I recently experienced a disappointment when a book entitled Sherwood Nation turned out not to be about Roin Hood (but only stealing some imagery from the legend).

Robin Hood is not as popular as a folk figure for use in speculative fiction as King Arthur, but he definitely crops up in novels, movies, and TV shows…sometimes as a gay man, a woman or even a fox.

Who was Robin Hood? What’s the history behind him? Answering all of the questions would take a novel, not an essay, but I’m going to give a somewhat in-depth overview.