Network

Another first draft. I trust you will understand. Feel free to comment.

Putting the boring historical facts aside, the legend of Robin Hood is quite interesting. Most people remember Him from robbing from the rich and giving it to te poor. However, even doing so would make him little more than a common thief. However, there is an interesting tension in his character that arises him to the ranks of great fictional personas: He was both an anarchist and a royalist.

On the one hand he did rob from the rich. But not from any rich, only those who oppressed the poor. Hence he did not really steal wrongly from the rich, but only return to the poor what the rich had wrongly taken from then. What seemed like injustice was therefore actually justice.

In essence he was an anarchist. He did not recognise the government he perceived as corrupt and oppressive, but started to do what he beleived to be right independent of the rulers. Had he not been an outlaw already (been tricked by the very same authorities) this line of action would have made him one.

However, even in his anarchy, he was not without rules. He rejected the authority he judged to be illegitimate, but recognized as legitimate, namely the right king Richard (not the imposter prince John). According to Walter Scott, Richard later pardoned his gang.

A clear example of this attitude is that Robin Hood refused to attack the king, not because he would have been afraid of the guards, but due to respect. The king, who wanted to meet Robin, had to disguise himself as an abbot to get hijacked by his gang.

This also shows the oulaws other trait, that he was a royalist, loyal to the just and rightful government.

The legend of Robin Hood. Anarchy is not living withot laws, it’s living without rulers. Obedience to the true King still remained.

The popularity of this legend speaks of how people in general relate to his ideals: it is acceptable to defy the authorities, if the authorities are unjust, but even then they one should remain loyal and obedient to the rightful king.

This principle extends directly to the Kingdom of God. Jesus is King, and the kingdom is organised in a way that is supposed to serve the interests of the King. But if the subjects of the King find, that these institutes rather prohibit the interests of king, for example by demanding division in different churches and forbidding communion, the right thing to do is to disobey them and rather do what they know to be the will of God.

This naturally makes these people outlaws in the eyes of those institututions. And like Robin Hood and his merry men, they can expected to be exiled from the safety and prosperity of the safe “cities”. But they have themselves become the threat to the cities. And they are the ones who obey the king.