Robin Hood Meets His Match

Robin Hood Meets His Match. The Robin Hood Trail. If you've heard of Robin Hood, chances are you've also heard of his faithful friend, Little John., The two men - both outlaws living in Sherwood Forest - weren't always friends. They first came face-to-face while crossing a stream bridge by a narrow log. When the stranger challenged Robin to a fight, there were two problems. For one, Robin was carrying his bow and arrow, while his opponent carried a long, pointed wooden stick called a quarterstaff., The second problem was the other man's height. He was seven feet tall, if not taller! To make the fight fair, brave Robin left his bow and arrow aside and fought with a quarterstaff; but despite his valiant effort, the stranger's strength and stature got the better of Robin and he tumbled off the log into the stream., At that very moment, Robin's Merry Men appeared from the forest and, upon hearing what this giant had done to their leader, the tackled him to the ground., Gracious in defeat, however, Robin broke up the fight and asked the victor to join them., "What is your name?" asked Robin., "John Little," the stranger replied. Not surprisingly, howls of laughter and teasing followed - and that is how Robin's seven-foot friend got his nickname, Little John., A Tall Story , According to one of the Robin Hood ballads, the yeoman Little John was Robin Hood's second in command. He was a dab hand, with a bow and arrow - so skilled, in fact, that the Sheriff of Nottingham acknowledged Little John as one of the best archers he'd ever seen., Little John's size became the stuff of legend, probably because it was so unusual in medieval England, when the average height was around 5 ft 7 in. A modern tombstone marks the supposed location of Little John's grave under an old yew tree in a churchyard in the village of Hathersage, Derbyshire.