Storyworlds of Robin Hood

Robin Hood is one of the most enduring and well-known figures of English folklore. Yet who was he? Lesley Coote re-examines the early tales about Robin in light of the stories, both English and French, that surrounded them. In the process, she returns to questions such as ‘Where did Robin come from?’ and ‘What did these stories mean?’ The Robin who reveals himself is as spiritual as he is secular and as much an insider as he is an outlaw. And in the context of current debates about national identity and Britain’s relationship with the wider world, Robin emerges to be as European as he is English – or perhaps, as the author suggests, that is precisely the quality that made him fundamentally English all along.