Robin Hood Existed, book by Michael Reuel.

 

On 12th September, 2016, the Arctic Research Foundation claimed to have found the wreckage of HMS Terror, the second of two British ships supposedly “lost” in the disastrous Franklin Arctic voyage of 1845. The only problem with that story is that, according to the Inuit community, it was never lost in the first place. They knew where it was all along. They had passed on stories of its sinking, based on eye-witness accounts, through many generations.

Oral Traditions should be more deserving of respect. Native American accounts of Custer’s Last Stand, originating from eye witnesses, tell us far more about the Little Big Horn than any number of propaganda based newspapers of the day. There was a time when Story and History were not so diverse in their intentions, and by appreciating that, it is possible to locate an English king (Richard 3rd) beneath a car park in Leicester, and yes, it would indeed seem to be true that Shakespeare’s head actually is missing.

Sadly, where Robin Hood is concerned, academia has never risen much beyond the spectacle of Tony Robinson traipsing through the countryside looking for a 12th century gravestone bearing a name similar to “Robin”, and belonging to a known Knight with some degree of military experience. Why?

Michael Reuel in his book “Robin Hood Existed” takes a fresh approach. He goes right back to the earliest known 15th century tales and asks not just what are these stories telling us but, importantly, how those words and descriptions would be interpreted by people of that century and before. For example, what would they understand Robin and Little John to be from their clothing, their footwear (or lack of), and their habitat? The original storytellers went to considerable length to include such details, so their audiences would understand exactly what type of people Robin and Little John were. Reuel then applies what he learns from this folklore account of the time to the known history of England, his knowledge of which is clearly considerable. The result is both fascinating and revelatory. Here then is surely the platform for all future serious research regarding Robin Hood.