Little John tricked the Sheriff of Nottingham into coming to dinner with Robin Hood. Before he left, they made him swear an oath never to harm them. In this story, the Sheriff decides to send Robin an invitation he cannot refuse. He holds an archery contest - and the prize is a golden arrow. He feels certain that the outlaw will not be able to resist taking part.

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I’ve told you before how Robin Hood once tricked the Sheriff of Nottingham into coming to dinner with him in Greenwood. At the end of the Dinner Robin forced the Sheriff to swear an oath never to harm Robin or his men. In this story, we shall hear if the Sheriff was true to his word.

The Sheriff of Nottingham did not forget how Robin Hood had invited him to dinner under the trees of Greenwood.

Some time after that memorable dinner, the Sheriff was drinking ale with his friend the Abbott. .

‘Let no one say that I am an ill-mannered man, he mused. ‘One favour deserves another. It is time for me to return an invitation to Robin Hood and pay his hospitality back in kind.’

The Abbott shook his head:

‘The outlaw has not remained at large for so long by being a simpleton. I do not think that he will walk so easily into your hospitable trap.’

The Sheriff smiled over the top of his tankard of frothy brown ale and the Abbott realised by the self-satisfied curl of his friend’s upper lip that the sheriff was confident of his plan.

‘My dear Abbott,’ said the Sherrif. ‘You are right to say that we are facing no straight-forward villain. I do not have in mind a polite note addressed to Robin Hood in his robber’s layer in Greenwood. I have a more subtle plan. But he shall prove unable to resist my invitation to the gallows - all the more because I shall send it indirectly.’

The Sheriff’s plan came quite naturally to him. Like most men, he loved to watch a good sporting contest. And in those days the most popular sport in England was archery. Everyone knew that the title for the finest archer in all the North of England belonged by right to Robin Hood. The Sheriff decided to give the outlaw a chance to claim his title. He ordered that on a certain day an archery contest would be held on the field outside the city walls. The trophy was to be a arrow, the like of which had not been seen in England. Its shaft was made of white gold, and it was tipped and feathered with yellow gold.

When Robin heard news of the contest, he thought what a fine thing it would be to claim the prize from the hand of the Sheriff himself. The very idea made him chuckle, for all the people of Nottingham would see how their chief law keeper was powerless to arrest the county’s most notorious outlaw.

Robin blew his horn to call his followers to meet around the oldest Yew Tree in Greenwood. He spoke to his faithful outlaws like this:

‘Men. In a week’s time we shall go to Nottingham and take part in the Sheriff’s own shooting match, for I crave to bring the golden arrow back to Greenwood.’

The outlaws were far from over-joyed to hear this plan, for in their hearts, they thought it was perhaps a little too bold.

‘Have no fear,’ said Robin, ‘For the Sheriff stood under this very Yew Tree and swore an oath by St. Mary that he would never do us any harm.’

To this, Little John added: ‘Aye that he did, and in a week’s time we shall discover if the Sheriff is a man of his word.’

On the day of the contest Robin and over 100 of his men gathered on the field of the contest. Robin ordered that just he and the five best shots in his band would take part in the match. The others were to crowd round them, so that Robin would not be recognised until he stepped forward to aim at the target. For more disguise, he wore a hood over his head.

Little John, Much the Miller’s Son, and Will Scarlet each stepped forward in turn to aim their long bows. Their aims were good and true. Then it was the turn of Robin. The Sheriff was watching from his chair, and he recognised the villain right away, not from his face which he could not see, but from the way he walked. He said to himself:

‘Soon Robin Hood will take his prize, and I shall have mine.’

Posts driven into a mounds of earth served as the targets, and Robin split furthest post with his arrow. Nobody else could strike true from such a great distance.

At the end of the contest, Robin approached the sheriff to claim his prize. He accepted the golden arrow and held it above his head. The word had got round that the victor was none other than the most notorious outlaw in the North of England. Some people in the crowd cheered, others jeered, and still more kept quite, for they did not dare to show their support or opposition for the Sheriff’s deadliest enemy.

While Robin was still holding up the prize, a horn sounded and the sheriff’s men began to rush at Robin. The outlaws of Greenwood were ready for treachery such as this, and held their long bows bent and ready to fire. They shot their into the sheriff’s men, and many of them fell dead. Then arrows began to fly in both directions and most of the crowd - those who did not care to join in the fight on either side - ran for the city gates.

A great many arrows were let loose, a great many tunics were split, and a great many men received wounds. An arrow struck Little John in the knee, and he was unable to stay standing.

‘Robin,’ he called out. ‘If I have served you well and true, do not let me fall into the hands of the sheriff while I am still breathing. Take my broad sword and strike me on the head. Cut me deep and wide until no life is left in me.’

But Robin replied: ‘I would not let you be slain for all the gold in England, even though it were laid out before me.’

And Much the Miller’s son added’ ‘God Forbid that we shall be parted’. And he took Little John up on his back, and walked with him a mile, although he put him down every now and then to loose some arrows from his bow. All Robin Hood’s men were retreating now. They fought their way to the Castle of the good knight whom Robin had helped when he was down on his luck. It was a strong building, with a double moat and high walls. Once the whole band of outlaws were inside, the Knight ordered his guards to rise the draw bridge and shut all the gates.

The Sheriff’s men surrounded the Castle, but they were not strong enough to break their way in, and the Knight welcomed his old friend.

‘Dear Robin. Of all the men in the world, I love you most. You shall stay safe in my castle and let the Sheriff lay siege to us if he wishes. We have enough food and drink not just to survive for 40 days, but to feast upon.’

After a while the Sheriff himself came up the gate carrying the white flag of truce, for he wished to negotiate. The knight stood on the walls to hear what he had to say:

‘Good Knight,:’ he called out, ‘Do you wish to be a traitor to your king? For you are keeping his enemy safe against the law.’

And the Knight replied:

‘I swear by all my lands that I am indeed keeping Robin Hood safe and I will never betray him for he is my truest friend.’

When the Sheriff heard this, he called out that he would depart for London to speak with the King himself. And in this case, he kept his word for straight to London he went. When he reached court, he was granted an Audience with King Richard, just returned for the wars in the Holy Lands. The King heard the story of how the notorious outlaws were being protected by one of his own knights and he said to the Sheriff:

‘Go home proud Sheriff and gather the best archers you can find. I shall be in Nottingham within two weeks, and then I shall take this errant knight for he is a traitor to both his King and to the law of the land. And as for Robin Hood - never have I heard of such a popular criminal. And I am curious to know how one man can break so many laws in a single lifetime. It is my royal intention to look this extraordinary outlaw in the eye before he meets his just deserts.’

And that’s the story of Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow - and Bertie says that one day soon we shall hear about how Robin Hood met King Richard The Lion Heart.

Being a fan of adventure fiction, I could not ignore this truly vintage tale. This is the story of many of the adventures of Robin Hood and his merry men. I must say, as usual, the movies can’t hold a candle to the book. Hollywood has also chosen to ignore Robin Hood’s attitude toward the church and clergy, which were important issues in his day. Written in the 18th century, it takes a little getting used to the language, but it quickly becomes part of the ambience as Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck, and the scores of merry men began to charm me.

Like all good storytellers, Pyle pulls us in with glamour first, making us fall for Robin Hood and his good, stout yeomen for their light spirits and good deeds, before showing us their darker side, taking us along while they rob the rich, after first seducing us with the laughter and free-flowing ale after the fact. The story reads like a fairy tale, with Robin Hood and the merry men doing a lot of lying around in the grass waxing merry when they aren’t feasting and sucking down mass quantities of ale and good, stout March beer. Of course, given the times, everyone drank beer, ale, or wine nearly all the time. Why not? They walked everywhere.

Naturally, Hollywood has also played up the romance angle between Robin Hood and Maid Marian, but in this book, Robin’s lady love gets barely a mention. Females aren’t totally left out, Queen Eleanor being an especially engaging character, but mostly these are stories of battles and games of skill played out by men, done with good humor that even had me laughing out loud.

This book has stood the test of time and deserves respect for that, but it is also engaging even today. It was easy to transport myself to the English woods of the thirteenth century when life was simple and one could avoid the law simply by changing his clothes and adopting an alias. With some enigmatic actors and a script that stayed true to the book, this would make a wonderful movie to outshine all those other namby-pamby Robin Hoods. It would be fun to see these stories on the big screen with some quality talent. I guess, though, I will have to be content, as others have for centuries, with my imagination to see the vivid characters in this wonderful book in action.

Tags: free audiobook, kids, Robin Hood