Great Britain. The Legend of Robin Hood
About stamps and plots
14.04.2023
On April 13, 2023, the Royal Mail issued a series of postage stamps "The Legend of Robin Hood".
Robin Hood is a popular hero of medieval English ballads, a noble leader of forest robbers. Robin Hood is one of the few legendary heroes, along with King Arthur, who went beyond folklore and became an important part of English culture. Books are still being written about Robin Hood, plays are being staged, films are being made.
Royal mail has not been left out: 10 beautiful postage stamps vividly tell us the story of Robin Hood and his friends: from the first encounter with the law to the last arrow fired by the legendary archer.
Wonderful illustrations by renowned artist Jon McCoy depict all the key moments of the legend: meeting Little John and Friar Tuck, participating in the archery tournament and confronting the Sheriff of Nottingham, rescuing the Maid Marian and marrying her, and finally meeting with King Richard and the last day of Robin Hood's life. John McCoy noted that it was a great honor for him to illustrate for the Royal Mail one of the greatest English legends, which was also his favorite story as a child. Renowned Robin Hood expert Dr. Lesley Coote of the University of Hull School of Humanities was also brought in to work on the project. He provided advice as the series progressed and also prepared the accompanying text for the booklet.
Legends and ballads about the noble robber appeared in the 13th - the first half of the 14th century, the first written collection dates back to the end of the 15th century. Until now, there are many hypotheses and assumptions about whether Robin Hood had a real prototype, but most likely this is a collective image that reflects dreams of justice and freedom, as well as social indignation and religious conflicts of the late XIV century. The image of Robin Hood is experiencing a rebirth in the first half of the XIX century - in the era of romanticism - with the advent of Walter Scott's novel "Ivanhoe".
Over the past centuries, history has changed and embellished many times, characters and events have developed, sometimes in such a way that they do not always correspond to each other. The violence and cruelty of some of the early versions were softened over time, so that in the end the image of Robin Hood came to us - a noble robber, loyal and brave, who fights on the side of ordinary people against the cruelty and injustice of the authorities.
Royal Mail director of external Affairs & policy David Gold, noted that these colorful stamps revive the old legend of Robin Hood and his faithful friends. Filled with themes of friendship, loyalty, humanity and love, this legend has captured the hearts and imaginations of people for centuries and will continue to do so again and again.
This series is also notable for the fact that this is the first British stamp with the image of a horse, which was already released with the profile of King Charles III, and not the silhouette of Queen Elizabeth II, which is familiar to all of us.
Source: www.royalmail.com
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This text has been translated using Google Translate
I apologize for any errors or inaccuracies
I apologize for any errors or inaccuracies