THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD - Roger Lancelyn Green

Roger Lancelyn Green

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD

AUTHOR:

The story The Adventures of Robin Hood was written by Roger Lancelyn Green. He became interested in myths and legends at an early age. His education at school, was interrupted by many kinds of illnesses. After he had studied at Oxford he became a presenter of traditional stories himself. From 1946 onwards he wrote many books, i.e.: biographies of his favourite authors, but his most famous books are the retellings of some traditional stories, including King Arthur. Andrew Lang, the Victorian compiler and presenter of fairy stories, was the writer who influenced Green most.

Green never only tried to write the stories he also tried to bring light into the confusing

legends

But writing was not the only job of Green. He acted as Noodler, the pirate in Peter Pan, and he was also a schoolmaster at his old college Oxford.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK

The book is devided into many chapters. At the beginning of each chapter is a short poem, which tells in not more than four lines the contents of the chapter. All poems are historical and I could hardly understand the meaning of them.

The author collected the chapters from many different stories and ballads. For instance there was a short scene in this book, where Robin Hood helped Ivenhoe to rescue his Lady Rowana ( Chapter 20 )

The language of this book is very easy to understand and it is set in England in the Middle Ages, while Sir Richard Cour de Lion was prisoned in Austria at Dürnstein ( 1192 ).

SHORT SUMMARY:

Richard C. De L. is prisoned in Austria, while his brother Prince John claims the throne and reigns over the kingdom. In the county of Nottingham lives the Sheriff, who takes the taxes from the farmers and is also responsible for justice.

Sherwood Forest is one part of the county and after Robert of Locksley has become an outlaw, the friend of the Sheriff Sir Guy o Gisborn takes the castle of Robin.

Robert of Locksley, who is now called Robin Hood, because he hides himself in the Forest, finds many friends and organises a revolt against the Sheriff and Prince John. They want to pay the bill for the freedom of king Richard. Of course the farmers are not very rich, so the Sherwood gang steals the money from the nobles and bishops, who all were bribed by Prince John.

Robin Hood passes many adventures and quests until his king is back in England. One of the hardest tests is at the feast when Robin wins a silver arrow. He disguises himself, but after all Prince John, who also visits the feast, discovers Robin Hood and without the help of Little John and his other friends, he would have died.

In the end King Richard C. De L. comes back. After a fall of a wall, one of the last adventures of Robin, he hurts his leg. He never discovered this illness and he dies in a nunnery, where Maid Marian, who is a nun now, and his old friend Little John are sitting next to him and wait painfully for Robin Hood's death. 

THE CHARACTERS:

The main characters in this book are of course Robin Hood and his friend Little John. These two outlaws fight against the tyranny of Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. Each of these characters has to pass a quest to be accepted by the group.

In the beginning of the book Robin Hood is a noble who already fights against the prince. After he had become an outlaw, he forms a group of men who are skilled in the longbow. This group of outlaws take the money from the rich and give it to the poor farmers of the county of Nottingham.

Little John is Robin's best friend. He is a real advisor for Robin and if Robin had listened to him, many dangerous situations would not have turned up.

The Sheriff is a character who servs the person who gives him the most money

THE THEME OF THIS BOOK:

The theme of this book is the fight against the tyrannical rule of prince John, who wants to collect the money for his brother Richard and because of the collection of the bill, it is said that Prince John is a tyrant.

MY PERSONAL COMMENTS:

Firstly, I bought this book together with the book King Arthur because it was written by the same author. Secondly, I have never read the whole story of Robin Hood, so this was a good chance to do it. The book itself is very good and I think Roger Lancelyn Green wrote this book to entertain people. I hope that there are more of these stories about knights because I prefer to read these stories about heroes.

written by Thomas Jungbauer, 24.