As they did in the golden world...

Why is Robin Hood linked to Nottingham?  Now although in A Lyttell Geste of Robyn Hode Child Ballad 117 we find Robin linked to Barnsdale Forest in South Yorkshire (“Robyn stode in Bernesdale,...”) still his great witherling (=adversary) is:

“The hy sherif of Notyingham,|

Hym holde ye in your mynde.’” 

In “Robin Hood and the Monk” (Cambridge University handwrit Ff.5.48) (Child 119) however, Sherwood in Nottinghamshire is seemingly Robin's home:

The scheref made to seke Notyngham,

Bothe be strete and stye,

And Robyn was in mery Scherwode,

As liȝt as lef on lynde.

Now as Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire are next to one another there is no great hardship in outfolding this.  For must not an hunted outlaw have fared far and wide at need?  And they are both such as to still make Nottingham a likely backdrop for some of the tale that is being told. But why Nottingham?  The wyrdwriters who believe in a flesh and blood Robin Hood have their own thoughts on this, but what of those of us who believe that Robin Hood is truly an old god in hidlock?   Why might a god be linked to Nottingham rather than to anywhere else in England?   The answer is: Caves.

 

Bishop Asser, in his Life of King Alfred (Cotton handwrit Otho A xii, burnt in 1731), doth tell us that Nottingham, or as it was then called, Snotengaham, meaneth “house of caves”:

“30. Eodem anno praedictus paganorum exercitus Northanhymbros relinquens, in Merciam venit, et Snotengaham adiit (quod Britannice 'Tig-guocobauc' interpretatur, Latine autem 'speluncarum domus'), et in eodem loco eodem anno hiemaverunt. Quibus illic advenientibus, confestim Burhred, Merciorum rex, et omnes eiusdem gentis optimates nuncios ad Aethered, Occidentalium Saxonum regem, et Aelfred, fratrem, dirigunt, suppliciter obsecrantes, ut illi illis auxiliarentur, quo possent contra praefatum pugnare exercitum. Quod et facile impetraverunt. Nam illi fratres, non segnius promissione, congregato ex omni parte sui immenso exercitu, Merciam adeunt, et usque ad Snotengaham, bellum unanimiter quaerentes, perveniunt. Cumque pagani, tuitione arcis muniti, bellum dare negarent et Christianis frangere murum non suppeteret, pace inter Mercios et paganos facta, duo illi fratres Aethered et Aelfred cum suis cohortibus domum reversi sunt.”

“In the same year, the above-named army of pagans, leaving Northumberland, invaded Mercia and advanced to Nottingham, which is called in the British tongue, "Tiggocobauc," but in Latin, the "House of Caves," and they wintered there that same year. Immediately on their approach, Burhred, king of Mercia, and all the nobles of that nation, sent messengers to Ethelred, king of the West-Saxons, and his brother Alfred, suppliantly entreating them to come and aid them in fighting against the aforesaid army. Their request was easily obtained; for the brothers, as soon as promised, assembled an immense army from all parts of their dominions, and entering Mercia, came to Nottingham, all eager for battle, and when the pagans, defended by the castle, refused to fight, and the Christians were unable to destroy the wall, peace was made between the Mercians and pagans, and the two brothers, Ethelred and Alfred, returned home with their troops.” (awending by Dr. J.A. Giles in his "Six Old English Chronicles" London, 1847).

Asser's Welsh, would be now something like Ty-gogovawc or Ty-gogovawg and meaneth straightly “a cave-like house”, =gogovawg from ogo[f]- cave.

Now notwithstanding the unlikeliness of Asser's awending of the English stow name, no other town in England doth have such a “labyrinth” of caves underneath it, and this it doth seem was acknowledged at least as early as the days of Alfred.

So what is so great about caves?   Luckily for us, the new belief did not fordo all the writings of the old in Greekland, and we have On the Cave of the Nymphs in the Odyssey (Περὶ τοῦ ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ τῶν Νυμφῶν Ἄντρου) written by one Porphyry (Πορφύριος):

“Ἄντρα μὲν δὴ ἐπιεικῶς οἱ παλαιοὶ καὶ σπήλαια τῷ κόσμῳ καθιέρουν καθ' ὅλον τε αὐτὸν καὶ κατὰ μέρη λαμβάνοντες, σύμβολον μὲν τῆς ὕλης ἐξ ἧς ὁ κόσμος τὴν γῆν παραδιδόντες (διό τινες καὶ αὐτόθεν τὴν ὕλην τὴν γῆν εἶναι ἐτίθεντο), τὸν <δὲ> ἐκ τῆς ὕλης γινόμενον κόσμον διὰ τῶν ἄντρων παριστῶντες, ὅτι τε ὡς ἐπὶ πολὺ αὐτοφυῆ τὰ ἄντρα καὶ συμφυῆ τῇ γῇ ὑπὸ πέτρας περιεχόμενα μονοειδοῦς, ἧς τὰ μὲν ἔνδον κοῖλα, τὰ δ' ἔξω εἰς τὸ ἀπεριόριστον τῆς γῆς ἀνεῖται· αὐτοφυὴς δὲ ὁ κόσμος καὶ [αὐτοσυμφυὴς] προσπεφυκὼς τῇ ὕλῃ, ἣν λίθον καὶ πέτραν διὰ τὸ ἀργὸν καὶ ἀντίτυπον πρὸς τὸ εἶδος εἶναι ᾐνίττοντο, ἄπειρον κατὰ τὴν αὐτῆς ἀμορφίαν τιθέντες.

ῥευστῆς δ' οὔσης αὐτῆς καὶ τοῦ εἴδους δι' οὗ μορφοῦται καὶ φαίνεται καθ' ἑαυτὴν ἐστερημένης, τὸ ἔνυδρον καὶ ἔνικμον τῶν ἄντρων καὶ σκοτεινὸν καὶ ὡς ὁ ποιητὴς ἔφη ἠεροειδὲς οἰκείως ἐδέξαντο εἰς σύμβολον τῶν προσόντων τῷ κόσμῳ διὰ τὴν ὕλην. διὰ μὲν οὖν τὴν ὕλην ἠεροειδὴς καὶ σκοτεινὸς ὁ κόσμος, διὰ δὲ τὴν τοῦ εἴδους συμπλοκὴν καὶ διακόσμησιν, ἀφ' οὗ καὶ κόσμος ἐκλήθη, καλός τέ ἐστι καὶ ἐπέραστος. ὅθεν οἰκείως ἐπ' αὐτοῦ ἂν ῥηθείη ἄντρον ἐπήρατον μὲν τῷ εὐθὺς ἐντυγχάνοντι διὰ τὴν τῶν εἰδῶν μέθεξιν, ἠεροειδὲς δὲ σκοποῦντι τὴν ὑποβάθραν αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὴν εἰσιόντι τῷ νῷ· ὥστε τὰ μὲν ἔξω καὶ ἐπιπολαίως ἐπήρατα, τὰ δ' ἔνδον καὶ ἐν βάθει ἠεροειδῆ.

οὕτω καὶ Πέρσαι τὴν εἰς κάτω κάθοδον τῶν ψυχῶν καὶ πάλιν ἔξοδον μυσταγωγοῦντες τελοῦσι τὸν μύστην, ἐπονομάσαντες σπήλαιον <τὸν> τόπον· πρώτου μέν, ὡς ἔφη Εὔβουλος, Ζωροάστρου αὐτοφυὲς σπήλαιον ἐν τοῖς πλησίον ὄρεσι τῆς Περσίδος ἀνθηρὸν καὶ πηγὰς ἔχον ἀνιερώσαντος εἰς τιμὴν τοῦ πάντων ποιητοῦ καὶ πατρὸς Μίθρου, εἰκόνα φέροντος αὐτῷ τοῦ σπηλαίου τοῦ κόσμου, ὃν ὁ Μίθρας ἐδημιούργησε, τῶν δ' ἐντὸς κατὰ συμμέτρους ἀποστάσεις σύμβολα φερόντων τῶν κοσμικῶν στοιχείων καὶ κλιμάτων· μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν Ζωροάστρην κρατήσαντος καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις, δι' ἄντρων καὶ σπηλαίων εἴτ' οὖν αὐτοφυῶν εἴτε χειροποιήτων τὰς τελετὰς ἀποδιδόναι.”

“ The ancients, indeed, very properly consecrated a cave to the world, whether assumed collectively, according to the whole of itself, or separately, according to its parts. Hence they considered earth as a symbol of that matter of which the world consists; on which account some thought that matter and earth are the same; through the cave indicating the world, which was generated from matter. For caves are, for the most part, spontaneous productions, and connascent with the earth, being comprehended by one uniform mass of stone; the interior parts of which are concave, but the exterior parts are extended over an indefinite portion of land. And the world being spontaneously produced (i.e., being produced by no external, but from an internal cause), and being also self-adherent, is allied to matter; which, according to a secret signification, is denominated a stone and a rock, on account of its sluggish and repercussive nature with respect to form; the ancients, at the same time, asserting that matter is infinite through its privation of form. Since, however, it is continually flowing, and is of itself destitute of the supervening investments of form, through which it participates of morphe, and becomes visible, the flowing waters, darkness, or, as the poet says, obscurity of the cavern. were considered by the ancients as apt symbols of what the world contains, on account of the matter with which it is connected. Through matter, therefore, the world is obscure and dark; but through the connecting power, and orderly distribution of form, from which also it is called world, it is beautiful and delightful. Hence it may very properly be denominated a cave; as being lovely, indeed, to him who first enters into it, through its participation of forms, but obscure to him who surveys its foundation and examines it with an intellectual eye. So that its exterior and superficial parts, indeed, are pleasant, but its interior and profound parts are obscure (and its very bottomis darkness itself). Thus also the Persians, mystically signifying the descent of the soul into the sublunary regions, and its regression from it, initiate the mystic (or him who is admitted to the arcane sacred rites) in a place which they denominate a cavern. For, as Eubulus says, Zoroaster was the first who consecrated in the neighbouring mountains of Persia, a spontaneously produced cave, florid, and having fountains, in honour of Mithra, the maker and father of all things; a cave, according to Zoroaster, bearing a resemblance of the world, which was fabricated by Mithra. But the things contained in the cavern being arranged according to commensurate intervals, were symbols of the mundane elements and climates.”(awending ThomasTaylor)

From which the still awake reader will see that the god was linked to Nottingham above all other towns for that its caves made it a fitting token for the world.  And when Robin goeth into Nottingham it is as much to say as a god goeth into the world.

Whan Robyn came to Notyngham,

Sertenly withouten layn,

He prayed to God and myld Mary

To bryng hym out saue agayn.

“The hy sherif of Notyingham” is the witherling of this god, and doth belike stand in the stead of some ettin who in the old tales were the foes of the gods.  That Robin mainly goeth into Nottingham, in hidlock, rather than openly, is also what we might ween if we were talking of a god going into the borough of his foes. But the hidlock might also be understood in a less stavewise way as meaning no more than the god taking upon himself a man's body so his godhead is unknown. Thus Euripides in the Bacchae sayeth of Dionysus:

 

 μορφὴν δ᾽ ἀμείψας ἐκ θεοῦ βροτησίαν 4

 

And having taken a mortal form instead of a god's,

 

...

...ἵν᾽ εἴην ἐμφανὴς δαίμων βροτοῖς. 22

 

...so that I might be a deity manifest among men...

(awending T. A. Buckley).

And see Apollodorus' Bibliotheca 1.9.15, 3.10.4 where Apollo in hidlock mindeth the cows of Admetus as a swain (see The Winter's Tale, Act IV, scene IV), or Bibliotheca 2.5.9 where Apollo helpeth to build the walls of Troy to put the recklessness (ὕβρις hubris) of king Laomedon to fonding. This belief may also be seen as underlying the words of “The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men (οἱ θεοὶ ὁμοιωθέντες ἀνθρώποις κατέβησαν πρὸς ἡμᾶς)” found in  The Acts of the Apostles (Πράξεις τῶν Ἀποστόλων, Acta Apostolorum), Chapitle 14:

  

“11 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. 

12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.”

And Homer singeth in the The Odyssey (Ὀδύσσεια, Odysseia) Book 17, lines 485 to 487 (awending S. H. Butcher & A. Lang ):

“καί τε θεοὶ ξείνοισιν ἐοικότες ἀλλοδαποῖσι, 485

παντοῖοι τελέθοντες, ἐπιστρωφῶσι πόληας,

ἀνθρώπων ὕβριν τε καὶ εὐνομίην ἐφορῶντες.”

“Yea and the gods, in the likeness of strangers from far countries, put on all manner of shapes, and wander through the cities, beholding the violence (ὕβρις) and the righteousness of men.”

Which was borrowed by the new belief:

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels (ἀγγέλους) unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2)

For angels read gods.

And at length we may come to the understanding that the belief of what is known in India as an avatāraḥ ‎(अवतारः) and aṃśa-avatāraḥ ‎(अंशावतार:) is not unknown in The West.  See also what Macrobius writeth of Hercules in “The Saturnalia” I, xx.  Hercules being evened of yore with the god whom the folk of India worship, and where belike “Vishnu” ‎(विषणुः viṣaṇuḥ) is to be understood (see Strabo Geography Book XV, Chapter 1§58 and Pliny in his Naturales Historiae book, chapitle 24 on the folk of Taprobane who “coli herculem”).

Often Robin doth go into Nottingham only to free haftlings (=prisoners) (such as the good knight in A Lyttell Geste …) whom the sherriff hath unluckily laught (=caught) and locked up in his castle. This then would be the god warding (=protecting) his friends - the “good fellows” - from worldly harm and at length leading them to freedom: not only from their worldly foes but also from the antimber (=matter) of both the body and the world. To become one of Robin's “mery men” or “mery meyn” in “mery Scherwode” is to win the soul's hail  (=salvation).

As You Like It Act I, scene I:

OLIVER.  Where will the old duke live?

CHARLES.  They say he is already in the forest of Arden, and

a many merry men with him; and there they live like

the old Robin Hood of England: they say many young

gentlemen flock to him every day, and fleet the time

carelessly, as they did in the golden world.

Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Golden Eld about 1530.  Now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich.ᛋ

Farewell.