“Under the grene wode tre:”

The Greenwood’s Place in Preservationism

Abstract

The term “preservation” usually applies to the human practice of safeguarding the environment. However, in the case of the outlaws’ greenwood, the roles are reversed: the greenwood becomes the protector and preserver of the human. The medieval forest in general is expected to be dark, mysterious, and dangerous. However, the forest found in the early Robin Hood ballads never fits this description—unless the trespasser is a villain. It is a refuge, protecting the outlaw from others. It is home, for Robin and his men. This article examines the medieval cultural consciousness regarding the space of the forest in England, and how the greenwood both fits and deviates from this view. In doing so, through an ecocritical lens, this essay explores the transformative quality of Sherwood/Barnsdale Forest into a space of safety rather than danger in Middle English ballads, and discusses this transformation in relation to Robin’s outlaw status: What are the associations between outlawry and nature? When is the forest vilified, when is it embraced? What is the role of the outlaw in nature? And how does the presence of the outlaw alter the positionality of the forest in society, then and now?