Christmastime Texts and the Popularity of the Robin Hood Tradition

This is the first full-length study of Robin Hood Christmastime poems, novels, short stories, dramatic and musical performances, material culture, and media. Set in the cozy confines (and harsh climate) of the winter months, there exists a unique genre within the Robin Hood tradition, the winterwood, one that over the centuries has helped to secure the popularity of the outlaw and create and maintain memories of him for audiences of all ages. These winterwood stories unite the Robin Hood tradition with the Christmastime season, welcome performance and performativity, embrace and interrogate the commercial aspect of the season, and are created mostly for children and for families to experience together. As Christmas is a time for peace, mercy, and goodwill toward all, Robin Hood is both the good outlaw and also the trickster, for in these winterwood texts he becomes an exemplar of “proper” Christmastime moral thought and action.