Summary - The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire

Book Title: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire

Author: Howard Pyle

Publisher: New York: Scribner's, 1883

Date published: 1883

The number of pages: 192 Pages

Genre (Type of book): Children's Literature, fiction, historical

 

Why did you decide to read this book? 

Because I’m interested in this famous children's story

Were you glad that you decided to read it? Explain!

Yes, I really enjoyed reading it because I am very interested in western children's storybooks

What did you like best about this book?

This book clearly tells about the Robin Hood's Characters

What did you like least?

So far there is no part that I didn't like about this book.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Explain!

this is recommended to everyone who loves children's storybook

On a scale of 1-10, how difficult was this book for you? (1 easy, 10 difficult) Why?

8. I really the story of Robin Hood, because I often heard about Robin Hood's story when I was a child.

In Nottingham, England, during the reign of Henrik II, Robin Hood, and his merry companions were residing in the forest of Sherwood. Robin Hood was an outlaw loved by people because of his willingness to help. When he was eighteen years old, he decided to participate in a king's archery contest, fighting for the beer as a first prize.

On his way, he met a gang of men who were making fun of his belief in victory. They were betting with him in testing his archery skills and lost, trying to hit him with an arrow but Robin manages to escape the drunk archers and even kill one of them. From that moment on he was an outlaw and a crook who stayed in the forest.

Besides that, he was accused of being a deer poacher as well, with his head prized for 200 pounds. The Nottingham Sheriff decided to be the one catching the Robin, so he could get the money prize and revenge for the death of his cousin, an archer who Robin killed.

In the next year, a lot of other outlaws began to gather in the forest, soon electing Robin to be their leader. They've decided to steal from the rich and give to the poor and all the others who experienced some kind of injustice.

They were always in the search of a good adventure, and one day Robin met a man while he was crossing the same bridge as he was. The bridge was narrow, with enough space for only one person, and because no one wanted to step aside, they decided to have a duel. The man appeared to be equally strong as Robin so he offered him a place as his companion, named him Little John, and made him sit at Robin's right side during the dinner, giving him also the role of his main assistant.

The sheriff of Nottingham declared the warrant for arresting Robin Hood, providing also a wealthy prize for all the information about him as well. But everyone in Nottingham knew about Robin and didn't want to betray him, so the sheriff sent a messenger to the town of Lincoln, where he could find someone willing to talk about Robin.

Messenger decided to rest in a pub where he met a group of people and told them about his mission of finding Robin Hood. One of the men from that group offered to find Robin Hood because he thought that would be easy, so he went on his search the next morning.

Soon he saw Robin Hood in the forest, but he didn't know that was him so he listened to his story about a wicked and slick Robin Hood who could even steal his warrant. The man believed him and went with him to the local pub where everyone knew Robin, and when he got drunk, Robin stole his warrant, leaving them to pay for all the bills, although he already got that covered.

The next time they met, Robin Hood offered him a position in his company, and the man decided to join them. The sheriff soon heard about that incident and decided to punish the messenger sentencing him to death punishment. He asked king's assistance and got declined because the king thought he should be able for ruling his territory by himself.

The sheriff decided to organize a tournament with wealthy prizes, trying to lurk, Robin Hood. Robin Hood decided to enter the competition but wearing a mask because he was aware of the sheriff's plan. The sheriff was disappointed by Robin's absence, but soon the masked contestant caught everyone's attention.

After he won the tournament, the sheriff himself handed him a prize, offering him a job and
describing Robin Hood as a poor archer and a coward. Masked Robin declined the sheriff's offer and even sent him a message to let him know he was the one who won the grand prize.

The sheriff got extremely offended so he sent his troops to the forest in a search for Robin and his people, who decided to lay low for a while. After a week, they sent Will Stutley dressed as a monk in a search for some information, but at a local pub sheriff's soldiers recognized him as one of Robin's men by seeing his green clothes showing underneath the habit.

They took him to Nottingham to hang him as a warning to the others, but Robin and the men come to the rescue and defeated the sheriff's troops as well. The sheriff decided to stop persuading Robin after he was deceived three times in a row.

Over the next year, Robin and his company were living peacefully, until one day Robin met a butcher and bought all of his meat, decided on selling it by himself at a local market. He soon became suspicious because of his low prices, so other sellers invited him to have lunch with the sheriff.

The sheriff didn't recognize him, but he offered to buy off his trade for some cheap money, trying to trick him. Robin took him to the forest where his men surprised him and he had to pay a lot of money only to gain his freedom back. Robin told him that was a lesson for him to keep in mind if he ever tries to deceive someone in the future again.

Once every five years, there was an organized fair followed by a knight tournament. Robin Hood wasn't competing because of the uninteresting prize, but Little John entered the contest and won. The sheriff didn't recognize him because of the mask he was wearing, so he offered him a job, and Little John accepted.

After a couple of months, Little John got used to the lavishing lifestyle, becoming lazier and gaining weight. He got in a fight with the servant who refused to serve him breakfast, so he entered the pantry on his own, which resulted in another fight, this time with the chef. Servant's stories enhanced the chef's fury against the Little John, but somehow they managed to solve their problem and Little John even invited the chef to join the company.

They returned to the forest together, bringing some of the silver plates and cutlery which belonged to the sheriff. Robin wasn't approving that theft, so he made them return the stolen goods.

Robin Hood sent Little John to order new green uniforms for the group, but he went to the bar instead. Robin decided to search for him, but he met a deer poacher in the forest and started following him. The poacher soon got into a fight with Little John, defeating him and earning himself an invitation to their gang as well.

On their way back they stumble across a stranger wearing luxurious clothes, asking him to give them all of his possessions. The nobleman refused, and soon they found out he was seeking Robin's protection and membership in their company because he murdered one of his father's servants. Robin Hood advised him to change his name and named him Will Scarlett, inspired by the color of his clothes.

Then, the crew met a miller and tried to make a joke with him by pretending to be robbers, but he warned them his protection is secured by the Robin Hood and his gang and even threw them some flour in the face. Robin then introduced himself but miller believed him only when he saw the rest of the company arriving.

He became a member of the company as well, and then they threw a lavishing party, honoring all the new members of the companionship. The money supplies were getting short, so Robin sent a couple of the group members to search for someone who would pay the cost of the celebration. After a long search, they found a young man crying. That was Allan a Dale, a traveling singer who was in love with a girl promised to another man. The company promised to help him marry the woman he loves, so he joined them as well.

Will Scarlett inspired them to find friar Tuck who would marry them and invite him to the company as well. On the wedding day, Robin stopped the ceremony dressed as a singer to announce to the groom a bride is in love with someone else. Her father stood against it, but the groom let her go and the father of the bride also agreed when Robin offered him some money.

The company was searching for people to invite to the wedding party, so Robin ran into knight Richard. He refused to participate because all of his property was pledged by the church as a guarantee of payment he should provide. After all, his son murdered sir Walter at some tournament.

The rest of the company brought the bishop and the friars to the dinner, where Robin told them all about the tragic destiny of knight Richard, asking for the bishop's help, who haven't replied. Robin collected and offered all of the companion's money to pay for sir Richard's debt, who promised to return the money to them, considering it as a loan.

Early that spring, Little John, and Robin Hood went on a search for an adventure, dressed as a friar and a beggar. They went in different directions. Soon, John helped some ladies carry their bags and then went to the pub, where everyone was buying him drinks and he was singing songs. A couple of real friars arrived, trying to shame Little John for his behavior inappropriate for the members of the clergy, but he made fun of them as well, making the others laugh.

Robin, on the other side, decided to switch his clothes with some beggar, in exchange for a meal. Dressed in his clothes he went on searching for adventure, but soon he met a group of four beggars, each wearing a different sign; one saying that his owner is deaf, another one was blind, the third stupid, and the fourth poor. They invited him to share a meal together and when they heard he was from Sherwood, they started to talk they would never go there because of them being afraid of Robin Hood.

They were actually carrying a lot of money in a town near and they were just disguised to look poor. After a while, they started to suspect Robin was a spy, so they attacked them but he conquered them all, also taking all of their money with him.

In the search for another adventure, he met a rich man, who first acted very rude because he considered Robin to be poor, but after seeing his money he decided to travel with him. He warned Robin to keep his money hidden inside his shoes, where Robin Hood couldn't find it, so Robin introduced himself and robbed him as well.

Richard Partington came to Sherwood as a queen's messenger, asking Robin to come to the tournament in London. Robin took Little John, Will Scarlett, and Allan a Dale with him, and they told the queen all about their adventures. On the tournament day, the queen told the king she'll be bringing the best archers in the whole country who can beat all of his guard members, who were considered the best. King accepted her challenge but got really mad when Robin and his friends won, asking for a rematch, and then losing again.

Although the king promised the queen he will give 40-day-long freedom to Robin and his men, disappointed by his loss at the tournament and motivated by the bishop, he sent his men to arrest Robin. Queen sent Richard Partington to warn them so they managed to escape. A search for Robin and his company continued for a long time, until Robin returned to the queen, seeking her merciful protection and assistance.

King Richard was traveling the country and was expected at Nottingham as well. He tried to find out more about Robin Hood from the sheriff, but he described him as a common thief. The others were talking a lot about Robin, so the evening passed in laughter and joy. The king decided to disguise himself and surprise Robin who robbed him, unaware of his true identity. Robin spoke very fondly about the king so he asked him to join his royal service, and the Robin with his crew accepted the opportunity.

Epilog describes the lifestyle of the company after resigning from the runaway life. Little John returned to Nottingham after a couple of years spent at the royal castle and Will Scarlett returned home as well. Robin as a king's favorite got the title of the Dutch of Huntington and became king's warrior, followed by Allan a Dale and his wife wherever he went.

After returning to Sherwood he decides to stay with the rest of his company, but the descendant of King Richard, King John sent his army to the wood trying to make Robin change his opinion. King's men soon got defeated by Robin's company, killing the sheriff as well.

Robin got ill with a fever, so he went to his cousin searching for help and care. She was scared because he heard he became an outlaw again, so she was only pretending she is helping, but actually left Robin bleeding to death.