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Enter Sherwood Forest, where Robin Hood’s daring deeds turn adventure into legend.
Howard Pyle’s The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood brings the legendary figure into the world of Sherwood Forest. Daring deeds and legendary feats lie at the heart of this classic, inviting you to follow Robin Hood into adventure.
First published in 1883, this children’s classic brings together adventure, myth, and legend. Its title promises a merry spirit alongside daring exploits: a welcome invitation for readers who want to step away from the everyday and spend time in Robin Hood’s world.
What you’ll discover
- Robin Hood at the center Follow the figure whose name gives these merry adventures their focus.
- The world of Sherwood Step into the forest setting at the heart of Robin Hood’s adventures.
- A taste for daring Explore a classic built around bold deeds and legendary feats.
- Adventure meets legend Enjoy a book where adventure shares its ground with myth and legend.
- A merry invitation Let the promise of merry adventures draw you into Robin Hood’s world.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy clever disguises, feasts under a great oak, old songs, and a hero who beats the rich with wit as much as with a bow.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A proud boy becomes an outlaw
- A fair defeat begins a friendship
- The Sheriff falls for clever tricks
- Loyalty brings the band into danger
- Robin puts cleverness behind true love
- Generosity gives an honest knight hope
- Disguise protects Robin from powerful enemies
- Separate adventures share a storytelling voice
- Mercy and laughter belong together
Who’s who
- Robin HoodA young archer outlawed for killing the King's deer, he leads a band in Sherwood and wants fair dealing for the poor.
- Little JohnA giant who beats Robin in a staff fight, he becomes his loyal right hand after seeing his skill with a bow.
- The Sheriff of NottinghamA proud, greedy officer who swears to capture Robin, he tries law, trickery and force, and wants the reward.
- Will ScarletRobin's strong young nephew, who dresses like a dandy and hides from the law after a quarrel.
- Friar TuckA jolly fighting friar of Fountain Dale who loves food, drink and a good scrap, and joins the band.
- Allan a DaleA young minstrel with a sweet voice who wants to marry his true love before she is forced to wed another.
- Sir Richard of the LeaA kind knight in debt to a greedy priory, he wants to save his lands and honor his word.
- The Bishop of HerefordA vain, money-loving churchman who keeps getting caught by Robin and wants revenge on the outlaw.
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The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
by Howard Pyle · 1883
A boast about a deer sends young Robin Hood into Sherwood, where Little John waits on a narrow bridge.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“In haste I smote, but grieve I sore at leisure!”
In short
What happens when a proud young archer kills the King's deer and then a man, and has to hide in a forest? That is how The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood begins.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h5 h 35 min fast, 8 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 100,400 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1883by Howard Pyle
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A boast in the forest makes an outlaw
The story opens in the days of King Henry the Second. Robin is eighteen, strong and quick to anger, and he sets out for a shooting match at Nottingham. On the way he meets fifteen foresters feasting under an oak. They laugh at his cheap bow and call him a little lad.
Stung, Robin bets twenty marks that he can bring down a deer farther away than any target. His arrow drops the best hart in the herd. One forester, drunk on ale, fires at Robin as he walks off. Robin shoots back, and the forester dies. He is outlawed, and two hundred pounds are set on his head.
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Details
- First published
- 1883
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Pyle, Howard. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood.
Pyle, H. (2026). The merry adventures of Robin Hood. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood (Original work published 1883)
Pyle, Howard. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood.
@book{pyle2026merry,
author = {Pyle, Howard},
title = {The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood},
note = {First published 1883}
}
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What is The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood about?
It tells how a young archer becomes an outlaw in Sherwood Forest, gathers a band of loyal men and uses wit, disguise and skill to outsmart the Sheriff of Nottingham while helping poor and honest people.
Who are Little John, Friar Tuck and Will Scarlet?
Little John is Robin's giant right-hand man, Friar Tuck is a jolly fighting friar of Fountain Dale, and Will Scarlet is Robin's strong young nephew who dresses in bright silks. All three join after first fighting Robin.
Is The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood a true story?
No. Howard Pyle built it from old English ballads and legends and published it in 1883. The kings and bishops are real names, but the adventures are playful fiction set in a land of fancy.
The author
Howard Pyle
1853–1911 · American illustrator and author
Howard Pyle (1853–1911) was an American illustrator and author born in Wilmington, Delaware. He wrote The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (1883), Men of Iron (1891), and The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903). He lived mainly in Wilmington and moved to Florence, Italy, in 1910, dying there in 1911.
“In haste I smote, but grieve I sore at leisure!”
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