Robin Hood and Maid Marian...

All Hail!

In the Boke of Duke Huon of Burdeux, although Oberon the elf-king is truly “Kinge of Momur the which is about foure hundred Leagues from hence” (see chap. Xxiiii), that is from the wood where he meeteth Huon, he is also lord of that wood (he calleth it “my wood”).  When there were more woods in England than today, might not the hearers of tales of the elf-king as a woodward not come to think of him more as the latter than the former?

What Oberon then sayeth in A Midsummer Night's Dream Act III, scene ii about being a forester is most markworth:
 
OBERON. But we are spirits of another sort:
I with the morning's love have oft made sport,
And, like a forester, the groves may tread,
Even till the eastern gate, all fiery-red, ...

Furthermore, if “ylfa ȝescot”  “elves' shot” (see Wið færstice... from Harley handwrit 585) was truly thought of as something shot by a bow, then the elf-king is more than likely to have been a bowman at times.  Oberon's bearing of a “goodlie bow” then is most indrawing (=interesting).

We might like to think here that Freyur, who we have already evened with the elf-king, after having given up his sword to Skírnir so the latter will woo Gerður on his behalf, hath henceforth as a weapon only a hart's horn (see Gylfaginning 37.  Freyr fekk Gerðar Gymisdóttir. “Þessi sök er til þess, er Freyr var svá vápnlauss, er hann barðist við Belja ok drap hann með hjartarhorni.” “This was to blame for Freyr's being so weaponless, when he fought with Beli, and slew him with the horn of a hart.” (awending Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur)).  This is not a bow and arrow as we might have hoped to find, but it is nevertheless something that linketh Freyur to woods and hunting.  And also we should mark that the Diana-like Skaði would be Freyur's step-mother (see Gylfaginning 23. Frá Nirði ok Skaða - “Þá fór Skaði upp á fjall ok byggði í Þrymheimi, ok ferr hon mjök á skíðum ok með boga ok skýtr dýr. Hon heitir öndurgoð eða öndurdís.” “Then Skadi went up onto the mountain, and dwelt in Thrymheimr.  And she goes for the more part on snowshoes and with a bow and arrow, and shoots beasts; she is called Snowshoe-Goddess or Lady of the Snowshoes.”(awending Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur)). 

In Johannes Schefferus's Lapponia (1704), an awending by Olaf Rudbeck no less, we find the Lapps worshipping a godhead called Storjunkare who I think hath something of Freyur about him, thus chapitle x:

“The second God of the first Degree is called Storjunkare; which tho' it be originally a Norwegian Word, nevertheless the same is made used among the Laplanders, according to the Testimony of Samuel Rheen; The word Storjunkare, says bestows its Origin to the Norwegian Tongue; for, because the Norwegians call the Governours of their Provinces junkare, the Laplanders have given the Name of Storjunkare to their Gods. From whence it is evident, that the Laplanders made use of this Word, tho' perhaps not till in the later Ages, viz. since some of them were Conquered by the Norwegians. Thus much is certain, that this is not the only Name they give to this God, but stile him likewise Storra Passe, i. e. Great Saint, as appears by a certain Hymn they sing at his Sacrifices, of which more hereafter. 'Tis unquestionable that they look upon him as a God, whom they ought more frequently to Worship than the other Gods, because they esteem him as the Vicegerent of Aijeke or Tiermes [=Thor]. Samuel Rheen says, They look upon this Storjunkare as the Vicar and Lieutenant of God. Which is the reason they stile him Storjunkare, i. e. the Grand Vicar, superior to any of the Royal Governours. The Reason, says the before mentioned Author, why the Laplanders give the Name of Storjunkare to their Gods is, because they esteem them superior to all other Governours; from the word Stoere, signifying greater. Another Motive why they worship this Storjunkare is, because they imagine that they are obliged to him for many Blessings of Humane Life, it being their Opinion, that all Beasts as well wild as tame are subject to his Jurisdiction; that as Aijeke or Tiermes has the Government over the other Gods and the Dæmons, so Storjunkare over the Beasts; and being in his absolute Disposal, he gives them to whom he pleases, and none can take them without his Consent. Samuel Rheen says to this purpose; They attribute to their Storjunkare, as being a Vicegerent of God, the absolute disposal of all Sorts of Beasts, viz. Bears, Wolves, Foxes, Reindeer, Fishes and Fowl; which cannot be taken without his Blessing. ... Thus far we have followed the Footsteps of Mr. Rheen, concerning their Storjunkare; it will not be amiss to understand also what Tornæus has said upon this Head, which tho' it seems somewhat different, yet may easily be reconciled with the rest, if it be rightly taken; these are his Words: "They say, that the Storjunkare has oftentimes appeared to some as they went abroad a Fowling or Fishing, in a Humane Shape, very Tall, with a goodly Aspect, in Black Clothes after the same Fashion as the Noble-Men are dress'd in the Northern Parts, with a Gun in his Hand, but his Feet resembling to those of Birds. They say as often as they meet him near the Sea-Shore or standing in a Vessel, they are sure to be successful in their Fishing, and that sometimes he will kill Birds with his Gun, as they fly by, and offer them to those that are then present. They relate that the first time this Storjunkare was discovered to any Foreigners besides the Laplanders, it happened thus: A Guide, a Laplander by Birth, being to conduct one of the King's Lieutenants to a certain Place, as they pass'd near a Mountain, where this Storjunkare was supposed to have his Residence, stop'd all on a sudden, fix'd the helve of his Ax upon the Ice, turning it round in a Circle, which he declared he did in Respect and Honour of that God who dwelt there, unto whom they were obliged for so many Benefits." 

This Relation is agreeable to what has been mentioned before upon this Head, for it makes the Storjunkare the supeam Ruler of the wild Beasts, Birds and Fish, unto whom the Laplanders acknowledge themselves beholding for all those Things. And tho’ there is mention made but of one Mountain here, where this God is said to dwell, yet this may reasonably be supposed to proceed from thence, because they met with no other Mountain in their way, and so consequently the Lapland Guide had no occasion to speak of any more. 

And as it is not improbable that the Laplanders bordering upon Norway, especially the Inhabitants of the Lapmark of Luhlah might give him this Name, as well in respect of his Habit in which he used to appear, as of his Office; so perhaps those of the Lapmarks of Kiema and Torna, having never seen him under the same Shape, did therefore not worship him under the same Name, but by the general Appellation of Seita, from whom they believed they received the Benefits of Fishing, Fowling and Hunting. ”

The gun would be an update of the bow and arrow.

Oberon's bearing of a “goodlie bow” and a wonderful horn may well then put the reader in mind of Robin Hood.  And this is not without inting (=cause), for Robin Hood hath often been taken to be only another name for Robin Goodfellow, thus Reginald Scot The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) writing of the German elf, Hood-kin or Hudgin:

“There go as manie tales upon this Hudgin, in some parts of Germanie, as there did in England of Robin good fellowe. But this Hudgin was so called, bicause he alwaies ware a cap or a hood; and therefore I thinke it was Robin hood.”

J. Grimm Teutonic Mythology (1883) Deal 2, chap. 17, lf.504:

“... In England, Robin Goodfellow seems to get mixed up with Robin Hood the archer, as Hood himself reminds us of Hodeken; and I think this derivation from a being of the goblin kind, and universally known to the people, is preferable to the attempted historical ones from Rubertus a Saxon mass-priest, or the English Robertus knight, one of the slayers of Thomas Becket.”

Margaret Murray The God of the Witches (1931) chap.1:

“A fact, noted by many writers and still unexplained, is the connection between Robin Goodfellow and Robin Hood.  Grimm remarks on it … . The cult of Robin Hood was widespread both geographically and in time, which suggests that he was more than a local hero in the places where his legend occurs.  In Scotland as well as England Robin Hood was well known, and he belonged essentially to the people, not to the nobles. … Robin Hood and his band were a constituent part of the May-day ceremonies, they had special dances and always wore the fairies’ colour, green. He was so intimately connected with the May-day rites that even as early as 1580 Edmund Assheton [see Chetham Society, xxxix (1856), Farington Papers, p, 128.] wrote to William ffarington about suppressing “Robyn Hoode and the May games as being Lewde sportes, tending to no other end but to stir up our frail natures to wantonness.” In all the stories and traditions of Robin Hood his animosity to the Church is invariably emphasised, an abbot or prior was regarded as his legitimate prey.”

And this is not without sooth I think.  I mark here also that in the Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman, passus 5, where Robin Hood is first marked, those who knew his songs are shamefully withmeted to those who know better their Paternoster and the rhymes of Jesus and Mary, the lord and lady of the new belief: 

I kan noght parfitly my Paternoster as the preest it syngeth, 5.395

But I kan rymes of Robyn Hood and Randolf Erl of Chestre, 5.396
Ac neither of Oure Lord ne of Oure Lady the leeste that evere was maked. 5.397

Robin Hood and His Merry Men Entertaining Richard the Lionheart in Sherwood Forest
Daniel Maclise (1806–1870)
Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery ᛋ

In the above tivering (=picture) Robin Hood is the one in red. Thus in Robin Hood's Rescuing Will Stutly we read:
 
He cloathed himself in scarlet red,

His men were all in green ;
A finer shew, throughout the world,
In no place could be seen.


Robin Hood and Queen Katherine (Childe 145):

He deckt his men in Lincolne greene, 

Himselfe in scarlett red; 

...

Adrian Bailey The Caves of the Sun, Pimlico, London (1998), chapitle 11, lf.197:

“Although we cannot claim with certainty that Robin Hood was not an historic figure, the features in the legend ideally meet the requirements of the classic pattern of the doomed and sacrificed hero; it is not correct to say that 'The early tales of Robin, indeed the cycle as a whole, are without myth and magic', for the entire legend is based upon ancient mythology.”

And in th'ilk chapitle 7, lf. 99:

“The arrows of the sun's rays strike the earth and they produce water, particularly in winter, the 'water miracle' in the cult of Mithras occurs when Mithras strikes a rock with an arrow and a spring bursts forth.  This is part of the sequence of events in the death of Robin Hood, a sun hero and archer like Apollo who, when dying, shoots an arrow to mark his burial place.”  

 The inwrit (=inscription) upon the stone in Kirklees Priory (in Dewsbury parish, Morley Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire) said to mark his grave (given by Robert Thoroton in his History of the Town and County of Nottingham (1797) deal 2, lf.168) is indrawing for the odd date given for his death “Obiit: 24 Kal: Dekembris, 1247”.  There is no date 24 days from the Kalends of December by the old Romans way of giving dates.  From the Idus of November there are days reckoned from the eighteenth to the t'other from the Kalends of December only.  But did someone mean the 24th. December, the eve of the winter sunstead (=solstice) in the Romans' reckoning which underlieth our merry-making today on the following day?  This would be a good date for the death of a sun haleth, but only for that he is born again at dawn on the next day!

 Some indrawing lines from A Lyttell Geste of Robyn Hode are:

Robyn loued Oure der  Lady;
     For dout of dydly synne,
     Wolde he neuer do compani harme
     That any woman was in.


 But loke ye do no husbonde harme,
     That tilleth with his ploughe.
‘No more ye shall no gode yeman
     That walketh by gren -wode shawe;
     Ne no knyght ne no squyer
     That wol be a gode felawe.
‘These bisshoppes and these archebishoppes,
     Ye shall them bete and bynde;
     The hy  sherif of Notyingham,
     Hym holde ye in your mynde.’

The wording “a gode felawe” should be well marked in the foregoing.

He is a yeman of the forest,


 ‘But take not a grefe,’ sayd the knyght,
 ‘That I haue be so longe;
     I came by a wrastelynge,
     And there I holpe a por  yeman,
     With wronge was put behynde.’
‘Nay, for God,’ sayd Robyn,
     ‘Syr knyght, that thanke I the;
     What man that helpeth a good yeman,
     His frende than wyll I be.


For he was a good outlawe,
     And dyde pore men moch god.

In “Robyn Hode and the munke” (Cambridge University handwrit Ff.5.48) we find: 

 “Loke that ye kepe wel owre tristil-tre,...”. 

 “Look that ye keep well our meeting tree,...”.

We should not overlook the worth of these old rhymes.  John Aubrey in his so-called Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme (Lansdowne handwrit 231 dated to 1686-87 see outlaying of James Britten, London 1881, for the Folklore Society, lvs. 67 to 68):

“Old-wives Tales.

Before printing, Old-wives Tales were ingeniose: and since Printing came in fashion, till a little before the Civil-warres, the ordinary sort of People were not taught to reade; now-a-dayes Bookes are common, and most of the poor people understand letters; and the many good Bookes, and variety of Turnes of Affaires, have putt all the old Fables out of doors ; and the divine art of Printing and Gunpowder have frighted away Robin-goodfellow and the Fayries.
 

Nos quoq', quas Pallas, melior dea, detinet, inquit,
Utile opus manum vario sermone levemus,
Perq' vices aliquid, quod tempora longa videri
Non sinat, in medium vacuas referamus ad aures. [Ovid's Metamorphoses] Lib. iiii. [lines 38-41.]

[“… we the wards of Pallas, much
to be preferred, by speaking novel thoughts
may lighten labour. Let us each in turn,
relate to an attentive audience,

a novel tale; and so the hours may glide.”
Ovid. Metamorphoses. Brookes More. Boston. Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. ]
 

In the old ignorant times before woomen were Readers, ye history was handed downe from mother to daughter, &c. ; ... So my nurse had the history from the Conquest downe to Carl. I. in ballad.”

The wiser among the ásatrúarfólk reading this will know that the old leeth of Þrymskviða liveth on in later rhymes, where our Thunor “Thunder”, or Thur, their Thor or Tor, is awent into a knight. Most outstandingly in that of Tord aff Haffsgaard oc Tosse Greffue  to be found in the great hoard that is It Hundrede udvaalde Danske Viser of Anders Sørensen Vedel, 1591, a gathering of a hundred old Danish folk songs and ballads from what were then sung among the Danes at the time and from handwrits.  Vedel himself was a clergyman at the king's hall.  But there are also two later booked Swedish tellings (see Svenska fornsånger of Adolf Iwar Arwidsson, Stockholm 1834-1842 under Hammar-Hemtningen (I) and (II), and another from Norway going under the title of Torekall vinn att hamaren sin seemingly first booked by Ivar Mortensson-Egnunds in his Edda, Utgitt Kristiania 1905).  Of all those about the gods to be found in the so-called “Elder Edda”, why was this the only one to make it into a later leeth in the above Northlands?  Might it not have a hidden bodeword (=message) of hope to the followers of the old belief?  For it doth show the old gods at a low stead, weak, and with their foes uppermost, as we might ween many of the old believers were in the time when the new belief lorded it over them. But in the leeth, this unhappiness doth not go on forever, after a time Thunor, getteth his hammer back!  Might not the old believers take heart from this, understanding “as above so below” and Þæs ofereode, þisses swa mæȝ, and look forward to a time when they too would get the upper hand once again.   But be this as it may, it at least openeth up the way for some of our old rhymes to be old tales of gods in hidlock.
 

With the worship of the gods on earth, things may dwindle away and seem to be dead for a while, but after a time comeback to life again, as if out of nowhere and take up their old wonesome (=traditional) shape, as if there had never been any break.  Such is the might of the gods.

If Robin Hood is truly the elf-king done into a leasing tale, then the elf-queen must be Maid Marian.  None of the older leeths seem to know of Maid Marian.  She is first found in the plays The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington  and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington  written by Anthony Munday (maybe with help from Henry Chettle) in 1598 and outlaid in 1601. Therein Robert Earl of Huntington's betrothed lady love, Matilda taketh upon herself the name of Marian, when she becometh one of Robin Hood's Merry Men.  Robin Hood being the name taken by Robert Earl of Huntington when he is outlawed.  A late leeth known as Robin Hood and Maid Marian (Childe's tale 150) would seem to stem from these plays, and in this we read:

And Marian, poor soul, was troubled in mind,
For the absence of her friend;
With finger in eye, shee often did cry,
And his person did much comend.
 
Perplexed and vexed, and troubled in mind,
Shee drest her self like a page,
And ranged the wood to find Robin Hood,
The bravest of men in that age.
 
With quiver and bow, sword, buckler, and all,
Thus armed was Marian most bold,
Still wandering about to find Robin out,
Whose person was better then gold.

In a slightly earlier leeth, we find Robin Hood's make was called “Clorinda” “the Queen of the Shepherdesses”.   That ia in Robin Hood’s Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage, (Childe tale 149) first thrutched in 1716 in Dryden's Miscellany.  But there again she hath much of the gyden Diana about her:

As that word was spoke, Clorinda came by;
The queen of the shepherds was she;
And her gown was of velvet as green as the grass,
And her buskin did reach to her knee.
 
Her gait it was graceful, her body was straight,
And her countenance free from pride;
A bow in her hand, and quiver and arrows
Hung dangling by her sweet side.
 
Her eye-brows were black, ay, and so was her hair,
And her skin was as smooth as glass;
Her visage spoke wisdom, and modesty too;
Sets with Robin Hood such a lass!
 
Said Robin Hood, Lady fair, whither away?
O whither, fair lady, away?
And she made him answer, To kill a fat buck;
For to-morrow is Titbury day.
 

The name Clorinda would seem to have been borrowed from that of a Saracen lady knight from Gerusalemme liberata of Torquato Tasso. The moodstathel (=character) of Clorinda stemmeth from Virgil's Camilla in the Æneid and Bradamante in Ariosto's Orlando Furioso.  And Camilla is hallowed to Diana.

Farewell.