The earliest Robin Hood legends were surprisingly violent
Long before he became a noble hero who stole for the poor, the legendary outlaw was a brutal figure who decapitated his enemies.
The modern image of Robin Hood as a merry bandit in green tights is a romanticized invention that appeared centuries after the original stories. In the earliest medieval ballads, Robin Hood was a far more morbid and terrifying figure. These foundational tales describe him committing acts of extreme violence, including decapitating his enemies and wearing their severed heads on his shoulders to impersonate them.
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