viewing robin hood and anonymous as embodiments of non-conformity: a comparative analysis of...

29

The International Journal of Trolling and Online Participation 1(2)

Viewing Robin Hood and Anonymous as embodiments of non-conformity: A comparative

analysis of media-texts used for provoking thoughts of protest, disobedience and idealism

Jonathan Bishop1

Abstract: The truth surrounding the existence and origin of Robin Hood has evaded scholars from multiple disciplines for centuries. Robin Hood has been linked to persons or characters in court rolls, plays and other documented references. Some of the oldest records of this infamous and elusive personality include the ballads. These are not however the only media texts referring to Robin Hood, as he has featured in films, TV series, music and video games also. Akin to Robin Hood are the protest movement Anonymous. A group of hacktivists, representing modern day bandits, the comparisons between Robin Hood and Anonymous are endless. This paper examines media-texts relating to Robin Hood in a critical manner and proposes that he exists not as a person but as a metaphor for free speech and anti-establishment sentiment, much in the same way that Anonymous is used today. The paper explores how Robin Hood has been used by the peasants and aristocracy alike to reflect their ideas and ideals relating to the establishment, as a fairy tale, an antidote to economic depressions and for the romanticism associated with the legend. This is compared and contrasted with the same uses of Anonymous, including the Guy Fawkes mask that is like Robins hood. The paper concludes that even if it is the case that Robin Hood exists only as a metaphor, as Anonymous does to media consumers, it still needs to be established why the rhymes were of Robin Hood and not another name or concept.

Keywords: Robin Hood, Anonymous, uses and gratifications, media studies

Introduction

This paper will build on arguments that Robin Hood was not so much a myth as is recently thought (Knight, 2003; Shackley, Smith, & Brent,

1 Centre for Research into Online Communities and E-Learning Systems, [email protected]


30

2001), in that he followed a stable and persistent narrative as has been the case with Biblical stories but he is a collection of myths that have been created to respond to the challenges of the day (Cavendish, Burland, & Innes, 1997). This is also the case with Anonymous, the Internet movement who seek to disrupt and challenge persistent narratives and the status quo, even though like Robin Hood they do not have one themselves (T. J. Holt & Schell, 2013). Robin Hood has become an icon, who represents all social classes, such as being a yeoman and an earl, and more often than not being a bandit and outlaw. Anonymous have become icons of subversive cultural and transgressive humour, including with some of the dark characteristics associated with Robin Hood (Barczewski, 2000; Wiedemann, 2014).

The question over whether Robin Hood exists has perplexed academics for generations, with some exploring whether or not Hobbehod (referred to in the Wakefield Court Roll of 1273) is the true Robin Hood (Dobson & Taylor, 1983; Keen, 1961), while others clearly state there was no real Robin Hood and that he was just a myth (Knight, 2003). Equally, academics have struggled to understand the Anonymous movement, which is made up of disparate yet united individuals.

We Are Anonymous and I am Robin Hood

The commonalities between Robin Hood and Anonymous are endless. Robin Hood is often presented as a hooded bandit hiding his identity and this hood is mirrored in the Guy Fawkes masks iconic of Anonymous members. The existence of 4chan as a forum for posting conquests as Internet trolls can be comparable to the Glenwood where Robin Hood and his merry men share their successes at taking on the Sheriff of Nottingham and his men. The distributed denial of service (DDos) attacks by Anonymous can be seen to be like a siege of Nottingham Castle, and the targeting of The Church of Scientology by Anonymous is clearly reflected in the targeting of various persons in the religious establishment by Robin Hood. References have been made to Robin Hood as representing terrorism when those in the gunpowder plot were called


31

Robin Hoods and the same has been said of Anonymous (Wong & Brown, 2013).

Policies associated with the redistribution of wealth in socialism are called Robin Hood in the United States of America, and Anonymous is associated with criticisms of the fact that 1 per cent of the population hold 99 per cent of the wealth (Nielsen, 2013). And furthermore, a transaction tax on speculative share-dealing has been called the Robin Hood Tax. Robin Hood it could therefore be argued is a metaphor used as an instrument for people to speak about or come to terms with aspects of their life that can be reflected through literary works in all forms, whether book-based media texts, film, or the Internet. Below can be seen an excerpt from the essentially pro-Catholic work, The Vision of Piers Plowman (Langland, 1378; Langland, 2009) on the left, which is translated by the author to the right.

I kan nought parfitly my Paternoster as the preest it singeth but I kan rhymes of Robyn Hood and Randolf Erl of Chestre

I do not know my Paternoster as perfectly as the priest sings it, but I know rhymes of Robin Hood and Ranulf Earl of Chester.

The words above were said by a character called Sloth, who is a priest. The message conveyed in this is that Robin Hood and the Earl of Chester are considered in opposition to the Paternoster, suggesting clear anti-Catholic sentiment in the case of both persons. This narrative is probably backed up by the finding of an English chronicle entry for the years 1294-1299 about Robin Hood, where he is spoken about as unfavourable by what is believed to be a monk from Somerset (Luxford, 2009). This monk is on the other side of the fence to that which Sloth appears to be on. It has been stated that whilst Ranulf de Blondeville, the 6th Earl of Chester, and Robin Hood may have both been equal heroes of the peasantry, it might be still be the case that Robin Hood is nothing more than a contemporary legend (Hilton, 1958). Indeed, it could be argued that the gentrification of Robin Hood is what led to him going from being an icon


32

of the illiterate ballad singers to a plaything of the aristocracy, recasting him as an earl or baron, such as Robert Earl of Huntingdon, or Baron Loxley, for instance.

Ranulf de Blondeville (11701232) is associated with the early years of Henry III, the son of King John (Carpenter, 1990), which might explain the association of Robin Hood with this period in many of the stories. Ranulf de Blondeville along with William the Marshal, the Earl of Pembroke and Lord of Leinster, formed part of the regency government of Henry III, who took the throne aged 9 (Carpenter, 1990). William the Marshal fought in the Crusades with Richard I also (Crouch, 1990), which might again explain the reason Robin Hood is associated with the reigns of King Richard I and King John I, and why the rhymes of Robin Hood were spoken about during the reign of Henry III. It is likely that the consequence of the bad governance of the country under Richard I and John I will have been a mess that Henry III was expected to clean up, and it is thus likely the need for Robin Hood would be at is greatest. However, the fact that Henry III was a devout Catholic would not have helped his cause. It is thus asserted by the author that the reference to Edward in A Gest of Robyn Hode is not to Edward II as is popularly thought, but the son of Henry III, namely Edward I. The popularity of Henry III went up and down during his reign, suggesting the Robin Hood legends went through a lot of change in terms of need and nature at the same time.

Due to the power gained by Ranulf de Blondeville in the government of the young Henry III, he was powerful enough to defy Henry IIIs will to collect taxes, which according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, was known to be unpopular among the poor. This might again explain why Ranulf de Blondeville is referred to in the same sentence as Robin Hood within Piers Plowman. It is likely that the creation of a binary between Ranulf and Henry III would have led to Ranulf being presented as anti-Catholic in opposition to Henry III more generally, who was a devout Catholic. It may further explain why Robin Hood became associated with robbing the rich to feed the poor during the gentrification


33

of the legend, which started with A Gest of Robin Hood (J. C. Holt, 2011; Knight, 2003). He appears alongside Robin Hood in John a Kent and John a Cumber (Munday, 1590), The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntingdon (Munday, 1601b), The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntingdon (Munday, 1601b) and Look About You (Munday, 1600), which are a series of plays where huge emphasis is put on the association between Robin Hood and Ranulf (Burgess, 2008; Logan & Smith, 1975). It is known that Munday travelled with the Earl of Pembrokes men between 1598 and 1599 to stage the plays on the downfall and death of Robin Hood as Earl of Huntingdon (Hamilton, 2005). Being that Munday had been signing as Messenger of Her Majesty's Chamber by 1588 in recognition of his work against Catholics (Hamilton, 2005), this might explain Mundays motives for building on the anti-Catholic undertones of The Vision of Piers Plowman (Langland, 1378; Langland, 2009). Mundays associations with the same aristocracy that existed around the time of Piers Plowman, and writing at a time where the monarch was against Catholicism, might explain why his plays took the form they did (i.e. embodiments of uses and gratification theory).

Equally, Project Chanology in 2008, saw Anonymous making a concerted effort to bring down the Church of Scientology. This included by making an organised raid against the church, sending black faxes to waste paper and ink, prank calling its telephone hotline and DDoS attacks (Olson, 2013). It is clear that Anonymous seek to carry the mischievousness of Robin Hood, even though members cannot always agree on which direction to take (Reichert, 2013), with one such perspective of how Anonymous should be organised being presented below.

We [Anonymous] just happen to be a group of people on the internet who needjust kind of an outlet to do as we wish, that we wouldn't be able to do in regular society. ...That's more or less the point of it. Do as you wish. ... There's a common phrase: 'we are doing it for the lulz.'


34

Considering bandits and trolls as iconography in support of protest, disobedience and idealism in Robin Hood and

Anonymous media texts

In the Middle Ages there were serious penalties for speaking about events through which powerful figures are presented in an unfavourable light, and today governments view online protests as being criminal, including in the case of Anonymous (Beyer, 2014). Notoriously the childrens nursery rhyme, ring a ring of roses has been associated with the black plague (Twigg, 1978) and the Grand Old Duke of York story referred to incompetent and self-defeating behaviour (Pullum, 1976). Anonymous and other Internet trolls are known to strongly associate with the more contemporary memes in below (Bishop, 2014).

I admit I was trolling (provoking), but thank you for your intense participation.

Banned from facebook for 24 hours for trolling idiots and a talentless dead piece of shit

Whether an expression of individuality in the face of negative social stereotypes, or something else, metaphor can act as a form of self-validation to protest at an otherwise uncontrollable set of circumstances (Campbell, Wallcraft, Schrank, & Amering, 2009). A metaphor is thus a bridge between two ideas that, at least on the surface, are not equivalent or related (Johnston, 2013). It is therefore this papers assumption that the rhymes of Robin Hood that form part of the literary works relating to the legend are on the whole representations of freedom of expression. The fact that many of the Robin Hood legends have existed in spoken form, more likely than not suggests that the stories were told by those who lacked the advanced literacy skills, who were likely to be those whose freedoms, such as to free speech, were being suppressed. Indeed it is known in the case of Anonymous that they too do not seem to have a consistent philosophy or political narrative (T. J. Holt & Schell, 2013), with them being as fragmented as the Robin Hood legends. As discussed earlier, however, the dissatisfaction between the aristocracy and the


35

Church has led to literary works presenting Robin Hood as an Earl in opposition to the Catholic Church. This suggests that Robin Hood can speak not only for the poor, but the rich also.

A document analysis of Robin Hood media-texts using uses and gratifications theory in a historical context

The premise of this study is that the literary works of William Langland and Anthony Munday, showing the existence of Robin Hood as an anti-Catholic character, perfectly captures his existence as not necessarily as a real person, but as a means to demonstrate civil disobedience of, or dissatisfaction towards, unwanted establishments, such as the Catholic Church. Whilst this point of view of Robin Hood as an anti-Catholic figure has been considered previously in relation to William Langlands work (Wittig, 2003), it has not been tested or argued with significant reference to historic accounts of unrest and dissatisfaction in relation for the need for freedom of expression through metaphor in various media-texts.

The author regards the appropriate approach for investigating the narrative development of the legends of Robin Hood as being a document analysis using the uses and gratifications theorem. Uses and gratifications theory is considered a psychological communication perspective that focuses on individual use and choice by asserting that different people can use the same media type for very different purposes (Ko, Cho, & Roberts, 2005). For uses and gratifications theory to be an appropriate tool for document analysis then the results should indicate a difference between media texts that can be attributable to differing viewing motivations, which, in turn result in the use of different media (Vincent & Basil, 1997). This is something it is hoped can be seen to have been achieved with this research.

Documents

In relation to Robin Hood, the documents selected included some of the original ballads and plays as well as 20th and 21st century versions of films,


36

soundtracks and other music and video games. In terms of media-texts from the 1400s and 1500s, these were mainly ballads. The ones selected were The Death of Robin Hood from around 1440 (The death of robin hood. 1997), Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne from around 1475 (Robin hood and guy of gisborne. 1997), Robin Hood and the Potter from around 1500 (Robin hood and the potter. 1997), A Gest of Robyn Hode, from around 1460 (A gest of robyn hode. 1997) and Robin Hood and the Monk from around 1450 (Robin hood and the monk. 1997). These ballads in particular were chosen on the basis of the Bold Outlaw website (Wright, 1997), which highlighted them as most significant to the Robin Hood legend.

The media-texts chosen for the first part of the 20th century include the films Robin Hood (Dwan, 1922), The Adventures of Robin Hood (Curtiz & Keighley, 1938) and The Rogues of Sherwood Forest (Douglas, 1950). For the second half the films, Robin and Marion (Lester, 1976), and 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' (Reynolds, 1991). The video games chosen were the 'Curse of Sherwood' (Brewster, 1987) and 'the Adventures of Robin Hood' (Firstlight, 1991) video games. Also looked at were the 20th century musical scores Robin Hood (James, 1956) and 'Everything I do' that is associated with (Reynolds, 1991). Erich Wolfgang Korngolds film score was considered mainly for its timeliness and not its literary meaning. The films were all chosen for their significance in popular culture and in the case of the video games these were based on the authors prior knowledge of them. In terms of the 21st century a number of specific Robin Hood media-texts were chosen. The film, Robin Hood starring Russell Crowe (Scott, 2010) and the BBC Robin Hood TV series (Minghella & Allan, 2006) were the video media chosen. In terms of video games, the one chosen was Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown (Cinemaware, 2003).

Methodology

The methodology essentially followed a researcher-as-instrument approach. The author is a qualified and experienced researcher in the areas


37

of Robin Hood Studies, Media Studies and Internet trolling. This allowed for an inductive approach to drawing out of the various Robin Hood media-texts, their commonalities and consistent themes. On this basis the equivalent cultural norm is then identified in relation to Anonymous and their activities. Whilst such a qualitative approach may be criticised by those of a positivist philosophy, it would be nearly impossible to use such approaches with the Robin Hood legend as much of it is based on discovery as opposed to application of existing paradigms, as recent research that uncovered new documentary evidence found (Luxford, 2009). Equally, identifying the commonalities between the Robin Hood legend and Anonymous requires a researcher-led approach as the more quantitative methods are not suited to this. The research should thus been seen through a constructivist lens it is one set of possible truths on Robin Hood and Anonymous but by carrying out the inquiry should mean it will be easier for others to construct their own truths using newly identified truths which they might interpret as facts.

Results

The results show a huge shift in audience theory between the ages of the various Robin Hood media-texts existence. In the 1200s the texts belong to the people as a form of protest and disobedience, and by the 1400s Robin Hood had become a medium for entertaining one another through mixing and matching different stories and legends. The Magna Carta was intended to protect the rights of the feudal lords, but by the end of the 1200s, others in England, including merchants and peasants who did not own property, were protected by law as well (McNeese, 2001). This process saw a shift from free speech being something that was restricted to being a practice that was being called for as a right. The Robin Hood ballads of this time have been heavily criticised as lacking the integrity of other English literature (Knight, 2003). This is more likely than not because the people who spoke them were the peasants who had poor literacy, but whom wanted to communicate their dissatisfaction with society through telling and retelling songs and poems - of which Robin


38

Hood as an anti-establishment figure would be a good metaphor to use in front of an audience, such as around a publicly lit fire. Since the 1400s, however, the audience theory of Robin Hood changed from one led by the masses who were often illiterate to being used by the aristocracy who saw the legend as a new business opportunity to exploit the masses. This ownership of the legend has led to an expectation of certain things such as the legend being based in the time of King Richard and the Crusades. This status quo is fearlessly protected by a community of Robin Hood junkies who will not let the legend develop beyond how they are used to it (Bishop, 2007). The rest of this section explains the detail around these findings.

The antidote to economic woes

It has been argued that during economic booms, more resources are available for supporting the arts than during a recession (Sgourev, 2013) this does not mean that creativity around Robin Hood dies - if anything the Robin Hood legend is needed more during a recession, which might explain the successes of those media-texts that emphasise the robbing for the rich to give to the poor. As can be seen with (Dwan, 1922) and (Curtiz & Keighley, 1938) during and following the Great Depression, during the John Major Government there was (Reynolds, 1991) and the credit crunch was followed by (Scott, 2010). These Robin Hoods likely serve a mass audience looking for a fairer share of the cake during these times of economic hardship. Such narratives are common among the Anonymous movement members, who at the same time as the credit crunch, took advantage of the three movements of disruption to the worlds capitalist and statist narrative, namely anti-austerity, the Arab Spring, and the Occupy protests (Wood et al., 2013).

Similarly in the Robin Hood legends, 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' where Robin Hood is played by Errol Flynn (Curtiz & Keighley, 1938) following the Great Depression is very heavily based on the stories of Howard Pyle's book The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, which is of the overcoming the establishment model, particularly the collection of


39

taxes administered by Longchamps, who was the chancellor of the exchequer during Richard Is capture during the Crusades. It was preceded by the Douglas Fairbanks rendition (Dwan, 1922), which was equally swashbuckling and representational of Robin Hood as a dissident member of the aristocracy as represented in (Munday, 1601a) and (Munday, 1601b).

There were several market-driven musical styles that reflected life during the Great Depression, including the blues, popular music, populism, and popular front (Stevens & Fogel, 2007). This might explain why Erich Wolfgang Korngolds featured heavily in (Curtiz & Keighley, 1938) and Victor Schertzingers in (Dwan, 1922). The short recession in the early 1950s was also accompanied by (Douglas, 1950), a de factor sequel to (Dwan, 1922) and (Curtiz & Keighley, 1938), containing many of the same actors and set in a time following the death of King Richard and not during his reign and featuring Robin Hoods son and heir. The mid 1950s cemented Robin Hoods place into history as a hero of the people with the famous score where Robin Hood is feared by the bad and loved by the good (James, 1956). Video games like Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown (Cinemaware, 2003) allow for the King Richard and Prince John theme to go on, with Robin in this case fighting to free the peasants from the greedy aristocracy. Anonymous spread equally dissident memes, portraying the aristocracy as a Cookie Monster that consumes 99 per cent of the worlds cookies (Milner, 2013).

Challenging the establishment

One of the most significant finds in recent enquiries into Robin Hood was that which found a reference to Robin Hood in the English chronicles (Luxford, 2009). This confirmed almost without doubt that there was an antagonism in the established Church towards an embodiment of Robin Hood, whether imagined or actual. This might explain why the Robin Hood and the Monk ballad is one of the key media-texts in the Robin Hood legend. In this tale, or maybe more accurately talk, Robin Hoods identity is exposed to the Sheriff of Nottingham by a monk he once


40

robbed, which leads on to the monks death by Little John. The ballad follows a clear reading as construction approach (Todorov, 1990). Such anti-establishment sentiments are seen in the Anonymous movement today, where their Guy Fawkes masks became a well-known symbol for them as well as the Occupy movement, and other anti-government and anti-establishment protests around the world (Kohns, 2013; Wiedemann, 2014). There is an equilibrium where Robin Hood and Little John are in the bright woods in an early May morning, when Robin decides to go to Church. The narrative is disrupted when Little John falls out with Robin when he does not honour a bet. The equilibrium is restored when Little John breaks Robin out of prison, reaffirming their friendship. The fact that in total the monk, the king and the sheriff are overcome may please many an anti-authoritarian audience. Such narrative disruptions are evident in the way Anonymous engages with the establishment today. The establishment usually responds to threats to its existence first with avoidance, followed by attempts at suppression, and when this doesnt work by adjusting to work with the protesters and finally, if they give in, this becomes the capitulation (Burford, 2013). Anonymous cannot be avoided because they grab the attention of the mass media, they cannot be suppressed as there is no central leadership to focus on, and as a result adjustment and capitulation is difficult (Burford, 2013).

Such difficulties in taking on the established are also reflected in the Robin Hood legend. As discussed earlier the plays of The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntingdon and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntingdon were likely written by someone of an anti-Catholic standpoint, and this was also likely to be the anti-establishment sentiment behind the Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne ballad (Robin hood and guy of gisborne. 1997). In the case of the latter, Guy of Gisborne is presented as the Sheriff of Nottinghams right hand man, as is the case in many of the post-19th century retellings of the legend (Curtiz & Keighley, 1938; Minghella & Allan, 2006; Reynolds, 1991). In the case of Guy of Gisborne he is beheaded by Robin Hood in defiance of the Sheriff, in a similar way to the anti-authority killing of the monk and his page in Robin Hood and


41

the Monk (Robin hood and guy of gisborne. 1997). Such anti-authority destruction is reflected in the Anonymous movement through its Occupy Wall Street initiative, DDoS attacks and hacking in general (Iirovsky, 2012).

The fairy tale

The fairy tale is a well described genre of writing and is often predictably seen in major film productions (Propp, 1968). The association of Robin Hood as the hero and Maid Marion as the princess has captured the imagination of all generations for generations. The ballad of Robin and Marion portrays a story of Robin Hood been deceived by Marion as to her identity when she was looking for him, as a fight broke out between them before they knew who each other were (Bishop, 2007). Such a disguise of masculine and feminine characteristics is most entertainingly reflected in Anonymous through the iconography of its members wearing Guy Fawkes masks in order to conceal their identity, with the women members being easily identifiable through their pronounced chests. It is thought that Maid Marion entered the Robin Hood legend as a result of a number of French medieval plays that used Robin and Marion as characters, such as Jeu de Robin et Marion (Knight, 2003). France is secular and anti-Church in its construction (Dixon & Sinclair, 2008). But the play was written around 1282 to 1283 (Dixon & Sinclair, 2008), which is around a decade before the English chronicle reference to Robin Hood being active around 1294-1299 (Luxford, 2009). With the Piers Plowman reference to Robin Hood as a possible counter-culture to the Paternoster being dated 1378, it might be that the anti-Church sentiment in this play ignited the literary existence of a character similar to Robin Hood. Marion as the princess in the legend of Robin Hood as legend spans generations (Curtiz & Keighley, 1938; Lester, 1976; Reynolds, 1991; Scott, 2010), as do the rest of the ensemble cast. Little John is regularly presented as Robin Hoods helper, and the Sheriff of Nottingham and Guy of Gisbourne often as the villain(s). There is often an anti-hero trying to capture Marion, such as the Sheriff of Nottingham in (Reynolds, 1991) and Guy of


42

Gisbourne in others (Minghella & Allan, 2006). The fairy tale of the princess and hero are no more evident than in the musical score that accompanies the (Reynolds, 1991) production, namely Everything I Do (I do it for you). In this song there is the typical hero in search of the princess theme, where the hero would be willing to die to win the heart of the princess. The song reflects the dedication of Robin towards Marion, whom in the film he swore to protect, following being sent on his quest by the dispatcher, Azeem, who set him free, and also Marions brother Peter, who became the donor as he gave Robin a ring to give to Marion.

Two separate media-texts of Robin Hood worth considering together is the film, Robin and Marian starring Sean Connery (Lester, 1976) and the Death of Robin Hood ballad (The death of robin hood. 1997). The film incorporates the latter ballad as a tragic conclusion to Robins life, after presenting a sequel like narrative where Marion has become an abbess and Robin has returned to England following King Richard Is killing. The conclusion of both the film and ballad involves Robin firing an arrow to mark where he should be buried. It has the tragedy found in only the most daring fairy tales that should end with people living happily ever after. Whether there is such a catastrophic end to the Anonymous movement is unclear, but a number of prosecutions have been made.

Extravagance, novelty and romanticism

Extravagance is something that might be clearly seen to have not escaped representations of Robin Hood in different media texts. From swashbuckling representations by Errol Flynn (Curtiz & Keighley, 1938), the realistic settings in the Kevin Costner film (Reynolds, 1991) right through to another Hollywood blockbuster starring Russell Crowe with its convincing special effects (Scott, 2010).

One thing certain about the more recent media-texts relating to Robin Hood is that romanticist authors have injected new vigour into the legend (Knight, 2011). The plays of The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntingdon and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntingdon for instance


43

can be considered to be of a romance akin to Shakespearean plays, where there is both comedy and tragedy (Margeson, 1974). Furthermore, the musical score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold for The Adventures of Robin Hood (Curtiz & Keighley, 1938) was winner of the Academy Award for best dramatic score in 1938 (Winters, 2007). Anonymouss influence in the music industry has been more of an anti-establishment nature. We, Anonymous, are launching our largest attack ever on government and music industry sites. Lulz. The FBI didnt think they would get away with this did they? They should have expected us, was one message put out by the movement (Burford, 2013).

Novelty is a double-edged sword in terms of the Robin Hood community. It has been shown that even down to Robin Hoods tone of voice there are certain expectations of what he should be presented as by those who identify with the legend (Bishop, 2007). Whilst there have been attempts to diversify Robin Hood, such as making him an entertainer, protester and social critic (Knight, 2003), mainstream acceptance of Robin Hood is based on a clear identification of him as a hero, something true of Anonymous, who are presented as heroes within the Internet Liberation Front (Burford, 2013). This is not always the case in video games, however. The Curse of Sherwood game (Brewster, 1987) for instance had Friar Tuck as the main protagonist, and the Adventures of Robin Hood game (Firstlight, 1991) had two main endings one where Robin Hood died at the hands of the people who hated him and the other where he won back the castle taken from him by the Sheriff. The ending also varies based on who Robin meets along the way. There is even an appearance of a dragon, crystal balls, and magic rings. These two games in particular probably represent the need of their creators to have a sense of personal expression to make their mark on what might appear to be a too homogenised legend. Equally, with Anonymous, one of the aims of the movement is to introduce civil disobedience into cyberspace, which is often taken as safe field for free expression of ideas (Iirovsky, 2012).

Discussion


44

This paper has contested that Robin Hoods existence had been driven by uses and gratifications theory in that he is used as a metaphor by those wanting to express protest, disobedience and idealism, much like that seen in the rise of the hacktivist group, Anonymous.. Most typically it has been found this is in relation to an authors objection to the power of the Catholic Church in the case of Robin Hood and the establishment in the case of Anonymous. The paper argues that the reference to rhymes of Robin Hood in Piers Plowman is used to show disrespect for the Church as the speaker suggests he has little tolerance for Catholic liturgy (i.e. the Paternoster), but prefers to hear tales of Robin Hood and Ranulf de Blondeville, the 6th Earl of Chester, who are both embodiments of anti-Catholic sentiment. Such disrespect for the establishment is evident in the Anonymous movement as they wear Guy Fawkes masks to reflect this and give them anonymity. Constant references to 1 per cent of the population owning 99 per cent of the worlds wealth is reflected in Anonymouss narratives.

For nearly the whole of the 20th century most popular media associated Robin Hood with the Crusades, King Richard, the Sheriff of Nottingham, Maid Marion - it was near enough the case that any media text that went outside of this would not be accepted. By this time the consumerism where the consumer side of the market has become what dictates the books that exist in that market means media-text creators had to satisfy the uses and gratifications of these consumers towards this rigid accepted narrative of Robin Hood. Such capitalist conformity is rejected by members of Anonymous, who see themselves as campaigners against the status quo that puts wealth in the hands of the few and not the many.

Uses and gratifications theory is reflective of other sides of the Robin Hood legend, and even in how Anonymous present themselves. The paper has shown how Robin Hood is usually pulled out at times of economic depression and the rob from the rich and give to the poor mantra has served as a means for audiences to come to terms with the economic climate. This is comparable to the generic view of Anonymous


45

members who take part in Occupy events in world financial centres, based, again, on the idea that 99 per cent of the worlds wealth is owned by 1 per cent of the population. The swashbuckling nature of some Robin Hood media texts, including the gruesome killings of Guy of Gisborne and the Monk serve an audience looking for drama and suspense. Some novel representations of the Robin Hood legend in video games provides some relief for those wanting to try out new ideas with the story where otherwise such retellings would not be welcomed.

It has for around a decade been concluded that Robin Hood is a myth. Based on the premise of this paper based on uses and gratifications theory one might argue therefore that Robin Hood is not so much a myth as a collection of myths. Each person will use and understand the legend differently from others, based on what they want to get out of it. The Robin Hood legend will stroke the anti-authoritarian, romantic and poverty stricken meta-narratives of many people. These rhymes of Robin Hood seek to challenge a status quo people are not satisfied with, whether the established Church or those otherwise rich and powerful. The existence of the Anonymous movement as is portrayed in the media may be equally as much of a myth. It is unknown how many members of Anonymous is, and there is no clear leadership structure. The Internet, as a means of marketing information, is equally capable of creating a mirage of a single united identity that one sees with Robin Hood, who is still seen as a single person and not a collection of individually created myths. Anonymous therefore may be seen to use websites like 4chan, Encyclopedia Dramatica, and indeed Twitter, much in the same way Robin Hood is portrayed as using a bugle horn to rally his merry men. What might be seen as certain, however, is that Robin Hood will have many more uses by many more people than Anonymous, which appears to be used as much by the established media to gratify those audiences looking for gratifications in terms of protest and disobedience, as those who members of Anonymous who claim to be part of the movement.

Acknowledgements


46

The author would like to acknowledge all those reviewers who provided comment on earlier versions of this paper. In particular the author would like to thank Dean Hoffman, whose thoughtful comments helped it reach publication level. An overview of this paper is to be presented at the Conference of the International Association of Robin Hood Studies at the University Centre, Doncaster, in June 2015 under the title, Godliness next to Anonymous: Anti-establishment rhetoric in Robin Hood ballads and contemporary media texts.

References

Barczewski, S. (2000). Myth and national identity in nineteenth-century Britain: The legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood. Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.

Beyer, J. L. (2014). The emergence of a freedom of information movement: Anonymous, WikiLeaks, the pirate party, and Iceland. Journal of Computer!Mediated Communication, 19(2), 141-154. Bishop, J. (2007). The autistic qualities of Robin Hood: An ardent leader or detached brigand? Conference of the International Association of Robin Hood Studies (Robin Hood, Crime and Bandits), Gregynog Hall, Newtown, GB.

Bishop, J. (2014). Representations of trolls in mass media communication: A review of media-texts and moral panics relating to internet trolling. International Journal of Web Based Communities, 10(1), 7-24.

Brewster, D. (1987). The Curse of Sherwood Mastertronic.

Burford, C. M. R. (2013). Anonymous and the virtual collective: Visuality and social movements in cyberspace. (Master of Arts in Applied Communication, Northern Arizona University). Retrieved from UMI 1550096 database.


47

Burgess, G. S. (2008). I kan rhymes of robyn hood, and randolf erl of chestre. In K. Busby, B. Guidot & L. E. Whalen (Eds.), "De sens rassis". Essays in honor of Rupert T. Pickens (pp. 51-84) Ribmont, Bernard.

Campbell, J., Wallcraft, J., Schrank, B., & Amering, M. (2009). We are the evidence, an examination of service user research involvement as voice. Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research, 6, 113.

Carpenter, D. A. (1990). The Minority of Henry III. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

Cavendish, R., Burland, C. A., & Innes, B. (1997). Man, myth & magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion, and the Unknown. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish.

Cinemaware. (2003). Robin Hood: Defender of the crown ZOO Digital Group and Capcom.

Crouch, D. (1990). William Marshal: Court, career, and chivalry in the Angevin Empire, 1147-1219. London, GB: Longman.

The Adventures of Robin Hood. Curtiz, M. and Keighley, W. (Directors). (1938). [Motion Picture]

The Death of Robin Hood. (1997). In S. Knight, & T. H. Ohlgren (Eds.), Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales (c.1440 ed.). Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications.

Dixon, R., & Sinclair, F. E. (Eds.). (2008). Poetry, knowledge and community in late Medieval France. Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer.

Dobson, R., & Taylor, J. (1983). Robin Hood of Barnesdale: A fellow thou has long sought. Northern History, 19(1), 210-220.

Rogues of Sherwood Forest. Douglas, G. (Director). (1950). [Motion Picture] Columbia Pictures.


48

Robin Hood. Dwan, A. (Director). (1922).[Motion Picture] United Artists.

Firstlight. (1991). [Video Game] The Adventures of Robin Hood. Millennium Interactive.

A gest of Robyn Hode. (1997). In S. Knight, & T. H. Ohlgren (Eds.), Robin hood and other outlaw tales (c.1460 ed.). Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications.

Hamilton, D. B. (2005). Anthony Munday and the Catholics: 1560-1633. Farnham, GB: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Hilton, R. H. (1958). The origins of Robin Hood. Past & Present, (14), 30-44.

Holt, J. C. (2011). Robin Hood. London, GB: Thames & Hudson.

Holt, T. J., & Schell, B. H. (2013). Hackers and hacking: A reference handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

Iirovsky, V. (2012). Anonymous. Paper presented at the ISSE 2012 Securing Electronic Business Processes: Highlights of the Information Security Solutions Europe 2012 Conference, pp. 306.

James, D. (1956). [Music] Robin Hood

Johnston, A. (2013). Ancient wisdom meets modern neuroscience in eating disorder treatment through metaphor. Paper presented at the IAEDP Symposium 2013: What's New Under the Sun? Innovative Approaches to Treatment, Henderson ,NV.

Keen, M. (1961). Robin Hood--peasant or gentleman? Past & Present, (19), 7-15.

Knight, S. T. (2003). Robin Hood: A mythic biography. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Knight, S. T. (2011). Robin Hood. Icons of the Middle Ages: Rulers, Writers, Rebels, and Saints: Rulers, Writers, Rebels, and Saints, , 395.


49

Ko, H., Cho, C., & Roberts, M. S. (2005). Internet uses and gratifications: A structural equation model of interactive advertising. Journal of Advertising, 34(2), 57-70.

Kohns, O. (2013). Guy Fawkes in the 21st century. A contribution to the political iconography of revolt. Image & Narrative, 14(1), 89-104.

Langland, W. (1378). The vision of Piers Plowman (B-Text ed.)

Langland, W. (2009). The Vision of Piers Plowman (A. V. C. Schmidt Trans.). (B-Text ed.). Oxford, GB: Oxford Paperbacks.

Robin and Marian. Lester, R. (Director). (1976).[Motion Picture]

Logan, T. P., & Smith, D. S. (1975). The popular school: A survey and bibliography of recent studies in English renaissance drama. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Luxford, J. M. (2009). An English chronicle entry on Robin Hood. Journal of Medieval History, 35(1), 70-76.

Margeson, J. M. R. (1974). Dramatic form: The Huntington Plays. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 14(2), 223-238.

McNeese, T. (2001). US constitution. Dayton, OH: Lorenz Educational Press.

Milner, R. M. (2013). Pop polyvocality: Internet memes, public participation, and the Occupy Wall Street movement. International Journal of Communication, 7, 34.

Robin Hood. Minghella, D. and Allan, F. (Directors). (2006).[Motion Picture] London, GB: British Broadcasting Corporation.

Munday, A. (1590). John a kent and john a cumber

Munday, A. (1600). Look about you (1599th ed.)

Munday, A. (1601a). The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington (1598-99 ed.). London, GB: William Leake.


50

Munday, A. (1601b). The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington (1598-9 ed.). London, GB: William Leake.

Nielsen, R. K. (2013). Mundane internet tools, the risk of exclusion, and reflexive MovementsOccupy wall street and political uses of digital networked technologies. The Sociological Quarterly, 54(2), 173-177.

Olson, P. (2013). We are Anonymous. New York, NY: Random House.

Propp, V. I. A. (1968). Morphology of the folktale. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

Pullum, G. (1976). The Duke of York Gambit. Journal of Linguistics, 12(1), 83-102.

Reichert, Z. (2013). Are anonymous hackers 'good' criminals? The Tiger Times, 21(4), 1.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Reynolds, K. (Director). (1991).[Motion Picture]

Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne. (1997). In S. Knight, & T. H. Ohlgren (Eds.), Robin Hood and other Outlaw Tales (c.1475 ed.). Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications.

Robin Hood and the Monk. (1997). In S. Knight, & T. H. Ohlgren (Eds.), Robin Hood and other Outlaw Tales (c.1465 ed.). Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications.

Robin Hood and the Potter. (1997). In S. Knight, & T. H. Ohlgren (Eds.), Robin Hood and other Outlaw Tales (c.1468 ed.). Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications.

Robin Hood. Scott, R. (Director). (2010). [Motion Picture]

Sgourev, S. V. (2013). The dynamics of risk in innovation: A premiere or an encore? Industrial and Corporate Change, 22(2), 549-575.

Shackley, M., Smith, V., & Brent, M. (2001). The Legend of Robin Hood: Myth, inauthenticity, and tourism development in Nottingham,


51

England. Hosts and Guests Revisited: Tourism Issues of the 21st Century, , 315-322.

Stevens, R. L., & Fogel, J. A. (2007). Using music to teach about the Great Depression. Social Education, 71(1), 15.

Todorov, T. (1990). Reading as construction. In T. Todorov (Ed.), Genres in discourse (pp. 39-49). Cambridge, GB: Cambridge University Press.

Twigg, G. I. (1978). The role of rodents in plague dissemination: A worldwide review. Mammal Review, 8(3), 77-110.

Vincent, R. C., & Basil, M. D. (1997). College students news gratifications, media use, and current events knowledge. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 41(3), 380-392.

Wiedemann, C. (2014). Between swarm, network, and multitude: Anonymous and the infrastructures of the common. Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory, (ahead-of-print), 1-18.

Winters, B. (2007). Erich Wolfgang Korngold's The Adventures of Robin Hood: A film score guide. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Wittig, J. S. (2003). Kathleen M. Hewett-Smith, ed., William Langland's Piers Plowman: A book of essays. The Yearbook of Langland Studies, 17(1), 214-221.

Wong, W. H., & Brown, P. A. (2013). E-bandits in global activism: WikiLeaks, Anonymous, and the politics of no one. Perspectives on Politics, 11(04), 1015-1033.

Wood, L., Waterman, P., Motta, S., Mattoni, A., Majavu, M., Humphrys, E., et al. (2013). Interface tenth issue: Interface editorial spokescouncil. Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements, 5(2), 1-14.

Wright, A. W. (1997). Robin hood: Bold outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood., 1999, from http://www.boldoutlaw.com