History Literature / TheOutlawsOfSherwood

''The Outlaws of Sherwood'' is a retelling of the RobinHood legend by Creator/{{Robin McKinley}}. It deliberately {{deconstruct}}s the figures and setting, trying for historical accuracy and psychological plausibility, as well as unusual attention paid to the matter of privies.

* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Notably (for a RobinHood story) averted; with one or two exceptions, Robin is very pragmatic about which causes he decides to aid.

* SimpleStaff: The melee weapon favored by the outlaws, as staves are easily acquired in the forest and require minimal training to use effectively. Little John opted for one even before joining the band, as he surprisingly turns out to be a bit of a TechnicalPacifist, and it's loosely implied that he's the one training the others to use it.

''The Outlaws of Sherwood'' is a retelling of the RobinHood legend by Creator/RobinMcKinley. It deliberately {{deconstruct}}s the figures and setting, trying for historical accuracy and psychological plausibility, as well as unusual attention paid to the matter of privies.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Hurrah! They defeat the sheriff, the {{Official Couple}}s all make it out intact and committed, Robin is named heir to a wealthy Saxon landholding, and all of the outlaws are pardoned... sort of. King Richard's (actually pretty realistic) punishment for their technically criminal behavior is to ''conscript them into TheCrusades,'' thus separating them from their beloved homeland for several years (and that's if they survive). Even Much and Alan, who were crippled in the last battle, choose to come and work in the king's service.]]

''The Outlaws of Sherwood'' is a retelling of the RobinHood legend by RobinMcKinley. It deliberately {{deconstruct}}s the figures and setting, trying for historical accuracy and psychological plausibility, as well as unusual attention paid to the matter of privies.

* AllergicToRoutine:  Will Scarlet. Many people also think this why King Richard went off to the Crusades.

* BeautifulDreamer:  Robin watches over and admires Marian while she's unconscious from her injury sustained by Guy of Gisbourne. 
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Hurrah! They defeat the sheriff, the {{Official Couple}}s all make it out intact and committed, Robin is named heir to a wealthy Saxon landholding, and all of the outlaws are pardoned…sort of. King Richard’s (actually pretty realistic) punishment for their technically criminal behavior is to ''conscript them into TheCrusades,'' thus separating them from their beloved homeland for several years (and that's if they survive). Even Much and Alan, who were crippled in the last battle, choose to come and work in the king's service.]]
* BowAndSwordInAccord:  Will is proficient with both weapons, though we don't see much of his sword work until the FinalBattle. 

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: RichardTheLionheart at the end, with more historical nuance than is often the case when Richard appears at the end of a Robin Hood tale.

* LoveConfession:  From Robin to Marian immediately following the BeautifulDreamer sequence, while simultaneously [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove "apologising for [his] arrogance and stupidity."]] It [[RelationshipUpgrade graduates quickly and happily into a marriage proposal]]. 
** Another from [[spoiler:Little John to Cecily]], [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove very anguished]], on the battlements of Sir Richard's manor. 

* RefugeInAudacity:  Sir Richard purports that this might be how the outlaws can get the king to listen to them:
--> The Lionheart has some sympathy for boldness … and little sympathy for greed. 

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge:  Robin wants to embark on one of these after Marian is wounded by Guy of Gisbourne; the FinalBattle descends on him before he has the chance. After it's over and there are many unheroic dead, he feels guilty for his "passion". 

* RunawayHideaway: Greentree is a Type 3, to Robin's perpetual chagrin.

* ShroudedInMyth: Robin Hood. Among other things, Robin is quite possibly the ''worst'' archer in the band; all his famous trick shots turn out to have been dumb luck or have actually been performed by one of the other Merry Men and attributed to him.
** [[spoiler:King Richard]], who's been listening to all the Robin Hood stories, says he's disappointed that Robin isn't ten feet tall and able to knock down walls with his voice.
* SimpleStaff:  the melee weapon favored by the outlaws, as staves are easily acquired in the forest and require minimal training to use effectively.  Little John opted for one even before joining the band, as he surprisingly turns out to be a bit of a TechnicalPacifist, and it's loosely implied that he's the one training the others to use it. 

* [[spoiler:KillEmAll:  Oh, the FinalBattle. Six of the sixteen outlaws are killed, with two more wounded potentially fatally, and yet two more left permanently crippled. There are at least nineteen mentioned enemy {{Mooks}} and TheDragon, all of whom are killed save one. Especially shocking because the body count for the entire novel up until that point is ''two''.]]

* FightingForSurvival:  Sir Richard's untrained peasants are 100% ready to help Robin's men should it come to open combat against the sheriff.  Several Nottingham residents are only too happy to pass on gossip to the isolated outlaws.  Also, in the FinalBattle there is Tuck, who turns out to be something of a BadassPacifist. 

''The Outlaws of Sherwood'' is a retelling of the RobinHood legend by RobinMcKinley. It deliberately {{deconstruct}}s the figures and setting, trying for historical accuracy and psychological plausibility.

* ShelteredAristocrat: Played straight with Marjorie, who is horrified to learn that the outlaws live in moveable shelters rather than a house. Will has hints of this at first--Robin is particularly nervous that he'll play this trope straight--but it is soon averted. While Cecil did throw up the first time he saw a stag being gutted, it's later revealed he also hated the trappings of royal life.

* ShelteredAristocrat: Played straight with Marjorie, who is horrified to learn that the outlaws live in moveable shelters rather than a house. Will has hints of this at first--Robin is particularly nervous that he'll play this trope straight--but it is soon averted. Also averted with Cecil, who, it is later revealed, hated the trappings of noble life.

** In the beginning of the novel, Robin is thinking about how he knows people who can not only sight accurately with a bow, but seem to always know when a gust of wind is coming that might throw off their aim and adjust for it; he is lamenting that he is ''not'' one of these people.

* ShelteredAristocrat: Played straight with Marjorie, who is horrified to learn that the outlaws live in moveable shelters rather than a house. Will has hints of this at first--Robin is particularly nervous that he'll play this trope straight--but it is soon averted. Averted hard with Cecil, who, it is later revealed, hated the trappings of noble life.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Hurrah! They defeat the sheriff, the {{Official Couple}}s all make it out intact and committed, Robin is named heir to a wealthy Saxon landholding, and all of the outlaws are pardoned…sort of. King Richard’s (actually pretty realistic) punishment for their technically criminal behavior is to ''conscript them into TheCrusades,'' thus separating them from their beloved homeland for several years (and that’s if they survive). Much is the only exception, since he was left crippled by the FinalBattle, and Alan loses his lute-playing fingers.]]

''The Outlaws of Sherwood'' is a retelling of the RobinHood legend by RobinMcKinley. It deliberately deconstructs the figures and setting, trying for historical accuracy and psychological plausibility.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Hurrah! They defeat the sheriff, the {{Official Couple}}s all make it out intact and committed, Robin is named heir to a wealthy Saxon landholding, and all of the outlaws are pardoned…sort of. King Richard’s punishment for their technically criminal behavior is to ''conscript them into TheCrusades,'' thus separating them from their beloved homeland for several years (and that’s if they survive). Much is the only exception, since he was left crippled by the FinalBattle, and Alan loses his lute-playing fingers.]]

* BittersweetEnding

* UnableToSupportAWife: Robin periodically angsts about this, and it's the primary reason he puts off revealing his feelings to Marian.

* WoundThatWillNotHeal: References a less uncanny version of the trope when Richard says that the climate in the Holy Land means wounds don't heal like they should.

* HeroicBSOD: Sess has one of those leading up to her wedding to Sir Aubrey; Sir Richard has one when his mortgaged lands are to be seized by the sheriff.

* AccidentalAimingSkills: Robin is usually a fairly poor archer, but early on in the novel he has a stroke of very good (or very bad, [[YMMV depending on your perspective]]) luck with his bow in an impromptu shooting match with Tom Moody. The second part of this instance leads to the AccidentalMurder described below.

* ImprobablyAimingSkills: Many (but not all) of the outlaws are a much better shot than anyone else, though it's [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by lots and lots of practice and their specially-made longbows.

* ActionGirl: Marian, Eva, Sibyl[[spoiler:, and Cecily]].

* ActionGirl: Marian, Eva, Sibyl, and Cecily.

* SweetPollyOliver: Cecil(y). Someone ends up SweetOnPollyOliver.