Week 13 Story: The Contest of Trickery

When the Sheriff of Nottingham set up a contest of archery, all of the outlaws of Sherwood Forest knew that Robin Hood would take the bait. It was most obviously a trap, and David of Doncaster confirmed this for them.

But if they could not convince their fearless leader to not attend the archery competition - and they could not, for he would call any who did so a coward - then perhaps there was another plan they could convince him to follow.

The day of the archery contest came, and all of Robin Hood's men attended as participants. Each of them wore a hooded cloak, knowing that without proper cause, the Sheriff would not dare to force everyone to reveal themselves for fear of his citizens losing their trust in him.

Arrows flew, and one hooded figure in particular was astounding. Every shot was within the center rings, and even though the second place contestant came close, it was the hooded figure in red who took the competition.

The Sheriff of Nottingham came to greet the victor with a sickly sweet smile. He requested that the victor remove their hood, so that they could be properly awarded with the prize. But when the hood came down, the Sheriff was astounded to see that it was not Robin Hood at all! Instead of the outlaw, it was simply a skilled archer from out of town, who had heard of the contest and journeyed to take part.

Disappointed at his failure to lure out Robin Hood, the Sheriff went to give the victor his prize: an arrow with a golden head and a silver shaft.

However, instead of the arrow, the Sheriff found an archery target in its place. It was the target of the second place archer, and the arrows upon it formed a pattern: an "H" made up of arrows. The Sheriff raged at the sight, for it was clear to him what had happened.

Robin Hood had thrown the competition, purposefully avoiding a perfect score and allowing the other man to win. Instead, he chose to make his shots into a letter representing his name. It both identified him to the Sheriff after the fact, and proved that his accuracy was superior to the victor. And then the outlaw had claimed the prize that he would have received had he shot true, and left his target as a message.

While he did not officially win the archery competition that day, Robin Hood won in all the ways that mattered. He outplayed the Sheriff at trickery, escaping the trap set for him, and he made off with the prize with which the Sheriff had baited the trap. Yet another victory for Robin Hood over his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham!

Author's Notes:

In the original story, the Sheriff's plan failed because Robin Hood and his men attended in hooded cloaks, and so the Sheriff and his men could not see them. Robin Hood then won the competition and took home the golden arrow, letting the Sheriff know of his failure by shooting a message via arrow into the town.

It seemed odd to me that the Sheriff would not be wary of people hiding themselves in a trap he set for Robin Hood, so I had both the Sheriff and Robin Hood do more with the plan. The Sheriff knew Robin Hood could win the archery competition, so he decided to unmask whoever won in order to catch Robin Hood, relying on the outlaw's pride. However, Robin Hood and his men managed to outsmart the Sheriff. By shooting a specific pattern into his target, Robin Hood proved that his accuracy was superior to the other archers without becoming the actual victor of the contest. Then, when the Sheriff was distracted with the winner, he stole the prize and left his target as a message. The end result is very similar to the original, with Robin Hood escaping with the golden arrow, but it attributes a bit more cunning to both sides.

Bibliography: Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow from The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child. Web Source.

Image: Archery Target on pixabay. Web Source.