54 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019This version of the legend visits extreme vio-
lence on the villain, delivered by Little John and
Much. The killing of the monk is justified be-
cause of his corruption, while the death of the
monk’s page, to avoid leaving a witness, is also
accepted, despite the page’s innocence. Later
versions of Robin Hood stories would move
away from these deaths that appear as collateral
damage, but medieval audiences did not seem
overly troubled by them.
Medieval crime and punishment often cen-
tered around brutality and violence. Kings, lords,
and their representatives used it often to punish
rebellious peasants. Bodies hanging from
the gallows or displayed as a warning at
crossroads were familiar sights during
this time. These early Robin Hood bal-
lads begin to show a turning of the ta-
bles, in which the lower classes are able to
punish the upper classes through trick-
ery and violence.
In the 15th century more ballads about
Robin Hood spread across England. One
of the longest, A Gest of Robyn Hode,originates during this time. In this work is one
of the first iterations of Robin Hood’s edict of
stealing from the rich to give to the poor. In the
poem Robin says, “If he be a pore man, Of my
good he shall have some.”
In these tales Robin belonged to the lower
classes and was considered a yeoman. The me-
dieval English ballads use this term to describe
a status higher than a peasant but lower than
a knight. In its original sense “yeoman” meant
a young male servant, applied to servants of
standing within a noble house. In theGestRobin
is depicted as a Yeoman of the King who, despite
his privileged position, misses the forest
and so chooses to abandon the court.
Robin Hood takes on a role as an ad-
ministrator of justice for the underclass
in the Gest. When Little John consults
his leader for guidance on whom to beat,
rob, and kill, Robin Hood provides him
with a code divided along the lines of
rich and poor. No peasants, yeomen, and
virtuous squires were to be harmed. On
the other hand, the Merry Men wereANOTHER
ADVERSARY
T
HE SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM is
not Robin Hood’s only enemy in
the medieval tales. Sir Guy of Gis-
borne plays the part of the villain
in many Robin Hood stories. Originating
around the 15th century, Robin Hood and
Guy de Gisborne describes an encounter
with Sir Guy in the forest of Barnsdale. Not
recognizing Robin, Sir Guy asks him for di-
rections through the wood and tells him
he is hunting for the outlaw Robin Hood.
Traveling with Sir Guy, Robin suggests that
they have an archery contest. Robin bests
Sir Guy before revealing his true identity
to him. The two men brandish knives and
fight. Robin kills his adversary, sticks his
severed head on the end of his bow, and
disfigures the face with his knife. ”There
you stay, good Sir Guy,” he says, and then
he disguises the dead man’s body in his
own clothes of green.ROBIN HOOD
IN A COLORED
ENGRAVING FROM
CIRCA 1600
AKG/ALBUM
FAMILIAR
SIGHTS
Five hanged men in a
detail (below) from
Antoine Vérard’s
1493 illuminated
manuscript, Grandes
Chroniques de France.
The prevalence
of executions and
brutality in medieval
Europe seeped into
the ballads and
poems of the times.
ERICH LESSING/ALBUM