For most, Robin Hood is the popular hero who steals from the rich to give to the poor. However, this image established through film metaphors and especially from Disney's 1973 classic animation, is significantly removed from the character described by the early medieval legends.
As the BBC points out in a related tribute, Robin Hood's newest film and literary metaphors attempt to illuminate a less known side of the legend, away from the idealized image that prevailed in recent decades.
The new debate is the basis for the new debate. film "The Death of Robin Hood", starring Hugh Jackman., which features an elderly and strained Robin facing his past and myth built around his name.
"Violent, disrespectful, adventurer"
According to the BBC, most historians agree that Robin Hood did not exist as a specific historical person. Rather, his legend was born through the intense social inequalities of medieval England and was originally broadcast orally as early as the 12th century.
The first written references appear about two centuries later and describe a character very different from the one the general public now knows.
He was no aristocrat, not a faultless patron of the poor. Instead, it is presented as one violent and cunning outlaw conflicted with corrupt clergy and powerful landowners.
BBC also hosts the views of Medievalist Amy S. Kaufman, who characterizes the original Robin as one ‘moral grey medieval crook’ and one ‘violent, disrespectful adventurer’, Noting that the first accounts are significantly apart from the idealized image that prevailed later.
The transformation of the legend began in the 16th century, when Robin began to be associated with the nobility and defence of the legitimate King Richard against Prince John. The 19th century children's books and the 20th century cinema finally shaped the image of the brave and just hero.
As the BBC notes, Michael Sarnoski's new film returns to the medieval roots of the myth, presenting a Robin who questions his own legend and confronts the consequences of his actions.
This approach reflects a broader trend of modern narrative, which is removed from the perfectly good or bad characters and seeks more complex personalities.
According to the British medium, Robin Hood's new versions speak not only of the past but also of the present, at a time when societies review the concept of power, heroes and myths surrounding them.