Will the Real Robin Hood Please Stand Up? Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. We were introduced to Robin Hood by Errol Flynn, Richard Greene, Kevin Costner and now Russell Crowe et al., as the outlaw who lived in Sherwood Forest and was loyal to Richard, Coeur de Lion (ruled 1199-1203). However, the earliest mention of an outlaw Robyn Hode came via a surviving ballad, "A Gest of Robyn Hode". In whose Royal service is this Robyn placed?

Answer: King Edward II (ruled 1307 - 1327)

Chroniclers of English history place a Robin character living at various dates and reigns. One of the earliest known ballads, "A Gest of Robyn Hode", mentions a 'comely' king Edward who, on his travels around England, meets the outlaw Robyn Hode and pardons him. Edward II was a handsome king, who made a great journey between April and November 1323.

The ballad gives many corroborating details of Edward II's journey.

2. Ballads, plays and chroniclers have cited a variety of towns, real and imaginary, that may have been the home of Robin Hood. In which English town and county is Robyn Hood sometimes believed to have lived, based on ballads and tales from the early 14th century?

Answer: Wakefield or possibly Barnsdale, Yorkshire

Robyn or Robert were very common names of the time, and Hood was considered a Yorkshire name. There is some evidence and a lot of speculation that Robin Hood of Wakefield, Yorkshire was involved in a rebellion against Edward II. He became an outlaw, but was pardoned by Edward on a visit to Nottingham. This may be the foundation for the Nottingham connection.

3. Depending upon whose history one reads, Robin Hood went from being a humble Yeoman to the outlawed Earl of Huntingdon, a character in two plays by William Munday, written at the end of the 16th century. Against whom did the Earl rebel, thus becoming an outlaw?

Answer: King Henry II

Henry II was constantly warding off rebellions from his unruly sons. The real Earl of Huntingdon (David) had sided with Henry's eldest son (also Henry) in a failed revolt. The young Henry died, but the Earl was forgiven by Henry II, and attended Richard I's coronation.

Earl David had an additional connection to the Robin Hood of Richard I, in that he married Maud in 1190. Matilda was an alternative form of Maud and, in an Elizabethan play written in 1599, Maid Marion's real name was Matilda Fitzwalter. Earl David then disappears for several years from any chronicles, and it was suggested that he accompanied Richard I on the Third Crusade. Any further historical connection to Robin Hood is confused, and inconclusive.

4. There are many conflicting references to Robin Hood, in both songs and stories, that began in the middle ages. Many ballads refer to "Robin Hood Games" or plays that introduce Friar Tuck and Maid Marion. These "Games" became connected with which events of English life?

Answer: The May Day Festivities

The Robin Hood Games became an integral part of May Day celebrations in the late middle ages and early modern May Day festivities. The first written reference to these May Day Games appears in Exeter in 1426. The Robin Hood Games went on to flourish in the 15th and 16th century May Days. Although Maid Marion is unquestionably presented in a May Day play, the love interest to Robin is presented as 'Clorinda, Queen of the Shephedesses'. This name also survives as an alias for Marion in some later stories.

The origins of the May Day Robin Hood legend appear to have stemmed from actual outlaws or tales of such folk as Hereward the Wake, Eustace the Monk and William Wallace. The historical proof for most of these stories and ballads is meager, to say the least. Yet the stories have continued as an important legend of the British down through the centuries.

5. What novel had the greatest influence in directing 19th-century British and US popular interest towards the middle ages? This work introduced the characters of Robin of Locksley, as opposed to Robin from Loxley, and his 'Merry Men'.

Answer: "Ivanhoe", by Sir Walter Scott

The eminent Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) claimed that Scott "had first turned men's minds in the direction of the middle ages'.

Set in 1194, after the end of the third crusade, the story of "Ivanhoe" gave us the sense of the modern character of Robin Hood as a 'cheery noble outlaw'. But he was, of course, quite fictitious.

6. There are several villains who add color to the story of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest. Two of these were the detested Sheriff of Nottingham, and his assistant Sir Guy of Gisbourne. Is there any evidence that these two were real people, as depicted in the Robin Hood legends?

Answer: No

The task of the Sheriff was to arrest outlaws, protect the King's lands from deer poachers and ensure safe passage of trading routes through Sherwood Forest. The Sheriff is regarded as Robin's archenemy, and has the nasty habit of lusting towards Maid Marion.

His character's depiction varies in each telling of the story. His assistant, Sir Guy of Gisbourne, is often being shown as the more competent of the two, and a greater threat to Robin Hood. Exactly who kills whom in the end, and by what means, is left to the writers' imaginations.

The character and tales of the Sheriff of Nottingham are probably based on an amalgam of three actual Sheriffs - William de Wendenal, Roger de Laci and William Brewer.

7. Robin Hood, or Robin of Locksley, is shown as the noble and loyal friend of Richard I. Richard the Lionhearted must have had a good publicity agent, because he is perceived as being a 'noble crusader and a man of God'. Many believed him to be a great English King, who loved his country and people. Of his ten-year reign, how much time did he actually spend in England?

Answer: Six months

Not only was Richard an absent King, but he spoke very little English. He spent most of his life in France, and regarded England as a source of money to finance his Crusades. There is much argument among historians as to Richard's sexuality, and he certainly had a wild reputation as a young man with both men and women.

The Victorian historian Stubbs described him as "a bad son, a bad husband, a selfish ruler and a vicious man". This is not really the gallant king so loyally supported by Robin and gang -- that's another myth, I am afraid.

8. There is further confusion about the name Robin Hood, which in many cases was used by criminals as an alias. Beyond the fictional character, there is the idea that he was also mythical. 'The Green Man' image, with foliage growing out of his mouth, is seen still on many pub signs today. In the middle ages, who or what was the name Robin sometimes used to represent?

Answer: The devil

Throughout the middle ages, Robin was a common name for the devil, much as Nick is today. The mythical Robin Hood is also associated with Robin Goodfellow, or Puck, from the Shakespearean play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Puck had a reputation as a meddler and little devil.

There is a tenuous connection with faeries, in that Robin Hood wore green and that was a traditional faerie color. In some Robin Hood stories, he wears red, which is the second most common faerie color.

9. The most villainous villain of them all, in the Robin Hood stories, is King John. Despite Richard being a dreadful king, John was somehow never forgiven for usurping his throne. He had acquired an early reputation for treachery, conspiring at different times against his father and brothers. Known as John Lackland, because he had no inheritance, in 1185 he was made ruler of which lands?

Answer: Ireland

John was made Lord of Ireland, but his stay was only eight months. He had wanted to sign treaties with the Irish lords, but instead angered them and alienated himself. He had no control over his followers, who cruelly ridiculed the Irish. John, in his youth, did nothing, and was forced to leave in a most ignoble manner. This may have been the start of bad Anglo/Irish relations.

10. So we are back to Russell Crowe and the Ridley Scott version of Robin Hood. Is he the valiant and loyal friend of Richard? The decrier of the unruly and traitorous King John? Friend of the Barons and instrumental in the writing of the Magna Carta? Witness to John's final degradation? We shall see. By the way, which of these things did the historical King John lose?

Answer: The crown jewels

In 1216, John beat a hasty retreat from a French invasion. Trying to avoid rebels who held East Anglia, his baggage and the crown jewels took a path through a marshy area known as the Wash. The tide came in unexpectedly, and all the baggage and jewels were washed away. This was a terrible blow for John, from which he never recovered. He contracted dysentery, and died shortly afterwards, under highly suspicious circumstances.

Robin Hood, on the other hand, lives on, if only in our imaginations.

Source: Author Englizzie

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor CellarDoor before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Here's a quiz on the myths and legends of Robin Hood: heroic heroes, and villainous villains.

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