AN OUTLAW WHO MAY NEVER HAVE LIVED
Ballads, bows
and sources.
A fight on a narrow bridge. A golden arrow. A friar who will not stay dry. Explore the old Robin Hood ballads, and see exactly which parts are ballad story, which are later tradition and what the records really show.
Every sentence is labelled History, Literature or Tradition, with its source beside it.
For curious readers, families and teachers who like a good story with a source beside it.
How we tell it ↗THREE THREADS TO PULL
Begin at the bridge.
Little John and the bridge
Two quarterstaffs, one narrow bridge, and a seven-foot man renamed as a joke.
Read the notebook ↗Retold from a medieval balladRobin and the potter
A road toll nobody paid, a cart of cheap pots, and a sheriff who walks home.
Read the notebook ↗History guideLegend or history?
What the records actually show, and what nobody can prove.
Read the notebook ↗HOW THE LEGEND GREW
Stories have dates.
A line in a 14th-century poem, a manuscript of about 1450, an early printed Gest, May-day plays, Elizabethan earls and a Victorian picture book. Follow the legend as each writer adds to it.
Walk the timeline ↗‘William Robehod, fugitive’
A royal roll uses the name for an outlaw.
Read the records ↗c. 1450
Robin Hood and the Monk
Read the ballad stories ↗A SMALL TEST OF CURIOSITY
Legend, literature or history?
Sort twelve statements into the right pile, then try the eight-question quiz. Explanations after every answer.
SIX STAMPS TO COLLECT
The greenwood stamp card.
A bridge question, a potter’s question, a friar’s ford. Answer from the notebook and earn the ink.
Prefer paper? Printable greenwood outlaw packs, with a free sample.
THE READING SHELF
Read the old ballads free.
The Gest, the Monk, the Potter, Child’s great collection and Howard Pyle’s 1883 book are all free to read online. If you want a printed copy, compare editions before the cover catches your eye.
Free texts & the reading shelf ↗The Major Oak
In June 2026 the RSPB reported that the Major Oak failed to come into leaf and is believed to have died.
Read about the two forests ↗