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I found a cool page for Robin Hood related whatnots! The Legend of Robin Hood. There is a LOT there, all of it worth reading, but let me point out a couple of especially interesting parts.
For instance, the "God of the Witches" and "The Horned God" portions, which both made me go WTF but are no less interesting. Apparently, they are just some people reaching, trying to make Robin Hood out to be a pagan, nature-worship figure and taking it too far. They related him to a fawn or a stag-like god of the woods, worshiped by witches of the time.
In her highly controversial and now discredited book The Witch Cult in Europe, and its sequel, God of the Witches, anthropologist Margaret Murray proposed that paganism did not die out with the Christianization of Europe, but instead, practitioners of what she called the "Old Religion" retreated in secret into the woods at night to continue their ancient rituals. Murray suggested that the witch craze in Europe was an attempt by the Church to eradicate these last vestiges of the earlier nature religions.
Murray claimed that the deity worshiped in these cults was a horned woodland god that dated back to Paleolithic hunting cultures, whom the medieval Church equated with Satan.
For Murray, the legend of Robin Hood was a veiled reference to the medieval witch cult, in which "Robin Hood" was one of the names for the leader of a coven, who was considered both priest and incarnate god.
Oooookaaaaay... This other is a little better. A lot less "conspiracy theory" oriented.
Although Margaret Murray's theory was obviously flawed, resting as it did on errors of fact and faulty assumptions, the depiction of Robin as a horned nature deity is still compelling. Following Murray, Robert Graves rather cryptically argued for the identification of Robin as a stag-antlered deity:
"It seems likely that Llew's [a Celtic sun god] medieval successor, Red Robin Hood was also once worshiped as a stag. His presence at the Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance would be difficult to account for otherwise, and 'stag's horn' moss is sometimes called 'Robin Hood's Hatband'. In May, the stag puts on his red summer coat."
They also equate him with a trickster, like Puck!
Because of the similarity in name, Robin Hood is often thought to be a manifestation of Robin Goodfellow, the mischievous hobgoblin also known as Puck. Jacob Grimm apparently noted the close association of the two Robins, but did not elaborate upon it.
Robin Hood is clearly a trickster figure, and may have indeed taken on attributes associated with Robin Goodfellow. He is often content to publicly humiliate a foe, rather than kill him. Moreover, he is a master of disguise and enjoys misleading his enemies.
*heart swells*
The information supplied about Maid Marian is great, as well.
Marian represents the Goddess in her maiden aspect. According to Robert Graves, the name "Marian" is a variant of "Mare", one of the most ancient names for the Lady, dating back thousands of years to ancient Egypt, Sumeria and Minoan Crete. In his masterpiece of mythological interpretation, The White Goddess, Graves equates Maid Marian with the goddess of the sea and sensuality, variously known as Mari, Miriam, Mariamne, Myrrha, Marina and Mary Gipsy. This goddess was Christianized as both St. Mary of Egypt and the Virgin Mary.
Graves suggests that the name "Maid Marian" is a sort of cultural pun on the term 'mermaid' (literally, "maiden of the sea"), also formerly written 'merry-maid'.
I love the religious overtones of this, since my Robin is Catholic. I also squeed at the mermaid references. *glances at Ghani* ;) And check out this beautiful painting of Mermaid!Marian and Robin:
It goes on to say some even more insightful things about her that I loved:
Despite the limited acceptable social roles for mediaeval women, Marian is not disparaged in the Robin Hood ballads for following her lover Robin into the Greenwood and living the life of an outlaw, as the only woman among a band of men. As the maiden aspect of the Goddess, Marian is simultaneously slut and virgin, expressing her sexuality outside patriarchal norms of morality and choosing her own lover, yet remaining autonomous and unsubordinated. Her strong, unconventional character is made clear in the ballad of Robin Hood and Maid Marian.
[...]
Although Marian appears in very few of the surviving ballads, she is central to the legend. Even where Marian is absent, it is apparent that Robin is inherently the consort of the Goddess in her maiden aspect. In the Christianized versions, Robin is devoted to the Virgin Mary and follows a code of chivalry, never harming a woman.
And it draws parallels between Robin Hood and Peter Pan! EEEEEEEE!
In their eternal youth and freedom from responsibility, Robin & Marian remind us of a similar couple in a later legend: Peter Pan & Wendy. Indeed, Never Never Land is a sort of idealized Sherwood, and the The Lost Boys are juvenile equivalents of the Merry Men.
As Peter Pan, the Edwardian derivative, Robin returns to his roots as a fey being from a magical realm, albeit now as an immature boy, stripped of the strong overtones of sexuality inherent in the adult figure of Robin Hood, despite his evocative surname.
Robin Hood has inherent sexuality? Look who's asking this... Of course he does! :p
For instance, the "God of the Witches" and "The Horned God" portions, which both made me go WTF but are no less interesting. Apparently, they are just some people reaching, trying to make Robin Hood out to be a pagan, nature-worship figure and taking it too far. They related him to a fawn or a stag-like god of the woods, worshiped by witches of the time.
In her highly controversial and now discredited book The Witch Cult in Europe, and its sequel, God of the Witches, anthropologist Margaret Murray proposed that paganism did not die out with the Christianization of Europe, but instead, practitioners of what she called the "Old Religion" retreated in secret into the woods at night to continue their ancient rituals. Murray suggested that the witch craze in Europe was an attempt by the Church to eradicate these last vestiges of the earlier nature religions.
Murray claimed that the deity worshiped in these cults was a horned woodland god that dated back to Paleolithic hunting cultures, whom the medieval Church equated with Satan.
For Murray, the legend of Robin Hood was a veiled reference to the medieval witch cult, in which "Robin Hood" was one of the names for the leader of a coven, who was considered both priest and incarnate god.
Oooookaaaaay... This other is a little better. A lot less "conspiracy theory" oriented.
Although Margaret Murray's theory was obviously flawed, resting as it did on errors of fact and faulty assumptions, the depiction of Robin as a horned nature deity is still compelling. Following Murray, Robert Graves rather cryptically argued for the identification of Robin as a stag-antlered deity:
"It seems likely that Llew's [a Celtic sun god] medieval successor, Red Robin Hood was also once worshiped as a stag. His presence at the Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance would be difficult to account for otherwise, and 'stag's horn' moss is sometimes called 'Robin Hood's Hatband'. In May, the stag puts on his red summer coat."
They also equate him with a trickster, like Puck!
Because of the similarity in name, Robin Hood is often thought to be a manifestation of Robin Goodfellow, the mischievous hobgoblin also known as Puck. Jacob Grimm apparently noted the close association of the two Robins, but did not elaborate upon it.
Robin Hood is clearly a trickster figure, and may have indeed taken on attributes associated with Robin Goodfellow. He is often content to publicly humiliate a foe, rather than kill him. Moreover, he is a master of disguise and enjoys misleading his enemies.
*heart swells*
The information supplied about Maid Marian is great, as well.
Marian represents the Goddess in her maiden aspect. According to Robert Graves, the name "Marian" is a variant of "Mare", one of the most ancient names for the Lady, dating back thousands of years to ancient Egypt, Sumeria and Minoan Crete. In his masterpiece of mythological interpretation, The White Goddess, Graves equates Maid Marian with the goddess of the sea and sensuality, variously known as Mari, Miriam, Mariamne, Myrrha, Marina and Mary Gipsy. This goddess was Christianized as both St. Mary of Egypt and the Virgin Mary.
Graves suggests that the name "Maid Marian" is a sort of cultural pun on the term 'mermaid' (literally, "maiden of the sea"), also formerly written 'merry-maid'.
I love the religious overtones of this, since my Robin is Catholic. I also squeed at the mermaid references. *glances at Ghani* ;) And check out this beautiful painting of Mermaid!Marian and Robin:
It goes on to say some even more insightful things about her that I loved:
Despite the limited acceptable social roles for mediaeval women, Marian is not disparaged in the Robin Hood ballads for following her lover Robin into the Greenwood and living the life of an outlaw, as the only woman among a band of men. As the maiden aspect of the Goddess, Marian is simultaneously slut and virgin, expressing her sexuality outside patriarchal norms of morality and choosing her own lover, yet remaining autonomous and unsubordinated. Her strong, unconventional character is made clear in the ballad of Robin Hood and Maid Marian.
[...]
Although Marian appears in very few of the surviving ballads, she is central to the legend. Even where Marian is absent, it is apparent that Robin is inherently the consort of the Goddess in her maiden aspect. In the Christianized versions, Robin is devoted to the Virgin Mary and follows a code of chivalry, never harming a woman.
And it draws parallels between Robin Hood and Peter Pan! EEEEEEEE!
In their eternal youth and freedom from responsibility, Robin & Marian remind us of a similar couple in a later legend: Peter Pan & Wendy. Indeed, Never Never Land is a sort of idealized Sherwood, and the The Lost Boys are juvenile equivalents of the Merry Men.
As Peter Pan, the Edwardian derivative, Robin returns to his roots as a fey being from a magical realm, albeit now as an immature boy, stripped of the strong overtones of sexuality inherent in the adult figure of Robin Hood, despite his evocative surname.
Robin Hood has inherent sexuality? Look who's asking this... Of course he does! :p
pleased
It makes for an interesting read though, no? :-D