Literawiki
Register
(Expanding unfinished hidden summary section.)
Tag: Source edit
(Expanding unfinished hidden summary section.)
Tag: Source edit
Line 168: Line 168:
 
When the Bishop of Hereford says he has to leave, Robin stops him. Robin points out that Sir Richard of Lea has three days in which to pay his debt to the Priory of Emmet and that the Bishop may try to stop his stolen money going to the Priory. For that reason, the Bishop will have to stay in Sherwood Forest for the next three days. Robin adds that the Bishop will enjoy himself so much that he will not want to leave.
 
When the Bishop of Hereford says he has to leave, Robin stops him. Robin points out that Sir Richard of Lea has three days in which to pay his debt to the Priory of Emmet and that the Bishop may try to stop his stolen money going to the Priory. For that reason, the Bishop will have to stay in Sherwood Forest for the next three days. Robin adds that the Bishop will enjoy himself so much that he will not want to leave.
   
Robin is right. The Bishop foes not want to leave Sherwood Forest at the end of the three days. As he leaves, however, he privately vows to take revenge on Robin Hood.-->
+
Robin is right. The Bishop foes not want to leave Sherwood Forest at the end of the three days. As he leaves, however, he privately vows to take revenge on Robin Hood.
  +
  +
;Chapter XV
  +
  +
On the afternoon after he leaves Sherwood Forest, Sir Richard of the Lea arrives at the Priory of Emmet. Accompanied by the armored Merry Men, he goes into the great hall, where the Prior is having a meal with guests including the Sheriff of Nottingham. Sir Richard kneels before the Prior, who asks him if he has come to pay his debt of £400. Sir Richard says that he has no money and asks the Prior to show him some mercy and allow him to keep his lands. The Sheriff of Nottingham suggests that the Prior should show some mercy by relieving Sir Richard of some of his debt. The Prior says that he will consider the debt settled and allow Sir Richard to keep his lands if he gives him £300 immediately. The Prior will not allow the knight another year or even another day in which to find that money. Having thus tricked the Prior into reducing his debt by £100, Sir Richard hands over £300 and leaves. Before leaving the great hall, Little John addresses the Sheriff and says he will tell Robin Hood of all that has happened.
  +
  +
A year and a day pass. Sir Richard of the Lea has prospered. He and his retinue set off for Sherwood Forest so that he can return the £500 that Robin Hood gave him. They stop at the town of Derby to attend the fair. Sir Richard is made one of the judges of the wrestling match. The popular local wrestler William of the Scar is defeated by a stranger from Nottingham. The fairgoers are angry that their local hero has been defeated by an outsider. Some time after the wrestling match, they attack the stranger and almost kill him. They all run off, however, when they see the armored Sir Richard coming on his horse. The stranger thanks Sir Richard for saving his life and says that he is David of Doncaster, the Merry Man and former famous wrestler. Sir Richard did not recognize him because he looks considerably older than he did the last time they saw each other. David's wounds are treated, he is cleaned up and given new clothes. Before leaving, Sir Richard tells the people of Derby that they almost killed one of the Merry Men and Robin Hood would surely have taken revenge on them if they had.
  +
  +
On arrival in Sherwood Forest, Sir Richard returns the £500 to Robin Hood. Robin says that he does not ant it and Sir Richard should keep it as a gift. Sir Richard, however, insists and Robin reluctantly takes it. Sir Richard also gives the Merry Men gifts of the finest new bows, arrows and quivers.-->
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
 
*[[wikisource:The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood|Text of Howard Pyle's ''The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood'' on Wikisource.]]
 
*[[wikisource:The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood|Text of Howard Pyle's ''The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood'' on Wikisource.]]

Revision as of 10:17, 31 July 2021

1946MerryAdventures

Front cover of a 1946 edition of The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood is a children's historical adventure novel of twenty-two chapters. It was written and illustrated by the American artist and author Howard Pyle and first published in 1883. It is based on earlier English folktales about the legendary outlaw Ronin Hood and on the ballads "A Gest of Robyn Hode", "Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar", "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisbourne", "Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow", "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham", "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" and "Robin Hood and Queen Katharine" that date from between the 15th and 18th centuries. Pyle weaves material from those various sources together to form a coherent narrative, albeit a highly episodic one.

The novel takes place in England in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, mostly in and around Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire and in neighboring counties. It follows the life story of Robin Hood from the time he becomes an outlaw, as a young man during the reign of King Henry II, through to his death in the year 1247. Robin soon becomes the leader of a band of outlaws known as the Merry Men. A large reward is offered for the capture of Robin Hood, the Sheriff of Nottingham is keen to claim that reward. He also has a personal reason for wanting to capture Robin Hood because Robin became an outlaw as a result of killing a man who was one of the Sheriff's relatives. Robin evades capture by the Sheriff of Nottingham numerous times. Eventually, the humiliated Sheriff stops trying to capture Ronin Hood and actively avoids trying to come into contact with him. Robin, however, continues to face other challenges. Although he makes a living from stealing, Robin never robs from ordinary, hard working people or anyone who cannot afford the loss. He targets people whose wealth comes from exploiting the masses, such as nobles and high ranking churchmen. He insists on valuables being returned to people who have done nothing to deserve having them stolen. Robin gives some of what he takes to the poor and he and his Merry Men try to help anyone in need in any way that they can. As a result, Robin Hood becomes very popular among the ordinary people of Nottinghamshire. He also gains fame as a skilled fighter and archer. Even King Henry II's wife Queen Eleanor wants to see Robin Hood's skill as an archer in person and brings him to London secretly so that she can. When King Henry II dies, he is succeeded by his son King Richard the Lion Heart. King Richard is a great admirer of Robin Hood. He pardons Robin Hood and all of his Merry Men and raises Robin to the nobility, making him Robert Earl of Huntington. Robin briefly becomes an outlaw again during the reign of Richard's brother King John. There is a final battle in which the Sheriff of Nottingham is finally and decisively defeated. Robin survives the battle but develops a fever as a result of his wounds. He goes to see his cousin, the Prioress of Kirlees, a skilled healer. She, however, betrays Robin and kills him. Chapters of The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood deal with how the Merry Men Little John, Will Scarlet, Allen a Dale, Midge the Miller's Son and Friar Tuck join Robin's band. Maid Marian does not appear as a character in the novel and there are only two brief references to her.

As the novel's title suggests, Pyle's Robin Hood is an extremely light hearted man who frequently laughs and treats most things that befall him as a "merry adventure" or a joke.

Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Ronin Hood was highly influential on later writers and filmmakers. It made the topic of Robin Hood, formerly seen as somewhat disreputable, a suitable one for respectable children's literature. It also helped to popularize the modern idea of Robin Hood as a good and heroic figure who robs from the rich to give to the poor. Some of the old English ballads that are Pyle's sources depict Robin Hood as a crook who steals merely for personal gain and a mass murderer. Although he becomes an outlaw as a result of killing a man, Pyle's Robin Hood deeply regrets causing the man's death and manages to carry on his dangerous career without ever killing anyone else for many years afterwards.

Although The Merry Adventures of Ronin Hood is written mostly in standard Modern English, all of the characters' dialogue is written in pseudo-Shakespearean English that some readers may find hard to understand.

External links