Editing Robin Hood (section)

===''The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood''===
{{main|The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood}}
[[File:The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, 1 Title page.png|thumb|The title page of an edition of [[Howard Pyle]]'s 1883 novel, ''The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood'']]

In the 19th century, the Robin Hood legend was first specifically adapted for children. Children's editions of the garlands were produced and in 1820, a children's edition of Ritson's ''Robin Hood'' collection was published. Children's novels began to appear shortly thereafter. It is not that children did not read Robin Hood stories before, but this is the first appearance of a Robin Hood literature specifically aimed at them.<ref>Dobson and Taylor (1997), pp. 58ff.</ref> A very influential example of these children's novels was [[Pierce Egan the Younger]]'s ''Robin Hood and Little John'' (1840).<ref>Dobson and Taylor (1997), p. 47.</ref><ref name="Hood">Egan, Pierce the Younger (1846). ''Robin Hood and Little John or The Merry Men of Sherwood Forest.'' Pub. George Peirce, London.</ref> This was adapted into French by [[Alexandre Dumas, fils|Alexandre Dumas]] in ''Le Prince des Voleurs'' (1872) and ''Robin Hood Le Proscrit'' (1873). Egan made Robin Hood of noble birth but raised by the forestor Gilbert Hood.

Another very popular version for children was [[Howard Pyle]]'s ''[[The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood]]'', which influenced accounts of Robin Hood through the 20th century.<ref name="development">[http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/rh/RH%20Exhibit/Intro.htm "Robin Hood: Development of a Popular Hero] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207053301/http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/rh/RH%20Exhibit/Intro.htm|date=7 December 2008}}". From The [[Robin Hood Project]] at the [[University of Rochester]]. Retrieved 22 November 2008.</ref> Pyle's version firmly stamps Robin as a staunch philanthropist, a man who takes from the rich to give to the poor. Nevertheless, the adventures are still more local than national in scope: while King Richard's participation in the Crusades is mentioned in passing, Robin takes no stand against Prince John, and plays no part in raising the ransom to free Richard. These developments are part of the 20th-century Robin Hood myth. Pyle's Robin Hood is a yeoman and not an aristocrat.

The idea of Robin Hood as a high-minded [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] fighting [[Normans|Norman]] lords also originates in the 19th century. The most notable contributions to this idea of Robin are [[Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry]]'s ''{{lang|fr|Histoire de la [[Norman conquest of England|Conquête de l'Angleterre par les Normands]]}}'' (1825) and Sir [[Walter Scott]]'s ''[[Ivanhoe]]'' (1819). In this last work in particular, the modern Robin Hood—'King of Outlaws and prince of good fellows!' as Richard the Lionheart calls him—makes his debut.<ref name="boldoutlaw.com">Allen W. Wright, [http://www.boldoutlaw.com/robages/robages7.html "Wolfshead through the Ages Revolutions and Romanticism"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623175842/http://www.boldoutlaw.com/robages/robages7.html |date=23 June 2017 }}</ref>