Author Interview: What We Really Know About Robin Hood with Amy S. Kaufman

The Traitor of Sherwood Forest

• 📚 Author Amy S. Kaufman, a medieval literature scholar, discusses her debut historical fiction novel, "The Traitor of Sherwood Forest", releasing April 29, 2025.
• 📖 The novel retells the Robin Hood legend from the perspective of Jane Crowe, an ordinary peasant girl who becomes a spy for Robin Hood.
• 🎯 Jane's journey sees her illusions about Robin stripped away as his schemes become increasingly dangerous and violent, forcing her to question his true motives.

Unveiling the Medieval Robin Hood

• 💡 Kaufman highlights the significant gap between the modern heroic Robin Hood and the figure found in medieval ballads.
• 🎭 The medieval Robin Hood was a classic trickster figure, temperamental and violent, who took from the rich but didn't necessarily give to the poor.
• 👑 Medieval people admired Robin Hood for his ability to disrupt oppressive power structures, particularly corrupt church figures and nobility, by making them appear foolish.

Evolution of the Legend

• 📜 The character of King John was introduced in the 16th century during a "gentrification" of Robin Hood, transforming him from a yeoman into an aristocrat.
• 🏰 This shift was influenced by figures like Henry VIII, who co-opted Robin Hood into English nationalism and aristocracy, moving him from a peasant hero to one fighting for his lost status.
• 🙏 The original medieval Robin Hood was a man of deep faith, devoted to Mary and anti-church corruption, a sentiment often absent in modern adaptations.

Author's Vision and Retelling Advice

• 👥 Kaufman aims for her book to appeal to a broad audience interested in human-level character development and the complexities of morality.
• 🌱 She specifically wanted to tell a medieval story from the perspective of an ordinary peasant woman, rather than exceptional noblewomen or queens.
• ✍️ For aspiring authors, her advice for retellings includes looking for gaps or silences in existing stories, such as anonymous characters, or performing reversals of perspective.

Modernizing Medieval Narratives

• 🗣️ Adapting medieval language for a 21st-century audience requires careful choices, such as using "stockings" instead of "hose" to avoid modern misinterpretations.
• 🏛️ Kaufman used "shy reef" instead of "sheriff" to defamiliarize the term and emphasize the medieval sheriff's role as a king's agent, not an independent law enforcer.
• 😂 She noted the prevalence of obscenities and dark humor in medieval texts, like Chaucer's "fart jokes," which are often overlooked in modern interpretations.