When discussing the mythical origins of Robin Hood, Peter J. Neville Havens, in his book "The Forests of England", (Robert Hale and Co, 1976) suggests that:
"It is also pointed out that in certain West-Midland shires words prefixed by a "w" often lose it in pronunciation. Woden - the old Norse god - would thus have been pronounced in those parts as 'oden' or 'ooden' ... if we stay with the West-Midland pronunciation it would be well to remember that 'wood' is pronounced as 'ood' even to this day. Robin Hood could thus be simply 'Robin of the wood' via Robin a 'ood to Robin Hood." (Robin or Robert atte Wood).
He does point out however that speculation could be endless, but it is an interesting suggestion nonetheless.
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