Question 1

True or false: Sherwood Forest was already a royal hunting preserve when Robin Hood allegedly roamed there.

Accepted Answer

True. Sherwood was a royal forest from the 12th century, making poaching a serious crime—perfect context for an outlaw.

Question 2

True or false: Friar Tuck was always a member of Robin Hood's Merry Men from the earliest tales.

Accepted Answer

False. Friar Tuck appears in later 15th-century ballads; he wasn't in the earliest Robin Hood stories.

Question 3

True or false: Robin Hood is consistently portrayed as robbing the rich to give to the poor in all medieval stories.

Accepted Answer

False. Early ballads rarely mention giving to the poor; that philanthropic twist became popular in the 19th century.

Question 4

True or false: Some historians argue Robin Hood may have been based on a real 13th-century Yorkshire outlaw.

Accepted Answer

True. Records show a 'Robert Hod' or 'Hobbehod' as a fugitive in Yorkshire around 1225, possibly inspiring the legend.

Question 5

True or false: The phrase 'taking from the rich and giving to the poor' was first used to describe Robin Hood in a 16th-century play.

Accepted Answer

False. The exact phrase 'taking from the rich and giving to the poor' is a modern phrasing. Anthony Munday's 1598 play uses past tense 'I took from the rich to give to the poor', not the gerund form claimed.

Question 6

True or false: Robin Hood's companion Maid Marian was first added to the legend in 16th-century May Day plays.

Accepted Answer

True. Maid Marian does not appear in the earliest ballads; she was integrated from French pastoral plays and May Day festivities during the 16th century.

Question 7

True or false: The first known literary mention of Robin Hood appears in William Langland's 'Piers Plowman'.

Accepted Answer

True. Around 1377, Langland's character Sloth says he knows 'rimes of Robin Hood'—the earliest written reference.

Question 8

True or false: Robin Hood is explicitly described as a nobleman in the earliest ballads.

Accepted Answer

False. In early ballads, he is a yeoman, not a noble; the 'disinherited lord' trope emerged later in Victorian retellings.

Robin Hood Trivia Questions