Robin Hood Rhymes Known in the Fourteenth Century

William Langland’s Piers Plowman, composed in versions during the later fourteenth century, contains a brief reference to “rhymes of Robin Hood”. The remark is important because Robin needs no elaborate introduction: stories or songs about him were already familiar enough to be recognised.

The reference does not identify a historical outlaw behind the legend. It documents the existence of a popular Robin Hood tradition by the late medieval period.

Source trail: Piers Plowman and scholarship on the early Robin Hood tradition, including University of Nottingham resources.

Related Journal record: Robin Hood Legend.