This is the best compilation of classic Robin Hood tales I have ever come across. You cannot help but smile and laugh as you read about this legendary outlaw's exploits.

Is it idealized? Of course. Pyle was aiming at whimsy and nostalgia more than realism. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood transports readers back to a happier, simpler time.

I just love to have short stories to go through one at a time over a period of time. And this was a classic that needed to be added to my list. Howard Pyle does honor to the time period in his writing style and the stories are funny. Not what I expected because the Disney alteration has a bit more focus on the romantic side. Mary does get mentioned but that is just about it. Robin and meeting his merry men one at a time is really good fun.

Really enjoyable. I'm not sure if the version I read was in the original old/middle/ancient English, but it was still charmingly old sounding.

This is not the tale that everyone has heard growing up. Robin Hood starts off by killing the sheriff's nephew, and then evades justice repeatedly. This is supposed to be seen as "heroic", and even laughable to his "Band of Merry Men". No. You killed a man. You deserve to go to jail. Add on top of that, fighting with every. single. person that they come across, and then taking half of their money for themselves. What the hell gave them the right to steal from people?? They are no better than the people they claim to be against. They all do wrong, and never really pay for it. Robin Hood deserved the ending that he got in the tower. A******!!

This is the first book I've read on my Kindle. I was able to download it for free from Google Books and I'm glad I did. To tell the truth I didn't even know this was a book until I stumbled across it. I guess I should have known better but it just never showed up on my radar before now.

The title of the book is the Merry Adventures of Robin Hood for a reason; it is more of a series of short stories featuring Robin and his band of Merry men than one long story about Robin. If you've seen any of the Robin hood movies you've seen a couple of the short stories merged into one longer whole but, for the most part, there are a lot of Robin's tales you haven't' experienced yet.

My favorite Robin Hood movie is the animated Disney classic. It incorporates a couple of the merry adventures, such as the archery tournament; but, interestingly Prince John (the phony king of England) isn't really a problem for Robin most of the time. Instead, the Sheriff of Nottingham is. However, even the Sheriff isn't really all that evil and instead is just incompetent and a bit afraid of Robin.

Interestingly I'm glad I had just finished Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth" before reading this as I had a better understanding of the roles of various religious figures as well as what it meant to be the Sheriff.

The language, while often archaic, is pretty easy to read and understand and the book, as a whole, was fun. I recommend it.

A grand adventure, best read aloud to a captive audience.