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A.E. Chandler's Reviews > The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
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This is my favourite novel. A copy sits on my desk with my dictionary. Having first read it in grade five, I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve re-read it – including once in the rain in Sherwood Forest, sitting under an umbrella. The three chapters spanning Little John’s fight with Arthur a Bland, and Robin Hood’s fight with Will Scarlet, culminating in all four of them getting bested by Midge the miller’s son is my favourite part, though the chapter on the Chase is also incredibly fun. The stories have a great sense of humour. The language and generally cheery outlook do a great job of transporting you into the world Pyle portrays. Robin has human foibles, but is also shown to full advantage as a role model with an innate sense of justice.
This novel brought Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest to life for me, more than any other retelling of the legend. It inspired me to write my first novel, and propelled me more than any other book toward the study of medieval England, which years later became my MA. This book changed my life.
This novel brought Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest to life for me, more than any other retelling of the legend. It inspired me to write my first novel, and propelled me more than any other book toward the study of medieval England, which years later became my MA. This book changed my life.
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eyes.2c
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May 11, 2021 06:06PM
Love the picture of you sitting in the rain under an umbrella (golf sized I hope) in Sherwood Forest reading this. Very special!
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eyes.2c wrote: "Love the picture of you sitting in the rain under an umbrella (golf sized I hope) in Sherwood Forest reading this. Very special!"Thanks. It was a regular-sized umbrella, but I had my Wellies on!
I've actually never have read this so I picked up the book. Now to read.
Dave wrote: "I've actually never have read this so I picked up the book. Now to read."Hope you enjoy it, Dave.
Wonderful review. This is my favorite version of Robin Hood too.
Dan wrote: "Wonderful review. This is my favorite version of Robin Hood too."Thanks, Dan.
I think my older brother had that exact edition. Don't know what happened to it. He also had "Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels" which I do have, along with several other Halliburton books.
Terrie wrote: "Lovely review, A.E.!"Thanks, Terrie.
Michael wrote: "I think my older brother had that exact edition. Don't know what happened to it. He also had "Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels" which I do have, along with several other Halliburton..."
Hi, Michael.
Sorry I missed this comment before. Hope your brother still has his copy somewhere. I've gotten three different editions, but this is still my favourite.
I'm sure this must have been the version of Robin Hood I also read (probably a few times) as a child. It's a delight and no mistake.
On the strength of your review, I gifted it to one of my nephews this Xmas. As he lives near the original Sherwood Forest, I hope it fires his imagination just as much as yours was? Thanks for the inspiration.
Have you read the atmospheric poem 'Sherwood ' by Alfred Noyes:Sherwood in the twilight, is Robin Hood awake?
Grey and ghostly shadows are gliding through the brake,
Shadows of the dappled deer, dreaming of the morn,
Dreaming of a shadowy man that winds a shadowy horn.
Robin Hood is here again: all his merry thieves
Hear a ghostly bugle-note shivering through the leaves,
Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Merry, merry England has kissed the lips of June:
All the wings of fairyland were here beneath the moon,
Like a flight of rose-leaves fluttering in a mist
Of opal and ruby and pearl and amethyst.
Merry, merry England is waking as of old,
With eyes of blither hazel and hair of brighter gold:
For Robin Hood is here again beneath the bursting spray
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Love is in the greenwood building him a house
Of wild rose and hawthorn and honeysuckle boughs:
Love is in the greenwood, dawn is in the skies,
And Marian is waiting with a glory in her eyes.
Hark! The dazzled laverock climbs the golden steep!
Marian is waiting: is Robin Hood asleep?
Round the fairy grass-rings frolic elf and fay,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Oberon, Oberon, rake away the gold,
Rake away the red leaves, roll away the mould,
Rake away the gold leaves, roll away the red,
And wake Will Scarlett from his leafy forest bed.
Friar Tuck and Little John are riding down together
With quarter-staff and drinking-can and grey goose-feather.
The dead are coming back again, the years are rolled away
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Softly over Sherwood the south wind blows.
All the heart of England his in every rose
Hears across the greenwood the sunny whisper leap,
Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?
Hark, the voice of England wakes him as of old
And, shattering the silence with a cry of brighter gold
Bugles in the greenwood echo from the steep,
Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?
Where the deer are gliding down the shadowy glen
All across the glades of fern he calls his merry men--
Doublets of the Lincoln green glancing through the May
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day--
Calls them and they answer: from aisles of oak and ash
Rings the Follow! Follow! and the boughs begin to crash,
The ferns begin to flutter and the flowers begin to fly,
And through the crimson dawning the robber band goes by.
Robin! Robin! Robin! All his merry thieves
Answer as the bugle-note shivers through the leaves,
Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
I used to love reciting this. Incidentally, he also wrote 'the highwayman'.
