OFH Throwback - Episode #49 - Was There a Real Robin Hood? (Part I)

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Hello and welcome to this throwback episode of Our Fake History.

This week, I'm throwing you back back to the start of season three.

That's episode number 49, Was There a Real Robin Hood, Part 1.

We are going to be revisiting this two-part series over the next two weeks before we triumphantly return for the start of season 11 on September 9th, 2025.

Now, those of you who follow the podcast close might have noticed that this is the second series from season three three that I've chosen to return to during this break.

Now, that did not happen on purpose.

The guiding principle for how I pick these throwbacks is all about whether or not an episode is a good hang.

I like the summertime throwback episodes to be a little more lighthearted, a little more fun.

Now, as Our Fake History has progressed as a podcast, I think I've felt felt the need to take on weightier topics and more challenging historical controversies.

I've really been proud of some of those more poignant episodes, but in returning to season three and especially this series on Robin Hood, I've been able to reconnect with the fun-loving spirit that hopefully always animated this podcast.

This whole thing is supposed to be a good time, you know?

Now, sometimes it can be hard to listen back to the old work, but to be honest, this one was a real joy to revisit.

I think you can hear in my voice just how much fun I was having with this topic.

One of the things that I really love about this series is how much it embraces the storytelling element of our fake history.

When I have to give a thumbnail sketch of the show to people who are interested, I often describe it as a type of historical myth-busting podcast.

But at its heart, Our Fake History is a storytelling show.

I think the show works the best and feels the most brisk and exciting when I really get to embrace a narrative before I completely pick it apart.

In this episode, you're going to hear me retell.

a number of classic Robin Hood stories in great detail.

So, you know, talk about embracing the narrative.

Those of you who have been listening for years know that one of my favorite things to do on the show is put my own storytelling spin on bits of classic mythology.

Give you the Sebastian Major version of a popular legend.

But I tend to only do this when I'm dealing with very specific stories.

The tale needs to be old enough that it doesn't have a known author, or perhaps the author is just as legendary as the story itself.

Or perhaps it's one of those stories that's been retold and modified so many times that it's almost expected that every new storyteller will add their own embellishments.

But of course, not all stories can be handled so roughly.

When you're dealing with sacred stories from any part of the world, one needs to be respectful of the storytelling tradition.

So, this kind of narrows things down.

But the early Robin Hood stories fall in the perfect sweet spot for a little artistic license on the part of the storyteller.

These are beloved folk tales, but they are far from sacred.

I also love that the very early Robin Hood stories that I get to tell in this episode are both familiar and obscure.

I know that's a bit of a paradox, but here's what I mean.

The characters, the settings, and even some of the situations are deeply familiar to anyone with even a passing interest in English storytelling.

And yet the details of these very early Robinhood ballads have been largely forgotten.

These are the Robinhood tales that didn't really make the cut when it came time to adapt the tradition for stage and screen.

I think you can really hear me delighting in how earthy, weird, and violent these early stories are.

I enjoyed reading these early Robinhood ballads so much that I actually collected a few more of them into one of the very first Patreon extras that I ever created.

And it's still available.

So if you want to hear more early Robinhood Hood tales, they are still available under the title More Robin Hood for anyone pledging at $3 or more on Patreon.

So if you want more, you know where to get it.

All right, I hope you enjoy revisiting this as much as I did.

Without further ado, here's episode number 49, Was There a Real Robin Hood, Part 1.

Return again next week for our revisiting of part two, and then the week after that, for the start of season 11.

Let's get into it.

1991 was one of those magical years in popular culture.

It marked a sea change in music, movies, and fashion.

In 1991, Nirvana would release Nevermind.

Pearl Jam would release 10.

My Bloody Valentine would give us Loveless, and Ice Cube would drop Death Certificate.

A documentary featuring Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr., and Sonic Youth would sarcastically call 1991 the year punk broke.

It was a joke at the time, but in retrospect, that title may have been completely appropriate.

The glitz and glam of 80s pop culture was giving way to the snarky grit of the 90s.

But despite all this newness, the movie going public was enthralled by a very old story.

In June of 1991, Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, debuted in theaters across North America.

Starring Kevin Costner as the titular Robin Hood, the film told the classic tale of the forest outlaw and his band of merry men.

Now, the movie was a commercial smash.

When it was released, it had the biggest first weekend debut of any film that was not a sequel to that point in film-going history.

It would have been the largest-grossing movie of the year had it not been for the Schwarzenegger behemoth that was Terminator 2.

Still, it was remarkable that a story set in medieval England, filled with muddy-faced extras, bows and arrows, and a buttload of dudes swinging on ropes managed to compete commercially with time-traveling robots.

It proved that the story of Robinhood somehow remained relevant and entertaining.

It seemed that no matter what the era, people just seemed to love Robinhood.

Now, despite the fact that this movie has kind of a sketchy reputation with critics, there's still a lot of love out there for this film.

It's over the top in a lovable 90s kind of way.

And the great Alan Rickman delivers an amazing performance, chewing the scenery every chance he gets as a demonically insane sheriff of Nottingham.

He gets to deliver such unforgettably wonderful lines as,

Roxley!

I'm gonna cut your heart out with a spoon!

Oh yeah, that's the good stuff.

Now, the goodwill for the Robin Hood character also helped audiences overlook some of the more cringe-worthy elements of this movie.

Robin Hood Prince of Thieves is perhaps best remembered for Kevin Costner and Christian Slater's complete lack of English accents.

I mean, they don't even try.

If American Robin Hood wasn't anachronistic enough, the rest of the history in the film was equally

Everything from the costumes to the gunpowder weapons cooked up by Morgan Freeman to roving bands of mercenary Celts made this one of the more historically dubious films produced in that era.

And I haven't even mentioned the Brian Adams song yet.

But this raises the question, how historically accurate does a Robin Hood movie really have to be?

I mean, after all, isn't Robin Hood just a fictional character?

A legendary folk hero from England's medieval past?

If he's nothing more than a legend, then perhaps there's nothing wrong with taking some liberties with the setting.

If Robin is a fictional character, then perhaps we shouldn't get too hung up on the historical accuracy of his fictionalized Nottingham.

However, it's important to note that the Robin Hood story does come with a very specific time and place as its setting.

Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, picks up on the tradition that Robin Hood lived during the reign of King Richard the Lionheart, that he fought in the Third Crusade, and that he had once been a nobleman from near Nottingham.

For some, these historical signposts seem far too specific to have been chosen at random.

Could it have been that there had once been a real leader of an outlaw band living in the forests on the outskirts of Nottingham?

Is it possible that a nearly 800-year-old story has its roots in the escapades of a real person?

If there was a real Robin Hood, who was he?

And how accurate is one of the most beloved legends in the English language?

This is our fake history.

One, two, three, five

Episode number 49, Was There a Real Robin Hood?

Part 1.

Hello, and welcome to Our Fake History.

My name is Sebastian Major, and this is the show where we look at historical myths and try and determine what's fact, what's fiction, and what is such a good story that it simply must be told.

We are back from our break, and so that means that three of our fake history has now officially begun.

The wait is over.

We are in it.

Honestly, guys, I am really excited to be back behind the microphone and talking to you again.

I missed you guys.

So in honor of our new season, I figured there was no better way to start than by exploring one of the most requested topics ever for Our Fake History.

Robin Hood.

Now, perhaps it goes without saying that Robin Hood has been with us for a very long time.

Stories and songs about the outlaw are some of the oldest existent in the English language.

Only Beowulf and King Arthur trump Robin Hood in terms of their ancientness in the realm of English storytelling.

But unlike those mythical kings, Robin Hood was always more earthy, a man of the people who fought against injustice.

He robbed from the rich and gave to the poor.

He resisted tyranny in all its forms and stuck it to the law when the law overstepped its bounds.

Instead of carrying a fancy aristocratic sword forged by wizards and blessed by fairies, he fought with heavy sticks and the ultimate peasant weapon, the bow and arrow.

He stood up for the downtrodden and outwitted the greedy.

It's no surprise that countless underdog champions from around the world have all taken the name Robin Hood, be it the Robin Hood of New York or the Robin Hood of El Dorado.

You see, if there's one constant in human history, it may be the greedy oppressing the needy.

It's a situation that can be understood in virtually any part of the world at any point in time.

And as such, the hero Robin Hood remains compelling.

He has lived in English peasant songs, on the Elizabethan stage, in Victorian-era poems, and he's been portrayed on the screen by everyone from Errol Flynn to Russell Crowe to Carrie Elwis.

People just don't seem to get tired of the Robin Hood story.

It's easy to make the case that Robin Hood is one of the most enduring heroes in English storytelling, but the historical reality of the character is a very different question altogether.

In fact, in the world of Robin Hood scholarship, and awesomely that is a thing, the debate around whether or not Robin Hood was a real person is surprisingly heated.

Some scholars believe that searching for a quote-unquote real Robin Hood kind of misses the point when it comes to the study of this figure.

The venerable Robin Hood scholar Stephen Knight has pointed out that it's almost irrelevant to search for the real Robin Hood, because the myth of Robin Hood is infinitely more interesting and important.

In his Robin Hood, a Mythic Biography, he kind of makes fun of the UK's Sun newspaper for obsessing over the question of the real Robin Hood.

He tells us, quote, people try to constrain the complex mythical figure into too narrow a physical compass.

Biographical, not mythical.

The journalists were mocking a modern obsession with reductive biographic empiricism.

End quote.

Now, I know there were a lot of $10 words in that, so let me rephrase.

In Professor Knight's opinion, hunting for the real Robin Hood is a bit of a sideshow when it comes to serious Robin Hood scholarship.

And he may be right.

But if you know anything about our fake history, it's that we love a good sideshow.

But it's important to point out that more serious scholars than The Sun newspaper and your favorite wise guy podcaster have taken up the question of whether or not there was a real person at the heart of this famous legend.

You see, in 1885, something called the Dictionary of National Biography was published in Britain.

Its goal was to be the foremost encyclopedia of every notable person in British history.

In the 1891 publication of the dictionary, the future editor, Sir Sidney Lee, had this to say about Robin Hood.

Quote,

The arguments in favor of Robin Hood's existence, although very voluminous, will not bear scholarly examination.

Then he later continues, there can be little doubt, however, however, that the name Robin Hood originally belonged to a mythical forest elf who filled a large space in English and apparently Scottish folklore.

End quote.

So it was Sir Sidney Lee's contention that Robin Hood was originally the Anglo-Saxon forest elf named Hodekin.

The other popular name for this creature was Robin Goodfellow.

Now, Shakespeare fans might recognize that second name as the proper name for the spirit Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Lee argued that Robin Goodfellow and Hodekin easily corrupted into Robin Hood, and that medieval balladeers gave that name to any old outlaw that was living in the forest.

That is what was printed in the national biography, and so that is what became orthodox in the academic world.

But for many, this explanation wasn't enough.

People pointed out that the Robin Hood stories were unique in English folklore in that they included no magic and no references to the supernatural, other than the occasional pious references to God or the Virgin Mary.

If Robin Hood was an elf, then why wasn't he doing any elf stuff?

He can't disappear or transform.

He doesn't even have a magical bow and arrow.

In every way, he was just a regular guy.

For the scholars who forwarded this argument, Robin Hood's very humanness served as the best clue that he was once a living, breathing person.

So, if you're hunting for Robin Hood, where do you start looking?

Well, some of the most important sources for this are the earliest recorded Robin Hood ballads.

You see, as a character, Robin Hood has transformed over time.

His biographic details actually shift and change over the eras.

The Robin Hood presented in Prince of Thieves, that being Robin of Loxley, the disinherited lord loyal to King Richard, doesn't seem to have been the first version of Robin Hood.

Those biographic details seem to have been added several centuries into the Robin Hood tradition.

In the original ballads, Robin Hood is a slightly different character.

Some researchers believe if we analyze these early stories closely, we can get clues about who the real Robin Hood actually was.

According to Robin Hood scholars, there are four ballads that are considered part of the same early tradition.

Just to complicate matters, all of these ballads were written down at different times, some as early as the 1420s and others as late as the 1630s.

But most experts believe that all of these ballads were originally composed in the same era, that being sometime in the mid-1300s.

And they existed as oral traditions long before they were ever put down on paper.

These four early ballads are called Robin Hood and the Monk, Robin Hood and the Potter, Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, and The Guest of Robin Hood.

Now, I'm going to tell you a couple of these stories, just to give you a feel for what they're like.

In particular, I'm going to focus on Robin Hood and the Monk and The Guest of Robin Hood.

I'm choosing these two, firstly because they're super fun and secondly because they contain a number of important elements that are used as clues by scholars who are hunting for the real Robin Hood.

So the rest of today's episode is going to be all storytelling.

Then in part two in two weeks from now we'll take a look at all the clues that we've collected from those stories and see if we can answer the question was there a real Robin Hood?

Now as always always, I'm going to give you the Sebastian Major version of these stories.

So that means that I'm not reading from any one particular source.

Instead, I'm giving you my own personal telling filled with my typical color.

I should also let you know that these early Robinhood stories might surprise you a little bit.

The early Robin Hood ballads are a little more violent and a little less moral than the Robin Hood you may be used to.

If you've ever gone back and read the original grim fairy tales, it can often be startling how different they are from the Disney versions many of us are used to.

The Robin Hood legend is no different, so just be ready for a little more death and destruction than you might be used to from a typical Robin Hood tale.

Alright,

without further ado, let's hear a story.

First up: Robin Hood and the Monk.

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It was early summer, and all was well in the forest.

The weather was fair, and the outlaw Robin Hood was feeling pious.

He decided that he hadn't been to church in far too long, and he desired to travel to Nottingham where he could hear Mass and pay his respects to his beloved Saint Mary.

But the path to Nottingham was treacherous, and Robin was a wanted man, after all.

One of his trusted companions, a strong young man named Much, begged Robin not to go.

Robin was hearing none of it, but out of a concession to his worried friend, he agreed to travel with the strongest of his merry men, Little John.

So now, Little John and Robin Hood are walking through the forest, and yeah, I really want to sing that Disney song, but I'll spare you.

Anyway, after walking for a while, they stopped to have a rest.

And the two men started having a friendly little argument about which one of them was the better archer.

Obviously, Robin Hood put it out there that no man in England was better with the bow than him.

But little John was like, yeah, man, you're pretty good, but I've seen you shoot.

And honestly, I think I'm just as good, if not better.

So Robin Hood was like, okay, sounds like a challenge.

Let's have a little archery competition right here and now and let's put some money on this.

So the two men laid down their cash, set up a makeshift target on a tree, and both shot a single arrow.

Amazingly, both men hit the bullseye.

In fact, it was nearly impossible to tell which one of them was closer to the center of the target.

Little John jumped up and said, Ha ha!

I've won.

Hand over your cash.

But Robin Hood was like, Not so fast, buddy.

There's no way you're any closer to the bullseye than I am.

The two men argued, and what started as a friendly competition had now become a nasty war of words.

Voices were raised, tempers flared, and Robin accused Little John of lying simply to win a few extra coins.

Little John couldn't believe what he was being accused of, and with that he told Robin Hood that he could travel alone to Nottingham.

With that, John packed up his things and started heading back to where they started in the forest, and Robin angrily stomped off towards Nottingham.

Eventually, Robin made his way into the city and immediately sought out St.

Mary's Church.

But as he entered the church, a monk spotted him.

It was Robin's bad luck that this particular monk had some history with the outlaw.

A few months back, the monk had been traveling through the forest, and he had been ambushed and robbed by Robin and his men.

Needless to say, the traumatic event had left him with a somewhat low opinion of the outlaw.

So as soon as he got a good look at Robin, he immediately ran off to inform the Sheriff of Nottingham and let him know that the region's most notorious outlaw was currently hearing mass at St.

Mary's Church.

When Mass was over, Robin exited the church only to find himself surrounded by the sheriff's men.

He did his utmost to fight them off, but he was outnumbered, and before long they had him overpowered.

He was their prisoner now, and they dutifully locked him up in the most secure cell in the city.

The sheriff then commanded this loyal monk to take a letter to the king.

The letter would let the king know that the notorious Robin Hood had finally been captured.

And who knows, the monk might even be rewarded for bringing the good news.

The monk immediately set off with a page to deliver this fortuitous letter.

But meanwhile, back in Sherwood, Little John, Much, and the other outlaws got a message that Robin Hood had been captured, and that a tattletale monk had been behind the whole thing.

Little John immediately felt guilty for abandoning his friend over a stupid argument, so he and Much immediately set off to help.

It wasn't long before they caught up with the monk and his page on the road.

The two outlaws had a plan, and they immediately sprang into action.

They ran up to the monk and pretended to be extremely distressed.

They explained that they had just been robbed by Robin Hood and were afraid to travel alone.

They said that they were worried for the holy man and insisted that he let them travel with him and his page so that they could better defend against outlaws.

This seemed reasonable to the monk, so he agreed.

Now, okay, side note here.

It's kind of ridiculous that the monk believes their story, because remember, he knows that Robin Hood is locked up back in Nottingham.

I mean he got Robin locked up in the first place.

But anyway, such is the logic of medieval ballads.

Okay, back to the story.

So little John and Much traveled with the monk for a ways down the road.

Then they waited for just the right moment and they struck.

They drew their daggers and mercilessly killed the monk and his page right there on the road.

They then stole the letters that the monk was carrying and continued on to meet the king.

They were now posing as the official messengers of the sheriff of Nottingham.

Phase one of the plan was complete.

When they made it to the royal court, their ruse worked perfectly, and the king was in no way suspicious of these two men.

They gave the king the letters from the sheriff, and upon reading them, the king commanded that little John and Mutch return to Nottingham, this time as royal messengers with the king's seal.

They were to deliver a letter to the sheriff that contained orders from the king to bring Robinhood to court immediately.

With that, the sneaky outlaws were off, now officially acting as messengers of the king of England.

They made it back to Nottingham in record time, where they immediately sought out the sheriff.

They headed to the sheriff's residence, where they proclaimed that they were royal messengers with important orders from the king.

The sheriff trusted the men, and not wanting to be rude to the king's messengers, invited the two men to feast with him that night.

As you might imagine, Little John and Much happily obliged.

As the men feasted, the outlaws noticed that the sheriff was definitely fond of his wine, and so they encouraged him to drink up, toasting him on his successful capture of England's most notorious outlaw.

It wasn't long before the sheriff was too drunk to notice that his guests had slipped away from the table and were heading down towards the cell where Robin was being held.

Soon they came across the jailer.

First, they tricked him by telling him that Robin Hood had escaped and that he had better go run and catch him.

Then, once his back was turned, they promptly killed him and stole his keys.

Which, once again, seems like overkill.

I mean, why do you even bother tricking these people if you're just gonna murder them?

Anyway, I digress.

They then quickly ran down to Robin's cell, busted their fearless leader out of jail, and quickly and quietly made their way out of the city and back to the forest.

With the sheriff passed out drunk and the jailer dead, it was morning before anyone realized they were gone.

Back in the forest, Robin Hood and Little John made up and exchanged apologies for their ridiculous quarrel.

Robin said that he should never have doubted John's skill and bravery.

He had proved that he was indeed Robin's equal in every way and may even be the better man.

So, Robin offered Little John the position of leader of their outlaw band.

But Little John refused.

He said he had no interest in leading the men and only desired to be a fellow in this merry band.

He also said that he had done Robin wrong when he abandoned him and had only just made things even with his old friend.

The two men embraced and then said a prayer for Our Lady Mary.

Eventually, the news made it back to the king that he had been deceived by Little John and that Robin Hood had escaped.

But instead of getting angry, the king only laughed and praised Little John's loyalty to his friend, Robin Hood.

The end.

Our next story is The Guest of Robin Hood.

But before we get started, we should take a minute and talk about that title.

You see, in this context, the word guest doesn't mean what you think it means.

They're using an older English meaning for the word guest.

It's derived from the Latin term gueste, which means the deeds of or the body of work of.

So the proper name for this ballad is actually the deeds of Robin Hood.

Most scholars believe that this ballad is actually a composite of a number of Robin Hood stories.

As a result, it can feel a bit more episodic.

It kind of jumps around a bit.

It's also worth pointing out before we begin that this ballad is one of the most carefully scrutinized by scholars who are searching for the real Robin Hood.

So keep your ears open for clues.

Okay, without further ado, on with the story.

Robin Hood and his men were all together in their home in the Barnesdale.

It was getting near dinner time and the men were getting hungry.

But Robin Hood, being Robin Hood, insisted that they weren't going to eat until he had heard mass three times and they had robbed someone on the road who could pay for their supper.

Little John came to Robin Hood and asked him for some advice before they went out a hustling, and his leader told him this.

He said, don't bother farmers or freemen.

Also, don't bother knights who are friendly to our cause.

Instead, go after corrupt bishops and archbishops and keep an eye out for the sheriff of Nottingham.

So little John, Will Scarlet, and Much headed to the road where they hid themselves and waited for a rich-looking bishop to come by.

However, the first unlucky traveler they met was a poor knight.

They stopped him, but the knight begged them to leave him be.

You see, he was deeply in debt to the corrupt churchman from St.

Mary's Abbey in York, and he barely had a penny to his name.

The merry men felt bad for the hard done by knight, and so they took him to meet Robin Hood.

After hearing the knight's sorry tale, Robin Hood took pity on him and decided that it would be good to have this man as his ally.

So he fed the knight a mighty feast and loaned him the money to pay back the evil clerics.

This way the knight would be able to reclaim his ancestral lands.

For his journey back to York, Robinhood commanded that little John was to act as the knight's page and ensure that justice was done.

So little John accompanied the knight back to York, and the two managed to settle the affairs with the Abbey and all was well.

Until one day, while John was practicing his archery at the knight's home, uprode the sheriff of Nottingham.

The sheriff was impressed by John's John's shooting, so he asked the knight if he could take this page and recruit him into his service.

The knight was in no position to refuse a man as powerful as the sheriff, so little John became a page for his sworn enemy.

The two traveled back to Nottingham, with the sheriff never once suspecting that his new page was actually a notorious outlaw that he had been tracking for years.

Little John was not long in the sheriff's service before he learned how the cruel man treated those in his employ.

Often the sheriff's servants would go unfed and would have to scrounge for their food.

One night little John had had enough.

After being denied food again, he marched into the sheriff's kitchens and demanded that the cook give him something to eat.

At first, the cook couldn't believe the gall on this page.

I mean, seriously, who did this guy think he was?

And so, the cook dropped his spoon, rolled up his sleeves, and put up his dukes to fight this impudent servant.

Little John never shied away from a fight, and with that, the two men came out swinging.

After bashing each other about the kitchen for a little bit, the fight drew to a stalemate.

Both men were exhausted and impressed with the strength of the other.

In that moment of exhausted clarity, the cook went, you know, you're not wrong about the sheriff abusing his servants.

In fact, I'm fed up with that guy, too.

And with that, the two men became fast friends.

So they did what friends do.

They robbed the sheriff of all the food in his pantry and took all his fancy dinner plates, too.

They loaded their booty into a cart and beat a quick escape out of the castle, heading straight back to the the Barnesdale to rendezvous with Robin Hood.

But even after pulling off this incredible heist, little John decided that he still hadn't had enough revenge.

So he headed back into Nottingham, where he found the sheriff and told him that he should really come into the forest because he had spotted the biggest deer he'd ever seen in his life.

He told the sheriff that he really didn't want to miss this incredible hunting opportunity.

The gullible sheriff excitedly dashed off with John into the forest, but as soon as he was in the woods, who appears but Robin Hood and his outlaw gang.

They jumped the sheriff, tied him up, and then took him to dinner, where they forced him to eat his own food off his own plates.

After the sad meal was over, Robin Hood told the sheriff that if he wanted to leave the forest alive, he needed to agree that he would leave the outlaws alone from now on.

Humiliated, the sheriff agreed to the outlaw's terms and pathetically limped his way back to Nottingham.

The insult suffered at the hands of Robin Hood was far too much for the sheriff to bear.

He hated the outlaw and needed to come up with a plan to ensnare him once and for all.

Luckily for him, their little truce might act as as the perfect cover for his trap.

If he could lure Robin Hood into Nottingham, surely he would be able to capture him.

And so the sheriff came up with the perfect way to attract Robin, an archery competition.

The word went out far and wide that Nottingham would be holding a grand archery tournament that would be open to all comers.

The winner would receive a gold and silver arrow and would be celebrated as the greatest archer in all of England.

Well, of course, this was far too tempting for Robin Hood.

So on the arranged day, he arrived in Nottingham and entered the competition.

Now, sidebar.

The ballad doesn't tell us whether or not he was in disguise.

You see, in every future Robin Hood story, he always goes to the archery competition dressed like an old man.

But in the guest of Robin Hood, he just walks into town and uses his real name.

I mean, come on, buddy.

Anyway, after several rounds of the competition, it became clear that Robin Hood was the best.

But just as Robin was about to shoot his final arrow and win the day, the competition grounds were surrounded by armed men loyal to the sheriff.

With that, they started attacking every outlaw they could find.

But Robin and the outlaws would not be taken so easily.

Fighting through a mass of soldiers, they handily bested them in combat.

They carved their way through the crowd and escaped to the Barnesdale.

But in the melee, little John had suffered a serious wound and was separated from his outlaw company.

In desperation, he ran to the one friend he had nearby, the knight who he and Robin had helped not so long ago.

John made it to the knight's castle, and in the spirit of generosity, the knight took him in and promised to protect him.

Hearing that this knight was harboring known outlaws, the sheriff rode with his men to the knight's castle and put it under siege.

However, the sheriff soon became impatient and broke off the siege to go see the king.

Perhaps, he thought, royal authority might be enough to get Nottingham back under control.

After making a swift journey to the royal court, the sheriff was granted an audience with King Edward.

And they don't tell us which King Edward this is, so we're going to have to come back to that.

So put a pin in that.

Anyway, after a brief but apparently productive meeting, the king agreed to come north in a few weeks.

Racing back to Nottingham, the sheriff laid in wait for the impudent knight who was defying the law and harboring little John.

Eventually, the knight had to leave his castle, and the sheriff managed to ambush him while he was on the road.

With the knight as his prisoner, the sheriff now had an important bargaining chip.

But what he didn't count on was the knight's loyal wife.

Distressed that her husband had fallen into the hands of the evil sheriff, she ran to the Barnesdale and found Robin Hood.

When she met him, she told him everything that had happened.

Her beloved husband had had tried to repay his debt to the outlaws by protecting little John, and all of his efforts had only got him locked up in the sheriff's dungeon.

Fuming with righteous indignation, Robin Hood roused his outlaw gang, armed them, and set off to deal out some forest justice back in Nottingham.

That night, the heroic outlaws stormed the city and fought their way through Nottingham's men until eventually they made their way to the sheriff's castle.

There Robin Hood met his arch nemesis.

Robin Hood looked him dead in the eye and said, This is what you get when you break a vow of friendship with me.

And with that, he bent back his bow and sent an arrow flying right between the eyes of the sheriff of Nottingham.

killing him instantly.

With the sheriff dead, the rest of his men quickly gave up their will to defend the castle.

Now facing no resistance, the outlaws headed down to the dungeons where they released the good and loyal knight who had bravely helped their comrade, Little John.

After the battle, the outlaws returned to the Barnesdale and the people of Nottingham set about cleaning up the damage, although they were rather relieved that the tyrannical sheriff was now out of the picture.

It was just then, as the people of Nottingham rebuilt, that the king himself arrived in the city.

Dismayed that the sheriff was dead, the king decided that he better go confront Robin Hood himself.

However, on the advice of one local townsperson, he decided that he better go in disguise.

After all, if he went dressed as a king, the outlaws might take him for any old rich man and might kill him unwittingly.

Seeing the wisdom in all of this, the king disguised himself as a poor abbot and went alone into the Barnesdale, taking only forty pounds with him.

The king was not long in the woods before Robin Hood and his gang had him surrounded.

Robin Hood eyed this unfamiliar abbot and asked him how much money he had on him.

The king looked at him and replied, Forty pounds, sir.

Sceptical, Robin had him searched, and sure enough, his men discovered that the abbot was telling the truth.

Well, said Robin Hood, there's nothing I appreciate more than an honest man.

So for your honesty, I'm only going to take twenty pounds.

The king was impressed and amused by this weird bit of backhanded generosity, so he decided to take out his royal seal.

He said,

You see this?

This is the seal of the king.

I am but a humble abbot, but I have been made his messenger, and he has sent me here to ask if you will dine with him in Nottingham.

Flattered, Robin replied, It's well known that I have nothing but love for our king, and I would be honored to dine with him.

But tonight you must stay and be our guest.

The disguised king agreed.

And so they headed off into the forest and proceeded to have a big, crazy outlaw party.

As the night went on, Robin Hood challenged the Abbot to a friendly game of pluck buffet.

You know, everyone's favorite archery game where the winner of each round gets to punch the loser.

Classic outlaw shenanigans.

In the first round, the abbot amazingly outshot Robin Hood, and then he punched him so hard.

that Robin realized that this wasn't just a regular dude.

Only a king could punch with that kind of fury.

Robin looked deep into the man's face and now recognized his regal bearing.

Your Majesty, he said, as he knelt in front of him.

The king was impressed with the outlaw's loyalty, and despite the fact that he had just murdered an officer of the law, he figured that Robin Hood was a pretty good guy, and that the sheriff probably had it coming.

So the next day the king and Robin Hood went to Nottingham together.

There the king insisted that Robin Hood return with him to court and serve him there.

Honored by this request, Robin Hood agreed and he entered into the service of the king.

But after a few years of living at court, Robin became restless.

He missed his home in the Barnesdale and craved to live the outlaw life once again.

So, with the king's permission, he returned to the forest and reunited with his friends, friends, where he was welcomed with open arms.

Now, this is where the story should end, right?

Everything's been wrapped up, our hero's triumphant, and he even managed to become best friends with the king.

But because this is medieval balladry, we get this weird little story right at the end.

And if this feels tagged on, it's because it probably was.

Most scholars assume that this last little story actually comes from a completely different ballad, but when the guest was finally written down in the 1600s, it just kind of got added in.

So, even though it feels weird, here it is.

So, 22 years later, yeah, I know, 22 years later, Robin Hood started feeling kind of sick.

He was worried that he might not recover, so he decided to travel to the church at Kirkley's.

He was related to the prioress at this church, so he thought that he would find a warm welcome there.

Sure enough, when he arrived at the church, the prioress took him in, gave him a bed, and told him that she would pray for his health.

However, little did Robin know that the prioress had been carrying on an affair with Sir Roger of Doncaster.

Who was Sir Roger?

I don't know.

It's the first time that we're hearing about him.

But apparently, he hated Robin Hood and wanted him dead.

So, as soon as Robin Hood was vulnerable in his bed, the Prioress snuck off and told Sir Roger that now was his chance.

And with that, Sir Roger murdered Robin Hood.

The end.

I know.

I know, I know, I know, I know.

But, you know, medieval ballads, right?

Anyway, that's how it goes.

Okay,

so you've now just heard two of the oldest known Robin Hood stories.

Now you might have noticed some things about them that were a little different from the Robin Hood story that you might be used to.

Firstly, Robin Hood isn't a lord in these stories.

He's a yeoman.

That's basically a free peasant who isn't bound to a feudal estate.

So basically, he's as common as common gets.

Secondly, he doesn't always steal from the rich and give to the poor.

He kind of steals from like whoever, although he tries not to harass poorer-looking people, and he gives to his friends.

So not really the altruist that we know from the later tellings.

And thirdly, Although some of the characters are familiar, like Little John, Will Scarlett, and the Sheriff, There's no Maid Marion or Friar Tuck.

And the King appears to be some guy named Edward, not Richard or the bad King John.

And perhaps most interestingly, even though Nottingham is referenced, Robin's home isn't Sherwood Forest.

It's some place called the Barnesdale.

So what does this tell us?

Well, perhaps part of the reason that some scholars think there's no historical Robin Robinhood is because they've simply been looking in the wrong place at the wrong time.

If we accept the idea that these early ballads are the closest representation we have to the quote-unquote real Robin Hood, then we shouldn't be looking for a nobleman living in Sherwood during the reign of King Richard I.

Instead, we need to look for a common man living in a less famous forest during the reign of a completely different king.

Okay,

that's all for this week.

Join us again in two weeks' time when we'll put all the pieces together and figure out whether or not there was a real Robin Hood.

Thanks for coming back.

I'm glad you guys didn't unsubscribe during our little break between seasons.

It's always a bit of a worry anytime you take some some time off, but I needed it to recharge and I'm really excited about what we're going to bring you in the next year.

Before we go this week, I have some very important announcements to make.

The first is that in one month's time, that is October 13th, 2017, I will be appearing in Toronto at the Hot Docks Podcasting Festival.

Yes, it's the second annual podcasting festival festival here in Toronto, and it's put on by the wonderful people at Hot Docks, one of the coolest film festivals that happens here in our great city.

So if you find yourself in Toronto on October 13th, come out at 9 in the morning and you can check out me and a bunch of other popular podcasters on a panel talking about how to build a podcast and how to grow your podcast.

And I'm going to give you all sorts of cool tips and tricks alongside my wonderful colleagues in this field.

I'm very excited to be part of this event.

So, if you are interested in coming to the Hot Docs Podcast Festival and seeing my panel, I'm going to have links to that up on my Facebook page.

That's facebook.com/slash/ourfakehistory, or you can go directly to the hot docks website.

That's hotdocs.ca.

If you want to buy a ticket, come for the entire festival, or just catch me on the morning of October October 13th doing my panel.

Before we go this week, I also want to give a huge shout out to everyone on Patreon.

Specifically, I would like to shout out the following people: Austin Miller, Kurt Hartung, Maz Dixon, Kyle Edward Watts, Ben Robertson, Linda Lines or Lines,

Watson, Dave Chandler, David Webb, David Kobald, lots of Davids, John Kuzick, Sarah Boulinada, Faith Rudd, Brian C.

Morris, Sean Kennedy, Sean Fontaine, Christina Gleave, Torsten Nosenberg, Aaron W., Gabe Walters, Patrick Stiller, and David Raymdonk.

All of you wonderful people have chosen to support the podcast at the $5

or more a month level.

And I don't know how to say thank you enough.

Every one of you rule.

I hope everyone on Patreon has really enjoyed the extra episode about Dracula.

I haven't had a chance to talk to you since it dropped back in July.

I was really happy with how it came out.

So I hope you all enjoyed one hour on Vlad the Impaler.

If you're someone out there who wanted to hear that episode but didn't get a chance to, there are two ways to get it.

One way is to become a Patreon subscriber.

Go to www.patreon.com slash ourfakehistory and subscribe at any level.

You will get that extra episode.

The more you decide to pledge per month, the more awesome extras you get.

If you want to buy it as a one-off, go to ourfakehistory.com, click on the buy extra episodes button, and you can get it there.

However, this week, if you feel like, oh, I want to support Sebastian, I want to support our fake history, I like that show.

I think there are people this week that need that money more than me.

And that is anyone who has been affected by the natural disasters that seem to be hitting this continent at an incredible rate.

So

my heart goes out to anyone affected by Hurricane Harvey, by anyone affected by Hurricane Irma, and by anyone affected by the earthquake in Mexico.

So if you are thinking about supporting me this week, instead, I'll urge you to give that money to your favorite disaster relief charity.

I myself am going to be pledging some money to the Red Cross,

but uh please this week no need to support me.

Instead, support those people out there who are trying to recover from these terrible natural disasters.

If you're listening in one of those affected areas, just know that we're thinking about you here.

And I really hope that you and your friends and family are safe and you're making it through what must be an incredibly difficult time.

So,

everyone else out there, support those that have been affected by these disasters.

Okay, in the meantime, if you want to get in touch with me, you can send me an email at ourfakehistory at gmail.com.

Hit me up on Twitter at Ourfake History, or go to the Facebook page at facebook.com/slash our fake history.

The theme music for the show comes to us from Dirty Church.

You can check out dirtychurch at dirtychurch.bandcamp.com.

And all the other music you heard on the show today was written and recorded by me.

My name is Sebastian Major.

And remember, just because it didn't happen doesn't mean it isn't real.

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