THE LEGENDS OF ROBIN HOOD
The stories are about some people who lived in England a long time ago.
About 800 years ago there were some wars called THE CRUSADES.
The King of England, King Richard, was fighting in these wars.
His brother, Prince John, was ruling England while King Richard was away.
Prince John was not a good person.
He took a lot of money away from the people.
He worked with the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Prince John wanted to be the king for as long as he lived.
According to the legend, there was a group of men who called themselves
"MERRY MEN" living in Shervood Forest near Nottingham.
The Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John called these men "outlaws."
The leader of the group was named ROBIN HOOD.
It is said that he "stole from the rich to give to the poor."
He also wanted to help King Richard.
PARTS OF THIS LEGEND ARE HISTORICAL FACT.
WE DO NOT KNOW WHETHER OTHER PARTS OF THE LEGEND ARE TRUE.
Some of the characters in this legend were real people living in England at that time.
King Richard was a real king of England and he did fight in the Crusades. TRUE
King Richard's brother, Prince John, was also a real person who tried to become king. TRUE
There is a real place in England called Nottingham.
There is a real forest called Shervood Forest near Nottingham. TRUE
We are NOT sure who Robin Hood was or whether there ever was such a real person. Some people
think so. We do not know for sure.
And if there were such a real person like Robin Hood, we do not know whether
he"stole from the rich to give to the poor" or "stole from the rich to give to himself."
Even though we are not sure of some parts of these legneds, Robin Hood has
remained a "hero" in England.
Hundreds of years ago, the Legends of Robin Hood were special songs called "ballads."
Men , called Minstrels would go from place to place singing songs for
people. Many of these Minstrels sang the Robin Hood legends.
There are legends about his ghost wandering around in areas of the Carolinas which many people believe but are probably not true.