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XXVI INTRODUCTION. |
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exceedingly interesting article which throws much light on the history of English sports, has endeavored to show specifically that he is in name and substance one with the god "Woden. The arguments by which these views are supported, though in their present shape very far from convincing, are entitled to a respectful consideration.
The most important of these arguments are those which are based on the peculiar connection between Robin Hood and the month of May. Mr. Wright has justly remarked, that either an express mention of this month, or a vivid description of the season, in the older ballads, shows that the feats of the hero were generally performed during this part of the year. Thus, the adventure of Eobin Hood and the Monk befell on " a morning of May." Robin Hood and the Potter, and Eobin Hood and Gvy of Gisborne begin, like Eobin Hood and the Monk, with a description of the season when leaves are long, blossoms are shooting, and the small birds are singing, and this season, though called summer, is at the same time spoken of as May in Eobin Hood and the Monk, which, from the description there given, it needs must be.
of scorn. And yet we find the famous shot of Eigill, one of the mythical personages of the Scandinavians, (and perhaps to he regarded as one of the forms of Woden,) attributed in the ballad of Adam Bel to William of Cloudesly, who may be considered as Robin Hood under another name. See the preface to Adam Bel. |
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