A Gest of Robyn Hode
Encyclopedia
"A Gest of Robyn Hode" is Child Ballad
117; it is also called A Lyttell Geste of Robyn Hode in one of the two oldest books that contain it.
It is one of the oldest surviving tales of Robin Hood
, printed between 1492 and 1534, but shows every sign of having been put together from several already existing tales. James Holt believes A Gest of Robyn Hode was written in approximately 1450. It is a lengthy tale, consisting of eight fyttes. It is a ballad written in Middle English
.
It is also a type of “The Good Outlaw” tale, in which the hero of the story is an outlaw who commits actual crimes, but the outlaw is still supported by the people. The hero in the tale has to challenge a corrupt system, which has committed wrongs against the hero, his family, and his friends. As the outlaw, the individual has to depict certain characteristics, such as loyalty, courage, and cleverness, as well as be a victim of a corrupt legal or political system. However, the outlaw committing the crimes shows he can outwit his opponent and show his moral integrity, but he cannot commit crimes for the sake of committing crimes.
, in order to illustrate the corruption of the law. As John Taylor writes, “The targets of Robin Hood’s criticism are the justices of the forest and the common law, against whom grievances could have been felt by more than one section of the medieval community.” It is believed the tale was performed by minstrels, since the tale contains a narrative voice addressing the audience on several occasions. The audience is believed to have been from the second Class, who would have jobs as yeomen, apprentices, merchants, journeymen, laborers, and small proprietors.
Most scholars believe the tale to be a compilation of stories creating a heroic ballad using previous tales, such as The Legend of Eustace Monk, a forest renegade who was also an outlawed nobleman and a trickster. Although the tale is thought to have been written in the fifteenth century, it is believed the content of the tale dates to the time of Edward III between the 1330s and 1340s.
The text is unique, in that it provides details relating to the 13th century, such as legal, social, and military structures, but it also includes allusions to medieval geography and locations known during the fifteenth century. There are disagreements to whether Robyn Hode was a yeoman
or a man from the lower gentry class.
Likewise, there was an outlaw from Berkshire, in 1262, which had the alias, “Robehod.” There was also a ship in Aberdeen in 1438, which was called “Robene Hude.” The first mention of the poem of Robyn Hode is seen in William Langland’s Piers Plowman
written in 1377.
finds a sorrowful knight and compels him to come. When Robin asks how much money he has; the knight says he has ten shillings. They demand to know how this came about, and the knight explains that his son killed two men, and he had to spend all his money, and mortgage his land, to save him. Robin lends him the money in St. Mary's name, and the rest of the band -- Little John, Much the Miller's Son
, and Scarlock
-- insist on giving him fine clothing, a packhorse
, and a courser
as well, and because a knight should have an attendant, Little John
goes with him.
The knight pretends that he still has not acquired the gold and pleads with the abbot for mercy. The abbot insists, and the knight reveals his deception and pays him, telling him that had he shown leniency the knight would have rewarded him. Afterward, the knight saves money to repay Robin, and also gets a hundred bows, with arrows fletched with peacock feathers. One day, while watching a wrestling match, he saw a yeoman who was winning the fight but because he was a stranger, was likely to be killed, and so he saved him.
One day, Little John went to an archery contest and won. The sheriff took him into his service, after he got leave from the knight. One day, he woke late and wanted to eat. The steward ("stuarde") who is the butler ("bottler"), and the cook tried to stop him, because it was not meal time. The cook put up a good fight, and Little John proposed that he should come to the forest and join the band. He agreed and fed Little John. They plundered the house and went to Robin. There, Little John tricked the sheriff to coming to Robin. Robin only permitted him to leave when he had sworn to do them no harm.
Robin again refused to eat unless he has a guest. The men caught a monk from St. Mary's Abbey, who claimed after the feast to have only twenty marks. He was carrying eight hundred pounds, and Robin claimed it: St. Mary has sent him it. The knight arrives. He explained that he is late because he saved the yeoman at the wrestling; Robin told him that whoever helped a yeoman was his friend, and refused to accept repayment. When the knight gave him the bows, Robin paid him half the eight hundred pounds.
The sheriff
held an archery contest. All the band showed well, but Robin won. The sheriff tried to seize him. They escaped to the castle of Sir Richard at the Lee
. The knight (who first is named at this point), and the sheriff could not break in. He complained to the king, who insisted he must catch him. The sheriff took Sir Richard prisoner, and his lady went to Robin for help. They staged a rescue.
The king came to take Robin and was outraged by the damage to his deer. He promised Sir Richard's land to whoever killed the knight, and was told that no one could hold the land while Robin Hood was at large. After months, he was persuaded to disguise himself and some men as monks, and by that means, get Robin to take them. Robin captured them and took half of their forty pounds. The "abbot" handed him an invitation from the king, to dine at Nottingham. For that, Robin said he would dine with them. After the meal, they set up an archery contest, and whoever failed had to suffer a blow. Robin failed, and had the abbot deliver the blow. The king knocked him down and revealed himself. Robin, his men, and Sir Richard all knelt.
The king took Robin to court, but Robin longed for the forest and returned home. A prioress finally killed him, at the instigation of her lover Roger, by bleeding him.
(though in the opposite order), the rescue in Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly
and Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires
, the king's intervention in The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood
, and the final murder in Robin Hood's Death
.
Howard Pyle
and other retellers of the Robin Hood stories have included many of them. The king's visit is, in fact, in virtually every version that purports to tell the entire story.
The archery contest is a standard in filmed adaptions of the legends. The Sheriff usually sees through Robin's disguise, leading to a fight scene between his men and the outlaws (who are hidden in the crowd). Examples include:
In later versions of the story, Robin sometimes wins by splitting an opponent's arrow down the middle. Other versions of the archery contests do not include the fight; often, as in Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, the disguises succeed in fooling the sheriff. Still further divergences have appeared. In Walt Disney's live-action The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
, Robin and his father win such a contest, but as Prince John staged it to find archers for his service and both of them refuse, Prince John tries to have them killed; his father dies, and Robin is outlawed for defending himself. In Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham
, Robin is going to a shooting contest when he has the conflict that leads to his being outlawed.
Elements of the Gest appear in many episodes of the 1955 The Adventures of Robin Hood
TV series. Most notable are "The Knight Who Came to Dinner" (featuring Sir Richard's debt to an abbot) and "The Challenge" (with features not only the archery contest but the outlaws taking refuge in Sir Richard's castle).
"Herne's Son", an episode of the Robin of Sherwood TV series, also has Sir Richard in debt to the Abbot of St. Mary's.
Many elements of the Gest, including the knight's debt, form a major part of the Robin McKinley
novel, The Outlaws of Sherwood
.
Child Ballads
The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...
117; it is also called A Lyttell Geste of Robyn Hode in one of the two oldest books that contain it.
It is one of the oldest surviving tales of Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
, printed between 1492 and 1534, but shows every sign of having been put together from several already existing tales. James Holt believes A Gest of Robyn Hode was written in approximately 1450. It is a lengthy tale, consisting of eight fyttes. It is a ballad written in Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
.
It is also a type of “The Good Outlaw” tale, in which the hero of the story is an outlaw who commits actual crimes, but the outlaw is still supported by the people. The hero in the tale has to challenge a corrupt system, which has committed wrongs against the hero, his family, and his friends. As the outlaw, the individual has to depict certain characteristics, such as loyalty, courage, and cleverness, as well as be a victim of a corrupt legal or political system. However, the outlaw committing the crimes shows he can outwit his opponent and show his moral integrity, but he cannot commit crimes for the sake of committing crimes.
Background Information
A Gest of Robyn Hode is a premier example of romanticizing the outlaw using courtly romanceCourtly love
Courtly love was a medieval European conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration. Generally, courtly love was secret and between members of the nobility. It was also generally not practiced between husband and wife....
, in order to illustrate the corruption of the law. As John Taylor writes, “The targets of Robin Hood’s criticism are the justices of the forest and the common law, against whom grievances could have been felt by more than one section of the medieval community.” It is believed the tale was performed by minstrels, since the tale contains a narrative voice addressing the audience on several occasions. The audience is believed to have been from the second Class, who would have jobs as yeomen, apprentices, merchants, journeymen, laborers, and small proprietors.
Most scholars believe the tale to be a compilation of stories creating a heroic ballad using previous tales, such as The Legend of Eustace Monk, a forest renegade who was also an outlawed nobleman and a trickster. Although the tale is thought to have been written in the fifteenth century, it is believed the content of the tale dates to the time of Edward III between the 1330s and 1340s.
The text is unique, in that it provides details relating to the 13th century, such as legal, social, and military structures, but it also includes allusions to medieval geography and locations known during the fifteenth century. There are disagreements to whether Robyn Hode was a yeoman
Yeoman
Yeoman refers chiefly to a free man owning his own farm, especially from the Elizabethan era to the 17th century. Work requiring a great deal of effort or labor, such as would be done by a yeoman farmer, came to be described as "yeoman's work"...
or a man from the lower gentry class.
Likewise, there was an outlaw from Berkshire, in 1262, which had the alias, “Robehod.” There was also a ship in Aberdeen in 1438, which was called “Robene Hude.” The first mention of the poem of Robyn Hode is seen in William Langland’s Piers Plowman
Piers Plowman
Piers Plowman or Visio Willelmi de Petro Plowman is the title of a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called "passus"...
written in 1377.
Synopsis
Robin Hood refused to eat unless he has a guest. Little JohnLittle John
Little John was a legendary fellow outlaw of Robin Hood, and was said to be Robin's chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men.-Folklore:He appears in the earliest recorded Robin Hood ballads and stories...
finds a sorrowful knight and compels him to come. When Robin asks how much money he has; the knight says he has ten shillings. They demand to know how this came about, and the knight explains that his son killed two men, and he had to spend all his money, and mortgage his land, to save him. Robin lends him the money in St. Mary's name, and the rest of the band -- Little John, Much the Miller's Son
Much the Miller's Son
Much the Miller's Son was, in the tales of Robin Hood, one of his Merry Men. He appears in some of the oldest ballads, A Gest of Robyn Hode and Robin Hood and the Monk, as one of the company.Generally he becomes an outlaw when he is caught poaching...
, and Scarlock
Will Scarlet
Will Scarlet was a prominent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men. He was present in the earliest ballads along with Little John and Much the Miller's Son....
-- insist on giving him fine clothing, a packhorse
Packhorse
.A packhorse or pack horse refers generally to an equid such as a horse, mule, donkey or pony used for carrying goods on their backs, usually carried in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of wheeled vehicles. ...
, and a courser
Courser (horse)
A courser is a swift and strong horse, frequently used during the Middle Ages as a warhorse. It was ridden by knights and men-at-arms.Coursers are commonly believed to be named for their running gait,...
as well, and because a knight should have an attendant, Little John
Little John
Little John was a legendary fellow outlaw of Robin Hood, and was said to be Robin's chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men.-Folklore:He appears in the earliest recorded Robin Hood ballads and stories...
goes with him.
The knight pretends that he still has not acquired the gold and pleads with the abbot for mercy. The abbot insists, and the knight reveals his deception and pays him, telling him that had he shown leniency the knight would have rewarded him. Afterward, the knight saves money to repay Robin, and also gets a hundred bows, with arrows fletched with peacock feathers. One day, while watching a wrestling match, he saw a yeoman who was winning the fight but because he was a stranger, was likely to be killed, and so he saved him.
One day, Little John went to an archery contest and won. The sheriff took him into his service, after he got leave from the knight. One day, he woke late and wanted to eat. The steward ("stuarde") who is the butler ("bottler"), and the cook tried to stop him, because it was not meal time. The cook put up a good fight, and Little John proposed that he should come to the forest and join the band. He agreed and fed Little John. They plundered the house and went to Robin. There, Little John tricked the sheriff to coming to Robin. Robin only permitted him to leave when he had sworn to do them no harm.
Robin again refused to eat unless he has a guest. The men caught a monk from St. Mary's Abbey, who claimed after the feast to have only twenty marks. He was carrying eight hundred pounds, and Robin claimed it: St. Mary has sent him it. The knight arrives. He explained that he is late because he saved the yeoman at the wrestling; Robin told him that whoever helped a yeoman was his friend, and refused to accept repayment. When the knight gave him the bows, Robin paid him half the eight hundred pounds.
The sheriff
Sheriff of Nottingham
The Sheriff of Nottingham was historically the office responsible for enforcing law and order in Nottingham and bringing criminals to justice. For years the post has been directly appointed by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham and in modern times, with the existence of the police force, the position is...
held an archery contest. All the band showed well, but Robin won. The sheriff tried to seize him. They escaped to the castle of Sir Richard at the Lee
Richard at the Lee
Richard at the Lee was 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.Sir Richard is said to have been a nobleman, the lord of Verysdale...
. The knight (who first is named at this point), and the sheriff could not break in. He complained to the king, who insisted he must catch him. The sheriff took Sir Richard prisoner, and his lady went to Robin for help. They staged a rescue.
The king came to take Robin and was outraged by the damage to his deer. He promised Sir Richard's land to whoever killed the knight, and was told that no one could hold the land while Robin Hood was at large. After months, he was persuaded to disguise himself and some men as monks, and by that means, get Robin to take them. Robin captured them and took half of their forty pounds. The "abbot" handed him an invitation from the king, to dine at Nottingham. For that, Robin said he would dine with them. After the meal, they set up an archery contest, and whoever failed had to suffer a blow. Robin failed, and had the abbot deliver the blow. The king knocked him down and revealed himself. Robin, his men, and Sir Richard all knelt.
The king took Robin to court, but Robin longed for the forest and returned home. A prioress finally killed him, at the instigation of her lover Roger, by bleeding him.
Adaptations
Many portions of this tale have reappeared in later versions. Some appeared in other ballads: the king's insistence on the capture and the archery contest to catch Robin in Robin Hood and the Golden ArrowRobin Hood and the Golden Arrow
-Synopsis:The sheriff of Nottingham complains to King Richard of Robin Hood.-Portrayals:An altered version of the tale appears in the first episode of the Robin of Sherwood television series, in which the prize offered is a silver arrow belonging to Herne the Hunter as a means of luring Robin to...
(though in the opposite order), the rescue in Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly
Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly
-Synopsis:Robin Hood is brought news that the Sheriff of Nottingham surprised Will Stutely, and though he killed two of the Sheriff's men, he was captured. They set out to rescue him, confirm the story from a palmer, and arrive as he is being brought out. Will Stutly offers to fight the sheriff's...
and Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires
Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires
Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires or Robin Hood and the Widow's Three Sons is Child ballad 140, about Robin Hood.-Synopsis:Robin meets an old woman lamenting that her sons will hang for poaching the king's deer. He persuades an old man to trade his ragged clothing for Robin's fine clothes, and in...
, the king's intervention in The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood
The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood
The King’s Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood is Child ballad 151. It holds the common tradition of the end of Robin Hood's outlawry, although it is a relative late ballad, as it puts Robin firmly in King Richard's reign...
, and the final murder in Robin Hood's Death
Robin Hood's Death
Robin Hood's Death is the 120th ballad of the Child ballads collection published by Houghton Mifflin. The fragmentary Percy Folio version of it appears to be one of the oldest existing tales of Robin Hood; there is a synopsis of the story in the fifteenth century A Gest of Robyn Hode...
.
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
and other retellers of the Robin Hood stories have included many of them. The king's visit is, in fact, in virtually every version that purports to tell the entire story.
The archery contest is a standard in filmed adaptions of the legends. The Sheriff usually sees through Robin's disguise, leading to a fight scene between his men and the outlaws (who are hidden in the crowd). Examples include:
- The Adventures of Robin HoodThe Adventures of Robin Hood (film)The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.-Plot:...
, where Prince John sets the tournament as a trap, and Robin is captured, to be rescued in another fight when he is to hang. - Walt DisneyWalt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's animated Robin HoodRobin Hood (1973 film)Robin Hood is an 1973 American animated film produced by the Walt Disney Productions, first released in the United States on November 8, 1973...
, in which Robin (a fox) disguises himself as a stork. - The pilot episode of Robin of SherwoodRobin of SherwoodRobin of Sherwood , was a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 1984 to 1986 on the ITV network. In America it was retitled Robin Hood and shown on the premium cable TV channel...
(Robin Hood and the Sorcerer), in which the prize is a magical silver arrow, sacred to Herne the HunterHerne the HunterIn English folklore, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park in the English county of Berkshire. His appearance is notable in the fact that he has antlers upon his head....
. - Episode two of the children's comedy Maid Marian and Her Merry MenMaid Marian and her Merry MenMaid Marian and her Merry Men is a British children's sitcom created and written by Tony Robinson and directed by David Bell. It began in 1989 on BBC One and ran for four series, with the last episode shown in 1994...
is a parody of this story. Robin of Kensington disguises himself in a chicken outfit, and enters the contest as "Robert the Incredible Chicken". However, because Marian is a better archer, the Sheriff concludes she must be Robin in disguise. - In episode five of the 2006 Robin Hood TV series, Robin decides not to enter the archery contest, recognising that it is a trap. He is subsequently persuaded by Marian to disguise himself as one of the legitimate entrants to ensure Guy of GisbourneGuy of GisbourneSir Guy of Gisbourne is a character from the Robin Hood legends of English folklore. In The Ballad of Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne , he hunts Robin for the Sheriff of Nottingham, but Robin kills him and cuts off his head...
's man does not win the prize.
In later versions of the story, Robin sometimes wins by splitting an opponent's arrow down the middle. Other versions of the archery contests do not include the fight; often, as in Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, the disguises succeed in fooling the sheriff. Still further divergences have appeared. In Walt Disney's live-action The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men is a 1952 live action Disney version of the Robin Hood story in Technicolor which was filmed in Buckinghamshire, England...
, Robin and his father win such a contest, but as Prince John staged it to find archers for his service and both of them refuse, Prince John tries to have them killed; his father dies, and Robin is outlawed for defending himself. In Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham
Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham
Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham is Child ballad 139, a Robin Hood ballad, and in fact an original story.-Synopsis:A fifteen-year-old Robin Hood set out to Nottingham to compete in a shooting contest. The king's foresters make fun of him, offering a bet that he could not kill a deer. When he...
, Robin is going to a shooting contest when he has the conflict that leads to his being outlawed.
Elements of the Gest appear in many episodes of the 1955 The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a popular British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show aired weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV in London in the...
TV series. Most notable are "The Knight Who Came to Dinner" (featuring Sir Richard's debt to an abbot) and "The Challenge" (with features not only the archery contest but the outlaws taking refuge in Sir Richard's castle).
"Herne's Son", an episode of the Robin of Sherwood TV series, also has Sir Richard in debt to the Abbot of St. Mary's.
Many elements of the Gest, including the knight's debt, form a major part of the Robin McKinley
Robin McKinley
Robin McKinley is a distinguished author of fantasy and children's books who has written sixteen books to date. Her latest book Pegasus was published in 2010...
novel, The Outlaws of Sherwood
The Outlaws of Sherwood
The Outlaws of Sherwood is a retelling of the legend of Robin Hood by Robin McKinley. In McKinley's Afterword, the history of the tales of Robin Hood is described as "the retellings through the centuries have echoed concurrent preoccupations."...
.