Week 14 Story: Robin Hood

Robin Hood and his band of outlaws were truly onto something this time around. One of Robin Hood’s spies in the city of York had uncovered information pertaining to a shipment of King John’s taxation collections. Namely, there was soon to be a large supply of gold on the move through the countryside, prime for the taking. A heist such as this would be nothing short of a walk in the park for Robin Hood and his band of outlaws.

While Robin Hood was excited to hear news of such an easy target, he still remained hesitant on pursuing this target. The king’s men knew this route would take them directly through outlaw territory, specifically his own. Why would they willingly take this route? Yes it was the fastest path, but there were other far safer options for travel. Robin Hood had an uneasy feeling in his stomach the morning of the planned raid, one that he could not ignore.

So with his instincts telling him no, Robin Hood called off the planned attack on the King’s Taxation transport, preferring to wait for a target that did not seem to be good to be true. The majority of his subordinates accepted this order, with only a select few feeling that their leader was simply going soft after so many years of living outside the law. These few would go against the orders of their commander, endangering the entire band of outlaws.

Late in the evening as King John’s transport of taxation funds was moving through the woods, the few men who decided to go against Robin Hood’s orders were positioning themselves to ambush the transport. As they leapt from the cover darkness it quickly become apparent that Robin Hood’s intuition was correct on this transport. Rather than be alarmed by the outlaws the presence the transport reacted as if they were expecting it, bracing themselves for an attack. This was a trap.

The following morning Robin Hood learned of his men’s disobedience. This left him with a decision to make. Leave to them to their fate, which surely is to hang, or risk the lives of others who obeyed his orders to save these few who let greed corrupt their better judgment. While he felt these men potentially deserved their fate for disobeying his orders, he knew it would be wrong to leave his men to die without even attempting a rescue. They may have been outlaws, but they were also a family.

Robin Hood’s spy in the city of York informed him that his captured men were being interrogated in the city’s jailhouse, with an execution scheduled for the following morning. This left very little time for a plan to be devised and a plan of action made in case his men turn on him and expose the location of their encampment. This left only a few hours to prepare, an almost impossible task, even for the legendary Robin Hood.

The following morning his men were in place in the town square, each with a specific job to do in accordance with the plan for it to succeed. The plan would not be initiated until the men were being marched up the steps of the gallows to their fate. As the ropes were swung over the heads of his men Robin and two other skilled archers took aim from a distant rooftop. Right before the trapdoors gave way Robin Hood and his other archers unleashed their arrows, cutting the ropes at the perfect moment as the executioner pulled the lever to release the trapdoors. As his men were falling to their freedom the remaining outlaws in the audience deployed a number of smoke bombs and distraction devices to allow for the group to escape.

Robin Hood and his band of outlaws escaped to the woods at the edge of York, where the king’s men dared not even follow, knowing they would never find the fugitives in the woods. Robin Hood managed to save his lost men this day, and they all learned to never go against the word of their leader ever again.
    

Author's Note: The basic story of Robin Hood is known to nearly every man, woman, and child in the western world. These tales describe the classic bandit who steals from the rich and gives to the poor who are in need in medieval England. His story has been told time and time again, in numerous languages and a variety of narrative styles. Originally the story was told through a ballad presentation that was commonly sung around the campfire. I attempted to present my narrative in this style, however the work came across as an imposter, and unnatural for my writing style. My inspiration for this story actually came from a Latino version of Robin Hood, Zorro. The idea of having Robin Hood and other marksmen cut the hangman’s rope with a well-placed arrow is exciting, while realistically impossible. Robin Hood is a cunning character that has survived for so long by relying on his wits. This is why he is able to see through King John’s ruse at the beginning of the narrative, choosing to avoid the planned ambush. His wits and ability to avoid a blatant trap allow for the narrative to develop from this point into something more substantial. In the end this is another adventure story with Robin Hood as the main character, but I believe it is one that is still rather entertaining. 
  

Bibliography: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Robin Hood, Francis James Childs(1882-1898)

Photo Information: An actor playing the part of Robin Hood in a stage production
Source: Wikimedia Commons 

Week 13 Story Planning: Rumplestiltskin

The passion of creation-Leonid Pasternak  

source: Wikimedia Commons 

Rumplestiltskin. This is a classic literary story that sticks out to me from my childhood as one that was a favorite of mine. The attempts in guessing the strange man’s name are certainly entertaining to read along with as the woman tries to save her future child from belonging to this despicable man. Hearing the man brag about his cleverness in hiding his unusual name while dancing around a campfire is almost too simple and takes away from his prior cleverness in drawing the woman into an almost impossible situation. For me this seems to be a cop out for the author in regards to not having to explain how the main character was able to outwit the more cunning and senior individual of the story. Aside from changing the manner in which Rumplestiltskins name is discovered and thus his plot foiled, I believe the setting of the story could easily be transitioned into the modern day or potentially even a future date. This would retain the key points of the original story in terms of a deal being made essentially with the devil, while bringing the story to the modern day where can be more easily connected with by modern readers. Instead of having to exchange your first-born child in exchange for aid from Rumplestiltskin, potentially it could be something that is less extreme, while still being of huge importance for younger individuals of this generation. An issue that arises when making a major change such as this is the alienation of older readers who may not connect to this new exchange as well as younger readers. So why would I as the writer decide to alienate a large portion of my potential audience? Well, I would not do that; upon further pondering it seems silly to change one of the key components of the original tale. I think retaining the original story’s key components and simply updating the setting would be the best decision for me as the writer to make.   

Bibliography: The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales, translated by D. L. Ashliman

Week 12 Story Planning: Robin Hood

Moving forward with my story planning this week there is still several major decisions to be made concerning the direction my narrative will take with the tale of Robin Hood and his band of merry men. The story presentation suggestion for this week was for the narrative to be done in a ballad style. While this would be an excellent way for presenting, it would add nothing new to the story, as this is the original format for the old English tales of Robin Hood. A previous narrative presentation suggestion from the course was to tell the story as if it was the dreams of an individual. This would be rather similar in the end to the Hollywood film, A Kid in King Arthur’s Court, whereas the main protagonist is transported back to the medieval ages to participate in the reclaiming of Camelot. Rather, I believe presenting the narrative as a bedtime story being told by an adult to a child over the course of several days would be a new and unique way to present a Robin Hood tale, while also building in natural breaks in the storytelling process. In terms of the themes of the story will it be similar to the traditional ballads, praising Robin Hood as a friend to the poor, who only did what he believed to be the most beneficial for those who were in need? Or will the narrative follow a more gruesome and dark theme, one where we see the hero participating in the Crusades led by the English King Richard? This second option is the one that most grabs my attention, as it is a break from the normal Robin Hood tale, while also capitalizing on the time period Robin Hood supposedly existed in. This will be a darker take on the traditional character, more of a background story explaining where his archery skills originated, while also bringing to the forefront his motivations for helping those in need.

Bibliography: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Robin Hood, Francis James Child (1882-1898) 

Image Information: Writing sunset Rome, Italy 

Source: Flickr   

Week 11 Story: The Poncas Take the Plains

For the Plains Indians there were few things as important to them as the horse. This creature that would come to be synonymous with the tribes of the Western Frontier and our nation’s advancement beyond the Mississippi was not even native to this land. Although it was brought to these shores by invaders it would come to play a major role in the Ponca Nation. This is the story as to how the Poncans came to know the horse, or as they call it, shóⁿge.

There came a day when the Poncan elders began to receive visions, proclaiming that their true homeland followed a watery snake trail. This watery snake trail was actually the Missouri River, which lay northward of their current location. They followed this river to a place where they could step over the water and it is here that they crossed into their new homeland. During this time the Ponca had no animals aside from dogs to aid in their daily tasks and travel requirements. This was the case until the Ponca Nation came into contact with the Padouca (Comanche).

The Comanche were initially extremely confrontational with the Poncans. They first came to blows with one another as the two tribes were both hunting on buffalo on the plains. During these early confrontations the Poncans marveled at the skill in which the Comanche rode on the backs of these large and agile beasts. While the Comanche were fine horseman they were severely lacking in terms of skill with a bow and arrow, as well as having produced inferior quality weapons compared to the Poncans.

Their conflicts would continue for many moons, with neither side holding the advantage. The Poncans’ skill with the bow and arrow outweighed the advantages that should have belonged to the Comanche who were on horseback. Feeling that further conflict would lead to nothing, chieftains from either tribe came together on neutral ground to begin negotiating a peace with one another. When the two chiefs came together the Comanche spoke first, in perfect Poncan. This shocked the Ponca chief, who would soon learn that the two tribes were not as different as he once believed them to be.

Soon the once opposing tribes were trading with one another; most importantly they began to educate the other in specific areas where one excelled while the other struggled behind. The Poncans showed the Comanche how to construct a better bow and arrow, while the Comanche gave the Poncans horses and instructed them on how to ride.

For a while following this there was peace between the two tribes, with each preferring to stay within their own hunting lands. This was until a Comanche hunting party ventured too far from home, resulting in an altercation with a group of Poncans who were hunting in the same area. The Comanches' attacked first, leading to an altercation that would mark the end for the Comanche in the region. While no men died in this skimish, the Poncans took this as a direct attack on the tribe as a whole. The following evening a group of Poncan warriors crept their way into the Comanche camp, where they stole all of the tribe's horses and killed the men who had attacked their clan members on the hunting expedition.

This would mark the end of the Comanche in the region, resulting in the Ponca Nation establishing a permanent foothold over the lands the Comanche once held. Without the acquisition of the horse this would have never been possible. The Ponca would go on to thrive during their time on the open plains, with bountiful buffalo hunts and excursions. This would come to be a period of prosperity for the nation. 

Author’s Note: The original story is a Ponca Nation tale explaining how they came to be in possession of the horse, Tradition of the Finding of Horses. The story depicts multiple interactions with the Padouca (Comanche) and how these altercations lead to the Ponca Nation receiving the skills necessary to tame the horse. The original tale explains in detail how the Poncas used their new tool in the horse to drive the Comanche from their region of the plains to eventually establish a larger foothold of control for themselves. My narrative remains fairly close to the original, with minor changes made to the descriptions of the tribes’ altercations. A major portion of the story I did remove from my narrative was how the Comanches came to know the Ponca language. My story is less historically based and more approachable for the average reader. I chose to provide more of a backstory as to why the Poncas eventually drove the Comanche from the plains, whereas the original jumps to a quick conclusion with little explanation. Aside from this, the main addition I chose to make was of an opening paragraph describing the importance the horse played in the lives of plains people, as well as the effect on our perception of these nations it has left upon our history. This is an important story to tell, the horse being introduced to this society was similar to the introduction of the automobile to 20^th century society.

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains, Katharine Berry Judson (1913)  

Photo 1 Information: A plains' indian hunting the mighty buffalo 

Source: Wikipedia 
Photo 2 Information: Map of the Missouri River watershed 
Source: Wikimedia Commons  

Further Information: Omaha and Ponca Digital Dictionary