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Will Stutely or Will Stutly is in English folklore a prominent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men. He was possibly confused with Will Scarlet because of the similarities in their surnames.
He was present in two of the ballads in the Child collection, although not ones dating from the early medieval period. Sometimes Stutely is just another name for Will Scarlet, a character appearing in the early ballads under many last names.
In Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly , Will was set to spy on the Sheriff of Nottingham and captured; the ballad recounts his rescue from the gallows.
In the ballad Robin Hood and Little John, Stutely is one of the men summoned by Robin's horn when Little John bests him, and when Robin takes him into the band, it is Stutely who questions Little John and gives him his outlaw name.
Stutely appears in various Robin Hood children's novels, such as Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood , which includes the tale of Will's rescue and also mentions that he likes to play pranks, and the occasional film. In some versions,[ citation needed ] he was the most trusted of Robin Hood's inner circle because he had been his father's steward at Locksley castle (in the tales where Robin originally comes from an aristocratic family). It is said that Stutely was the eldest and wisest of the merry men, and that he was Robin Hood's confidant and advisor in strategy.
In the 1952 film The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men , Stutely is played by Bill Owen. Robert Desmond plays Stutely in "A Guest for the Gallows", an episode of the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood ; the episode depicts Robin rescuing Stutely, combining elements of the Stutely ballad with the ballad "Robin Hood and the Butcher").
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. 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. Traditionally depicted dressed in Lincoln green, he is said to have robbed from the rich and given to the poor.
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.
Sir Guy of Gisbourne is a character from the Robin Hood legends of English folklore. He first appears in "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne", where he is an assassin who attempts to kill Robin Hood but is killed by him. In later depictions, he has become a romantic rival to Robin Hood for Maid Marian's love.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
"Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" is Child Ballad number 123, about Robin Hood.
Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly is Child ballad 141, about Robin Hood.
Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires or Robin Hood and the Widow's Three Sons is a traditional ballad about Robin Hood, listed as Child ballad 140 and Roud 70.
Robin Hood and the Butcher is a story in the Robin Hood canon which has survived as, among other forms, a late seventeenth-century English broadside ballad, and is one of several ballads about the medieval folk hero that form part of the Child ballad collection, which is one of the most comprehensive collections of traditional English ballads. It may have been derived from the similar Robin Hood and the Potter.
"Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow" is Child ballad 152. 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.
David of Doncaster is a member of Robin Hood's Merry Men in English folklore. Doncaster is a town near Barnsdale, where early ballads placed Robin Hood.
The folkloric hero Robin Hood has appeared many times, in many different variations, in popular modern works.
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.
Friar Tuck is one of the legendary Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood.
Robin Hood and Little John is Child ballad 125. It is a story in the Robin Hood canon which has survived as, among other forms, a late seventeenth-century English broadside ballad, and is one of several ballads about the medieval folk hero that form part of the Child ballad collection, which is one of the most comprehensive collections of traditional English ballads.
