I loved this book. I loved every second I spent reading it. I loved every adventure, merry prank, and stout lusty lad. The watery eyes I had in the end when they all return to Sherwood Forest would have been rivers of tears if I hadn't been so reluctant to be that weird white girl in the yard crying over her tiny grey computer thing.

The Meh Adventures of Robin Hood. Good if you want a reminder of how blatant antisemitism and sexism used to be.

Meh. My 7yo declares this “really good,” but I found the writing almost offensively lackluster. It felt...formulaic, as if the original had been run through a computer program that outlawed “hard words” and all sentence structures aside from declarative and interrogative. So, not great as a read-aloud but perhaps just right for a kid.

A pesar de que todos conocemos las historias de Robin Hood porque han sido adaptadas a todos los formatos, esta versión es un poquito diferente. Aquí no hay cruzadas ni romances (pobre Marian que no sale), sino que nos cuentan las variadas y muy divertidas aventuras de un grupo de foragidos liderados por Robin que roban a los ricos y ayudan a quienes lo necesitan.

What a fantastic collection of stories. I found it difficult to decide on a rating for this. Historically, it naturally deserves a 5-star review for reviving the great jolly yeoman knave variant of Robin Hood that today is the only one known to the world, but I think there better folktales than Robin Hood and Pyle's language leaves me internally divisive. In any case, this is the definitive Robin Hood, sans perhaps the (true) Middle English Gest of Robyn Hode. Definitely read this if you have any interest in English folklore. Tolkien fans like myself would do well to read it for that purpose as well, although the Icelandic sagas, the Kalevala, Beowulf, and Sir Gawain should all come first.

Robin Hood makes for a fun anti-authoritarian hero---a man of the people, one as gallant as any knight and as steadfast in his resolve as any friar. His style is iconic, but it is bolstered by his dwelling, making for a wonderful imagined past of the mythical England, its bountiful forests and lush fields, quaint inns and mischievous taverns, authoritative castles and cozy villages. Pyle codification of the embedding of historical figures into Robin Hood's story is a noteworthy albeit not entirely novel contribution. Today, most non-English readers probably know Richard the Lionheart primarily from stories such as this one.

Pyle's formatting is wise, although I admit this somewhat begrudgingly. The faux Early Modern English-Middle English hybrid the characters use is a bit frustrating when one has studied the real things, but still, Pyle reveals his impressive knowledge at various points and the idiosyncrasies of the dialect, especially the peculiar diction grow on you as you read the book. This language decision allows for modern readers to get by without special training while giving an air of authenticity. Supplemented by the brief one-sentence descriptions of scenes and the still-worthwhile printed illustrations, the book flows wonderfully.

The final epilogue and afterword hit me emotionally in a way I did not expect. Knowing already their contents and the tale being so ingrained culturally, I expected to feel nothing, and yet Robin Hood's end days left me both appreciating the time we spent together once more and mourning the fictional loss. This was a well-earned contrast to the light-hearted fun throughout the book, which should garner at least a few snickers provided one is paying attention.

I definitely want to go re-read some folklore and try out some new source material now.

Did not finish.

I've read enough Robin Hood lore to know when something isn't sitting right, and while I appreciate Pyle's attempts to bring back the Ye Olde language to his audience, it bored me.