The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
The
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire is an 1883 novel by the American illustrator and writer Howard
Pyle. Consisting of a series of episodes
in the story of the English outlaw Robin Hood
and his band of Merry Men,
the novel compiles traditional material into a coherent narrative in a
colorful, invented "old
English" idiom that preserves some
flavor of the ballads, and adapts it for children.
The novel is notable for taking the subject of Robin Hood, which had been
increasingly popular through the 19th century, in a new direction that
influenced later writers, artists, and filmmakers through the next century.[1]
Character
The
plot follows Robin Hood as he becomes an outlaw after a conflict with foresters and through his many adventures and runs with the law. Each
chapter tells a different tale of Robin as he recruits Merry Men, resists the
authorities, and aids his fellow man. The popular stories of Little
John defeating Robin in a fight with
staffs, of Robin's besting at the hands of Friar
Tuck, and of his collusion with Allan
a Dale all appear. In the end, Robin and
his men are pardoned by King Richard the Lionheart and his band are incorporated into the king's retinue, much to the dismay of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Development and significance
Pyle
had been submitting illustrated poems and fairy tales to New
York publications since 1876, and had
met with success. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood was the first novel
he attempted. He took his material from Middle
Age ballads and wove them into a cohesive story, altering them for
coherence and the tastes of his child audience. For example, he included "Robin Hood and the
Curtal Friar" in the narrative order to
reintroduce Friar Tuck.
He needed a cooperative priest
for the wedding of outlaw Allan
a Dale to his sweetheart Ellen. In the
original "A Gest of Robyn Hode", the life is saved of an anonymous wrestler who had
won a bout but was likely to be murdered because he was a stranger. Pyle
adapted it and gave the wrestler the identity of David of Doncaster,
one of Robin's band in the story "Robin Hood and the
Golden Arrow". In his novelistic treatment
of the tales, Pyle thus developed several characters who had been mentioned in
only one ballad, such as David of Doncaster or Arthur
a Bland.
Pyle's
book continued the 19th-century trend of portraying Robin Hood as a heroic
outlaw who robs the rich to feed the poor; this portrayal contrasts with the
Robin Hood of the ballads, where the protagonist is an out-and-out crook, whose
crimes are motivated by personal gain rather than politics or a desire to help
others.[1] For instance, he modified the late 17th-century ballad
"Robin Hood's
Progress to Nottingham",
changing it from Robin killing fourteen foresters for not honoring a bet to
Robin defending himself against an attempt on his life by one of the foresters.
Pyle has Robin kill only one man, who shoots at him first. Tales are changed in
which Robin steals all that an ambushed traveler carried, such as the late
18th-century ballad "Robin Hood and the
Bishop of Hereford", so that the victim keeps a
third and another third is dedicated to the poor.
Pyle
did not have much concern for historical accuracy, but he renamed the
queen-consort in the story "Robin Hood and Queen
Katherine" as Eleanor
(of Aquitaine). This made her compatible historically with King Richard the Lion-Hearted, with whom Robin eventually makes peace.
The
novel was first published by Scribner's
in 1883, and met with immediate success,[1]
ushering in a new era of Robin Hood stories. It helped solidify the image of a
heroic Robin Hood, which had begun in earlier works such as Walter
Scott's 1819 novel Ivanhoe. In Pyle's wake, Robin Hood has become a staunch
philanthropist protecting innocents against increasingly aggressive villains.[1] Along with the publication of the Child
Ballads by Francis James Child,
which included most of the surviving Robin Hood ballads, Pyle's novel helped
increase the popularity of the Robin Hood legend in the United States. The
Merry Adventures also had an effect on subsequent children's literature. It
helped move the Robin Hood legend out of the realm of penny
dreadfuls and into the realm of respected
children's books.[2] After Pyle, Robin Hood became an increasingly popular
subject for children's books: Louis
Rhead's Bold Robin Hood and His Outlaw
Band (1912) and Paul Creswick's Robin Hood (1917), illustrated by Pyle's pupil N.
C. Wyeth, were children's novels after
Pyle's fashion.[2][3]
See also
- Le Prince des voleurs (The Prince of Thieves), posthumously by Alexandre Dumas (1872) — about Robin Hood (and the inspiration for the 1948 film The Prince of Thieves)
- Robin Hood le proscrit (Robin Hood the Outlaw), posthumously by Alexandre Dumas (1873) — sequel to Le Prince des voleurs
Notes
· Chandler, John H. (2006)."Robin
Hood: Development of a Popular Hero".
From The Robin Hood Project at the University of Rochester. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
· · Wright, Allen W. "Changes to the
Legend: Children's Stories and Comic Operas". From Wolfshead Through
the Ages: The History of Robin Hood.
Retrieved November 22, 2008.
3.
· Allen and Allen, p. 202.
References
- Allen, Douglas, and Douglas Allen Jr., N. C. Wyeth: The Collected Paintings, Illustrations, and Murals, New York, Crown Publishers, 1972, ISBN 0-517-50054-X
- The Robin Hood Project at the University of Rochester.
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