The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Prologue Summary & Analysis

Summary

The story is set in the time of King Henry II in Sherwood Forest, near Nottingham, England. At the age of 18, Robin Hood decides to participate in an archery match announced by the Sheriff of Nottingham. On his way, he meets a group of foresters all dressed in Lincoln green. The foresters mock Robin for his age. Angry, Robin makes a bet that he can shoot a faraway deer with his bow and arrow. He wins the bet, but then one of the foresters tells him that the deer belongs to King Henry and so Robin will be punished. As Robin runs away, the drunken forester who lost the bet shoots an arrow at him but misses. Wanting to prove himself, Robin shoots an arrow back, hitting the forester and killing him. Full of regret, Robin escapes. He hides in Sherwood Forest for the next year, avoiding the Sheriff, who wants to catch Robin both to receive a reward and to avenge the forester, who was his relative. While in the forest, Robin finds other outlaws like him who have escaped punishment, and he becomes their leader. The men vow to protect others from those who have wronged them and to help those in need.

One morning, Robin Hood goes off in search of an adventure. As Robin is about to cross a bridge, he encounters a tall man on the other side. Because there is only room for one of them to cross at a time, they argue and then begin fighting on the bridge. Robin is bested and falls into the stream. Impressed by the stranger’s strength, he invites the man, named Little John, to be part of his band. The men initiate Little John in a baptismal ceremony, and Robin Hood makes him his right-hand man.

Analysis

The Prologue explains the origin of how Robin Hood came to be a famous outlaw, and in doing so, it introduces one of the major themes of the novel and Robin Hood’s life: the difference between legality and morality. By killing a forester, Robin breaks the law as well as a moral code. By law, he should be arrested to face punishment, as the Sheriff desires. However, Robin decides instead to pay his debt to society by helping those in need rather than facing imprisonment, creating his own set of rules. Because Robin did not mean to kill the forester and feels regret for his action, he seems to feel he doesn’t deserve legal punishment, despite having killed a man. While Robin Hood and his band of men may not follow the code of law, they have a moral code that guides them. Meanwhile, the Sheriff, having both personal as well as legal motives, is portrayed as a villain, underscoring the subjectivity of both the law and Robin Hood’s set of morals. In the novel as well as in real life, it is not always simple to determine what is right and what is wrong.

The importance of friendship is also introduced in the Prologue, as Robin Hood brings together his band of men and eventually befriends Little John. The welcoming of Little John into their group in a mock baptism shows how the men view their band as tightly knit as any religious order, though clearly, they have no respect for religion itself because they ridicule such ceremonies. Also, even though Robin Hood and Little John meet by fighting, their admiration for each other is more important to both of them than their egos. The acceptance of Little John sets up the idea that Robin Hood and his men put the good of the group above all else and will therefore sacrifice anything for each other.

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