This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. Find all my work at MJMunoz.com.
Welcome to Story Over Everything episode 20. This is the first episode of Skimming Leaves,
where I will be having a casual book chat about Sir Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood.
And as I looked into this, I found out that the title is actually a little bit longer than that,
but I'm not going to include all of that here and now. You can look it up on your own.
I have resources or links for you to follow in the show notes.
So, I'm going to start off with some information. Well, first of all, what is a casual book chat,
and what is Skimming Leaves, and why is that? I'll be brief about it in less than two minutes.
Skimming Leaves is a play on an idea I had before about mining the gold out of books that are really good,
classic books, well-received, highly acclaimed books, so that I could figure out the craft of writing
and examining them closely. Skimming Leaves is kind of the opposite of that. It's taking classics,
taking greats, and doing more cursory, more surface level of them, skimming the golden leaves,
as it were, of those wonderful stories. And I actually came up with the idea from the,
I think it's the introduction or the foreword perhaps, or maybe it's the preface to this very book,
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. And I think that's a cool little tidbit, and that's a fun reason
for me to start with this. Also, I'm very much into fantasy right now, and superheroes, and the series
of books that I have is kind of like a combination of, I guess, well, the nearest analog I could say is
it's like doing Marvel comics, but doing Marvel comics as books and as literature, and kind of
combined with a fantasy edge or a fantasy aspect. You could liken it to Lord of the Rings, or maybe
even Chronicles of Narnia, or maybe even better, the Chronicles of Bredain, but combining those
aspects of those, the magic in those worlds with the Marvel superhero universe, and uniting it all
in one author's vision, and I have series upon series planned for that, and it's a huge, crazy,
ambitious project, but I've heard that you should have big, hairy, audacious goals if you want to
have success and make something of yourself. So anyway, that's what I'm working towards in this book.
Like I said, it feels like a very, even though it's not actually fantasy, it feels like a very much
in the vein of what I'm trying to make, because there's superheroic aspects to Robin Hood, and
there's fantastical aspects or elements to it, even if they're just in the heroic deeds that these
men are able to accomplish that are unbelievable. Some of them are absolutely unbelievable.
So anyway, without further ado, I'm going to go ahead and get into it, and before I continue, I'm
going to say if you haven't had the pleasure of reading or listening to this book, I urge you to
go to LibriVox or Project Gutenberg. You can find it there, and you can listen to it, read by several
people, admittedly, and your mileage may vary on the quality of their readings, but it's the second
time I've listened to it through, and I still enjoyed it. And if you want to read it on your own,
with your own eyes, you can go to Project Gutenberg. Again, I have it linked here, and you can find it
in Project Gutenberg, you can find it free, or I mean, well, free, yes, but in various formats, and
I won't go into that right now. So I'm going to start with the basics of the book. The Merry Adventures
of Robin Hood by Sir Howard Pyle has illustrations by Howard Pyle in it. There's going to be a dozen
or so. I'm not sure I didn't count them all, but including some of them in the show notes in the
artwork done for this show. So look at that stuff, and you'll be able to find it. It was published in
1883. I'm not going to do the math on that. I should do that next time. That's a while ago. It was 110,000
words, 23 chapters long, took about 11 hours, combined for all the readers to read it and for me to
listen to it, including the, this is a presentation by LibriVox.org. To find out more, go to
LibriVox.org. Here, you can follow me here, blah, blah, blah. So anyway, those are the details of the book.
And yes, I'm going to go ahead and touch on each chapter. I will have one comment. And unfortunately,
as I started this, I was very verbose, as I want to do as I start a new project. And then as time went
by, I got a little more choosy with my words and I said a lot less. So I'm basically going to assume
that you've read the book, and I'm going to mention really cool, really fun things from each chapter
or the preface, the epilogue, I guess, that really struck a chord with me. And I'm not going to
comment too much on them. Other than to say this, I think this is a wonderful book. I've advised other
people to read it, and I will continue to do so. And I'll probably read or listen to it again at
some point in the future on my own, just for fun, just for the pleasure of it. So I will go now.
In the preface, there's this phrase that's clap to the leaves and go no farther if you can't handle
what is going to happen here. Because this book isn't about the past being pure and I guess sanitary
or antiseptic. It's about people being, I don't know, body. And not that it's an inappropriate book at all,
but it's just kind of outrageous what some of the heroes do and even more so what some of the villains
do in this. But it's accurate to a certain type of people in a certain time, and it reflects that,
even though this is all in the land of fancy that this is happening. So if you can't handle that,
if you can't have fun, if you can't go with the flow and accept outlaws and bandits as heroes,
then you should go no farther. You should clap to the leaves and let this book be.
So that's it for the preface. From chapter one, which I called Outlaw, and for some reason I gave a
subtitle to each chapter, maybe for context to help me remember what was in it and help you remember
what was in it, if you've recently read this, or not so recently. So anyway, from chapter one,
which I dubbed Outlaw, Heart's Blood versus Heart's Blood, H-A-R-T, speaking of a deer,
Renison, and then H-A-R-T is a really interesting literary flourish. Robin Hood is killing a deer,
he's killing a deer in order to prove how good of a shot he is and how expert he is as a yeoman.
And he is basically attacked and in self-defense he pulls his arrow and looses it on a relative of the
sheriff of Nottingham and he ends up killing that man and both the heart's blood and that man's heart's blood
spill onto the green lawn, the grass, which is described as being beautiful, lush, and full of life.
And the lives of these two are flowing out of them due to Robin's actions and because he was angry
and had the heat and the pridefulness of youth and that kind of led to a loss of his innocence.
After that he becomes an outlaw hero and lots of other men in Nottinghamshire are made outlaws
for various reasons, they didn't have enough money to pay exorbitant taxes, or many other incidences
happened to them, and they ended up becoming outlaws. And while they were being outlaws, they helped people,
they didn't necessarily rob from the rich and feed to the poor, or feed to give to the poor, as is the common
saying about Robin Hood, but they basically did that and they helped out the common folk who were oppressed
by the law and by people who had power and who were close to the law, or people in positions of prominence
and state, whether that be lords or clergymen or whoever. So it's pretty interesting.
And the common folk knew they had nothing to fear from Robin and his men because they wouldn't go after them,
they wouldn't take from them, they would take from those who stole from everybody else, pretty much.
Little John apparently is seven feet tall, which is crazy, and Robin's pretty tall, he's six something,
but they don't quite say, or at least not to my recollection, and he fought off 20 merry men after having
beaten Robin for over an hour and then defeated Robin, and Robin fought him for over an hour.
So I guess by the transit of property, Little John is really, really strong, Robin's really, really strong as well,
and I guess Little John is a little tougher than Robin. And there's this hilarious thing where they take him
into Sherwood Forest and they baptize him with beer and give him fresh new clothes to wear and make him part of the band,
and his name is actually originally John Little, and then they dub him Little John.
And at first he's mad, but because they christen him and he has his baptism, he accepts it and just goes along with it.
Okay, chapter two, Tinker. Robin is a trickster, I like that. Is it honor or regret that keeps him from killing the Tinker?
Either way, I like how he folds these people into his band of merry men. Also, I like that the Tinker is a singer for the group,
that's a lot of fun. And these people, the Tinker becomes part of the band, and so does Little John who are people,
he fought one in chapter one and the Tinker in chapter two. Chapter three, Shooting. I believe this is the shooting match.
Apparently the sheriff of Nottingham has a wife, that's interesting, I've never heard of that or thought of that before,
but it makes sense. Robin wears a costume over his clothes, he's wearing his Lincoln green, his famous Lincoln green,
and he wears, I don't know, red rags and such over that. And it seems a little weird to me, it seems like it'd be super hot
and uncomfortable to wear that, but he did it. I find it exciting that there are untold tales of merry men from their adventures
going to the shooting match. Leaving little avenues like that open for more stories is nice.
And then Robin's pettiness at being called a coward by the sheriff is funny, and then him taunting the sheriff was a good way
to end the chapter, and he taunts him by shooting an arrow into, a blunted arrow, into the sheriff's hall
while he and his men are eating, and it says something about like, oh thanks for giving me the prize basically, which is fun.
Okay, chapter four, it's called Rescue, or I'm calling it Rescue. The Palmer mentions something about Normans and bishops
when speaking up for Will Stootley. He called himself a Saxon and a Yeoman in his youth. Robin Hood and the merry men are called Yeoman.
I don't know what all those terms mean, but it sounds like there is some sort of class warfare and ethnic divide at play.
It may seem odd, being that all these people are, quote unquote, white, but remember that French, the French and English fought a lot
with each other, and even the Irish fought with England, and I heard the Scots actually, and there is the IRA conflict
I know a little of in Ireland as well, and that's between Irish and Irish. Now the bottom line is, one, as long as the characters
have a clear understanding of what divides them, the audience does not need to fully understand the context of conflict,
and two, people may fracture or ally themselves in a variety of ways, and it is silly to dismiss out of hand the differences in a conflict,
even if you don't understand them, like me here. Okay, next, I love Robin's regret over killing the sheriff's kinsmen.
This book is more episodic than serial, wait, yeah, but that threat of remorse is being actively woven through these merry adventures,
and it didn't have to be. I think it is moral, the book, that is, without being preachy, which is good. Okay, moving on,
as Robin says, now let us get straightaway into Nottingham town and mix ourselves with the people there, but keep ye one another in sight,
pressing as near the prisoner as his guards as ye can. When they come outside the walls, strike no man without need,
for I would feign avoid bloodshed, but if ye do strike, strike hard, and see that there be no need to strike again,
then keep all together until we come again to Sherwood, and let no man leave his fellows. That's really cool.
He doesn't want to kill, he'll kill if he has to, he'll tell his men to kill if they have to, but it's kind of the last option,
and they want to have retribution, killing be swift and sure, and not lead to more death and more suffering.
Suitley's acceptance of death and desire for an honourable death is interesting.
Honour is so important that it is desirable to die with honour when death comes, as it must for all.
I think that's more of a something about the people in the context of their time, where maybe life was harder in a lot of ways,
but maybe it was simpler and better in others. The brotherly love between Will and little John is great,
they are men and brothers in arms, and that is a beautiful thing.
Chapter 5, Butcher. This chapter is hilarious, so much fun.
Robin is factual but not truthful when tricking the sheriff, the brothers, the cattle, the acorns,
the danger of Robinhood to the sheriff being the same as the danger to Robert the Butcher O'Loxley.
That's all great. He basically, by technicality, is honest but dishonest to the sheriff,
and he keeps doing that throughout the book to different people, and it's a lot of fun.
Chapter 6, They Go to Nottingham Fair, I guess.
The way Eric Lincoln is spoken of, it feels like he should be somebody that we know, but I don't know if he is or not.
Renold Greenleaf is a cool false name for little John that he adopts for quite a while,
and I can't believe that little John went to work for the sheriff as Renold Greenleaf. That's hilarious.
In chapter 7, The Sheriff's House, little John has grown quite fat living in the sheriff's house,
and at some point he runs five miles, and it's hilarious to think of this more rotund little John running all that distance.
It was after he and the sheriff's cook had an eating match with each other, basically, in the larder, it sounds like,
and then the cook ends up defecting and going with little John and Robinhood's merry men living in Sherwood
and becoming their cook instead.
Chapter 8, Tanner, little John getting trashed is fun, I don't remember what all that is, but he must get made fun of a lot in that chapter,
and the book has fun with it, and I have fun with it, so it's all good stuff.
Chapter 9, Will Scarlett, Will is another outlaw, he's Robin's nephew and little John's leverage, ooh, what's that about?
I think, gosh, there must have been some sort of competition going on between them and little John wanting to use him against Robin.
All I think is he trounced Robin, and they say that he pulled up an entire tree, I don't remember if he made a switch or a staff out of it for himself,
but he did something, and he's super, super strong, and it's never explained why, and it's just, I don't know, it's kind of a joke, I guess?
Chapter 10, Midge, so they say that tragedy plus time equals comedy, they also say that laughter comes from the unexpected or unbelievable becoming real.
Either way, I suppose that means that the best punchline is the one you never saw coming.
The vaunted Robin Hood and three of the mightiest men he knows being outfoxed and outclassed by a Miller's son,
named after a tiny fly, can certainly be called an unseen haymaker.
And I think that chapter 10 was the funniest chapter yet, with Midge the Miller's son, I believe that's the actual title of the chapter.
Chapter 11, Ellen Adale the minstrel, so, Ellen Adale and Ellen so-and-so are in love but kept apart.
Pile named, oh, named drop Pope Joan, which was really cool. Look up Pope Joan if you don't know anything about her.
Let's see, oh yeah, May Ellen's wedding is a lovely song, that's something that Ellen Adale sings to Robin Hood and his merry men in Sherwood Forest,
as they're waiting for stuff to happen.
Chapter 12, Holy Tuck, we have Holy Hounds and Will Scarlett Surprise.
So, Will Scarlett, like I said, is Robin's cousin. Somehow he knows Friar Tuck and is familiar with Friar Tuck's dogs, his hounds.
And at some point Robin blows on his famous silver horn, which I haven't mentioned this yet because it's in the books and I didn't think to do that.
And he blows three times on it and his merry men come rushing to save him.
And then he basically asks Friar Tuck for permission to do that after they've been fighting each other for a while.
And Friar Tuck says, that's fine as long as I can throw and blow on my whistle the same as you blow on your horn.
And he does and these dogs come out and attack him.
And the men are going to shoot the dogs until Will Scarlett comes up to them and makes nice with them and they're affectionate with him because he knows them and they know him.
And that was a huge surprise and that was a lot of fun.
I actually looked into it and in one of the older versions of the ballads of Robin Hood, there's actually 20 dogs or 100 dogs or something like that.
And all of them get killed except for a couple of them and it's pretty crazy.
And yeah, Friar Tuck for some reason has these hounds that he used to attack people.
I said holy hounds as opposed to like hounds of hell because he uses them for I guess a similar-ish purpose.
I just need to check something real quick.
Okay.
So moving on to Chapter 13, it's called Mowage.
Ellen's dad surprised me with how he valued station over sentiment.
He would rather his daughter married an old man that she has no affection for or interest in so that she can have a higher station than for her to be a poor but happy woman living with and being married to Ellen Adale.
Odd.
Chapter 14, Sad Night.
Sir Richard of the Lee is a good man.
He cares so deeply for his wife and son and his honor and the peril of losing his land is an injustice that hurts them all.
Robin and his men helping him was stirring and lovely.
Chapter 15, Payback of a Sad Night.
There is a clear but not preachy moral here.
Rich and poor, small and great alike can be petty and spiteful and selfish if they lose themselves.
The corrupt clergyman and the mob both lost themselves.
There was a mob at a fair I believe.
Let's see, Chapter 6, Foe, Friar.
Little John names it and claims it with the aid of St. Dunstan.
Little John pretends to be a country friar because he and Robin are bored and decide to go off on adventures of their own for the day and then come back and share with each other what they had done.
And Chapter 17 is Robin's side of that where he becomes a bonnie beggar.
Here we have only the second mention of Maid Marian.
In the whole book it will be the final.
She's mentioned in the very first of the book and it's sad to me that there's no romance and a love story between them but that's what Pyle chose to write and I still like it.
It's good.
And then there's something about Cain's wife releasing misfortunes in the book.
And it sounds like it's taking the story of Pandora releasing sorrows into the world and conflating it or combining it with the Bible to make it so that Cain's wife is the one who brought misfortunes into the world.
And I've never heard of that before and that's super interesting.
Apparently there's a beggar king and there's like a whole society of secret beggars who aren't really beggars and who falsify what they're doing and they all eat well and live well because they just let people give them money and they are rich off of that and that's kind of funny.
Chapter 18 hailed with the Queen.
The royal shooting match was a lot of fun.
I don't know if Queen Eleanor was flirting with King Henry or needling him with the shooting match but I sure liked it.
It was a lot of fun.
Robin Hood and his men stole the hearts of so many that day.
Chapter 19 one bad bishop.
I know no one is perfect and I know I'm defending a robber here but the bishop in the chapter is not what I would call a godly man with him poisoning King Henry against Robin and it's petty and vindictive which you would not expect from a man of the cloth.
And this man had been taken into Sherwood forest and fleeced previously so he's getting revenge on Robin which I kind of get and kind of don't because they stole his money from him that he corruptly got out of people and now he's trying to get them killed.
Inappropriately like on false claims.
Let's see chapter 20 deadly guy. Robin's righteous killing is an interesting turn for him and it's almost like Pyle was writing like a normal or like a modern book with a full character arc and it's not just a series of adventures because this is this whole thing with this guy or Guy or Guy of Gisborne who is a bad ombre but Robin puts him down and he's happy.
He gladly puts him down and he's not sad about it which I'm not either because I feel like it was an appropriate killing.
Chapter 21 the lion's heart. I almost want a book about King Richard after this chapter because he basically seemed like a guy like Robin going on adventures and having fun and enjoying what life throws at him even if it knocks him in the dirt a little because he's like a salt of the earth kind of blue collar type guy and it was really interesting to see that.
Chapter 22 which is the last chapter I'm calling mercy Robin Hood had become a man of war and he brought war to the Greenwood in his pride and anger he fought and killed as he did as a youth.
It is poetic and tragic and sobering his heart's blood was leeched from him in fear and bad humor but it was stayed as he stayed little John's hand and he acted.
Excuse me with mercy in his death as he had for much of his life.
And yeah he's betrayed by somebody and it's pretty brutal that it happens and how it happens and it's really sad when he dies and little John wants to.
Basically murder like a I don't know a dozen women for killing Robin and Robin stops him and it's just I don't know it's really sweet and moral and good and righteous and.
Again it makes him feel like such a hero and it makes me so happy to read that and.
I know it's inspiring that like even though he was had been betrayed like that that he sought not vengeance and that's super admirable so anyway.
I love this book I think it's absolutely fabulous.
I shared my thoughts gently casually on all those and I guess it was casual because I didn't really go into deep spoilers and didn't talk extensively about each chapter so maybe that'll work I'd like to be more terse with it and see if that works I'd love to hear your feedback on it how you thought the format of this worked.
If you've read the book what you think of the married adventures of Robin Hood and just how it went overall.
I thank you for your time and attention and I ask that you come back next week for story over everything I will be doing something very different I'll be talking about a topic or studying and.
Explaining for myself and for you some aspect of writing some craft aspect of writing.
So it'll either be that or it'll be just talking about a topic in the world of writing and books and publishing and all that good stuff so anyway until next time folks this is MJ signing out.
I hope you enjoyed that go to MJMunoz.com to leave any questions comments or other feedback you might have there you can find all of my analysis art and fiction.
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