Riassunto
Riassunto di Robin Hood
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love folklore, old English poetry, and the roots of a famous legend. It also suits anyone curious about the sources behind the films, with tales of loyal friends, disguises and rescues.
Che cos’è questo libro
Robin Hood is the best-known outlaw in English tradition. He lives in the greenwood with his band, robs the rich and the greedy, helps the poor, and outwits the sheriff of Nottingham. This book gathers the old poems and ballads in which that story first took shape. It was put together by Joseph Ritson, an English antiquarian, and published in 1795 under a long title that promised every ancient poem, song and ballad about the outlaw then known.
Ritson did not write the verses. He collected them, compared the texts, and printed them with notes, a life of Robin Hood and a study of the outlaw's legend. He was a strict scholar who hated guesswork and sloppy copying. What you get here is the raw material of the legend, before films and novels smoothed it. You meet a rougher Robin, a devout and quick-tempered yeoman, and a band of loyal friends. In this summary we take the collection in turn, starting with the man who gathered it and the reasons he cared so much.
In questo riassunto
- 1Ritson gathers the whole legend in one placeFree
- 2A Gest of Robyn Hode gives the legend its spine
- 3Shorter ballads pit Robin against strong strangers
- 4Disguise, rescue and danger fill the darker ballads
- 5Ritson's notes and biography test the legend
- 6Read the ballads aloud and listen for their values
Punto chiave 1 di 6
Ritson gathers the whole legend in one place
Joseph Ritson was an English lawyer and antiquarian who spent his spare hours hunting down old songs, manuscripts and printed broadsides. He was known for his sharp temper and his demand for accuracy. He believed that a collector should print texts exactly as he found them, and he scolded other editors who tidied or improved old poems. That rule shapes this book from first page to last.
His aim was simple. Scattered ballads about Robin Hood lay in old manuscripts, in cheap printed sheets sold in the streets, and in the books of earlier collectors. Ritson wanted every one of them together, so a reader could see the whole body of the legend and judge it. The volume he published in 1795 did exactly that, and it became the standard source for later writers who wanted to retell the tale.
He arranged his material with care. The oldest and longest poem comes first, and the shorter ballads follow, along with songs, and tales that grew up around the main story. Notes at the back explain sources, variations and doubtful points. Where a ballad survives in several versions, Ritson tells you which one he chose and why.
For a modern reader, this means you are not getting one author's vision. You are getting what many unknown singers and printers kept alive over centuries. Some pieces are old and sturdy, and some are late and a little silly. Ritson prints them all, and the mixture is part of the pleasure. It shows how a legend grows by being told again and again, each teller adding a scene or a joke.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Robin Hood
What is Ritson's Robin Hood about?
It is a collection of the old ballads and poems about the outlaw Robin Hood, along with a life of him. The tales show him and his band robbing the greedy, helping the poor and defying the sheriff of Nottingham.
Who wrote the Robin Hood ballads?
No single author did. The ballads were composed by unknown poets and singers over several centuries. Joseph Ritson was the collector who gathered them and published them together in 1795.
Was Robin Hood a real person?
Nobody knows. Ritson argued that he was a real nobleman, but modern historians find the evidence weak. Robin Hood was a common name in old records, and the legend probably grew from many stories.
What is A Gest of Robyn Hode?
It is the longest and oldest poem in the collection, from the late Middle Ages. It strings together several tales in sections called fyttes, and it introduces Little John, the poor knight and the sheriff.
Is the old Robin Hood hard to read?
The stanzas are short and the action is plain. Reading the ballads aloud makes them much easier to follow and enjoy.