Who Wrote the First Robin Hood Story?

The most common collection of Robin Hood stories, "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire," was written and illustrated by Howard Pyle in 1883. The book contains a series of stories about Robin Hood and his merry band. There is some debate on whether Robin Hood was an actual person or just an interesting legend, but there is some evidence to support that he may have lived in the 12th century.