the outlaws of sherwood by robin mckinley

Little John, Will Scarlet, Much, Tuck, Alan a Dale and his wife Marjorie, a mysterious lad named Cecil (whose secret is revealed elsewhere on this website) - they all get their time to shine. McKinley gives much attention to the others in Robin's band of Merry Men and Women (for McKinley has added several female characters).

The Outlaws of Sherwood is a very appropriate title for this book. But here, Robin has a somewhat different reaction. In the classic legend from the Gest to Errol Flynn, Robin Hood eagerly risks life and limb to shoot for the prize of a golden and/or silver arrow, clearly knowing that the archery contest is the sheriff's trap. His often repeated slogan is that various things like philosophies 'do not keep the rain out'. McKinley's Robin Hood, however, is a (justified) worrywart - and a very charming one at that. Traditionally, Robin is a trickster - someone who might care very much about the poor that he helps, but seems to care little for the troubles that affect him. But Robin's inability to split a willow wand or opponent's arrow at ludicrous distances is not the most important change in Robin's character or the biggest example of him being an ordinary hero. This change is a sign of McKinley's love of 'ordinary heroes'. Come now, that's the most open secret here, that I am the worst archer of us all.' Robin even tells one of his outlaw band: 'you pass the basic requirement, which is to be a better archer than your leader. Here, Robin is outlawed because he shot the forester in the heart with an arrow intended for his foe's leg. In the classic legend, Robin Hood is a superlative archer. But such a summary, while accurate in the broad strokes, does not do The Outlaws of Sherwood justice.

Summarized that way, it's easy to see why Stephen Knight has described Robin McKinley's book as a 'straight re-telling'.

The outlaws of sherwood by robin mckinley