Arthurian Legend

Collective of medieval stories and romances. Centered on the mythical medieval king Arthur, these stories became popular before the eleventh century in Wales. Little is known of the real Arthur, thought to have been a sixth-century Celtic chieftain who lived in Wales, save that he was fatally wounded in 537 in the battle of Camlan and died in Glastonbury, England. There may have also been an archaic Celtic deity named Authur from whom these legends arose.

While various stories exist surrounding the birth of Arthur, the adventures of his knights, and the relationship between his wife, Guinevere, and his most valiant knight, Sir Lancelot, it was the publication of Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur(1485; The Death of Arthur) that established Arthur as king-hero in Britain. Renowned for his most bravery, Arthur in Malory’s version, proves his right to the English throne by pulling the sword Excalibur from a block of stone. Equally famous for their brave and daring acts are a group of knights who sit at Arthur’s Round Table and help him triumph over twelve princes led by Lot, the king of Norway. 

Robin Hood

Legendary English folk hero. According to legend, Robin Hood was a gentlemanly outlaw who lived in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. A kindly, carefree band of followers included Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, Little John, and a group of yeomen. Robin Hood protected the common folk from the tyranny of the nobility, robbing the rich and giving the spoils to the poor. He was the nemesis of the despotic Sheriff of Nottingham, the symbol of wealthy nobility.

Scholars are uncertain whether Robin Hood actually existed. Early historians have suggested that he lived in the 1100s. The earliest mention of Robin Hood appears in a 1377 edition of Piers Plowman. He appears in Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe as well as in English dramatist Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s play The Foresters. In 1859 Orville Prescott wrote Robin Hood: The Outlaw of Sherwood Forest, and Howard Pyle’s The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood was published in 1883. The story of Robin Hood remains popular in Britain.