Robin Goodfellow in English folklore is a euphemistic personification of a half-tamed, troublesome elf or hob-goblin, a prankster who is the domesticated aspect of Puck. Folklore is the ethnographic concept of the tales, legends, or superstitions current among a particular population, a part of the oral history of a particular culture. ... A small forest elf (älva) rescuing an egg, from Solägget (1932), by Elsa Beskow An elf is a mythical creature of Germanic mythology which survived in northern European folklore. ... Hobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to a friendly or amusing goblin. ... Puck is a mischievous pre-Christian nature spirit. ...

Shakespeare refers to him in A Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 1. William Shakespeare—born April 1564; baptised April 26, 1564; died April 23, 1616 (O.S.), May 3, 1616 (N.S.)—has a reputation as the greatest of all writers in English. ... A Midsummer Nights Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare written in the mid-1590s. ...

Either I mistake your shape and making quite,

Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite

Called Robin Goodfellow...

Those that Hob-goblin call you, and sweet Puck,

You do their work, and they shall have good luck.

The earliest reference to 'Robin Goodfellow' cited by the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1531. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a comprehensive dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). ... Events January 26 - Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake-- thousands die October 1 - Battle of Kappel - The forces of Zürich are defeated by the Catholic cantons. ...

The name Robin is Middle English in origin, deriving from Old French Robin, the pet form for the name Robert. After Meyerbeer's successful opera Robert le Diable(1831), neo-medievalists and occultists began to apply the name Robin Goodfellow to the Devil, with appropriately extravagant imagery. Middle English is the name given by historical philologists to the diverse forms of the English language spoken in England from around the 12th to the 15th centuries— from after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror in 1066 to the mid to late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard... Old French is a term sometimes used to refer to the langue doïl, the continuum of varieties of Romance language spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of Belgium and Switzerland during the period roughly from 1000 to 1300 A.D... Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (September 5, 1791 – May 2, 1864) was a noted opera composer. ...

The character originates in German folklore. German folklore shares many characteristics with Scandinavian folklore due to origins in a common Germanic mythology. ...

According to the public domain 1898 edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... 1898 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable - sometimes referred to simply as Brewers - is a reference work containing definitions and explanations of many famous phrases, allusions and figures, whether historical or mythical. ...

[Robin Goodfellow was a] "drudging fiend", and merry domestic fairy, famous for mischievous pranks and practical jokes. At night-time he will sometimes do little services for the family over which he presides. The Scotch call this domestic spirit a brownie; the Germans, kobold or Knecht Ruprecht. Scandinavians called it Nissë God-dreng. Puck, the jester of Fairy-court, is the same.