Treacherous ‘Saracens’ and Integrated Muslims: The Islamic Outlaw in Robin Hood’s Band and the Re- Imagining of English National Identity, 1800 to the Present

Abstract

Robin Hood, as a popular fictional narrative of history, has played a significant role in the development of modern social cohesion and what it means to be English. A Muslim character who becomes a member of Robin’s band is one of the most overlooked additions to the evolving Robin Hood legend since 1800 in regard to its impact on shaping English identity. In this article, I propose two interpretive arguments that are unique to studies on Robin Hood. First, the different Muslim characters, despite their diverse names, constitute variations of the same character, which has become a fixture in the legend. Second, we can divide this character’s variations into two general types: the treacherous “Saracen” and the integrated Muslim. The first type is characteristic of 19th-century England as part of the British Empire, while the second type is characteristic of postwar (and post-Empire) England. Both types contributed to the re-imagining of English identity in different ways. This article seeks to trace how the transformation of this character from treacherous “Saracen” to integrated Muslim within the context of the development of Robin Hood reflects changing conceptions of what it means to be English.