey Trease, 1934, a leftist depiction of Robin Hood from the viewpoint of a young-adult protagonist.
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Robin Hood: The Prince of OutlawsbyCarola Oman, 1937, is cited as "one of the most influential of the juvenile literary publications", and remained continuously in print for at least forty years.[10]
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The Sword in the StonebyT. H. White, 1939, gives his "correct" name as Robin Wood; he is one of the figures that Wart meets during his education.
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Chronicles of Robin HoodbyRosemary Sutcliff, 1950.
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Robin HoodbyAntonia Fraser, 1955.
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The Adventures of Robin HoodbyRoger Lancelyn Green, 1956.
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"The Silver Horn of Robin Hood" by Donald E. Cooke, 1956.
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Robin Hood: The Outlaw of Sherwood ForestbyOrville Prescott, 1959.
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Tales of Brave AdventurebyEnid Blyton, 1963.
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Robin in the GreenwoodbyIan Serraillier, 1967, and Robin and His Merry Men, 1969
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The Adventures of Robin HoodbyPatricia Leitch, 1979.
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The Death of Robin HoodbyPeter Vansittart, 1981.
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Robin HoodbyCatherine Storr, 1984.
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The Outlaws of SherwoodbyRobin McKinley, 1988, a retelling in which Robin Hood is, in fact, the worst archer in his band, but whose shrewdness leads them through their dangers.
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Lady of the Forest (1992) and Lady of Sherwood (1999), both by Jennifer Roberson
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SherwoodbyParke Godwin, 1992, and Robin and the King, 1993
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The Forestwife trilogy by Theresa Tomlinson, 1993–2000.
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Robin Hood and His Merry MenbyJane Louise Curry, 1994, and Robin Hood in the Greenwood, 1995
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The Story of Robin HoodbyRobert Leeson, 1994
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Robin's CountrybyMonica Furlong, 1994.
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Romance novelist Marsha Canham builds the Robin Hood legend through possible historical fact in her Robin Hood Trilogy set during the reign of King John of England: Through a Dark Mist (1991), In the Shadow of Midnight (1994), and The Last Arrow (1997).
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Robin Hood and Little JohnbyBarbara Cohen, 1995.
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Robin Hood and His Miserable MenbyDick King-Smith, 1997.
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Robin Hood According to Spike MilliganbySpike Milligan, 1998, parodies the legend of Robin Hood.
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Robin Hood: The Boy Who Became a LegendbyKathryn Lasky, 1999.
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The Rowan Hood series by Nancy Springer, 2001–2005.
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Robin Hood and the Silver ArrowbyTony Bradman and Tony Ross, 2004.
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Robin Hood All at SeabyJan Mark, 2005.
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Robin Hood's Best ShotbyIan Whybrow, 2006.
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The King Raven Trilogy (Hood (2006), Scarlet (2007), Tuck (2009)) by Stephen R. Lawhead, 2006, relocates the Robin Hood legends to Wales.
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In Lynn Viehl's Darkyn book series Robin Hood is one of the Darkyn (which are vampires). He gets his own romance story in the final novel Stay the Night (January 2009).
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Robin the Hoodie reimagines Robin Hood as a young troublemaker in modern-day Nottingham, complete with ASBO (2009).
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InHodd, author Adam Thorpe explores the theory that the legendary Robin Hood is the mythologized creation of the narrator based on his time spent with the real outlaw.[11]
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Angus Donald's Outlaw Chronicles, consisting of Outlaw (2009), Holy Warrior (2010), King's Man (2011), Warlord (2012), Grail Knight (2013) and The Iron Castle (2014) feature Robin Hood as Robert Odo.
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Robin Hood and the Golden ArrowbyRobert D. San Souci, 2010.
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"The Thief, The Sheriff, His Bitch, and a Bastard" (2011) by H. E. Coleman
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Robin: Lady of Legend (2012) by R. M. ArceJaeger features a woman as Robin Hood.[12][13]
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Scarlet (2012) by A. C. Gaughen
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Greenwode (2013) and its sequels by J. Tullos Hennig are a reworking of Robin Hood stories and other legends (such as The Tale of Gamelyn). The series portrays Robin Hood and Maid Marian as siblings, with the primary romantic relationship between Robin and Guy of Gisborne.
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The Forest Lord Series (Wolf's Head (2013), The Wolf and the Raven (2014), Rise of the Wolf (2015) and Blood of the Wolf (2016)) by Steven A. McKay sets the legend in the 14th century, and also includes a number of novellas featuring Friar Tuck, Little John and Will Scaflock.[14]
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The Devices TrilogybyPhilip Purser-Hallard, starting with The Pendragon Protocol (2014) and continuing with The Locksley Exploit (2015)
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Lady Thief (2014) by A. C. Gaughen.
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Lion Heart (2015) by A. C. Gaughen.
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Robin Hood: Demon's Bane (2015-2017) by Debbie Viguié and James R. Tuck. A trilogy of novels.
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Marian (2016) by Ella Lyons. A young adult novel retelling from Marian's point of view, in which the Robin Hood she falls in love with is a girl.
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A Finder of Trails (2016) by Nick Collins. A retelling of the story featuring a young Robin and the Sheriff of Nottingham as friends, and recounts an adventure on which they embark together.
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Great Deeds Done beyond the Seas (2016) by Nick Collins. The second instalment of the two-part book series featuring a young Robin and Sheriff of Nottingham before they were adversaries and the conclusion of their adventure.
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The Hood Game: Rise of the Greenwood King (2016) by J.P. Reedman. First in a series reminiscent of TV's Robin of Sherwood.
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Robin Hood: The One Who Looked Good in GreenbyWendy Mass, 2018.
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Nottingham (2019) by Nathan Makaryk.
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Brightfall (2019) by Jaime Lee Moyer. Follows Marian ten years after the normal story, after which Robin secluded himself in a monastery for unclear reasons.
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The Ghosts of Sherwood (2020) by Carrie Vaughn. Follows Robin, Marian, and their children twenty years after the normal story.
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The Heirs of Locksley (2020) by Carrie Vaughn. Follows the children of Robin and Marian. Sequel to The Ghosts of Sherwood.
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Robin Hood (2020) by Robert Muchamore. A young adult novel series.
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Travelers Along the Way: A Robin Hood Remix (2022) by Aminah Mae Safi. Female-led Robin Hood story that reframes the legend's tales of the Third Crusade from a Muslim perspective.