Maid Marian

Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circumstances are obscure, but she commanded high respect in Robin’s circle for her courage and independence as well as her beauty and loyalty. For this reason, she is celebrated by feminist commentators as one of the early strong female characters in English literature. In Robin Hood and Maid Marian (Child Ballad 150, perhaps dating to the 17th century), Maid Marian is “a bonny fine maid of a noble degree” said to excel both Helen and Jane Shore in beauty. Separated from her lover, she dresses as a page “and ranged the wood to find Robin Hood,” who was himself disguised, so that the two begin to fight when they meet. As is often the case in these ballads, Robin Hood loses the fight to comical effect, and Marian only recognizes him when he asks for quarter. This ballad is in the “Earl of Huntington” tradition, a supposed “historical identity” of Robin Hood forwarded in the late 16th century.