THE MICHAEL PRAED VERSION

In the first episode we see the village of Loxley destroyed by Norman soldiers. The rebel leader of the village, Ailric, who guards the magical silver arrow of Herne manages to get his five year old son to safety. Ailric is killed by the Sheriff of Nottingham, but has predicted the coming of "the hooded man" to fight tyranny. Fifteen years later Robin catches his foster brother Much killing a deer, they are both captured by Sir Guy of Gisburne. They escape from Nottingham Castle with Will Scarlet. Robin meets and falls in love with Maid Marion. We also meet Little John, Friar Tuck, and Nazir. Details of the first episode are given here because we can see how the story is established using very traditional imagery which can be found in many of the old ballads. Being captured, escaping, collecting the band together, etc. This is the Robin of Loxley version, the common born Robin, again this has the authentic stamp of the ballads upon it; the original Robin Hood. However, Richard Carpenter, weaves fresh and original elements into the story. We are introduced from the very outset to Herne and the silver arrow, the prediction of the coming of a "hooded man" to fight tyranny. An important aspect to this series, which is mentioned here in connection to the magical element, is the soundtrack. Professor Stephen Knight, in an e-mail correspondence with the author of this dissertation(see Appendix 3), mentions this; the use of electronic folk music being old and new at the time. Electronic music was, relatively, new, but Clannad, the Irish group who produced the soundtrack, were using it within traditional Irish melodies and combining it with traditional instruments. The recording artist Enya is a sister of members of Clannad and worked with them around this time. She continued with this style, which is very evocative of Celtic mystery. Her music was used as a soundtrack on the BBC documentary series The Celts written and presented by Frank Delaney, again because of the mood it creates. Here we meet an interesting point. Though the young Robin's father is called Ailric, which one would have to consider as a Saxon sounding name, Michael Praed is dark haired, suggestive of Celtic blood, rather than Anglo-Saxon. So here we have a common born man, with a bloodline reaching back to the original Celtic inhabitants of this island, fighting the Norman invaders. The use of an Irish group creating the soundtrack, and the introduction of Herne, who can be traced back through the varient Cerne, to Cernunnus, an ancient god of the forest, intensifies the impression of ancient pagan connections to the land and to the original people of this island. One could argue that the Celts were not the original inhabitants, there were people already living here when Celtic tribes invaded around 500BC, but we begin to venture into pre-history. The statement that the Celts were the original people is meant in so far that they are the first inhabitants we have any extant record of. Incidently, in an interview with Mark Ryan who played Nazir(2), he states that he suggested Clannad to the producer Paul Knight, because they had been listening to the group while driving around in Mark Ryan's car. That Mark Ryan and the character of Nazir found a place in the outlaw band is also a story of luck. In the same interview Mark Ryan explains that he was offered a small character in the series, they needed someone to look mean, a bad guy to make the good guy look better. It was a character that was to be called Edmund the Archer. When he received a call to inform him filming was to take place he was told that there was no budget for this character, but Ryan said he had promised to play the part so would just turn up and "busk it". He arrived on set to be told that he was no longer Edmund the Archer, but Nazir the Saracen. Instead of being killed off, he was given a permanent place, and with that an original character was introduced to Robin's band, one that became so established that it has manifested one way or another in retellings of the story in film and television since. It is a very interesting addition. This is the time of the Christian Crusades, the Knights Templar, when Arabic and Islamic teachings and customs began to filter into Europe. Arabic alchemy, knowledge from the libraries of Constantinople, all this merged into European consciousness. The legends of the Holy Grail mixed with this. It was a very uncertain time, but one where many ideologies intertwined. Within this one character, all this could be introduced into the series, giving opportunities to explore concepts, such as is found in the second series episode The Children of Israel where the Hebrew Qabbala is introduced as is the theme of anti-semetism. Along with Herne who represented ancient indigenous mystery teachings, the character Nazir allowed the writers to introduce other mysterious themes.

In an interview with Richard Carpenter(3), Allen W. Wright asked why mystical elements were incorporated into the series. The answer given was that Robin Hood was, in Carpenter's opinion, one of the few existing ancient legends with no magic in it. Carpenter mentions a ballad called Robin Hood and the witch which is unfinished, in which a magical aspect is present, he continued to say;

The Middle Ages were extremely superstitious and much remained
of the old pre-christian fertility and tree worship religions. You
must remember that the country was largely based on
agriculture;and the crops and the turning of the year were
extremely importantto everyone. Vestiges of this still remain
throughout Europe. Althoughthe Mother Goddess was supreme- the male principle
was consideredequally important. The question is whether Herne is
a shaman or ifhe- like shamans do- "becomes" the god at certain
times after practising certain rituals(4).

Here we have another concept mentioned; shamanism. This is explored in such episodes as The Lord of the Trees and The Prophecy from series two. There is a ballad not mentioned by Richard Carpenter that depicts Guy of Gisburne dressed in horse hide, which has some mystical significance, the horse being an animal of veneration within pagan spirituality. It also has shamanistic connotations, the horse seen as a mode of transport into the Otherword. Robin Hood was a character in the medieval mummer plays, as was the hobby horse, so it is the opinion of the author of this dissertation that magical elements did exist within the legend, but were omitted from much of the existing written material for reasons of secrecy or because of Christian censorship. That such authors as John Matthews(5) argue the point that the character of Robin Hood is linked to the mystical Green Man, himself, strongly connected to the concept of Herne, and that Robin represents summer in the pagan ideas concerning the turning cycles of the seasons, fighting the representative of winter for the Queen of the May points to magical or pagan mysteries within the tale. This is all linked to fertility ceremony. May Day being a remnant still in existence. Other writers on this subject would mention the may pole as a phallic symbol uniting heaven and earth and that names like Robin in the Hood are euphemisms for the male sexual organ. Maid Marion is a representation of the goddess, the May Queen, possibly, originally even called May Marion, rather than Maid. These are areas that most films and television series' neglected to explore, making Robin of Sherwood such an interesting contribution to the history of Robin Hood on screen.

1- Website: http://www.logomancy.com/ROS/roseps.html

2- Interviews in Sherwood: Mark Ryan by Allen W. Wright.Website: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/4198/rh/ryan1.html

3- Interviews in Sherwood: Richard Carpenter by Allen W. Wright.Website: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/4198/rh/richcarp.html

4- Interviews in Sherwood: Richard Carpenter by Allen W. Wright.Website: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/4198/rh/richcarp.html

5- Robin Hood: Green Lord of the Greenwood by John Matthews.Forward by Richard Carpenter.Gothic Image Publications. 1993. ISBN 0-906362-24-5

 

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