Simon Mattacks
speaker
2,981 appearances
17 recordings
3 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard 13 Sep
Simon Mattacks’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 14 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 3.
Appearances
For example, a small landowner.
Second, he was greatly devoted to the Virgin Mary,
which was a desirable quality in numerous Christian religions of the era.
It also introduces the characters of Little John and Much the miller's son, as well as his nemesis, the sheriff.
Lastly, this was the only early ballad to specifically mention Sherwood Forest.
It's important to note that this story really portrays Robin Hood as a violent outlaw.
His enemies do not survive the story.
This would be a surprise to many modern day fans of the folk hero who have grown up with a much gentler image of him.
But one has to understand that at this time in history, it was quite acceptable to be a devout Catholic who still harbored a lot of resentment toward the monks, bishops, and nobles who so often appeared as villains in his tales.
Therefore, his violence was accepted.
Close on the heels of Robin Hood and the Monk was a ballad called Robin Hood and the Potter.
Like the Monk story, this piece was almost certainly communicated through the oral tradition before being written down.
But in contrast to some of the other early ballads, which seem to have been sung, this one appears to be a poem
would have been recited by a minstrel.
Whereas Robin Hood and the Monk served as a swashbuckling thriller, this poem was more comical in nature, with little of the violence and excitement of its predecessor.
The lighter tone was a perfect example of the different shapes Robin Hood would take over the coming years.
Sometimes he was thrilling.
Sometimes he was funny.
It depended on the tale.
The existing manuscript that helps scholars date the Potter story seems to be from right around 1500, and it has posed challenges that medievalists are used to dealing with.
Showing 1561–1580 of 2,981 · page 79 of 150
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