ABSTRACT
There are two sides to the character of the Hereward of legend. There is the romantic hero who grapples with overgrown bears and wins the hearts of princesses, and there is the fenland robber, the idol of the oppressed Saxons. When, a hundred and fifty years after his time, in the reign of King John, we hear once more of two outlaw heroes, Fulk Fitzwarin and Eustace the Monk, we find the same themes interwoven in their stories. Already, however, the two elements, Round Table romance, and stories of chivalrous brigandage, are beginning to find literary partnership uncomfortable. In the story of Fulk Fitzwarin magical encounters and chivalrous adventure, though introduced as episodes, really provide the main interest; his outlawry and his long struggle with King John are only the background theme, lending its unconnected incidents some shadow of continuity. In the story of Eustace the Monk, on the other hand, the magic is cut to a minimum: it provides a burlesque beginning and an epic end to the tale. Clearly, we are coming near to a parting of the ways; in the later stories, of Gamelyn and Robin Hood and Adam Bell, chivalrous adventures in a world of enchantment find no place. The gradual disappearance of this element from the stories is striking, when one remembers how later writers have tried to see in Robin Hood 40the devotee of a witch religion or the folk memory of a pagan god.
