Robin Hood and Little John: Photo by Neil Turner.
Robin Hood was walking through the forest, wandering through the tall dark trees of Sherwood as the sun was setting. He had left his merry men at the camp, for he was tired of hiding from the Sheriff of Nottingham. Robin Hood was not the type of man to sit around and wait for something to happen; he was the type of man to seek out an adventure whether it be big or small. The famous outlaw had become all too accustomed to hiding - for he was a wanted man.
On this particular day he was walking through the forest with only his bow, three arrows, and his clothes - no food, no water, not even shoes (he did not wear shoes so he would not be heard). He decided to turn down towards the creek (he figured the rushing water would disguise any sound he did make), and once he arrived at the creek he grabbed a few rocks and began to skip the flat ones. Robin wondered what he would do on his next adventure. Would he steal money from Prince John? Rescue his friends from prison? Or finally win the hand of Maid Marian? His thoughts came abruptly to a halt when he heard someone whistling in the distance. Robin scurried up a tree to survey the situation.
A few moments later Robin saw him. He was a giant of a man standing almost seven feet tall and twenty-two stone. Although, he was big he moved like a deer hardly making any noise at all. Robin thought to himself about whether or not he should make his presence known. He decided to draw back his bow and shoot an arrow right through the tip of the man's hat. He released the string and just like that the hat was pinned to the tree. The man immediately looked up at Robin and lumbered up the tree to seek his revenge. Robin jumped out of the tree and into the creek and let the current take him down stream. The giant of a man followed and eventually the water became so shallow they had to exit the creek.
What began then was the wrestling match of the century. The two men were the perfect match of skill and will. They battled for half an hour until they were both too exhausted to struggle any further. They rolled away from each other a couple of feet and relaxed.
The giant of a man said, "Do you perchance happen to know the famous Robin Hood?"
Robin Hood responded, "I am he."
The giant of a man replied, "Huzzah! Here I am looking for the famous Robin Hood, so I can give him a clue to a mission that may interest him. But instead I am chasing him through the forest trying to kill him. Lord, please have forgiveness on me!"
Robin Hood then said, "My friend, what is your name?"
The giant of a man responded, "Sir, I am John Little. I bring to you news that Prince John has ordered the Bishop of Hereford to recover the bow "Fail-not" that once belonged to Sir Tristan, one of King Arthur's knights of the round table."
Robin said, "And why, John Little, do you bring me this news?"
"Well you see, Robin Hood, I believe that a bow this powerful does not belong in the hands of any man, especially not the Bishop or the Prince. In fact, I think this bow belongs in a reliquary - only to be observed, but never to be touched. I do not have much more information on the whereabouts of this legendary bow, but I know the Bishop of Hereford has the information. We must interrogate him."
Robin Hood thought to himself about the implications of all that John Little told him. He thought about how he would have to come out of hiding and how his life would be in danger. But he also found himself agreeing with John. If that bow were to be placed into the hands of a man like Prince John, all of his friends lives would be in danger.
Robin said, "John Little, today you have become a member of my team called the "Merry Men." You shall help guide me to Hereford to make a visit to the Bishop. I hope you like disguises! For if you and I were to enter the Bishop's grounds like this we would surely be dead within seconds. I will take you to meet my men tonight and we will develop a plan for the morning. Also, John Little - I hereby declare you Little John. Come follow me through the forest to our hiding place!"
Robin Hood and Little John went walking through the forest.
*Author's Note: This story was inspired by "Robin Hood and Little John" from The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. In the original story Robin meets John on a bridge by a brook and they had a battle on the bridge with their staffs. The first to fall into the brook would lose. I kept to this story a little bit by involving the creek and their wrestling scuffle, but it was definitely different. The same idea stood though - they were not friends when they first met. In the story I describe Little John as weighing "22 stone" this is approximately 308 pounds.
The rest of my story relates more to the Indiana Jones arc and how Little John had a clue for Robin. I chose to use "Fail-not" as my ancient/mythological relic because a bow is very relevant to Robin Hood. Prince John and the Bishop of Hereford are characters mentioned in other Robin Hood stories. They are not mentioned in the original "Robin Hood and Little John," but they will tie back into my overall story. A famous Indiana Jones quote is, "It belongs in a museum." So I thought I would bring this into the conversation about the bow. At first, I was not sure if there were even museums back then, but some quick research said that there have been museums for at least 2,500 years. But after some more research I learned that museums did not exist in medieval Europe. However, they did have reliquaries to house ancient relics.