The idea of a benevolent outlaw who steals from the rich to give to the poor is one that many, especially in these straitened times, might feel like they can get behind.
And, for centuries, no figure has summed up that description better than Robin Hood, the majestic hero who stands up to the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham.
Depicted dozens of times on the big and small screen, the latest iteration begins on TV this weekend.
Starring Australian actor Jack Patten as the eponymous hero, Sean Bean as the Sheriff and former Hollyoaks actress Lauren McQueen as heroine Maid Marian, the new Robin Hood series is airing in the UK on streaming platform MGM+.
So what’s the truth behind the ongoing obsession with our favourite outlaw?
One of the earliest written references to a Robin Hood figure was by medieval poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who referred to the ‘haselwode where joly Robyn played’.
Some experts believe he could have had his origins in the pagan fertility figure the Green Man, stories of whom date back to the fourth century.
However, besides Chaucer’s mention, there is virtually no trace of the Robin Hood of the popular imagination in medieval texts and archives.
Errol Flynn as the eponymous hero in The Adventures of Robin Hood, the 1938 film that remains a classic
A 15th century print of Robin Hood on horseback. The idea of a benevolent outlaw who steals from the rich to give to the poor is one that many, especially in these straitened times, might feel like they can get behind
At Yorkshire’s Kirklees Priory, a nearby monument rather dubiously claims to be Robin Hood’s final resting place. Today it is surrounded by rusted iron railings erected in the Victorian era
A man called Robin Hood is recorded as having been a servant of the Abbot of Cirencester in the 13th century. He is said to have killed a man in 1216.
But this Robin was from Gloucestershire, not Nottingham.
There was another Robin Hood in County Durham. But records show he was law abiding.
Another outlaw figure, Robert of Wetherby, was described as an ‘outlaw and evil-doer of our land’. He was pursued by the Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1225.
After being captured, he was hanged. That story does not chime with the mythical Robin, who is said to have died in his bed.
The first substantial account of him to appear in printed form was a ballad titled A Geste of Robyne Hood and his Meiny.
Published in around 1500, it entertained with tales about Robin, Little John and the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham.
The eight-part story concluded with the King coming to Sherwood Forest in disguise and Robin then being royally pardoned.
Starring Australian actor Jack Patten as the eponymous hero, the new Robin Hood series is airing in the UK on streaming platform MGM+
Sean Bean as the Sheriff of Nottingham in the new Robin Hood TV series
But the ballad also included the single line: ‘He did pore men much good’.
That prompted the idea of a do-gooder outlaw who steals from the rich to give to the poor, despite there being no solid evidence to back up the existence of such a figure.
A few years later, Scottish historian John Major referred in his History Of Great Britain: ‘Those most famous robbers Robert Hood and Little John, who lay in wait in the woods, but spoiled of their goods only those who were wealthy.’
And at Yorkshire’s Kirklees Priory, a nearby monument rather dubiously claims to be Robin Hood’s final resting place.
Today it is surrounded by rusted iron railings erected in the Victorian era.
There are some real people who could have helped inspire the Robin Hood myth.
One was the mysterious Hereward the Wake. The Anglo-Saxon hero defied the Normans after William the Conqueror’s invasion in 1066.
Another was Fulk FitzWarin, an outlaw in the Welsh borders who had refused to accept King John’s ruling on an inheritance dispute.
He ended up being one of the barons who forced the reviled John into signing the Magna Carta at Runneymede in 1215.
The famed document limited the powers of the monarch and is celebrated to this day.
An illustration of Robin Hood being thanked after his heroics
A third figure was Eustace the Monk, who took up arms against King John from his refuge in a forest whilst, like Robin, wearing a disguise.
Travellers he held up would be allowed to go free with what they were carrying if they were honest about how much money they had.
In his 2010 book Robin Hood: The English Outlaw Unmasked, author David Baldwin outlined his theory that an outlaw called Roger Godberd was the closest real figure to the celebrated legend.
He led a gang that committed burglaries and murders in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Wiltshire in the late 13th century.
A warrant calling for his arrest said he had carried out ‘so many and great homicides and robberies that no one could pass through those parts without being taken or spoiled of his goods’.
Godberd won himself a royal pardon after blaming his misdeeds on the civil conflicts ravaging England at the time.
However, the theory that Godberd was the real Hood falls down on the fact that he was roving as an outlaw more than 50 years after the reigns of King Richard and King John, when most of the Robin Hood tales are set.
The Robin Hood story has been dramatised on dozens of occasions on screen.
Kevin Costner as the eponymous hero in 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Most famously, Errol Flynn played the outlaw in the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood.
The production remains a much-loved classic.
The 1991 adaptation Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starred Kevin Costner as the rebel figure, whilst Morgan Freeman portrayed the newly-invented character of Azeem.
The film received renewed attention in recent years because it featured the beloved Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland, which was cut down by vandals in 2023.
Ridley Scott’s 2010 film, which starred Russell Crowe as the eponymous hero received mixed reviews from critics.
Some maligned Crowe’s attempt at an English accent, saying it sounded Irish.
As for TV renditions, Richard Green’s depiction in the 1950s was a fan favourite.
The new production is airing in the UK on streaming platform MGM+
