Robin Hood: An Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism

The first collection of major scholarly studies of aspects of the Robin Hood tradition. The legends of Robin Hood are very familiar, but scholarship and criticism dealing with the long and varied tradition of the famous outlaw is as elusive as the identity of Robin himself, and is scattered in a wide range of sources, many difficult of access. This book is the first to bring together major studies of aspects of the tradition. The thirty-one studies take a variety of approaches, from archival exploration in quest of a real Robin Hood, to a political angle seeking the social meaning of the texts across time, to literary scholars concerned with origin, structures and generic variation, or moral and social significance; also included are considerations of theatre and filmstudies, and folklore and children's literature. Overall, the collection provides a valuable basis for further study. STEPHEN KNIGHT is Professor of English Literature at the University of Wales, Cardiff; he is well-known as an authority on the Robin Hood tradition, and has edited the recently-discovered Robin Hood Forresters Manuscript.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Literature: The Robin Hood poems, Douglas Gray; "The Gest of Robin Hood" revisited, J.B. Bessinger Jr; who was Robin Hood?, W.F. Prideaux; rymes of Robyn Hood, David C. Fowler; ballads and bandits - 14th-century outlaws and the Robin Hood poems, Barbara A. Hanawalt; Robin Hood, Christopher Hill; Robin Hood as Summer Lord, David Wiles; the Earl of Huntingdon - the Renaissance plays, M.A. Nelson; Keats's "Robin Hood", John Hamilton Reynolds and the "Old Poets", John Barnard; the good old times - "Maid Marian", Marilyn Butler; the legend since the Middle Ages, R.B. Dobson and J. Taylor. Part 2 History and politics: Robin Hood, Joseph Hunter; the origins of Robin Hood, R.H. Hilton; the origins and audience of the ballads of Robin Hood, J.C. Holt; the birth and setting of the ballads of Robin Hood, J.R. Maddicott; some further evidence concerning the dating of the origins of the legend of Robin Hood, David Crook; "Drunk with the cup of liberty" - Robin Hood the carnavalesque and the rhetoric of violence in early modern England, Peter Stallybrass; aspects of cultural diffusion in medieval England - the early romances, local society and Robin Hood, Peter R. Coss; the "mistery" of Robin Hood - a new social context for the texts, Richard Tardif; an outlaw and some peasants - the possible significance of Robin Hood, Colin Richmond. Part 3 Myth: Robin Hood, Sir Sydney Lee; Robin Hood, Lord Raglan; the games of Robin Hood, John Matthews. Part 4 Film: Robin Hood on the screen, Rudy Behlmer; "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" - fitting the tradition snugly, Stephen Knight.

About the Author :
STEPHEN KNIGHT is Professor of English Literature at the University of Wales, Cardiff; he is well-known as an authority on the Robin Hood tradition, and has edited the recently-discovered Robin Hood Forresters Manuscript for Boydell & Brewer.

Review :
An important resource for folklorists, literary critics, historians and other researchers... fascinating collection of materials.