59 Fun Facts About Robin Hood

Robin Hood traditionally wears which green cloth, named after the English city that dyed it?

Lincoln green is worn in the legend as early as the Gest, though one later ballad clothes his men in it and Robin himself in scarlet red.

In the legend, what prize does the Sheriff of Nottingham offer at the archery contest meant to trap Robin Hood?

A golden arrow: in the ballad named after it, Robin wins in disguise and slips away unrecognised, then Little John shoots a letter into Nottingham to tell the Sheriff who beat him.

Films make Robin Hood a nobleman, but what is his rank in the oldest ballads?

A yeoman, a free commoner between knight and peasant. The first earl version, in a 1569 chronicle, even suggested he was low-born and won the title 'for his manhood and chivalry'.

In the 1370s poem Piers Plowman, which deadly sin confesses to knowing rhymes of Robin Hood better than his prayers?

Sloth cannot say his Paternoster properly but knows his rhymes of Robin Hood. It is the outlaw's oldest literary mention, proof the tales were popular generations before any surviving ballad was copied down.

In the oldest surviving Robin Hood ballad, who spots the outlaw at Mass in Nottingham and has him arrested?

A monk spots Robin at prayer and raises the alarm. Little John, who had just walked out on Robin over an unpaid bet, still kills the monk and breaks his master out of jail.

In 1953 a member of Indiana's textbook commission wanted Robin Hood taken out of schoolbooks for promoting what?

Communism: she said a hero who robbed the rich to give to the poor followed 'the Communist line'. Indiana's schools kept the book.

In the early ballad A Gest of Robyn Hode, the king disguises himself as what to meet Robin?

An abbot: he and his men dress as churchmen, knowing that rich clerics were Robin's favourite prey. The ballad calls him 'Edward, our comely king', not the Richard of later legend.

Two Elizabethan plays of 1598 made Robin Hood the outlawed holder of which earldom, a title films still use?

Huntingdon: playwright Anthony Munday made him Robert, Earl of Huntingdon, and in 1746 the antiquary William Stukeley drew up a bogus family tree to back the title.

Before Maid Marian entered the legend, which woman was the Robin Hood of the early ballads devoted to?

The Virgin Mary: 'Robin loved Our dear Lady', says the early Gest, and for her sake he would never harm any company that had a woman in it.

When Robin Hood first meets Little John on a narrow bridge, what do the two men fight with?

Quarterstaffs: Robin lays aside his bow to make it fair, cuts an oak staff and is knocked into the brook. The duel is a late arrival, from a 17th-century ballad and not the medieval tales.

Which minstrel joined the Merry Men in a 17th-century broadside ballad?

Alan-a-Dale joins after Robin, posing as a harper, stops his sweetheart's wedding to a rich old knight and sees her married to Alan on the spot.

Which silent-film star played the outlaw in 1922's Robin Hood, one of the costliest films of its day?

Douglas Fairbanks also wrote the story himself, hiding behind the credit 'Elton Thomas', which were his own two middle names.

Which 1819 novel by Walter Scott did much to shape the modern Robin Hood legend?

Ivanhoe brings him in as a Saxon outlaw defying Norman lords: a Saxon-against-Norman feud no medieval ballad mentions, but one that films have used ever since.

Which American author's 1883 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood became a classic children's version?

Howard Pyle wove the ballads into one wholesome story: where the ballad's Robin kills more than a dozen foresters over a bet, Pyle's kills one, who shot first, and is sick at heart over it.

In Ridley Scott's 2010 Robin Hood, which Australian star plays Marion as a knight's widow?

Cate Blanchett's Marion is the widow of the very knight Robin is impersonating, and she is cold to the soldier at first, sceptical of his motives.

From the 1260s, what did 'Robehod' or 'Robinhood' start appearing as in English court rolls?

A nickname for outlaws: in 1262 a clerk entered the Berkshire fugitive William, son of Robert the smith, as 'William Robehod', perhaps because the outlaw legend was already well known.

Which famous tree in Sherwood Forest is claimed as the Merry Men's hideout?

The Major Oak failed to come into leaf in 2026 and was judged to have reached the end of its life, though the great trunk still stands near Edwinstowe.

Which English king once burst into his queen's chamber disguised as Robin Hood?

Henry VIII, not yet a year on the throne, surprised Catherine of Aragon in January 1510 with eleven nobles dressed as the outlaw band.

Besides Sherwood, which northern English region has a strong claim to be Robin Hood's original home?

Yorkshire: the oldest ballads put him in Barnsdale, near Doncaster, at least as often as in Sherwood, so the county has claimed him ever since.

Which Hollywood star plays Robin in the 1938 Technicolor classic The Adventures of Robin Hood?

Errol Flynn did most of his own stunts, though a double made the leap onto a horse with his hands tied and the climb over the castle gate.

Which gangster-film star was Warner Bros.' first choice to play Robin in 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood?

James Cagney was pencilled in for the part, then walked out on the studio in a contract dispute, and the role had to be recast.

Who plays Maid Marian in 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood?

Olivia de Havilland was not a certainty for the part: the studio also weighed Anita Louise for Marian before settling on her.

In 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood, how does Robin win the archery tournament?

By splitting a rival's arrow: elsewhere in the film the arrows that strike men are real, fired by archery expert Howard Hill into padding hidden under their costumes.

Which British actress played Robin Hood's daughter Gwyn in the 2001 Disney TV film Princess of Thieves?

Keira Knightley's Gwyn takes over her father's mission, fighting to put King Richard's son Philip on the throne instead of Prince John.

In Disney's 1973 animated Robin Hood, what animal is Robin?

A fox: Disney had long toyed with a film about the trickster Reynard the Fox, and designer Ken Anderson carried those ideas over to Robin Hood.

In Disney's Robin Hood, which actor voices Prince John, a scrawny lion without a mane?

Peter Ustinov, who spoke fluent German, also recorded the lion's lines himself for the film's German release.

In Disney's Robin Hood, singer Roger Miller voices the narrator, drawn as which bird?

A rooster: Miller did more than narrate, writing and singing several of the film's songs himself, among them 'Oo-De-Lally'.

In Disney's Robin Hood, Little John shares his voice actor and much of his look with which Jungle Book character?

Baloo: Phil Harris voiced both bears six years apart, and the studio reused so much old animation in the film that critics still fault it for recycling.

Who plays the scene-stealing Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)?

Alan Rickman won a BAFTA for the part, which joined Die Hard's Hans Gruber among the screen villains that made his name.

Who plays Azeem, Robin's Moorish companion, in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves?

Morgan Freeman's Azeem made enough of a mark to be spoofed two years later in Men in Tights, as Asneeze and his son Ahchoo.

Which Bryan Adams ballad was the chart-topping theme of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves?

(Everything I Do) I Do It for You grew out of composer Michael Kamen's love theme for Marian, then held number one in Britain for 16 weeks in a row.

Who makes an uncredited cameo as King Richard at the end of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves?

Sean Connery had played Robin himself in 1976's Robin and Marian; fifteen years on he returns unbilled as the king for the film's last scene.

Which tree became known as the Robin Hood Tree after Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves?

The Sycamore Gap tree stood in a dip beside Hadrian's Wall, far from Sherwood, until it was deliberately cut down overnight in September 2023.

Which walled medieval city doubled as Nottingham and its castle in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves?

Carcassonne's walls and towers were filmed by a second unit for the long shots; the castle square beneath them was a set on the Shepperton Studios backlot in England.

Which film kept Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves from being the biggest box-office hit of summer 1991?

Terminator 2 out-earned it, but Costner's film still saw off one rival: a second 1991 Robin Hood, starring Patrick Bergin, skipped American cinemas and premiered on television.

What was Kevin Costner's Robin in Prince of Thieves criticised for?

An accent drifting between LA and England: the spoof Men in Tights rubbed it in two years later, its hero boasting that, unlike some other Robin Hoods, he can speak with an English accent.

Who directed and appeared in the 1993 spoof Robin Hood: Men in Tights?

Mel Brooks, being Jewish, rewrote his own cameo as Friar Tuck into Rabbi Tuckman, a purveyor of sacramental wine.

Which comedian made his film debut as Ahchoo in Robin Hood: Men in Tights?

Dave Chappelle's Ahchoo, son of Asneeze, sends up the Moorish companion from Prince of Thieves and ends the film as the new sheriff of Rottingham.

Which Star Trek captain plays King Richard in Robin Hood: Men in Tights?

Patrick Stewart arrives in the last minutes, packs Prince John off to the Tower of London and claims a very long kiss from the bride as his royal right.

In the spoof Robin Hood: Men in Tights, what is Will Scarlet's punning surname?

O'Hara: Will Scarlet O'Hara borrows the heroine of Gone with the Wind, one of many film gags in a spoof loosely built on the plot of Prince of Thieves.

Who plays Robin Longstride in Ridley Scott's 2010 Robin Hood?

Russell Crowe's film began as a script with a sympathetic Sheriff of Nottingham and a less virtuous Robin, before rewrites turned it into an origin story for the outlaw.

In the 1950s TV theme song, Robin Hood goes 'riding through the' what?

Glen: the song closed each episode of the 1950s series The Adventures of Robin Hood, and Monty Python later parodied it for their highwayman Dennis Moore.

Which villain did Richard Armitage play in the BBC's 2006 Robin Hood?

Guy of Gisborne: the BBC billed him as the Sheriff's sadistic lieutenant, and the series, hoodie-wearing Robin included, was filmed around Budapest in Hungary.

Which singer plays Robbo, a gangster Robin Hood, in the 1964 Rat Pack musical Robin and the 7 Hoods?

Frank Sinatra's Robbo robs the rich of Prohibition-era Chicago, and the film handed him one of his signature songs, 'My Kind of Town'.

The 1950s ITV series The Adventures of Robin Hood was created partly to give work to whom?

Blacklisted American screenwriters, among them Ring Lardner Jr., wrote its scripts under a string of false names to keep their work hidden from the studios of the McCarthy era.

In the 1976 film Robin and Marian, which Hollywood legend played the ageing Marian?

Audrey Hepburn's Marian has become the prioress of the old ballads, and the film ends with her poisoning both herself and the wounded Robin.

Which actor played Robin in the 2018 box-office flop Robin Hood?

Taron Egerton's Robin is mentored by Jamie Foxx's Little John, reimagined as a Moorish commander, in a film that took $86 million against a $100 million budget.

In one 17th-century ballad, Robin Hood quits the greenwood and goes to sea as a what?

A fisherman: the crew mock him as a landlubber until an enemy warship bears down, when his bow wins the fight and a cargo of gold.

Maid Marian probably came to England from which country's medieval tales of a shepherdess called Marion?

France: in the 13th-century Jeu de Robin et Marion her sweetheart Robin is a shepherd, not an outlaw, and English spring revels later paired her with Robin Hood.

In the ballad of the Curtal Friar, how does Robin Hood first get across the river?

On the friar's back: Robin orders him to carry him over, the friar then makes Robin carry him back, and a further trip ends with Robin dumped in the water.

Robin Hood's first chroniclers, one of whom called him 'the famous murderer' around 1440, wrote in which country?

Scotland: Walter Bower, who wrote those words, also sneered at the 'foolish populace' who loved to hear minstrels sing of the outlaw; Andrew of Wyntoun had named him a generation earlier.

From which wood was Robin Hood's longbow traditionally made?

Yew: the same wood armed the English longbowmen credited with the victories at Crecy and Agincourt.

In the ballads, how does Robin Hood usually summon his men when a fight turns against him?

By blowing his horn: even when beaten he talks his opponent into letting him sound it, and a few blasts bring dozens of bowmen running.

Which 1984 ITV series introduced Nasir, the first Saracen among the Merry Men?

Robin of Sherwood started a fashion: later versions, from Prince of Thieves to the BBC's 2006 series, each gave the outlaw band a Moorish or Saracen member of its own.

Which Blackadder star created the BBC sitcom Maid Marian and her Merry Men and played its Sheriff?

Tony Robinson wrote a show in which Marian is the brains of the outlaw band, while Robin is a vain fool who gets the credit.

Whose name appeared on a 19th-century Robin Hood novel titled The Prince of Thieves, long before Kevin Costner's film?

Alexandre Dumas: the book reworked an English bestseller by Pierce Egan, and Dumas may have done little more than find it a translator, yet it carried his famous name.

In the ballads, how does the dying Robin Hood choose the site of his grave?

He shot an arrow from a window of Kirklees Priory and asked to be buried where it fell, after the prioress who was meant to be nursing him had bled him to death.

A tradition going back to about 1600 gives Robin Hood's birthplace as which village, usually identified with a suburb of Sheffield?

Loxley: a manuscript life of the outlaw from around 1600 is the first to name it, and the village gave later storytellers his best-known alias, Robin of Locksley.

In the ballads, Robin Hood's men are guilty above all of which crime against the king?

Poaching the king's deer: forest law kept the venison for the crown, and in the Gest Robin cheerfully admits to a king in disguise that his men live on the royal herd.