Merry Men

Last updated

Robin Hood and the Merry Men (illustration by Pablo Marcos, c. 1995) Robin Hood and His Merry Men.png
Robin Hood and the Merry Men (illustration by Pablo Marcos, c. 1995)

The Merry Men are the group of outlaws who follow Robin Hood in English literature and folklore. The group appears in the earliest ballads about Robin Hood and remains popular in modern adaptations.

Contents

History

The Merry Men are Robin Hood's group who work to rob from the rich and give to the poor. They have antagonized the tyrannical rule of Prince John while King Richard is fighting in the Crusades. This also puts them into conflict with Prince John's minions, Guy of Gisbourne and the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The early ballads give specific names to only three companions: Little John, Much the Miller's Son, and William Scarlock or Scathelock, the Will Scarlet of later traditions. Joining them are between 20 and "seven score" (140) outlawed yeomen. The most prominent of the Merry Men is Robin's second-in-command, Little John. He appears in the earliest ballads, and is mentioned in even earlier sources, such as Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Chronicle of around 1420 and Walter Bower's expansion of the Scotichronicon , completed around 1440. Later ballads name additional Merry Men, some of whom appear in only one or two ballads, while others, like the minstrel Alan-a-Dale and the jovial Friar Tuck, became fully attached to the legend. Several of the Robin Hood ballads tell the story of how individual Merry Men join the group; this is frequently accomplished by defeating Robin in a duel.

The phrase "merry man" was originally a generic term for any follower or companion of an outlaw, knight, or similar leader. [1] Robin's band are called "mery men" in the oldest known Robin Hood ballad, "Robin Hood and the Monk", [2] which survives in a manuscript completed after 1450. [3]

Known members

He features more frequently in Howard Pyle's work. In The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood , he appears as one of the youngest in the band, and a wrestler. As in Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, he warns Robin that a competition is a trap, inspiring Robin to take the same precautions as in the ballad, but also in other tales. In A Gest of Robyn Hode , Sir Richard at the Lee saves an anonymous yeoman wrestler, who had won in a bout but was nearly murdered because he was a stranger, and apologised for the delay, with Robin saying that helping any yeomen pleases him, but in Pyle's account, the wrestler is David of Doncaster, and Robin is deeply grateful. He also appears in various other adventures as a minor character; where Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly has an unnamed "brave young man" questioning a palmer to learn about the hanging, Pyle specifies that it is David who asks.

Modern additions

Several modern adaptations add a member to the group who is a Moor or Saracen:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Hood</span> Heroic outlaw in English folklore

Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. He stole from the rich and gave to the poor. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depicted as being of noble birth, and in modern retellings he is sometimes depicted as having fought in the Crusades before returning to England to find his lands taken by the Sheriff. In the oldest known versions, he is instead a member of the yeoman class. He is traditionally depicted dressed in Lincoln green.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little John</span> Companion of Robin Hood

Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, alongside Much the Miller's Son. His name is an ironic reference to his giant frame, as he is usually portrayed in legend as a huge warrior – a 7-foot-tall (2.1-metre) master of the quarterstaff. In folklore, he fought Robin Hood on a tree bridge across a river on their first meeting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maid Marian</span> Love interest of Robin Hood in English folklore

Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circumstances are obscure, but she commanded high respect in Robin’s circle for her courage and independence as well as her beauty and loyalty. For this reason, she is celebrated by feminist commentators as one of the early strong female characters in English literature.

Much, the Miller's Son is one of the Merry Men in the tales of Robin Hood. He appears in some of the oldest ballads, A Gest of Robyn Hode and Robin Hood and the Monk, as one of the company.

The Bishop of Hereford is a character in the Robin Hood legend. He is typically portrayed as a wealthy and greedy clergyman who is robbed by Robin and his Merry Men.

Alan-a-Dale is a figure in the Robin Hood legend. According to the stories, he was a wandering minstrel who became a member of Robin's band of outlaws, the "Merry Men".

Will Scarlet is a prominent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men. He is present in the earliest ballads along with Little John and Much the Miller's Son.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnsdale</span> Area of South Yorkshire, England

Barnsdale, or Barnsdale Forest, is an area of South and West Yorkshire, England. The area falls within the modern-day districts of Doncaster and Wakefield. Barnsdale was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Barnsdale is commonly associated with Robin Hood.

<i>The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood</i> Book by Howard Pyle

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire is an 1883 novel by the American illustrator and writer Howard Pyle. Pyle compiled the traditional Robin Hood ballads as a series of episodes of a coherent narrative. For his characters' dialog, Pyle adapted the late Middle English of the ballads into a dialect suitable for children.

Richard at the Lee is a major character in the early medieval ballads of Robin Hood, especially the lengthy ballad A Gest of Robyn Hode, and has reappeared in Robin Hood tales throughout the centuries.

Gilbert Whitehand is a member of Robin Hood's Merry Men about whom next to nothing is known. It is possible that he is a character known from oral literature, with only allusions remaining in written literature.

"Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" is an English-language folk song about Robin Hood.

<i>Robin Hoods Death</i> 17th-century ballad

Robin Hood's Death, also known as Robin Hoode his Death, is an Early Modern English ballad of Robin Hood. It dates from at the latest the 17th century, and possibly originating earlier, making it one of the oldest existing tales of Robin Hood. It is a longer version of the last six stanzas of A Gest of Robyn Hode, suggesting that one of the authors was familiar with the other work and made an expansion or summary of the other, or else both were drawing from a lost common tale. The surviving version in the Percy Folio is fragmentary, with sections missing. A more complete but later version is from the middle of the 18th century, and is written in modern English. Both versions were later published by Francis James Child as Child ballad #120 in his influential collection of popular ballads.

"Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow" is an English folk song, part of the Robin Hood canon. It features an archery competition for a golden arrow that has long appeared in Robin Hood tales, but it is the oldest recorded one where Robin's disguise prevents his detection.

<i>A Gest of Robyn Hode</i> Middle English ballad

A Gest of Robyn Hode is one of the earliest surviving texts of the Robin Hood tales. Written in late Middle English poetic verse, it is an early example of an English language ballad, in which the verses are grouped in quatrains with an ABCB rhyme scheme, also known as ballad stanzas. Gest, which means tale or adventure, is a compilation of various Robin Hood tales, arranged as a sequence of adventures involving the yeoman outlaws Robin Hood and Little John, the poor knight Sir Richard at the Lee, the greedy abbot of St Mary's Abbey, the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham, and King Edward of England. The work survives in printed editions from the early 16th century, just some 30 years after the first printing press was brought to England. Its popularity is proven by the fact that portions of more than ten 16th- and 17th-century printed editions have been preserved. While the oldest surviving copies are from the early 16th century, many scholars believe that based on the style of writing, the work likely dates to the 15th century, perhaps even as early as 1400. The story itself is set somewhere from 1272 to 1483, during the reign of a King Edward; this contrasts with later works, which generally placed Robin Hood earlier in 1189–1216, during the reigns of Richard I of England and John, King of England.

<i>Robin Hood and the Monk</i> 15th-century ballad

Robin Hood and the Monk is a Middle English ballad and one of the oldest surviving ballads of Robin Hood. The earliest surviving document with the work is from around 1450, and it may have been composed even earlier in the 15th century. It is also one of the longest ballads at around 2,700 words. It is considered one of the best of the original ballads of Robin Hood.

<i>Robin Hood</i> (1991 British film) 1991 British film

Robin Hood is a 1991 British adventure film directed by John Irvin, executive produced by John McTiernan, and starring Patrick Bergin, Uma Thurman, Jürgen Prochnow, Jeroen Krabbé, and Edward Fox. Although originally intended for a theatrical release in the United States and South America, the film instead premiered on television, on the Fox network in those territories a month before the release of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It was released in cinemas in several countries in Europe and elsewhere, including Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Hood in popular culture</span> Pop culture interpretations of Robin Hood

The folkloric hero Robin Hood has appeared many times, in many different variations, in popular modern works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friar Tuck</span> Character from the Robin Hood folklore

Friar Tuck is one of the Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wentbridge</span> Village in West Yorkshire, England

Wentbridge is a village and civil parish in the Wakefield district of West Yorkshire, England. It lies around 3 miles (5 km) southeast of its nearest town of size, Pontefract, close to the A1 road.

References

  1. "Merry man, n.". Oxford English Dictionary . 2001. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  2. "Robin Hood and the Monk" line 35; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997)
  3. Robin Hood and the Monk: Introduction in Knight and Ohlgren (1997)
  4. Stephen Knight (Editor), Thomas H. Ohlgren Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, note 35
  5. Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow"
  6. McSpadden, J. Walker (1904). Stories of Robin Hood and His Merry Outlaws. Thomas Y. Crowell & Company.
  7. Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar: Introduction; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997)
  8. "A Gest of Robyn Hode" lines 1165–8, 1600–16; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997)
  9. "A Gest of Robyn Hode" lines 595–600; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997)
  10. "A Gest of Robyn Hode" lines 1169–72; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997)
  11. Jeffrey Richards, (1980). Swordsmen of the Screen: From Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York, p. 190. Routledge & Kegan Paul, Lond, Henly and Boston.
  12. Robin Hood and Maid Marian: Introduction; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997)
  13. "Robin Hood and the Tinker"; in Child (1882–1889)
  14. Pyle, Howard (1929) [1883]. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 15.
  15. Rhead, Louis (1912). Bold Robin Hood and His Outlaw Band. Harper & Brothers. p. 100.
  16. "A Gest of Robyn Hode" lines 651–715; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997)
  17. Marsh, John B. (1865). The Life and Adventures of Robin Hood. George Routledge and Sons. pp. 259, 268.
  18. McSpadden, J. Walker (1904). Stories of Robin Hood and His Merry Outlaws. Thomas Y. Crowell & Company. p. 56.
  19. "Robin Hood and the Ranger"; in Child (1882–1889)
  20. "The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield" Introduction; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997)
  21. "The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield" Ballad Text; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997)
  22. "George a Greene" Robin Hood: The Facts and the Fiction.
  23. International Robin Hood Bibliography
  24. Warren, Maude Radford (1914). Robin Hood and His Merry Men. Rand McNally & Company. p. 46.
  25. Gilbert, Henry (1994) [1912]. Robin Hood (originally published as Robin Hood and the Men of the Greenwood). Wordsworth Editions. p. 102. ISBN   1853261270.
  26. "Robin Hood and the Scotchman"; in Child (1882–1889)
  27. "Robin Hood and the Beggar, I"; in Child (1882–1889)
  28. Munday, Anthony (1615). Metropolis Coronata, the Trivmphes Of Ancient Drapery: Or, Rich Cloathing Of England, In a Second Yeeres Performance In Honour Of the Aduancement Of Sir Iohn Iolles, Knight, To the High Office Of Lord Maior Of London, and Taking His Oath For the Same Authoritie, On Monday, Being the 30. Day Of October. 1615. Performed In Heartie Affection To Him, and At the Bountifull Charges Of His Worthy Brethren the Truely Honourable Society Of Drapers, the First That Receiued Such Dignitie In This Citie. Deuised, and Written, By A. M. London: George Purslowe. pp. B3.

Further reading