Robin Hood is known worldwide as one of the most beloved heroes of England. The legend has been repeatedly adapted for the screens, so everyone has seen at least one film about this "good robber". Nevertheless, most people know relatively little about the real history of this character, and what they know is mainly invention. Let us give 10 little-known facts about Robin Hood.
1. Nobody knows exactly whether this character is realized
"Real" Robin Hood, as believed, was Robert Goodwood, a criminal operating in the north of England between the XII and XIV centuries. The only problem is that such criminals are too much, especially if you consider the options for writing the name in Folklore (Hood, Hod, Hode, Hudde, de Huda, etc.). For example, there was a fugitive named Robert "Hobbehod" Hood, who lived in Yorkshire around 1255. Also, a person with an identical name was imprisoned in Rokingem around 1354 for the hunt for royal hunting grounds. Another Robert de Huda was in 1199 by a deserter of Henry II army.
Any of these (and many others) could have been a "real" Robin Hood. Or anyone from them. Some and at all argue that this name was just a pseudonym, the nickname that the criminals took an attempt to escape from the law. In this case, the Hood means "Hood" (in English - "Hood"), which they often wore. If this is true, Robin Hood was not a myth, but just a certain "prefabricated concept." And it can explain how "he" has become so widely known.
2. He had nothing to do with the Crusaders
Many films associate Robin Hood with crosses to holy land. For example, this can be attributed to the series "Robin from Sherwood", as well as later "Robin Hood: Prince of thieves."
But the topic of crusades was added to the myths about Robin Hood, only when Sir Walter Scott wrote "Ivango" in the XIX century. In fact, Robin Hood seems to not even live during the reign of Richard, the lion's heart, in which the crusades began. Moreover, the earliest ballads have nothing to do with all this, the crusaders were not in them at all.
3. Brother Tuk appeared later
Of all the "merry people" (groups of criminals who accompanied Robin Hood) Brother Tuk is undoubtedly the most charismatic. But he was not mentioned in the earliest ballads. Along with the Virgin Marian, Brother Tuk appeared in the myths about Robin Hood due to traditional May theater productions. His name, probably, comes from the name of a shortened or "refilled" of the monk, which was convenient for dancing (and for battles).
Interestingly, the data suggests that this person was real. In two royal decions from 1417, it was mentioned about the need for the arrest of a certain "brother Tuka", which was later named (in a letter from 1429) Robert Stafford, Capellan Lindfield in Sussex.
There is evidence that little John may also have also been a real person, but most likely lived a century earlier. For example, in 1323, in Yorkshire there was an illegal deer hunter Little John, and in 1318 one of the band was part of John Le Charier. It is known that a man of huge sizes, ironically called Little John, became the main associate Robin Hood after hero beating a duel.
4. Mach, the son of Melnik is ignored in modern stories
Less well-known funny people (at least those whose names are known) - Will Scarlet, Alan from Hollow (Alan-E-Dale) and Mach, Melnik's son. Scarlet was a secondary character in the earliest ballads and was originally called Will Sktlock.
Alan from the hollow in the early ballads was not. It is first mentioned in a fairy tale of the XVII century, in which Robin Good saves the beloved Alan from the violent wedding with the old rich knight. This character is often depicted as a menstrel-romantic and music lover, in contrast to other "courageous" heroes.
The most outstanding of merry people in ballads is the moss, the son of Melnik. Nevertheless, it is often not mentioned in films, including Disney Robin Gude (1973) and a blockbuster Ridley Scott in 2010. Maybe this is because Mach is the least pretty of funny people. For example, in the Ballad "Robin Hood and Rev." he is depicted as a cool-blooded killer who does not think about whether a little boy is killed. Another reason why they were "forgotten today," may be that, unlike other funny people, each of which has a certain visual distinguishing feature (growth and weight of small John, Brother Tuka, Red Clothing Will Scarlet, Arp Alan from Dale's hollow and female Virgin Marian), all that is known about him is that he was the son of Melnik. There is no story about its origin.
5. The 2018 film is one of the many upcoming film
Otto Fisher Baffesta "Robin Hood: Beginning", which will be released on the screens in the autumn of this year, will be the 77th adaptation of the legend, but far from the last one.Sony wants to shoot a new franchise about the "medieval superhero" Robin Hood, Disney plans to use the Pirates Pirates of the Caribbean in his own film about Robin Hood, Warner Bros. It works on his own film about Robin Hood called "Hood", and DreamWorks announced "fun people" more than five years ago.
6. Sheriff Nottinghamsky
In another early ballad "Robin Hood and Guy Gisborne" Robin finally kills her eternal opponent, sheriff. The hero meets Sir Guy from Gisborne, who claims that he hunts the criminal, but does not know how he looks like. As a result, Robin kills Guy, disgreed into his clothes, cuts off the corpse's head, urged a face and transfers his head to Sherif Nottingham, stating that this head Robin Hood. After that, he refused the award and instead of money demanded to fight a little John, who was captured before that. When his accomplice is derived from prison, they kill the sheriff together.
What is interesting, the post of sheriff in Nottingham exists to this day. And at the time of writing the article by the sheriff of the English city is a woman.
7. Tomb Robin Hood is hidden from the public
According to the earliest ballads (perhaps, the most reliable sources), Robin Hood was killed by his cousin, the priorist of the Kerless monastery. Under the pretext of bloodletting (which was generally accepted treatment from many diseases), she cuts one of Robin's veins and allowed him to expire with blood, after which her accomplice, Sir Roger from Doncaster (he was red Roger), finished the robber with a sword (although Robin managed to apply He is a deadly wound in response). It is believed that when he died, Robin fired an arrow into the forest and asked for a little John to bury him where the arrow fell.
The Kerlesky Monastery Watchtower is still preserved, and the forest around it is considered to be the location of the grave Robin Hood. But to respect the folk hero-robber, you need to violate the law yourself, because the entire forest is in private property. Also, unlike most British historical objects, there are no pointers or pedestrian tracks leading to the grave.
Currently, this place (presumably, inhabited by ghosts) is in ruins, overgrown with moss, but still looks great and mysterious. It is believed that the current monument was made in return to the earlier, who split people thinking that he was able to heal the toothed pain.
8. The Sherwood Forest threatens the danger
Even in 1609, a century after the first references to Robin Gude, the Sherwood Forest had a length of more than 32 km and the width of 12 km, eight miles, occupying an area of about 40,000 hectares in Nottinghamshire. However, it was not a solid forest. In fact, the "forest" was only a legal designation of the region allotted for the exceptional hunting rights of the king, and the Open meadows, robust, etc. were also included in Sherwood, etc.
In ancient times, the landscape was about the same. In this area there was a dense forest for at least 10,000 years, and many trees have been fulfilled today for several centuries.
Recently, the British company FECKING INEOS received permission to carry out seismic studies in the area, and she began to carry out explosive work, laying charges under the ground. The company assured the public that some of the most environmentally sensitive parts of the Sherwood forest will be untouched, but, as it turned out, it was a lie.
9. Robin Hood was not a "revolutionary" and "Communist"
Everyone knows that Robin Hood "stole rich and gave the poor," so some consider him a kind of proto-communist heroes. In the USSR, this image was used in the 1970s - 1980s in several propaganda films.
However, there is nothing in the original ballads that suggests that Robin Hood was a revolutionary. Although they were talking about social issues and classes, there are no prerequisites for the fact that Robin Gud sought to cancel the social system and redistribute the wealth of the poor. Rather, he fought for getting rid of the existing social system of corruption - excessive taxation of the king and the unrestrained extortion of the sheriff.
10. Virgo Marion could be black
Medieval Europe was far from cultural isolation; In fact, people of all skin colors lived in the UK, at least during the time of Romans. And they were not at all were merchants and slaves. At the Scottish king Jacob IV had a rather many black courtes, which, judging by their darishes, a king (silk, brocade, golden products) were not clearly slaves or servants. In York, a relatively recently discovered the remains of the nobility of African origin. Hundreds of years ago, tournaments were often held in honor of the so-called black maiden or black lady. Racism may not even exist in Britain until he began to be used to justify colonialism - enslavement and genocide black natives abroad during the British Empire.
Naturally, this does not mean that Virgin Marian could be black, but a number of researchers point to an etymological connection between her name (sometimes called "Murried") and the traditional English dance "Morris" or "Mauritan dance", in which participants sometimes painted their face in black color.
