Howard Pyle (1853–1911)

Recently I stumbled across a series that was evidently based on the Robin Hood legend. Though not my usual genre, I found myself intrigued enough to consider adding it to my TBR list. But then I thought maybe it would be a good idea to read some of the older stories about the legendary folk hero- which other than a Disney-like story I read as a child; I had never done- to my knowledge. I have seen a few movies- but I wanted to read what I thought might be some of the 'original' tales and not the Hollywood version of them- which led me to this boo. This compilation of stories set the tone for Robin Hood going forward- though, the tales of Robin Hood had been around long before Pyle put his stamp on them.

This collection of stories was written by Howard Pyle back in 1883. He adapted the older Robin Hood ballads, changed a few things up, including Robin’s original villainous reputation –making him into a hero who robbed the rich to feed the poor.

The book starts off with the story about how Robin Hood became something of an outlaw and wound-up living in Sherwood Forest. From there we are introduced to his Merry men and off we go on a variety of often hilarious adventures, meeting an eclectic group of people- some who become allies and some who remain staunch enemies.

I never would have thought I’d find Robin Hood stories this enjoyable- but I admit I had a good time reading this book, which was nothing at all like I thought it would be- and doing a little research about the Robin Hood legend's origins. The language in this book, as I learned, was made up of a fake medieval dialect and it was hard to follow on occasion, as a result. It was also unintentionally funny sometimes because words today mean something entirely different from when this book was published.

All the same, I have a renewed respect for the Robin Hood legend. This was a fun exercise and was certainly a much-needed change of pace. I feel much better equipped now to pursue more stories or pastiches built around the legend of Robin Hood! Who knows, maybe I’ll even tackle Ivanhoe someday.

4 stars… (mais)