Robin Hood, hero of a group of English ballads of the late 14th or early 15th century. In them Robin Hood is portrayed as an outlaw who lived and poached in the royal forests of Sherwood, in Nottinghamshire and Barnsdale, in Yorkshire. He robbed and killed those who represented the power of the government and the Church, and championed the cause of the needy and oppressed. His band of comrades included Little John, Will Scarlet, and Friar Tuck. Although scholars disagree as to whether Robin Hood is a historical figure, the original ballads contain valuable information on political ideas and social conditions in medieval England. Robin Hood frequently reappears in the works of later writers, and in the 20th century he has been romanticized in numerous children's books, operettas, dramas, films, and television programmes.