Guide

Welcome to my website:

History Through Robin Hood!

This website is a little difficult to navigate at first, so here’s a little guide that you can return to.

Click on different areas of the map to see different research “themes,” or “lenses,” if you’re a Lakeside History buff. I would recommend that you either start with the castle (In-depth information on various Robin Hood myths and legends) or the town hall (Research about various time periods that coincide with the creation of Robin Hood mythology.)

Click on hyperlinks within the articles to jump to different pages, all with their own content– It’s kind of like an interlinking web of research.

If you ever get lost, never fear: click the back button on your browser to return to the previous page or click on the Robin Hood hat at the bottom of the page to get back to the map.

Site Information

Robin Hood mythology is heavily influenced by the political and social landscapes of the times in which new aspects of his character were developed. Each addition to the Robin Hood canon reflects not only the historical context but also the social status, means, and motivations of the one responsible for that addition. By analyzing both the legends of Robin Hood and the period of time in which each legend was created, one can see connections between the canon and history, as well gain insight into general sentiment and opinion regarding social issues.

The enduring legacy and adaptability of the Robin Hood mythology lies in the ability of his fundamental traits to be translated and applied to nearly every social group in any historical context. This flexibility in specific details also allows for Robin Hood’s character to be compared across various eras of his mythology. However, while the legends offer valuable insight into the historical periods and perspectives that have shaped it, the inverse does not hold true. Due to the ever-evolving nature of the myth, Robin Hood’s motives and means are inextricably tied to the specific contexts of his creation, making any attempt to generalize information from the legend itself unreliable.

Thus, the necessity of cross-comparison between mythology and history arises– and this website aims to glean more information about both Robin Hood’s character as well as the historical periods surrounding those legends through its fundamentally interlinked design. There is no linear path through the research, as the changes that Robin Hood goes through are surely not linear either.