A History behind the Legend of Robin Hood

Written on April 09, 2002

For: History of Western Civilization

INTRO The legend of Robin Hood has many variations; there are so many different accounts of his life, one does not know which to believe. That is why, after a long struggle with what to do, I chose to find out more about Robin Hood. Now, I have seen the Disney version, and the Kevin Costner version, and even the Mel Brooks version (which is the best one), but when I started to gather my information, I realized that there was much more behind this outlaw of the forest. Since there are so many different tales, I am going to write my own version of Robin Hood, using a bit of history, and combine what I have learned from the other stories.

It is always raining here, I thought as I rode my horse through this unfamiliar land called England. I had been following my new friend since we had gotten back from the Crusades to help King Richard. My new friend was a nice guy, he was funny too, and we always had a few good laughs. When he asked me if I wanted to come to England I could not resist, I was tired of my homeland, and needed something different. My new friend turns to me, squinting in the rain, and points to a heavily wooded forest.

"There is my home!" he yells. I have never liked even walking through a forest, and now I had to sleep in it? Why would you want to live in the forest? I try to keep up with him, but he seems really glad to be home, and I loose sight of him.

I enter the forest slowly, I have heard stories about bandits living in forests and robbing people of their money and jewels. Thinking I was safe from the outlaws, if there were any, I continued into the forest, I had no money and no jewels. The rain had finally stopped, and I could see a bit better, but I could not see the green of my friend's strange hat.

I dismounted my horse, and led him deeper into the forest. Suddenly out of nowhere three men appeared, one was really tall, the other shorter, and one I think was a friar. They all wore the same color of my friend. I stood up a bit to try to appear taller, but it did not work, they still towered over me.

"Uh, hello" I greeted them "Um, has any of you seen a man come through here wearing similar clothes to yours?"

'Who are you? And why do you want to see him?" the really tall one asked.

"Well, I followed him home from the crusades, and when we came to this forest, I lost him. Have you seen him?" I asked, slowly gaining my courage.

"We have seen him, and he did not mention a follower from another land" the one wearing red told me. "Who are you?"

"My name is William. He knows me; I saved his life in the crusades." I told them.

"What is his name then?" the friar asked.

"He called himself Robert." I replied. "Is that not he?"

"No, the one you are looking for is not here." The tall one tells me. "Now go away"

"I am right here Little John, stop harassing my new friend." Robert appeared with a smile on his face. "I am sorry; I just got excited to be home again." He continues, "These are my other friends, Little John, Will Scarlet, and Friar Tuck. They really mean no harm. They are just looking out for me. I lied about my name, I am not Robert, but Robin Hood."

I stood amazed, I had been following this man for at least two months and he has been lying to me the whole time. And now he tells me he is some famous outlaw that is wanted by the King of England? What have I gotten in to? I told this man I would join his "gang" but I did not think it was this gang!

"You are Robin Hood? The famous outlaw Robin Hood?" I asked later when we all sat around a fire eating the deer that Little John had just killed.

"Yes" was his simple reply.

"Why were you fighting in the crusades? I thought you hated the King."

"I do not hate the King, I hate his brother Prince John. I met King Richard one time while he was hunting in this forest. Kings like to hunt on their land, you know. He ate with us, and everyone grew to like him. When he went to fight in the crusades he asked me to go with him and I did." Robin told me.

"How did you become and outlaw? I have heard so many different versions."

"What have you heard, I always like hearing different stories." He smiled and listened to me tell him about what I had heard.

"When I was younger, my older brother told me that you once rescued a boy from the Sheriff of Nottingham's men. He had killed a deer in the King's forest, and was about to have his hand cut off, but you saved him of that." I describe the tale my brother once told me.

"Well, that is true, but it happened after I was an outlaw. Much the Miller's Son was a good kid, but he was killed when the Sheriffs men found him." Robin was silent for a moment. 'I only became an outlaw after killing a deer myself. You see I was on my way to a fair to be held in Nottingham, when men who were bigger stopped me. They began to make fun of me, and I of course, being a man, needed to defend myself. I wagered some of my only gold coins that I could hit a mark from twenty yards away. When I hit the mark, they did not pay up, and killing all but one of them, I ran away from the scene, and thus became an outlaw."

I must have looked shocked, because Robin began to laugh at me. "Do not worry William, I have lived here for three years now, and everything is fine."

"How did you all come to join this gang?" I asked the other Merry Men.

Little John was the first to tell his story. "I was mindin' me own business when this little fellow comes up to me while I am trying to cross a small bridge, we ended up fighting and me knocking Robin into the water. Suddenly a group of men appeared and thought they could fight me too, but Robin held them off, saying that he wanted me to join his "merry band'. I accepted and they nicknamed me Little John."

The rest told me their stories and how they became Robin's Merry Men. Most of them had fought Robin at one time, and defeated him and this making them better than him, Robin asks them to join his band, and each has agreed. I wondered how many have not accepted and lived.

Then the merry men asked me how I save Robin's life. Robin wanted to tell it, so I let him, I figured he do a better job of it.

"I had just been cut through with a rather large sword, and left for dead. But this man, who I thought was a women at first until I got a better look, bandaged my wounds and helped me back to an abandoned home, where he nursed me back to health and strength."

Then men all slapped me on the back and congratulated me for saving their leader. All but Will Scarlet, who had not told me of how he'd become a "Merry Man". He just kept glaring at me, as if I had done something wrong. Later Little John told me that he was jealous of all the attention that I was getting. "He has done that for every new member of the gang." Little John told me, "He has been here the longest, and is Robin's best friend."

The weeks went by, and I gradually gained Will Scarlet's approval. I figured it could have been the fact that we had the same name, of course it could have been me saving his life. A few of the Merry Men and I went with Robin into town to see what trouble we could stir up. We all dressed in disguise and headed into the town.

"Look the Sheriff is out today." Little John whispered as Robin disappeared. "He is off to the church, he prays there when ever he gets a chance." He said about Robin. "The church is over there, towards the Saxon part of the town. We do not ever go there; we like to stick to the more populated areas in case we are spotted." I followed Little John and the rest of the merry men into the center of town. I catch a look at the sheriff that everyone hates so much. He was riding his horse with an evil look on his face. He was better dressed than I had seen anyone in a while.

"That is the Sheriff of Nottingham. Ugly isn't he?" Little John said to me. I only nod as the sheriff rides by us, glaring at Little John and Will Scarlet. It was if he recognized them.

"Come now, lets go find Robin." As we made our way to the Saxon part of town, as the Merry Men called it, and I looked over my shoulder to see that Will Scarlet had disappeared too. I went to look for him, and found he was surrounded by a half dozen of the Sheriffs men. I ran over to help him fend them off. I pulled out my sword and started to defend us.

CRASH! POW! KABLAM! $# KAZAAM! BAM! (Fight scene)

There was blood everywhere and little of it was Will's or mine. We looked around to see four of the Sheriffs men lying motionless on the ground. I had just killed a man; I had never done that before, not even in the crusades. I looked at Will who looked about what I felt, victorious, yet defeated. Will Scarlet had never killed a man either. Robin and Little John appeared with panic looks on their faces and women I had never seen.

When the Sheriff headed towards us, looking rather upset. "We have to get out of here!" Robin said to us. Will and I followed the three of them as we ran back into the safety of the forest. Once there, each of us had our own story to tell.

"After you had went into the church Robin, I was attacked by the Sheriff's men, and after I had killed two of them, William here noticed that the others were to much for me to handle, and began to fight them off."

"Before I know it, four of them are dead, and we are running from the Sheriff." Will Scarlet had told them all; I nodded my head in agreement. "That boy is bleeding!" the unknown women said to me. I looked at my beggar's disguise and notice that my side is red with blood, and having a weak stomach I fainted. When I woke up, the strange woman was looking at me.

"You have some explaining to do." She told me. I looked around to see where I was, and I was not in Sherwood Forest anymore. I was in a posh room with velvet curtains and satin sheets.

'Where am I?" I asked that women.

"You are in my fathers castle." She told me, "I am Maid Marion. Who are you? For you are not who you claim to be, you are a women dressed as a man."

I could not believe it; after all this my cover was blown. I have been dressing like a man ever since I started in the Crusades.

"I am not really William, my real name is Jane Downey, and I joined the Crusades after my father took ill. They would not let him fight, and I did not have any other brothers to take his place. I cut my hair, changed my name and joined the battle. It was about two weeks after I had joined that I saved Robin, then after that we headed back here."

"Well, that is all well and good, but just when had you planned on telling us that you were a women?" I heard Robin ask from the shadows.

"Never, well maybe I would have just left, and you would never have seen me again." I told them. "Would that have been so bad?"

"Yes, I can think that we would miss our dear little friend, besides you are an outlaw now, you did kill two of the sheriffs men, you have to hide in Sherwood for a while. Perhaps when I retire you can be the new Robin Hood. " Robin tells me.

"You are not the first Robin Hood?" I asked him. "Well, yes, I am, but I do not plan on doing this forever." He glanced at Marion and she smiled. "From now on you shall not be known as William, but as Bold Jane Downey, for you saved two of the Merry Men's lives. You will have to live in the forest a bit longer until this whole killing men thing blows over."

I did stay in the forest. I became better friends with all the merry men, despite the fact that I was a girl. I still rarely leave the forest, the only time I did leave were for weddings. Robin and Marion got married in St. Mary's; the Saxon Church Robin always went to for prayer. And after Robin's friend King Richard pardoned Will Scarlet and me, we were also married in that church. I did go home again shortly after the wedding, and my mother and father were both very surprised when I told them what I had been doing the past five years.

THE END