The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1883

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Preface-Prologue

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Preface-PrologueChapter Summaries & Analyses

Preface Summary

The author emphasizes that this book will be innocent, carefree, and entertaining, with an idyllic and fantasy-like setting and serious historical personages portrayed in a lighthearted guise.

Prologue Summary

The story opens in England during the reign of King Henry II (reigned 1154-1189). Robin Hood is a “famous outlaw” and skilled archer who lives in Sherwood Forest near the town of Nottingham with his “merry men”—a band of 140 yeomen who live a carefree life apart from society playing games of archery, engaging in cudgel play, and hunting and eating the deer (venison) that roam on the King’s property. Although a criminal in the eyes of the law, Robin Hood is beloved by the country folk because he helps them and gives them money in times of need.

The Prologue recounts how Robin Hood came to be an outlaw. At the age of 18, he decides to take part in an archery match organized by the Sheriff of Nottingham. While walking to the match, he meets a group of foresters who mock his youth and ambitions. The argument escalates, and Robin Hood bets one of the men that he can shoot a distant deer with his bow and arrow. He succeeds; but, unknown to Robin, the deer is on the King’s land, and anyone who poaches on the King’s property will be severely punished. The men let Robin go because of his youth, but the forester who lost the bet—who has been drinking—shoots an arrow at Robin as he departs. The arrow narrowly misses Robin, and Robin shoots another arrow back, killing the forester. Robin flees, full of remorse. The Sheriff of Nottingham swears that he will bring Robin to justice, both for the reward money and because the man Robin killed was a relative of his.

While hiding in Sherwood Forest for a year, Robin gathers a hundred or more companions and becomes their leader. They vow to right wrongs and protect the poor from their oppressors, to return to the poor what has been unjustly taken from them, and to protect women and children. The Merry Men will lead a life of adventure, and whenever he is in trouble, Robin will blow three blasts on his horn as a signal to his companions to come help him. The common folk come to identify with Robin Hood and the Merry Men and to tell stories about their exploits.

One day while in search of adventure, Robin meets and gets in a fight with a tall, strapping fellow named John Little on a bridge over a stream. Robin invites him to join the Merry Men and, with a mock baptism ceremony, changes his name to Little John. Little John becomes Robin’s right-hand man.

Preface-Prologue Analysis

In the brief Preface, Pyle dons the role of a master of ceremonies. He introduces the style and tone we can expect from the book and mentions several of the characters we will meet. He also reveals the method whereby he composed the book: the characters are “all bound by nothing but a few odd strands of certain old ballads (snipped and clipped and tied together again in a score of knots)” (4). Pyle emphasizes the idealization and escapism inherent in his picture of medieval England:

This country is not Fairy-land. What is it? ‘Tis the land of Fancy, and is of that pleasant kind that, when you tire of it,—whisk!—you clap the leaves of this book together and ‘tis gone, and you are ready for every-day life, with no harm done (4).

The Prologue functions like a “prequel,” giving us the backstory of Robin Hood and the Merry Men. They are all outcasts for one reason or another and have come to Sherwood Forest “to escape wrong and oppression” (9). This common social status is what binds them together in solidarity. They vow to help other oppressed people and live by a code of honor and chivalry. In a short time, they become legendary, the subject of stories told by the common folk. Thus, acting as outlaws on behalf of the common good, the Merry Men combine the behavior of highway robbers with the moral code of a very different class, the knights. They dwell between several different social classes and between accepted behaviors of virtue and lawlessness. Outsiders to conventional society, their conception of good is defined outside the categories dictated by that society.

In addition to recounting the early deeds of Robin and his men, the Prologue briefly introduces the chief antagonist, the Sheriff of Nottingham, hinting that his plots to capture Robin will create much of the conflict of the book.

The Prologue also accomplishes the task of introducing Little John, one of the best-known characters in the Robin Hood tales. His origin story presents the classic combination of rough-and-tumble fighting with good humor and friendship that will be a constant motif in the book. More friends will be added as the book progresses, but with Robin, Little John, and the Sheriff, the core of the cast is complete.