Chapter By Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

Remember, the book is in public domain. Download or read the ebook online legally and for free at Project Gutenberg, Google Books or the Internet Archive among other sites, or check out the audiobook from LibriVox. You can also use a print copy. In either case my copy may not match up with yours chapter-wise. Follow along with the very-long subtitle. For this chapter:

Part First:

Telling How The Sheriff Of Nottingham Swore That He Would Deal Dole To Robin Hood. Also How He Made Three Trial Thereat, But Missed Each Time By A Good Bow’s Length.

In our last visit to Nottingham we saw Robin outsmart a tinker who wanted to serve him his warrant. Now I’m a bit confused. This wasn’t about the tinker bringing Robin in, just handing him a warrant. Technically Robin not getting the warrant doesn’t mean he’s automatically in jail. They still have to catch the guy and put him in irons. It’s not a teleportation signal, and it doesn’t suddenly not count that Robin took it from him (and probably destroyed it) rather than the tinker or the Sheriff’s other men “officially” serving him with it. He’s still not going so this feels more like legal procedure more than anything actually useful to their time, like actually arresting him.

Thus far Robin has gone from unwitting foil who had who could plead self-defense and into a guy who just likes to mess with the authorities. I’m not saying Robin is really the villain of this book but thus far he doesn’t quite resemble the hero we all know. I wonder what the second story will do to change this because based on the chapter title this is going to be another of Robin’s constantly chronicled outings. You’ll know which one I mean from the title, but I’m curious how it plays out given the more morally questionable Robin of the bygone era.

II: The Shooting Match At Nottingham Town

I wonder if this will go better for him than the last time he went to an archery competition. Remember, that’s how this all started.

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