Description
Davis, who has been involved with Rochester University's Robin Hood Project, reviews the ballads, myths and speculations involving the legendary outlaw. He makes a thorough dissection of the layers of additions made to the earliest ballads and looks at several of the theories involving the man's true identity, if indeed, there is a man behind the myth. He admits that his conclusion is also only speculation, drawn from early representations of Robin and his men as militarily trained, celibate and generous. He posits that they were Templars from an English commandery who became outlaws after the dissolution of the order in 1307. Unfortunately, some of the information he cites is from unreliable sources both about the Templars and the absence of information on what happened to the remnant in England after the end of the order. The fate of most of them is known. Nevertheless, the analytical chapters cover the history of the legend well and Davis adds that the authors of the legend may have simply used the Templars as a template for the merry men, a suggestion that is much more plausible. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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The legendary hero of Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood, is a figure who has in equal measure attracted and baffled historians for decades. With the first mention of him coming in Old English ballads, it was long assumed that it was almost impossible that he ever existed at all, and that he firmly belonged in the realm of Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner, and even Mel Brooks movies. Only a few historians have dared to venture that Robin of Sherwood was, in fact, a living and breathing human being. Historian John Paul Davis, while undertaking research on the Knights Templar, has uncovered new evidence on the folk hero that suggests that his ties to that order were much closer than previously supposed. Sticking closely to historical sources as well as the ballads, Davis has produced a new portrait of this intriguing figure with colorful and unique insights into the era that he lived in, reckoned by Davis to be at least 100 years closer to our own than previously supposed. Lavishly illustrated throughout, Robin Hood: The Unknown Templar will be of keen interest to anyone who has been even merely charmed by his legend; potentially explosive reading for those with their own theories of who Robin Hood really was.
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