HOME | DD

Description
Robin Hood: Was he who we think he was?

Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Scourge of the Sheriff of Nottingham, Protector of Sherwood Forest.  There are many theories about Robin Hood.  Some believe he was truely like the legends say.  Others believe he never exsisted, others believe he was really many different people who merged into one person over time.  I, how ever, believe he was one man. Who was a thief and outlaw and a hero.  He may not have meant to fight back against an opressive goverment.  But he gave people hope.  He was not perfect, but he was a man who did his best.

The reason why I believe he was one man, simply because it is very plausible he was just one man.  There have been many such outlaws through atleast American history.  Who really did help out the poor while stealing from the "rich".   The rich in the American outlaws are normally the "opressive" banks.  Before and after the turn of the 20th century was a rough economic time for America.  There were many depressions starting in the 1880's which then came and went intill the famous stockmarket.  Then the booming 20's. Then the Great Depression.  Through the depression times  poor and ailing families had no where to turn for help or hope.  Then came the outlaws.  Seemingly to be hitting against those who kept taking their money and throwing them out of their homes their great grand fathers grew up in.  The banks.  The banks would end up owning the families land through loans.  Since the depression costed everyone money, the families would take out loans.  Loans they can not repay.  Since they could not repay the banks would take their lands.  Thus the banks became the enemies of the people, with no way of fighting back.

             This is where the outlaws come in.  I will mainly be talking about the famous American outlaw  Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd.  Floyd grew up on a farm in Oklahoma.  Robbed a post office at age 15.  Went to prison for four years. Then later did a string of gas station robberies.  Then they robbed Kroger's Food Store headquarters with two other people.  they ended up with over 11 thousend dollars in cash.  They then got caught and spent another four years in prison.  This is where he recieved the now famous nickname "Pretty Boy."  He then began hitting banks once out of prison.  He was cool headed during gun fights, and shot his way out of many close calls.  He became a hero of the people.  Story has it that, while on the run from the law, he stopped at a farm house for some water, in return he left a large sum of money.  Another he stopped at a farm house begging a meal.  Once finished he left a hundred dollar bill.  Another story he paid off the loans and debts to a farm.  Another he bought a truck load of groceries for families who had no home and starving.  He was a hero of the times, a living legend and a cold blooded killer of police.  If you go to Oklahoma and talk about Floyd, you will not hear a bad thing about him.  He was a hero, a outlaw and a real man.  This hero was killed by President Roosefelt (Prince John of the stories?).

           There have been other outlaw hero's of this time and all over the world.  Those who fought against "The Man".  Few truely win, but they do give hope for the opressed and down trodden.  So why can't there have been a Robin Hood? A Robin Hood that did as the legends say.  If you read/hear the stories,  Robin Hood is a mere man.  A man who, at times,  gets his ass kicked.  Such as in the story of him meeting Little John.  And a man who both makes poor choices and bites off more than he can chew.  Such as the story of Robin Hood and the monk who betrays him.  In that story Robin Hood is in need of confessing his sins.  So he declares that he will go to Nottingham and the church there.  Everyone thinks that is just stupid, and he should atleast take some men to guard him.  He tells them no and leaves with Little John by his side.  Along the way Little John and Robin Hood get into a fight over a contest they had to pass the time.  So Little John, angry, leaves Robin before  they leave the forest and enter Nottingham.  So Robin enters the town and church with no disguise, in full view of everyone.  There a monk sees him, and knowing of the reward, has his page go out to the Sheriff.  The Sheriff comes and arrested Robin.  Word gets out that Robin has been captured.  So Little John and Will Scarlet thinks up a plan.  The monk who betrayed Robin  goes off to tell the King of the news of Robin.  On their way back from the King with orders to bring Robin to him.  Little John and Will capture him and his page.  With official papers in hand and the Kings mark.  Little John and Will go to Nottingham, disguised as the Kings men.  They manage to get Robin and safely bring him back to Sherwood Forest before the Sheriff realizes that happens.  So Robin isn't the superman that some legends are.  He is just a man.

           Now  other thoughts about  Robin Hood.  Robin Hood was a thief, highwayman and outlaw.  Now I am not going to try and guess how he became an outlaw, to many ways he could have.  But I will try and guess the reasons why he became a hero.   Now back in the days Robin Hood wandered Sherwood Forest.  The mighty forest was well over one hundred thousend acres or a hundred fifty square miles, roughly.  A large area.  The entire forest was the Kings property, divided into three sections with three different "sheriffs".  At the moment I can not get the infomation regarding the names of the other two townships who watched over sherwood forest.   Of course there were many, many outlaws through the centuries who called Sherwood their home, who picked on the rich trade route that ran right through the middle of Sherwood Forest.  But why did Robin Hood become so famous?  To become a famous outlaw, you either have to stand out from all the other outlaws.  To do this you generally become feared and hated,  become so brutal and merciless that your name will be spoken in fearful whispers.  Of course Robin isn't known as being brutal and merciless.  He is known as being fair in combat.  Gentle and kind to women and merciful to those who did not resist him.  But was he really a fair and right man?  He killed the Royal Rangers, the police of the time.  These men did what they were told for the pay.  At the times Robin was supposed to have lived was a time of oppression and suffering.  Heavy taxes and unfair trails for the poor.

             Robin had a high price on his head.  So why wouldn't one of the villagers he was passing through or visiting just capture him and hand him over to the sheriff?  Well there could be many reasons for this.    One, he was a hero and didn't want their hero to be killed off. Or maybe Robin paid off the villagers to keep quiet and supplies.  Or maybe he really did steal from the rich and gave to the poor.  Personally I believe it is the last two.  That Robin paid off the villagers to keep quiet and that he gave them extra.   From the stories, Robin is a young man, perhaps even a local hero.  Young men tend to not understand money.  So he could have found a village to stay the winter in and used up the money he earned while robbing in the warmer times.  throwing the money around, impressing people with what he has stolen,  spreading the money around him thickly.  Perhaps that is where his famous "generosity" came from.   Or he really was generous, that he really gave his money to those who needed it, paid peoples debts and was just all around generous with what he stole from the rich.  Perhaps he was the times Pretty Boy Floyd.

              In conclusion, I believe Robin Hood was a man who was just trying to survive in a tough time.  Who, through his choices, was made an enemy of the state and a hero to the people.   He was by far from perfect, he was young, ambitious, hot headed and was lucky to live as long as he did.  He had no help from God or magic,  just his skills and friendships.  He may not be a perfect role model, but I would encourage my kids to have him as a role model.

Description
Robin Hood: Was he who we think he was?

Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Scourge of the Sheriff of Nottingham, Protector of Sherwood Forest.  There are many theories about Robin Hood.  Some believe he was truely like the legends say.  Others believe he never exsisted, others believe he was really many different people who merged into one person over time.  I, how ever, believe he was one man. Who was a thief and outlaw and a hero.  He may not have meant to fight back against an opressive goverment.  But he gave people hope.  He was not perfect, but he was a man who did his best.

The reason why I believe he was one man, simply because it is very plausible he was just one man.  There have been many such outlaws through atleast American history.  Who really did help out the poor while stealing from the "rich".   The rich in the American outlaws are normally the "opressive" banks.  Before and after the turn of the 20th century was a rough economic time for America.  There were many depressions starting in the 1880's which then came and went intill the famous stockmarket.  Then the booming 20's. Then the Great Depression.  Through the depression times  poor and ailing families had no where to turn for help or hope.  Then came the outlaws.  Seemingly to be hitting against those who kept taking their money and throwing them out of their homes their great grand fathers grew up in.  The banks.  The banks would end up owning the families land through loans.  Since the depression costed everyone money, the families would take out loans.  Loans they can not repay.  Since they could not repay the banks would take their lands.  Thus the banks became the enemies of the people, with no way of fighting back.

             This is where the outlaws come in.  I will mainly be talking about the famous American outlaw  Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd.  Floyd grew up on a farm in Oklahoma.  Robbed a post office at age 15.  Went to prison for four years. Then later did a string of gas station robberies.  Then they robbed Kroger's Food Store headquarters with two other people.  they ended up with over 11 thousend dollars in cash.  They then got caught and spent another four years in prison.  This is where he recieved the now famous nickname "Pretty Boy."  He then began hitting banks once out of prison.  He was cool headed during gun fights, and shot his way out of many close calls.  He became a hero of the people.  Story has it that, while on the run from the law, he stopped at a farm house for some water, in return he left a large sum of money.  Another he stopped at a farm house begging a meal.  Once finished he left a hundred dollar bill.  Another story he paid off the loans and debts to a farm.  Another he bought a truck load of groceries for families who had no home and starving.  He was a hero of the times, a living legend and a cold blooded killer of police.  If you go to Oklahoma and talk about Floyd, you will not hear a bad thing about him.  He was a hero, a outlaw and a real man.  This hero was killed by President Roosefelt (Prince John of the stories?).

           There have been other outlaw hero's of this time and all over the world.  Those who fought against "The Man".  Few truely win, but they do give hope for the opressed and down trodden.  So why can't there have been a Robin Hood? A Robin Hood that did as the legends say.  If you read/hear the stories,  Robin Hood is a mere man.  A man who, at times,  gets his ass kicked.  Such as in the story of him meeting Little John.  And a man who both makes poor choices and bites off more than he can chew.  Such as the story of Robin Hood and the monk who betrays him.  In that story Robin Hood is in need of confessing his sins.  So he declares that he will go to Nottingham and the church there.  Everyone thinks that is just stupid, and he should atleast take some men to guard him.  He tells them no and leaves with Little John by his side.  Along the way Little John and Robin Hood get into a fight over a contest they had to pass the time.  So Little John, angry, leaves Robin before  they leave the forest and enter Nottingham.  So Robin enters the town and church with no disguise, in full view of everyone.  There a monk sees him, and knowing of the reward, has his page go out to the Sheriff.  The Sheriff comes and arrested Robin.  Word gets out that Robin has been captured.  So Little John and Will Scarlet thinks up a plan.  The monk who betrayed Robin  goes off to tell the King of the news of Robin.  On their way back from the King with orders to bring Robin to him.  Little John and Will capture him and his page.  With official papers in hand and the Kings mark.  Little John and Will go to Nottingham, disguised as the Kings men.  They manage to get Robin and safely bring him back to Sherwood Forest before the Sheriff realizes that happens.  So Robin isn't the superman that some legends are.  He is just a man.

           Now  other thoughts about  Robin Hood.  Robin Hood was a thief, highwayman and outlaw.  Now I am not going to try and guess how he became an outlaw, to many ways he could have.  But I will try and guess the reasons why he became a hero.   Now back in the days Robin Hood wandered Sherwood Forest.  The mighty forest was well over one hundred thousend acres or a hundred fifty square miles, roughly.  A large area.  The entire forest was the Kings property, divided into three sections with three different "sheriffs".  At the moment I can not get the infomation regarding the names of the other two townships who watched over sherwood forest.   Of course there were many, many outlaws through the centuries who called Sherwood their home, who picked on the rich trade route that ran right through the middle of Sherwood Forest.  But why did Robin Hood become so famous?  To become a famous outlaw, you either have to stand out from all the other outlaws.  To do this you generally become feared and hated,  become so brutal and merciless that your name will be spoken in fearful whispers.  Of course Robin isn't known as being brutal and merciless.  He is known as being fair in combat.  Gentle and kind to women and merciful to those who did not resist him.  But was he really a fair and right man?  He killed the Royal Rangers, the police of the time.  These men did what they were told for the pay.  At the times Robin was supposed to have lived was a time of oppression and suffering.  Heavy taxes and unfair trails for the poor.

             Robin had a high price on his head.  So why wouldn't one of the villagers he was passing through or visiting just capture him and hand him over to the sheriff?  Well there could be many reasons for this.    One, he was a hero and didn't want their hero to be killed off. Or maybe Robin paid off the villagers to keep quiet and supplies.  Or maybe he really did steal from the rich and gave to the poor.  Personally I believe it is the last two.  That Robin paid off the villagers to keep quiet and that he gave them extra.   From the stories, Robin is a young man, perhaps even a local hero.  Young men tend to not understand money.  So he could have found a village to stay the winter in and used up the money he earned while robbing in the warmer times.  throwing the money around, impressing people with what he has stolen,  spreading the money around him thickly.  Perhaps that is where his famous "generosity" came from.   Or he really was generous, that he really gave his money to those who needed it, paid peoples debts and was just all around generous with what he stole from the rich.  Perhaps he was the times Pretty Boy Floyd.

              In conclusion, I believe Robin Hood was a man who was just trying to survive in a tough time.  Who, through his choices, was made an enemy of the state and a hero to the people.   He was by far from perfect, he was young, ambitious, hot headed and was lucky to live as long as he did.  He had no help from God or magic,  just his skills and friendships.  He may not be a perfect role model, but I would encourage my kids to have him as a role model.