Robin Hood is everybody's childhood hero. His iconic status has led Disney to create an anthropomorphic film about him. Let's take a look at the rare facts surrounding this heroic thief.
1. Robin Hood is an established figure in folklore, but whether he was ever a real person may never be proven either way, especially Robin or Robert Hood was a common name in medieval England.
2. Robin Hood and his men are always depicted in clothes of Lincoln green, a shade so-called because the dyers of Lincoln produced a distinctive verdant cloth by colouring it with woad to give it a blue hue, then overdyeing it yellow with weld.
3. Robin Hood is first mentioned in ballads from the 14th century which tell of him as a master of disguise.
4. Robin is mentioned in the company of his Merry Men in early ballads but no wife or family is mentioned besides one relative, the Prioress of Kirklees.
5. Robin’s bow is carved from the wood of a yew tree.
6. The stories of Robin Hood are believed to be so loved through the centuries because they are constantly adapted to the tastes of the times. Early versions emphasized Robin's skill with a bow, the later ones mention that he robbed the rich to help the poor.
7. Maid Marian, who provides Robin's love interest, was a 16th-century addition to the story.
8. The size of the band of merry men varies from a small group of around five to 140 strong, according to the telling.
9. Legend has it that Robin Hood and his men lived in Sherwood Forest and used the forest's iconic Major Oak as a hideout, although the tree would actually only have been a sapling when they were roaming the woodland.
10. Perhaps the most common theory as to who Robin Hood really was names him as the Earl of Huntington, who died in 1198. Ballad writer Martin Parker claimed thus in a text from 1632 named 'A true tale of Robin Hood'.
11. Those who believe Robin was flesh and blood suggest he is buried in Kirklees Hall in Yorkshire, where a grave bears the incription: "Here underneath this little stone / Lies Robert Earl of Huntington / Never archer there as he so good / And people called him Robin Hood / Such outlaws as him and his men / Will England never see again".
12. The story of Robin Hood has been adapted for large and small screen at least 68 times.
13. Perhaps the most fitting actor to portray the outlaw in terms of colour was Kermit the Frog, in a 1979 episode of “The Muppet Show".
Source: Countryfile
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