Talk:Little John
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Little John is part of WikiProject Middle Ages, a project for the community of Wikipedians who are interested in the Middle Ages. For more information, see the project page and the newest articles. | ||
| ??? | This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale. | ||
| ??? | This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale. | ||
|
Article Grading: |
|||
|
WikiProject Middle Ages To do:
|
|||
[edit] 1
ūI read a very interesting twist on the Robin Hood legend. In it, Robin Hood was a twelve year old girl. Replete with the joust on the bridge and expert archery, the youg female Robin Hood was quite impressive. I found the book, called Robyn, at 1stbooks.com
Removed from the article:
Unlike the previous man bear pigs writing states, Robin Hood's meeting with Little John went more this way: Robin Hood, recently outlawed and forming his outlaw band, was walking through Sherwood Forest when he came to a narrow bridge over a deep stream-hardly a river-about 5-6 feet deep and about 2-3 feet above the water. Just at that moment a tall stranger begins to cross from the other side. Neither will stand back and let the other pass first. To settle the matter, Robin and the stranger joust on the bridge with staves. After a good joust, the stranger wins the fight by knocking Robin Hood off the bridge and into the water. Afterwards Robin discovers that that the stranger, John Little, has come to Sherwood Forest to join him. Robin is glad to have such a strong fighter in his band and he re-names hm Little John.
should anyone wish to merge it in. --Tagishsimon
Today (November 22, 2005), I rewrote the section on the quarterstaff duel to conform with the more common versions of the legend - particularly the 17th ballad from which the tale originates. Little John also wins the duel in Howard Pyle's children's novel (in which, Robin has to show his archery prowess to impress John after losing out in quarterstaves), the 1950s Richard Greene TV series and the 1938 Errol Flynn movie.
The main instance where Robin wins the quarterstaff bout is in the 1991 Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves. And surely, it makes more sense that this be noted as the occasional exception rather than as the rule. -- Allen W. Wright
[edit] Dublin
I'm tempted to delete the section on Little John in Dublin. It's unsourced and seems to be rather messy of organization - hard to tell if someone just made it up or what. Can anyone provide some evidence to support this? Maybe it's a commonly known story in Ireland but surely it's referenced in a book or website if that's the case. 23skidoo 01:19, 11 November 2005 (UTC)
It's not a commonly known story, but I have heard it before. I recall it being mentioned in Robin Hood - The Shaping of the Legend by Jeffrey Sigman, and I believe also in Joseph Ritson's 1795 compilation of Robin Hood ballads. I think the article errs at present in saying that it is widely known. It's one Little John tale of many, certainly less common than the Derbyshire link. I don't know about the 12th century date, however. As that is more the time period assigned to Robin Hood in the later legend. -- Allen W. Wright, www.bolodoutlaw.com - 22 November 2005
