Throughout history, the legend of Robin Hood has been passed down from generation to generation and has fascinated all who hear it. Every child knows about the “Prince of Thieves” and his merrymen, and their actions of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. However, scholars are skeptical as to whether or not a true Robin Hood ever existed. Did Robin Hood really live in Sherwood Forest and hassle the Sheriff of Nottingham, or was he just a mythical figure of English folklore? The story continues to evolve from the original version, but the story started quite simply – Robin Hood was a yeoman and forester who was known to kill the King’s deer and he and his band of thieves were outlawed for it. The skepticism begins …show more content…
As Pyle explains in his preface, “the stories are “all bound by nothing but a few odd strands of certain old ballads (snipped and clipped and tied together again in a score of knots)” (vi). Even in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries Hollywood has taken a shot at their version of this story in the 1991 movie, Robin Hood-Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner, and in 2010, Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe.
Robin Hood and his band of thieves continued their outlaw ways for the next 22 years, and all of the versions of the Robin Hood story give the same account of his death. As he grew older and sick, he went with Little John to be treated by his aunt, the Prioress of Kirklees, but a Sir Roger De Doncaster talked her into killing her nephew. She slowly bled him to death. With the last of his strength, he blew his horn and Little John came to his aid, but it was too late. The legend continues to state that Little John placed Robin’s bow in his hand and carried him to a window from where Robin managed to lose one arrow. Robin then asked Little John to bury him where the arrow landed which he obliged. A mound in Kirklees Park within a bow-shot of the house is said to be his final resting