Robin Hood's Adventures by Unknown
"Robin Hood's Adventures" is a classic tale centered on the legendary figure of Robin Hood, who is portrayed as the rightful Earl of Huntingdon before he becomes an outlaw. The story unfolds against a backdrop of social injustice, as Robin's father loses their estate, prompting Robin to retreat into Sherwood Forest. There, he assembles a band of outlaws, dedicated to redistributing wealth by stealing from the rich to aid the poor. Key events in his adventures include clever encounters with the Sheriff of Nottingham, a series of archery contests, and thrilling rescues of his captured companions.
As the narrative progresses, Robin's leadership and wit allow him to cleverly outmaneuver adversaries and gain allies, including characters like Little John and Friar Tuck. The tale culminates with King Richard the Lion-Hearted's return from the Crusades, where he pardons Robin and restores his title. However, Robin's longing for his outlaw life leads him to abandon his nobility, ultimately resulting in his tragic demise due to betrayal. Despite this, the story emphasizes themes of loyalty, justice, and the enduring spirit of rebellion against tyranny, leaving a lasting legacy that continues to resonate in popular culture.
On this Page
Robin Hood's Adventures by Unknown
First published: c. 1490
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Adventure
Time of plot: Thirteenth century
Locale: England
Principal characters
Robin Hood , earl of HuntingdonLittle John , ,Friar Tuck , ,Will Scarlet , ,A Tinker , andA Cook , the members of the band of merry menThe Sheriff of Nottingham ,Sir Richard of the Lea , Robin Hood’s friend
The Story:
Before he becomes an outlaw, Robin Hood is the rightful earl of Huntingdon. The times are corrupt, however, and Robin’s father is dispossessed of his estates. Young Robin is driven into Sherwood Forest, where he protests social injustice by organizing a band of outlaws to prey on the rich to give to the poor.
Robin Hood’s career as an outlaw begins when he is on his way to a shooting match in Nottingham. Some of the king’s foresters meet him in Sherwood Forest and mock his youth. One of the foresters wagers that Robin cannot slay a deer, so Robin kills one to win the bet. The penalty for killing one of the king’s stags, however, is death. The foresters give chase, and Robin is forced to hide in the forest. There he meets other landless, hunted men and becomes their leader.
While seeking adventure one day, Robin encounters a tall stranger at a bridge, and the stranger tumbles him into the stream. Robin then calls to his band of merry men, and together they soon overcome the stranger. A shooting match is then held between Robin and the stranger; Robin wins the match, and the stranger good-naturedly acknowledges defeat and joins Robin’s band. The outlaws call him Little John because he is so big.
The Sheriff of Nottingham, angered because Robin Hood flouts the sheriff’s authority, issues a warrant for the outlaw’s arrest. A tinker carries the warrant into the forest, where he meets Robin but fails to recognize the fugitive because Robin is disguised. Robin takes the tinker to the Blue Boar Inn, gets him drunk, and steals the warrant. Later, the tinker meets Robin in the forest and fights with him. Robin wins the bout, and the tinker happily joins the other men in Robin’s band.
The Sheriff of Nottingham grows more and more enraged by Robin’s boldness. When the king rebukes him for not capturing the outlaw, the sheriff devises another plan. Knowing that Robin Hood prides himself on his skill in archery, the sheriff proclaims a shooting match in Nottingham Tower, hoping to catch Robin and his men. They outwit him, however, for they enter the match in disguise. As a tattered stranger, Robin is awarded the golden arrow given to the winner of the match. After he returns to Sherwood Forest, he sends the sheriff a note of thanks for the prize, an act that infuriates the sheriff even more.
The band of outlaws lies low in the forest for a time, and then Robin Hood sends one of his men to learn the sheriff’s next plan. When the man is captured, Robin and the others set out to rescue him. As the man is being dragged forth in a cart to be hanged, Little John leaps into the cart and cuts the prisoner’s bonds. The other outlaws then run from their hiding places and overcome the sheriff’s men.
Next, Robin Hood buys some meat and takes it to Nottingham to sell to the poor at half price. Disguised as a butcher, he is thought by most people to be either a foolish peasant or a wealthy nobleman in disguise. When Robin offers to sell the sheriff a herd of cattle at a ridiculously low price, the sheriff gleefully accepts. Robin then takes the sheriff to Sherwood Forest, where he takes his money and then shows him the king’s deer, telling him that there stands his herd.
As a lark, Little John goes to the fair at Nottingham Tower, where he treats all the people to food and drink. While there, he is asked to enter the sheriff’s service because of his great size. Little John agrees, thinking that such employment might be fun. He finds life in the sheriff’s household so pleasant that he stays six months, but gradually he grows bored. He starts to treat the steward in an arrogant manner, and the steward calls the cook to fight Little John. Both men, however, have eaten such a huge meal before the fight that neither can win. Finally, they decide to stop because they do not really dislike each other. Little John then persuades the cook to join Robin’s band of merry men.
On another day, Robin Hood and his men go out to find Friar Tuck of Fountain Dale, supposedly a rich curate. Spying a strange monk singing and feasting beside a brook, Robin joins him. When Robin wishes to go across the water, he persuades the man to carry him on his back. On the return trip the monk, who is in reality Friar Tuck, dumps Robin into the water. After another great fight, with Robin the victor, the friar joyfully joins the outlaw band.
The queen, who has heard of Robin Hood’s prowess and is fascinated by stories told about him and his men, invites Robin to London. In an attempt to outwit the king, she proposes an archery match at which she will put up three archers against his best three. If her team wins, the king is to issue a pardon of forty days to certain prisoners. The king accepts the wager. The queen’s archers are Robin Hood, Little John, and Will Scarlet, all in disguise. Naturally, the outlaws win, although Will Scarlet is bested in his match. When the king learns that the queen’s archers are Robin Hood and two of his men, he is angry, and the outlaws escape capture only with the queen’s help. The others return safely to Sherwood Forest, but Robin Hood meets with many dangerous adventures as he makes his way back. During his journey he encounters Sir Richard of the Lea, a knight whom he had once aided, and Sir Richard advises him to return to London and throw himself on the queen’s mercy. He does so, and the queen persuades the king to give Robin safe escort back to Sherwood Forest and to pay the wager of the shooting match.
Returning from the Crusades, King Richard the Lion-Hearted decides to seek out Robin Hood and his outlaw band. With six others, all disguised as friars, Richard encounters Robin and his men and bests them. Richard then reveals himself and pardons Robin and his men. He also restores Robin to his rightful honors as the earl of Huntingdon.
On a visit to Sherwood Forest several years later, Robin Hood becomes so homesick for his old life that he gives up his title and returns to live with the outlaws. His action infuriates John, the new king, and the Sheriff of Nottingham. They send their men to capture the outlaws, and during the fighting the sheriff is killed. Robin, ill and much depressed by this bloodshed, goes to Kirkley Abbey, where his cousin is prioress, to be bled. The prioress is a treacherous woman, and she has him bled too long, so that he lies dying. At last Little John, having pulled down bolts and bars to get to Robin, reaches his leader’s bedside. As Robin lies dying in Little John’s arms, he asks for his bow and arrows and says that he wishes to be buried wherever his arrow falls; he then shoots an arrow through the window of the priory. Little John marks its flight, and Robin is buried beneath the ancient oak that was his last target. His merry men disband after his death, but the stories of their brave deeds and the prowess of Robin Hood live on.
Bibliography
The Ballad of Robin Hood. Sung by Anthony Quayle. Lyre by Desmond Dupré. Caedmon TC 1177, 1963. The Robin Hood ballads were intended to be sung, not read. Many of them seem banal until they are heard in Quayle and Dupré’s excellent renditions.
Dixon-Kennedy, Mike. The Robin Hood Handbook: The Outlaw in History, Myth, and Legend. Stroud, England: Sutton, 2006. Provides information about the characters, places, people, and background of the Robin Hood legend, drawing on the many different adaptations of the story, including poems, ballads, films, novels, and folklore.
Dobson, R. B., and John Taylor, comps. Rymes of Robyn Hood: An Introduction to the English Outlaw. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1976. Invaluable resource for the study of Robin Hood collects the very best of the medieval and early modern versions of the Robin Hood story into one volume. Contains an excellent introduction describing the history and development of the legend.
Holt, J. C. Robin Hood. Rev. and enlarged ed. London: Thames & Hudson, 1989. Highly readable book discusses at length the various claims for the existence of an actual historical Robin Hood.
Keen, Maurice. The Outlaws of Medieval Legend. Rev. ed. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987. Gives the historical context for the medieval legend of Robin Hood by relating it to the stories of other outlaws. Examines the social causes of the rise of such legends.
Phillips, Helen, ed. Robin Hood: Medieval and Post-Medieval. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2005. Collection of essays examines both the historical character of Robin Hood and literature about the character, including works by Ben Jonson, Charlotte Brontë, and Alfred Noyes.
Pollard, A. J. The First Robin Hood: The Early Stories in Historical Context, 1400-1550. New York: Routledge, 2004. Interprets the earliest stories and ballads about Robin Hood, placing them within the economic, political, and social context of fifteenth and early sixteenth century England.