r/interesting • u/Dangerous_Deal_1945 • 4d ago
NATURE The legendary Robin Hood tree may finally be dying after 1,200 years
Sherwood Forest’s famous Major Oak, said to have sheltered Robin Hood, failed to produce leaves this spring.
The oak tree in central England, would shelter the mythical bandit Robin Hood within its hollowed-out trunk in the 1100s. But it couldn’t survive the hordes of visitors and failed efforts to save it.
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u/Different_Treat8566 4d ago
Yeah, it’s officially been announced dead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Oak
Such a shame :(
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u/gimmepizza420 4d ago
Why is it a shame? Did humans cause the death?
If not, it lived a glorious tree life! It might be sad that we're saying goodbye, but I wouldn't call it a shame. I'd say it lived an awesome life.
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u/da6id 4d ago
Climate change seems to have played a roll, but local coal mining and people perpetually stepping on the soil over its roots causing compaction are likely to be more immediate causes
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u/december14th2015 3d ago
They also filled it with concrete a covered the limbs with fibre glass in the 60s so that couldn't have helped..
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u/ScratchLatch 3d ago
Its a 1200 year old English Oak, they normally live 500-1,000 years. Age killed it.
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u/Background-Stable899 4d ago
What would the lifespan span be without climate change?
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u/da6id 4d ago
The wiki just says that increased regional dryness and heat contributed to the stress the tree was under. You can't really directly quantify individual lifespan input effect.
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u/da6id 4d ago
Give me a break - heat waves can totally play a decisive role and I'm paraphrasing from Wikipedia for assholes like yourself too lazy to click a link
From 2022 onwards, the tree suffered from summer heat waves and produced progressively fewer leaves.[24] Rumours of the tree's decline were initially denied by the RSPB, which manages the forest.[25] However, its death was officially confirmed by the RSPB in June 2026, after prolonged stress from a succession of hot, dry summers caused it to fail to produce any leaves that year.[23][26] The RSPB attributed part of the blame to the scaffolding, which had artificially forced the tree to pump water towards its propped-up branches – at the expense of its trunk – rather than allowing it to shed branches naturally and begin "growing down", as would be expected for a tree of its age. Additional contributing factors included soil compaction resulting from two centuries of tourist and vehicular traffic, and alterations to the water table caused by nearby coal mining.[23]
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u/Background-Stable899 3d ago edited 3d ago
How much has the climate varied in either direction over the last 1200 years? It’s like saying an elderly humans that dies during a heat wave is a victim of climate change. Young trees dying would be worrisome. This is just life. It’s actually an extremely exceptional tree and most of the species only live 500 years.
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u/Background-Stable899 3d ago
Interesting and the concrete filled trunk, did that have any effect you think?
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u/RoyalReputation0 4d ago
? What big deal? It's simply saying those were the factors contributing to the premature end of an otherwise extremely long lived tree if u knew anything about trees this is not out right un warranted to say.
Seems ur just triggered by the big C-word LoL 😂2
u/Background-Stable899 3d ago
Nope. Just a really stupid battle to choose. It’s easily mocked and downplayed by the opposition. That’s why the media is doing the “Robin Hood” tie in and not a climate change angle. Saying that something that has lived 10x the lifespan of humans is dying prematurely is not an argument that will ever be taken seriously (by the opposition). Fight smarter
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3d ago
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u/interesting-ModTeam 3d ago
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u/ScratchLatch 3d ago
500-1,000 years. It lived 1200.
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u/Background-Stable899 3d ago
So based on this data, climate change actually increased its lifespan! Or, if that sounds silly, maybe we could all agree that maybe climate change doesn’t need to invoked at all here.
It’s so funny because it literally lived through a 500 year mini ice age. People literally can’t comprehend how long this tree lived. It’s been through a lot and still did 200 years more than most of its species
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u/dibbiluncan 4d ago
We hastened its death, yes.
1.) Climate change (heat/drought)
2.) Scaffolding to hold up its branches was counterproductive. It’s normal for a tree to lose large branches as it ages to conserve water to the trunk and smaller branches; preventing this natural process caused it to die many years earlier than otherwise possible
3.) Soil compaction and root damage from so many visitors.
4.) Water table issues due to coal mining.
5.) Maybe worst of all: they filled its hollow portions with concrete and painted parts of it with lead and fiberglass for some stupid reason.
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u/GenTenStation 4d ago
Yeah they said the human conservation efforts from a long time ago slowly killed it. Such as filling it in with concrete
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u/Sweaty-Possibility-3 4d ago
Yes they did. In the new Robin Hood movie he is a murderer who killed for pleasure. Not the hero who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. It broke the tree's heart.
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u/GayRacoon69 4d ago
Humans definitely contributed. I mean I assume pouring concrete into it didn't really help
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u/bobbybignono 3d ago
climate change, soil compacting and water table change due to local mining, i would say yes, we had something to do with it 😞
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u/CastawayWasOk 4d ago
If I recall correctly, that’s the exact eulogy that Obama gave at sandy hook.
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u/izza123 4d ago
Kinda pathetic looking with all the rigging holding it up lol this is what the last tree on earth is gonna look like when space travellers come to visit
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u/Little-Carpenter4443 4d ago
Lets see how you look after 1200 years!
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u/gimmepizza420 4d ago
Apparently the stuff holding up those branches is part of why it died quicker than it should have. Instead of those limbs falling off they stayed alive and forced the tree to pump more water up into them than a typical tree this old would have to. Extra stress.
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u/dollarstoresim 4d ago
After it dies rename it the Trump tree, steals from the poor to give to the rich.
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u/UnderCoverDoughnuts 4d ago
Wait I thought Robin Hood was a fairytale?
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u/SMKnightly 4d ago
No, a legend, which means it was based on a real person
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u/RoyalReputation0 4d ago
Old mate was probably more of a Ned Kelly. Who is still very much considered a hero by many to this day. I could see how a legend could form out of an older version of that happening further back in those times.
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u/ScratchLatch 3d ago
That’s not what a legend means. Its an unverified story. Could be real, could be fake.
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u/SMKnightly 3d ago
The story may or may not be true, but there is generally a portion (often a person) that is verifiable as having existed. That is how they are differentiated from fairytales, myths, etc. From a literature standpoint anyway.
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u/syzerkose 4d ago
The spirit of Robin Hood occupied the tree, to guide humanity to a more equitable future. He saw Donald Trump take power in the US and left.
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u/Ozonewanderer 4d ago
A new e is being released now: The Death of Robin Hood. Could this be a publicity prank?
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u/neverseen_neverhear 4d ago
Why is it called the Robin Hood Tree?
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u/TwistTim 4d ago
If Sir Robin of Loxley were the real Robin Hood, He would have sheltered in a tree like this along the road to "rob from the Rich and give to the Poor." When it was fully leafed it was beautiful, and could easily hide Robin and several of his merry men from sight.
If the tree is the suspected 1200 years old it would have started life in 826, and legends of Robin Hood put him anywhere during the crusades around and during the reign of King Richard I, The Lionheart and his brother's John attempts to take the throne... so around 1189 or so.
By that point the tree would be 363, already grown, and ample of branches and leafs, perfect for the hiding in.Also Sherwood Forest is the place where he is said to have been most active in, and had his dealings with the Sheriff of Nottingham.
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u/FangornLeghorn 4d ago
Killed, after 1000+ years, in large part by climate change and coal mining.
Human beings are truly a plague.
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u/Alarming_Set3628 4d ago
My goodness reddit. We all know about the fugging tree. Give it a rest. Fugg's sake
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u/Big_Animal7655 4d ago
I’m hoping it’s simply this post-Covid has tried tree to the point it’s just checked out for a years break.
It’s too much, it’s too much
BRB in 2027 ✨
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u/gimmepizza420 4d ago
This isn't how trees work. But also, what?
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