“ Robin Hood's Death ” ( English Robin Hood's Death , Child 120 , Roud 3299 [1] ) is an English folk ballad included in the series of ballads about Robin Hood . Her first known record is contained in a poorly preserved manuscript found by Pursey and dating from the middle of the 17th century; the full text was first published in the 1786 edition of The English Archer [2] [3] .
Story
Robin Hood informs Little John that he feels unwell and intends to go to the Kirklis monastery to have his blood opened . Prioressa, causing bleeding, locks Robin in the room. He realizes that he fell a victim of betrayal, and blows his hunting horn. Little John, who was outside, breaks into the room, but it's already too late: Robin is dying. With a heavy heart, John asks permission in revenge to destroy Kirklis to the ground, but his comrade-in-law forbids him, because in all his life Robin Hood did not harm any woman. He asks to give him his bow for the last shot and bury himself where the arrow falls [2] [4] .
The story of Robin Hood's betrayal and his death is also contained in the last song from The Little Gestures of Robin Hood ( Eng. A Gest of Robyn Hode , Child 117), whose surviving specimens date back to the early 16th century. If there is a relationship between the two texts, the borrowing undoubtedly went from the ballad to the gesture, which indicates a very early time for folding the ballad. The “Little Gesture” and “The Death of Robin Hood” traditionally (starting with Child ) have been attributed by researchers to the five “main” ballads about Robin Hood; the other three are Robin Hood and Guy of Gisbourne , Child 118, Robin Hood and the Monk ( Robin Hood and the Monk , Child 119) and Robin Hood and the Potter ( English Robin Hood and the Potter , Child 121) [2] [4] [5] .
Francis James Child notes the similarity between this and another storyline found in the ballad “ Sheath and Knife ” (Child 17), but there the primary choice is the place of burial, and not the role of the bow as a weapon. In this ballad, the bow and arrow are an integral element, and the place where the arrow falls is accidental [5] .
Notes
- ↑ Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
- ↑ 1 2 3 Robert B. Waltz. The Gest of Robyn Hode: A Critical and Textual Commentary . - 2013.
- ↑ The Death of Robin Hood: Introduction , commentary on the ballad.
- ↑ 1 2 Erlichman V.V. Robin Hood. - M .: Young Guard, 2012 .-- 254 p. - (Life of wonderful people: small series). - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-235-03529-4 .
- ↑ 1 2 Robin Hood's Death [Child 120] . The Traditional Ballad Index. An annotated source to folk song from the English-speaking world . Robert B. Waltz. Date of treatment January 8, 2017.