Throwback Thursday: Robin Hood
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Illustration of Robin Hood[/caption]
Over the weekend I discovered, in my mother’s basement, a box of books which I foolishly thought several years ago it was time to get rid of. Thank goodness outgoing traffic so often gets caught in the basement.
One of the books I rescued was Robin’s Country by Monica Furlong. I have no real memory of this book beyond that it involves Robin Hood. The back cover summary seemed utterly unfamiliar…but I’m sure I must have read it. I read all of the Robin Hood books, until they all blurred together in my memory. And then I read them again.
Watching the Disney movie, I was as in love as a three year-old can possibly be with an animated fox. Numerous home videos confirm that all of my first stories were essentially fan fiction for Robin Hood Fox.
Once, I ran out of books to read while on a family vacation — a great tragedy — and was lucky enough to find a used bookstore, which contained the book Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. Mostly what I remember about that one is the way it mentioned once or twice in passing that girls were a thing that existed, somewhere out there in the world beyond Sherwood Forest. None ever appeared.
In middle school I discovered a series of books about Robin’s daughter, Rowan Hood, a teenager with her own little band near Robin’s. I really enjoyed those, though I haven’t been able to find them at the library for years now.
At around the same time, I read an adult book — my first book from the grown up section of the library — an historical fiction novel about Maid Marian. It was a momentous occasion, and I liked the book, too. That author writes about puppies now, I believe, which I always found rather disappointing.
After that, I watched a movie starring an aging Audrey Hepburn as Marian, who eventually — spoiler alert! — killed Robin in order to prevent him from participating in a fight to the death.
Great thinking, Marian.
The idea, if I remember correctly, was that she loved him so much she couldn’t let anyone else kill him. To say I was unimpressed would be an understatement. At thirteen, I was traumatized. But I’ve always loved Robin Hood, and I’ll take him in whatever form he comes.
Of course, nothing beats the old ballads from the Middle Ages. Old ballad Robin Hood has been beaten up by (among others) his girlfriend, his nephew, his right hand man, and the son of a miller. I’ve always admired Robin largely because of his tendency to get beaten up by every person he encounters. And why? He’s cocky, for one thing. The guy just doesn’t give up. And there are stories where a requirement for joining the Merry Men is the ability to beat Robin at something. That’s some great leadership. He’s not trying to prove anything or be better than everyone else. He appreciates everyone’s strength, and he seeks out people who have something new to offer, not those he can easily control. People follow Robin because he’s a good person they can respect, not because he has any kind of power over them.
He’s also kind, brave, dashing, and just a little bit bad. Appealing traits.
Robin Hood, in some form or another, is a story that’s been part of my life for as long as I can remember. And let me tell you, it’s a good one to grow up with.
