Could it be that Robin Hood never came from Nottingham? American author Stephen Lawhead is claiming just that. In his latest novel HOOD (published in hardback by Atom on 3rd August 2006, £12.99), he's taken English folklore's most famous outlaw from the treetops of Sherwood Forest to the primeval woodlands of the Welsh March.
Lawhead's telling us to forget everything we know about Maid Marian and the Merry Men and to prepare ourselves for the legend of Robin Hood as we've never heard it before. And with a new, big-budget BBC television series also on the way—promising Robin Hood in a hoodie!—the truth about the man who supposedly stole from the rich to give to the poor is very much up for grabs.
Lawhead—a confirmed Anglophile who's lived in Oxford on-and-off for the last 20 years—claims that "although in Nottingham, the Robin Hood legends found good soil in which to grow—they must have originated elsewhere."
He firstly points to the landscape to back up his theory. Hood, he believes, could never have hidden in the ever-dwindling forests of Sherwood, but could have survived undetected in the Welsh March for years. This, coupled with the fact that the English learnt their archery skills from the Welsh—who were also the most fearsome mercenaries operating in the British Isles during the Middle Ages—has led Lawhead to conclude unswervingly that Robin Hood had more than a hint of the Dragon in him.
This is not the first time Lawhead's courted controversy with his brand of historical fiction. In 2003, he wrote CITY OF DREAMS, in which he fictionalised the life of Jesus—re-imagining him as a preacher in 20th Century New York: a black, Jewish man named Joshua Jones.
But is Lawhead being controversial merely for controversy's sake?
The author readily admits to a keen interest in what the so-called 'heretics' are saying, as oppose to always following the safer explanations of well-qualified experts (though he is as conversant with the latter as he is with the former). He became interested in the legend of Robin Hood when he discovered that there is actual scholarly evidence for these stories which most people write off as pure fiction.
Drawing upon myriad historical documents and medieval poetry and songs, Lawhead therefore sets HOOD in what he views as the most accurate time and space: the 11th Century after the Norman Conquest of England. His Robin—named Bran ap Brychan—is morally ambiguous and, desperate to avenge his father's murder, ready to fight.
Fans of Lawhead's previous work will recognise the strong Christian and Celtic themes running through HOOD—which is the first in his new KING RAVEN sequence—as well as the epic narrative, numerous grand battle scenes, and vividly-drawn locations. With plenty of druids, monks, and bows and arrows, there is plenty that is familiar to Robin Hood traditionalists, but Lawhead merges it with enough mysticism and intrigue to forge a tale that is wholly original.
This is indeed Robin Hood as we've never encountered him before. Seeking justice and retribution, Bran's faith and resolve are constantly tested by circumstances both within and without his immediate control. Unexpected enemies seem to lurk around every corner—but we increasingly sense that Bran's fiercest nemesis may ultimately be himself.
Lawhead has written 22 novels since giving up his job as a rock band manager and the owner of his own music label in 1981. His most-acclaimed and bestselling work is the PENDRAGON cycle, a reinterpretation of the legend of King Arthur, which has sold around one million copies worldwide. Lawhead's books have been translated into 27 languages, picking up numerous awards and commendations along the way, including the prestigious American Christian Book Award for TALIESIN. His most recent historical fiction—THE CELTIC CRUSADES, and PATRICK: SON OF IRELAND—both won widespread critical acclaim in the US. HOOD is sure to garner similar praise in the UK.
Born in Nebraska in the 1950s, Stephen Lawhead first arrived in Oxford in 1986 to carry out research for the PENDRAGON books. Oxford remains his home, though he is currently on a six-month sabbatical in Seattle. He recently made a castle in the Austrian mountains his home. The setting, Lawhead claims, provided the perfect backdrop for him to write HOOD. His frequent excursions over the Polish border into Bialowieski National Park, the last primeval forest in Europe, helped him to effectively envisage the Welsh March in his novel. The resulting richness of Lawhead's description makes the forest almost a character in itself.
Currently hard at work on the next titles in the KING RAVEN sequence, Lawhead's promising to take his version of the legend of Robin Hood into even darker and yet more controversial territory. And with the BBC's television series airing this autumn, now is the time to brace yourself for Robin Hood fever.
HOOD by Stephen Lawhead is published by Atom on 3rd August 2006, priced £12.99 in hardback. In October, Stephen will be in Nottingham and Wales to debate his opinion of the legend of Robin Hood with local school children.
For more information, please contact Justin Somper or Penelope Webber:
- Justin: 020 8341 6523 | justso@globalnet.co.uk
- Penelope: 0161 941 1718 | penelopewebber@penelopewebber.plus.com
