Chronology of
|
 Robin Hood's Crest "A
green field, with a red hunting horn, on a sheaf of gold wheat."
The cutouts in the horn "difference" the crest, that is, change the design from Robin's father's. |
Spring. Robin Hood born
Robert Locksley. Son of the Earl of Huntingdon, Richard Locksley,
a Saxon. And (Mother), a Norman noblewoman.
He's an only child.
Yet there is some doubt about RH's parentage? Mother unfaithful? Father disguised? Real father is a relative of his mother? (The pattern of Robin's life is taken from Lord Raglan's study of The Hero.) Will Stutly would know about rumors of his birth. Some think Young Robin is the son of Hern, the Horned God of the Forest. Shortly after his birth, an attempt is made to kill him. By whom? Will Stutly is master-at-arms and seneschal of Huntingdon Castle, and becomes Robin's mentor. 1170 Marian Fitzooth born to a large family. All her young days, Marian bullies her brothers Galliard, Marshall, and Sidney. 1173 Henry's sons rebel against
him. Henry defeats them one by one, keeps Eleanor locked up. 1175 Despite warnings, Young
Robert roams the woods. He's befriended by Puck, thinking he's
just a strange child. Puck begins grooming Robert for an ancient
role as protector of the forest. Hern too.
Robert visits the land of feys, meeting Oberon, King of the Fairies. His life is endangered, then saved by Puck. His fantastic stories first amuse, then worry his parents. Robert can be said to be raised by fairy foster parents. Young Robert also meets an annoying tomboy girl, Marian. 1179 Marian Fitzooth, age 9, announces, "We're going to be married, you and I, Robert Locksley." Young Robert disappears into the forest. (Receiving gift of bowmanship from supernal being? Stumbles into faery realm, performs brave deed, rewarded with gift? Receives animal and other gessa?) Missing for months, Robert returns home unharmed. His return was heralded by the first robin of spring, so his mother nicknames him "Robin" as a charm against evil. A robin plucked the thorns from Jesus's crown, so gained its red breast. Thus a witch can change shape-change to any animal except a robin. |
If the pattern of Robin's life follows Lord Raglan's study of The Hero, we get the following: “His father is a Saxon yeoman, but he is also (5) reputed to be the son of a great noble. We (9) hear nothing of his youth, but on reaching manhood he leads a life of debauchery until compelled to fly (10) to Sherwood, where he (11) gains victories over the Sheriff of Nottingham, (12) marries Maid Marian, the Queen of the May, and (13) becomes King of May and ruler of the forest. For a long time he reigns (Raglan missed 14), and (15) prescribes the laws of archery, but eventually illness overtakes him, and he (17) has to leave the forest and meets (18) a mysterious death in (19) an upper room. He (20) has no children. The place of his death and burial are (21) variously given, but (22) miracles were performed at his tomb at Kirkley in Yorkshire." |
Marian, a childhood friend, is taken away and installed with nuns at 12. She's also engaged in marriage to young Guy of Gisborne by agreement of their parents. Marian hates Guy. Taxes increase as Henry II fights sons. Thin crops bring famine. The Locksley family suffers setbacks, living in genteel poverty, yet happy. Robin learns to economize and improvise. "That which you keep you lose, and that which you give away you have forever." 1182 Locksley does not recover and dies in winter. Robin's mother soon dies of a broken heart. Robin is orphaned at 13. He loses lands, has only title. Will Stutly takes Robin to live in a hut in the forest. Huntingdon Castle kills its new owners. Serfs drift away and the hall falls to ruins. Only animals and Robin go there. |
ROBIN HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS OF SHERWOOD
Young Robin is chosen by Herne the Hunter and Oberon, King of
the Fairies, to learn the ways of the forest and the bow, to
become the Spirit of Sherwood.But Robin suffers one failing, a quick and hot temper. As a young man, he kills foresters who mock him. Condemned to die, Robin escapes to Sherwood Forest with Will Stutly, outlawed. The mysterious outlaws of Sherwood Forest turn out to be thugs and killers. At 17, Robin is tall and strong, a born leader, but stubborn and hot-tempered. He fights almost every outlaw single-handed, learning along the way. Robin's first friends in the band are Hard-Hitting Brand and George O'Green. They become the core of the Merry Men. (See Kevin Carpenter's CATALOG p 194.) Eventually Robin enforces his will upon the outlaws and turns them to justice. He becomes leader of the band. Formulates an oath to the Virgin Mary. Institutes sword and archery practice, and sets up networks that bring him supplies and information from villages. Now Robin of Sherwood, who wears a hood as disguise in Nottingham. People begin to talk of Robin of the Wood or Robin Hood. |
"Robin Hood Makes a Friend" Robin meets LJ on bridge, and refuses to budge. They battle, and RH is knocked off bridge. He gets back on, off again, and so on. Finally, LJ must yield or kill him, so concedes. "RH meets Friar Tuck" "RH meets Allan A'Dale" Robin sees lovers get married to the right people. "RH meets Maid Marian (Again)" "RH meets Much the Miller's Son" "RH meets Will Gamwell" His cousin. Renames him Scarlett. Will Scarlett marries Mary. She bears him a son, Tam Gamwell. "LJ, the Sheriff's Man" LJ poses as Reynold Greenleaf, takes service in the Sheriff's household, brawls with the cook, invites him to Sherwood. The Sheriff, captured, gets served dinner on his own silver plates by his own cook. Scarlett's wife, Mary, dies in childbirth, leaving him a small son,
Tam.
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Henry II dies. Richard becomes King, departs for Crusade with Phillip II and Frederick Barbarossa. Simon, a runaway serf, joins the band. Sir Rowland, Knight Templar, is appointed Sheriff. Spring Comedy of Errors. Merry Men and villains scour Sherwood for a non-existent treasure. Robin receives a vision and leaves with Little John for the Crusade. Marian is furious, heaps him with curses, and re-enters a priory for spite. 1190 Captured by Moslems, RH and Gilbert escape and meet Sinbad. (BEASTS OF SHERWOOD) |
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1191
July
Little John prevents the assassination of King Richard at Acre.
August
The
Fall of Acre. King Richard betrays and beheads 3000 Saracens who
surrended in good faith. Robin Hood objects, is imprisoned,
escapes, and leaves Holy Land in disgust."Robin Hood and the Pirates" RH scotches Moslem pirates in the Mediterranean. (Inspiration for "RH the Noble Fisherman".) "Blacking the Falcon" RH and Little John find the Maltese Falcon and, in hiding it, lose it. Fall Robin meets Dracula. Robin and Little John cross France. "Little John and the Childrens' Bell" "Little John and the Waterwheel"
Christmas
Robin arrives home. Marian leaves the priory.Robin and Marian are married in the church in Edwinstowe. Locating a cave near magic lines and a giant lime tree, they settle into the Greenwood. Marian makes the hideout a home and community. |
"Robin Hood and the Dragon Arrow" Robin and Marian are captured by a witch who wants to unearth a dragon. Robin's fame spreads. His band grows rapidly. He takes to calling himself The King of Sherwood with Marian as his Queen. "Flyting, Fighting" Mystery. Robin and Marian spat while searching for a missing girl. Red Tom, carpenter, joins, with wife and daughter Polly. Except his wife walks out. Ben Barrel and family join. Bold Jane Downey joins, so nicknamed by Robin because she's so shy. Little John's cousin Arthur A'Bland joins. A former Royal Forester, he brings his family. Newcombe of Barnsdale joins. Black Bart joins. Brian the Tiler joins. Shonet the Sower joins. David of Doncaster joins. David and Shonet marry. Many people flock to the Greenwood. Robin Hood turns most away, giving them money for relocation, to start a farm or learn a trade. With many magical threats, traveling, Robin meets Cedwyn the Welsh Witch on the day she slaughters three knights. She joins the band. "Dowsing the Demon" Mystery. A locked room reveals demonic murders until a dowser arrives on the scene. "Grinding the Ghost" Mystery. When a mill kills a miller, Robin becomes a miller and Marian sets fire to a leper. "Shriving the Scarecrow" Mystery. A scarecrow is accused of murder. "The Sutton Hoo Horrors" Mystery. Gravediggers pulling at a barrow are gruesomely killed. Robin comes away with a silver belt buckle. |
Winter
"The Screaming Skull" Mystery. Snowbound in a castle, Robin and Marian probe murders committed by a screaming skull. Spring
"Plucking the Mandrake" Mystery. Visiting a witch to aid conception, Robin and Marian find a hanged man kills, an idiot becomes sane, and a Jack spreads terror. "Floating Bread and Quicksilver" Mystery. Two brothers disappear fishing. Robin and Marian float a loaf of quicksilver and listen to the cries of drowned sailors.
Fall
Gilbert of the White Hand joins the band. He and Cedwyn the Welsh Witch fall in love."Scribing the Circle" Mystery. Draining a fen, Robin and Marian uncover a dead Crusader. |
Spring The Siege of Nottingham. Prince John, in rebellion, takes refuge in Nottingham. King Richard pursues, but John escapes. "Flushing Scarlett" Mystery/Fabliau. Crazy Will Scarlett and Tam are accused of stealing soldiers' pay, so steal it back. Includes: Scarlett's "The 12 False Labors of Hercules" Allan A'Dale's "Jesus and the Warlord" "Robin Hood and the Saracens' Tiger" "The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad" May
The band moves to London to find Little John. Robin sends the band ahead to London and goes searching for King Richard. In London, Marian adopts skirts and buys a house. Robin and Marian ride for the New Forest to find Richard.
A Robin & Marian Medieval Mystery
Appointed Royal Forester for the New Forest, Robin and Marian save King
Richard's life from witches bound to sacrifice him on Midsummer's Day.
"Fathoming Fortune" Mystery. R&M uncover a forger and a murderer. R&M return to London. |
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June through September
Captured, Little John was taken to London and enslaved by a grasping
necromancer. Robin and his people move to the city to get him back.
While Robin fights the city tooth and nail, his Merry Men readily adapt
to the new life and prosper. They brave a tournament, a ball, a
plague, a pogrom and more. Robin damned near fulfills his
prophecy to "burn the city to the ground", but they reclaim Little John.Will Stutly dies. Old Bess dies. Many children die of diphtheria. Jemima the Prostitute joins. Hiram joins, with family. Ruth joins. David's new wife Helen joins. Includes: "Jack and the Giant's Three Tasks" LJ's "The Bad Giant and the Good Fairies" Black Bart's "The Man Who Was Always Afraid" Hiram's "The Golem and the Two Brothers" Midsummer August Mystery. Fighting in a tournament in London, RH spots a murder on the tourney field. "Abjuring Justice" In London stay, R&M discover girls being white-slaved by a legal loophole. "Kissing the Skull" Mystery. R&M venture to Spain to get back girls seized by white slavers. September |
Fall
ROBIN HOOD AND THE DEMONS
Back in Sherwood, Robin Hood seeks his revenge on Sir Guy. Guy of
Gisbourne and the Sheriff of Nottingham counter with foreign assassins
and an all-out magical attack. A Celtic warlord rises from the dead to
enslave the local villagers -- and a wounded, possessed Robin joins
them. Can his reduced band, Puck's fairy-folk, and a nail from the True
Cross lay the old gods to rest?Black Bart dies. Hiram dies. Ruth dies. Hiram's family leaves. RH kills Guy. Taragal is disfigured by fire. LJ kills Sheriff Rowland. Red Tom marries widowed Elaine. Includes: Taragal's "Story of Robin Hood" Another Story And Another Story Marian is wounded by an arrow and loses her unborn child. She never conceives by RH again. Robin receives an arm wound that pains him on and off for years, especially in an east wind, or "Robin Hood wind". Hern hints that he needs a successor, and has groomed Robin Hood to ascend to godhood to protect the forest. Yet RH is too deep a Christian to accept, and so the old ways die out. With winter coming and no resources, RH disbands the Merry Men, who go their separate ways. |
For the Record...
What I'm trying to accomplish with my Tales of Robin Hood is many-fold.
1) Since the RH legend is scanty, or incomplete, or warped, I hope to flesh out Robin Hood's full life and adventures as, say, T H White did for King Arthur. 2) I'm trying to recreate a Canterbury Tales atmosphere. During the course of the adventures, every Merry Person will recount a) their origin, and b) an original folk tale that says something about them. Thus Will Scarlett recounts a fractured fairy tale of Hercules, and has a fabliau adventure. Friar Tuck tells a knight's tale. Black Bart recounts a horror story. Old Bess tells a Jack tale. And so on. 3) I want to create a body of Robin Hood literature that people of all ages can enjoy for years, decades, or even centuries from now. Yes, it's a lot of painstaking detail. And yes, will be years in the making. But Chaucer didn't get to finish his Canterbury Tales, and it was still worthwhile. |
GILBERT WHITE HAND AND THE WITCH OF WALES On their own, Gilbert and Cedwyn have adventures in Wales.
1196-97 ROBIN
HOOD AND THE DRAGONSHIPS
The
Merry Men are disbanded. Yet each former member uses the "What
would Robin do?" philosophy in their present lives to prosper.Meanwhile, Vikings raid the coast of England, razing villages and monasteries, while their aging leader, Thorvald Treefoot, seeks to protect the "old ways" and his hotheaded son. Since no one can stop the Vikings, Robin and Marian reunite the Merry Men. Except Ben Barrel and Clara, who are too old and comfortable to return to adventure. They track the raiders, but can't catch their dragonships on horseback. Battling skull-demons and tar-men with spell and sword, they oust a wizard so the disguised Robin Hood can lure the Vikings to shore. He turns a village into a giant trap while Puck's fairies grapple Norse sea-demons. And in the end, Robin's first arrow slays Treefoot's son. And Gilbert finally gets his revenge. Includes: Friar Tuck's "Sir Osmund and the Golden Locket" Haakon Halfmad's "Torden's Revenge" Wampano's "Why the Eagle Has a White Head" Gilbert's life story |
ROBIN HOOD AND THE FLOWERS
OF THE FOREST
Marian accidently crosses into the realm of Faerie and
cannot return. Robin Hood seeks the help of friends and enemies
alike (while maintaining an Unquiet Grave ritual?), sacrifices
everything he holds dear to find her. He even seeks his prioress
cousin, who seduces him. OR RH sees M disappear, and sets up
an unquiet grave vigil where she vanished. He won't leave the
spot for fear of missing her. So his MM build him a hut and firewood
and bring him food. Meanwhile, each has his/her own adventures
and problems, and comes to RH for advice, and gets it, or a little
story, or trick, and succeeds. Marian meets an elven king, marries
and becomes queen, bears children, endures peace and war and, alone in the kingdom, grows old. In her
last days, ancient and dying, she walks amidst the flowers to
see them and she slips back to Sherwood: young again, missing
exactly one year. The lietmotif is flowers: their uses, their
beauty, their meanings. Each chapter is told from the viewpoint
of a different Merry Man.1199 King Richard dies at Chaluz. King John reigns. |
1204 1207 1208 A crusade is launched against Albigensian heretics in France until 1213. |
MAID MARIAN AND KING
JOHN
Marian, as Matilda, organizes a woman's army to oppose John's
persecution of the church and nunneries. Katie, married with children,
falls back on her old ways of outlawry, stunning her husband. 1210 1212 |
ROBIN HOOD AND THE RIGHTS
OF MAN
Magna Carta, Clause 40: "To none will we sell, to none deny
or delay, right or justice." Burgeoning civil war with John's
foreign mercenaries. Robin wades through civil war to drag John
to Runnymede and the Magna Charta. England becomes peaceful,
sort of.1216 1219 ROBIN HOOD'S QUEST 1222
1224 1226 |
King Henry III begins
reign 1227.
RH meets another king (Edward? Not till 1272?), goes to court at his behest, but soon
returns to the Greenwood.
ROBIN HOOD AND THE LONG ROAD Marian dies, taking RH's heart. Gilbert leaves to fight iniquity in Scotland, becoming a hero. With food scarce, most others drift away. RH's old shoulder injury plagues so badly he can scarce draw a bow. Robin Hood travels to Kirklees Abbey for relief from the pain. Along the long, long road, Robin recalls his life and meets old friends and enemies who have died: Allan A'Dale, Black Bart, Guy of Gisborne. He breaks all gessa. His cousin, Ursula(?) the Prioress of Kirklees, conspires with an old enemy, Red Roger or Roger of Doncaster, for lands. RH kills Red Roger, then shoots one last arrow and dies in John's arms. RH dies at 58. Little John buries Robin Hood under turf in Sherwood. Only the arrow marks his grave, and that's soon lost. Little John stays on at the edge of Sherwood Forest with Friar Tuck, answering questions and telling stories about RH. The gathering spot becomes a shrine to Robin Hood. When Friar Tuck dies, Little John enters the fairy realm and is never seen again. |
ROBIN HOOD AND THE GIANTS
Fantasy. In Cornwall, Robin Hood stumbles across King Arthur's
tomb, and instigates a battle between the last of the Cornish
giants and a sea serpent in the mists.Ireland? Africa? Iceland? Scotland? Germany? France? RH and Valiant Knight elements? Ivanhoe elements? RH meets Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough, and William of Cloudesly? Other Merry Men: Gamble Gold from "The Bold Pedlar" Nan o' the Mill Peterkin the Juggler Watkin Hob 'o the Hoar Oak Dickon of Hartshead? Kit the Smith Will-the-Bowman Hogan? Digger? RH meets the Ghost of Beowulf? Grendel? RH meets Morgan le Fay? |
