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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2017 1:13:00 GMT
Actually the tales of Robin Hood remind me of the myth-taking that began to form around Jesse James and the Younger gang after the Civil War in the South as figures of rebellion carrying on the fight in retaliation for sending those Northern 'Carpet Baggers'. Look how long the legend of Jesse James has persisted and been embellished upon into legend that we are still completely familiar with him as a symbol of resistance. But Jesse James was a real person.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2017 1:48:57 GMT
Actually the tales of Robin Hood remind me of the myth-taking that began to form around Jesse James and the Younger gang after the Civil War in the South as figures of rebellion carrying on the fight in retaliation for sending those Northern 'Carpet Baggers'. Look how long the legend of Jesse James has persisted and been embellished upon into legend that we are still completely familiar with him as a symbol of resistance. But Jesse James was a real person. True, this was posted as a modern example of a folk hero taking shape out of a defeated populations frustrations to fashion a hero figure with the hopes of resistance and rebellion against a hated conquerer, North/South- Saxon/Normans. The literacy rate in England at the time of the formation of the tales of Robin Hood was probably close to zero, so all of these tales spread by word of mouth and gathered the shape of truth while we have modern media and a high literacy rate for these myths to be dispelled before they can really snowball into something that has only a touch of truth left in it. I am sure as the literacy rate grew into the 20th century, the myth of Jesse James began to diminish along with it. Imagine how Jesse James would still be viewed, if we did not have the means to expose him in the light of real events, definitely a modern day Robin Hood figure that would carry on for some people.
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Post by tarathian123 on Mar 17, 2017 2:34:06 GMT
This is very true, but it must be pointed out that "literacy" is a moot phrase. At the time of the Norman/Saxon divide French was spoken and written by the ruling classes and Latin by the clergy. Many high bred Saxons spoke and wrote in their own language. Normally now referred to as "Middle English".
Little survives of early Middle English literature, most likely due to the Norman domination and the prestige that came with writing in French rather than English. During the 14th century, a new style of literature emerged with the works of notable writers such as John Wycliffe and Geoffrey Chaucer, whose Canterbury Tales remains the most studied and read work of the period. Poets wrote both in the vernacular and courtly English.
It is popularly believed that William Shakespeare wrote in Middle English, but he actually wrote in what is now referred to as "Early Modern English"
That said the ancient art of the "storyteller" (Seanchaí, still heard in Scotland and Ireland) is not dead, and as eriknight righty remarks was probably the most common way of spreading the heroics of bandits such as Robin Hood.
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