Howard Pyle (1853–1911)

I found this to be pretty entertaining, but also very repetitive. Robin Hood or one of his crew meets up with a stranger. Neither identify themselves, but they end up fighting over really sketchy reasons and then the stranger ends up joining up with the Merry Men. So much fighting and often over nothing! The other thing that struck me is that Robin Hood might have occasionally helped out someone in need, but he generally robbed the rich or powerful and kept the loot for himself. So much for show more the giving to the poor meme! And this version of the legend makes no mention whatsoever of Maid Marian. Perhaps because it seems more directed at a youthful audience and legend has it that Maid Marian and Robin Hood were lovers. We can't have any of that sex stuff, but bring on the violence!! I wouldn't read it again, but I'm glad I read it once. show less

In classic fairytale fashion, a young man returning from war helps an old man across a river, only to discover that the old man is King Stork, who offers him help whenever he needs it in exchange for his good deed. When the drummer man reaches town, he learns that the princess will marry any man who can answer a question she puts to him, and who can ask her a question she can't answer, and catch a certain bird. Using the whistle King Stork gave him, the young man outsmarts the princess - show more secretly an enchantress who flies through the air to visit a one-eyed witch at night - and avoids having his head cut off. He answers her question, stumps her with his own, catches (and kills) the one-eyed raven, and follows King Stork's final piece of advice: to pour fresh milk on the princess and beat her with a switch(!). And then...happily ever after?

(I'd love to see Alix Harrow get her hands on this for a retelling...)

Quotes

"But the drummer trudged on the way he was going, as merry as a cricket, for it is not everybody who cracks his shins against such luck as he had stumbled over, I can tell you."

"And so this story comes to an end, like everything else in the world." show less

In the movie Rosemary's Baby (one of my favorite movies of all time), the character Hutch is described as being an author of "boys' adventure stories." I never knew what that meant, but it's possible that Otto of the Silver Hand might be a boys' adventure story.

There's honor and revenge and violence (thankfully without gore). It reminded me of the old movies made under the "Code" back in the day in its fairly simple presentation of good and evil. Even the dude who's finally trying to do show more right can't have a happy ending because he's done so much bad in the past. Not that I wanted things to be hunky-dory for him, but I would prefer a little more of a reward for having a nuanced emotional life and an evolving sense of morality. Good comes only to the unambiguously and consistently good, which doesn't give much hope to the rest of us. Of course, the good have some pretty nasty things happen to them, too, so there's not a lot of hope for anyone in this book, really. Which now that I think of it, is a little odd for a children's story. I might have to bump my rating up a star just for that. show less

While reading this I kept thinking what a shame it was that I hadn't read this as a child because it's just the kind of story I would have loved as a girl. Truthfully, as an adult I still love it. The prologue itself tells you that if you're a sourpuss and like to take things too seriously, you'd best stay away. I was always a tenant of "the Land of Fancy" as Pyle calls it, so I was very happy to spend time in between the covers of his book. I found myself laughing and smiling throughout all show more the many stories. I will say that I did not always understand the jokes Robin and his men made, the language is archaic and it was not always easy reading but it was always enjoyable. Robin Hood was my favourite Disney movie as a child and the Kostner version is still a guilty pleasure of mine, but little did I know how different the actuall adventures from the book were. The only time seriousness comes about is at the end, in the Epilogue, which I loved despite that I cried the whole time I read it. The only thing more I could wish for from this book was to actually hear all the many songs sung in it's pages. show less