Week 13 Story: Little John and The Hood

When Robin Hood turned nineteen years old,

He stumbled upon a man named Little John.

John was a jolly man with lusty eyes and a smirk on his face.

Though Little John was not so little,

His arms were bigger than some trees,

And he stood high in the sky;

Where-ever he went people stared,

And they looked with curiosity.

But how did Robin Hood and Little John become friends,

If you stay a while and listen close I'll tell you all the rest.

I'll be brief, but nevertheless this story will surly cause a smile.

Robin Hood approached Little John and said,

"I see you there in the grove,

And I see that all who observe you respect you;

I am Robin Hood, the one and only and you shall be my accomplice."

Then they shook hands,

And Little John let out a loud bellow.

They left the long bridge where they had met,

And off they went to Nottingham.

The people of Nottingham were quite poor,

They barely had shoes for their feet.

Little John grew weary and dim,

His smirk was not so wide

The King was responsible for the poor,

His taxes was outrageously unfair.

Robin Hood could not simply sit back,

He knew what needed to be done.

So they waited till dark fell upon Nottingham,

And waited to strike.

Robin was fierce with his bow,

His arrow never missed.

He took aim and released,

The arrow soared through the night and struck the King's tower.

Little John was responsible for the guards,

He struck them with his big arms,

And they fell to sleep on the ground.

It was time to help those of Nottingham,

And Robin knew just what to do.

He began by sneaking into the Grand Hall,

Where all the gold was kept.

They had to be quick,

For if the King woke up they were both dead.

Trouble soon hit and Little John was in the path,

The King's wife awoke from her sleep and went to go clear her head.

Little John was in the hallway she would come down,

He had to improvise quickly.

Little John bent over behind a vase,

And made himself as small as possible.

She was getting closer,

And Little John knew she would scream if she saw his figure.

She came quickly down the hall,

Little John held his breath as she walked by.

She never saw him,

And Little John and Robin Hood finished grabbing the gold.

They were almost caught,

But luckily Little John's frame did not give them away.

And so became the friendship and Little John and Robin Hood.

Author's Note: I was inspired by the Robin Hood and Little John from the British Unit. I honestly gutted the whole story and gave it my own spin. The style of writing was very old and hard to understand so I made the language modern and easier to read. The original had used phrases that were very old British terms like "prepare then a feast, and none of the least, for we will be merry, quoth he." I also combined all of the Little John stories into one because they were way too long. In the original story Robin Hood was 20 instead of 19. The original also said he was seven feet tall, but I wanted to let my readers and their imagination decide how tall is tall. The first half of my story was close to the original and it talked about how Robin Hood and Little John met and why he is called Little John, but the last half of my story is very different. The original story only had a bow shooting contest with another townsman, but I wanted to make it more exciting with them stealing gold and almost getting caught. I hope that you guys enjoy my spin on the original Robin Hood!

Bibliography:

Author - Francis James Child (1882-1898)

Title - The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Robin Hood and Little John

Link - Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook: Robin Hood: Little John (mythfolklore.blogspot.com)

This image is by Louis Rhead (1912) on Wikipedia