For centuries, he has stood as England’s most enduring outlaw hero—a thief with a code, a swordsman with a cause, and a legend whispered through generations. But was Robin Hood just a myth woven from folklore and fantasy, or was there a real man beneath the green hood?
Robin Hood: The Man and the Myth peels back the layers of ballads, propaganda, and medieval romanticism to examine the growing body of evidence suggesting that Robin Hood was not only real—but a central figure in a fierce and often-forgotten chapter of English history. Through rigorous historical analysis, author Jasmine Stone explores the possibility that Robin was no mere invention, but a genuine outlaw leader, perhaps known by several names, who emerged as one of the last bastions of Saxon resistance against the crushing dominance of the Norman Yoke.
Drawing from an array of sources—including early legal documents, ecclesiastical records, medieval chronicles, outlaw ballads, and linguistic analysis—this book presents a compelling case for Robin Hood’s historicity. It investigates figures such as Robert Hood of Wakefield, Robin of Loxley, and Hobbehod, piecing together how multiple men may have carried the mantle of Robin Hood, or how one man’s deeds were immortalized and amplified over generations.
Key to this theory is the socio-political context of 12th- and 13th-century England: a land torn between the Anglo-Saxon peasantry and the iron rule of Norman nobility. Robin Hood: The Man and the Myth argues that Robin—who “robbed from the rich and gave to the poor”—was more than a thief; he was a folk memory of rebellion, perhaps even a guerrilla leader waging a desperate campaign to defend Saxon autonomy in the lawless forests beyond Norman reach.
The book also examines how later retellings, from monastic scribes to Victorian moralists, reshaped Robin Hood’s image to suit their own ideologies—transforming a political rebel into a chivalric hero, a romantic lover, or a harmless trickster, depending on the times.
Combining deep scholarship with vivid storytelling, Robin Hood: The Man and the Myth invites readers to reconsider one of the world’s most famous legends—not as a mythic outlaw, but as a flesh-and-blood freedom fighter whose legacy lives on in every tale of resistance against tyranny.