King Arthur And Robin Hood Research Paper

Myths and legends are often perceived as quaint, fictionous stories about human struggle against monumental odds, or fantasies about the gods’ inference in man’s destiny. However, many legends and myths contain fascinating elements of history, ideal traditions, and ancient cultural practices. The protagonists in legends usually appear as icons or heroes at a specific point of history and typically reflect the mores and ideals of their time. They manifest behavior in keeping with socioeconomic and political circumstances of their era. Cultural developments, historic battles, warring nations, and internecine machinations frequently surface in legends. These ideas are all embodied in the famous legend of King Arthur and Robin Hood. While the legend

The legend of Robin Hood is an example of it, and exposed the dark side of the Middle Ages, mainly the corruption of the upper class. The Sheriff of Nottingham, one of the upper classes, and also Robin Hood’s main enemy, aggressively and violently pursues the destruction of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. As many other sheriffs, his position is given by the king and is expected to carry on his various duties administering the counties. However, sheriffs were not strictly checked, and were able to collect additional taxes, with the excuse of their duties. Robin Hood, on behalf of the people, fights with these greedy and corrupt sheriffs who are abusing their authority. Another terrible character who also appears in the legend, is King John, who reigned from 1199 until his death in 1216. One Victorian historian described him as a “monster of iniquity”, another as “mean, false, cindictie, abtomiably cruel … frivolous and slothful … self-indulgent and scandalously immoral … At once greedy and extravagant, he extorted money from his subjects and spent it in an ignoble manner. He had a violent temper and a stubborn disposition, but he lacked real firmness of mind, and was at heart a coward … While he was abjectly superstitious, he was

Robin Hood and the Monk, the early modern ballad, provides us a complex and wide view of how the church was viewed by the people. “ In spite of the obvious dangers, Robin is determined to attend Mass in Nottingham "With the myght of mylde Marye"... he goes on to town alone and prays... arousing the suspicions of a "gret-hedid munke," he is captured by the sheriff and cast into prison. Having learned that Robin has been captured, Little John rallies the spirits of the outlaws ...then promises that with the "myght of mylde Mary" he will take care of the treacherous monk and rescue Robin” (Knight and Ohlgren).This concept, on both the belief in Mary, hate and betrayal of the Church, suggests how eager the audience was to eradicate the corruption of the Church, but still wanted to keep their religion. As the main character of the legend, Robin Hood reflects the social and religious ideas of the time, and punishes the Church instead. In addition, another story, the Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford, “contains some unusual features in that the bishop appears to be acting as the sheriff normally does, hunting the outlaws. However this may be because of the tendency to make the church the major enemy of the outlaw.” (Knight and Ohlgren). The tone of this ballad is more lighthearted, and the bishop is rather humiliated than a being punished. But still the idea of antipathy of the untrustworthy Church