Why is there a constant changing of the story of Robin Hood?
Legends change over time – mostly through the invention of writers. While the king entering the greenwood and pardoning Robin Hood appears in a ballad, A Gest of Robyn Hode, (printed around 1500, likely composed in the late 1400s) – the king in that ballad is not Richard but an Edward. (There’s debate over which Edward it is meant to be.) The early chroniclers who mention Robin Hood assign his legend to different times. Probably the greatest influence on the modern Robin Hood legend is the 1819 novel Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (in which Robin is a supporting character – although many of Wilfred of Ivanhoe’s traits got assigned to Robin himself in later stories.) Richard was the king in Robin Hood stories before that – but Ivanhoe contributed much to the structure of later versions such as the Errol Flynn film. Writers change details to suit the story and themes. For example, using the historical details of Richard’s captivity, writers can make Robin Hood seem less rebellious because h
