The Heirs of Locksley by Carrie Vaughn

Author:Carrie Vaughn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

Author’s Note

Every novel about Robin Hood from the last forty years or so ends with an author’s note discussing the difficulty of writing about a historical Robin Hood, and justifying the choices the authors made in portraying their own versions. The man likely didn’t exist, all the bits that have accrued to the myth over the course of the six hundred years since the first stories were written down are horribly anachronistic, and how is an author to manage? (Did you know that the term “friar” refers specifically to members of the Franciscan and Dominican orders, which did not arrive in England until the early 1220s, five or so years after the death of King John, which means that you cannot have Friar Tuck and Prince John in England at the same time and be historically accurate? Now you know!)

Well, I’m not going to write that note because I’m not sure any of that really matters. Because all Robin Hood stories are fanfiction. Robin Hood started out as fanfiction and has never been anything else. The very first written Robin Hood stories from the fifteenth century were likely compilations from oral tradition—favorite bits and pieces that the author arranged in a manner of their liking. For six hundred years now, authors have decided they like these characters and set out to put their own spin on the story. To tell the story their way. Fanfiction.

I’m not going to write a long note justifying the choices I made in portraying certain details about the various legends and the various possible historical iterations of said legends. What’s more important, I think, is asking a lot of questions about why we’re still telling Robin Hood stories at all. What is it we’re responding to? What do we want to see in them? What makes a good Robin Hood story?

Adventure. Charm. Good people we like looking out for each other—it’s not enough to have a story about Robin Hood. He needs all his friends around him, and they need to be witty and skilled and admirable. Archery, of course we need archery. Clint Barton and Katniss Everdeen insist that we still need archery even in this modern day. And Robin needs to help people. He needs to denounce corruption and tyranny. He rebels and resists.

We will never see the end of Robin Hood. We’ll keep seeing these stories forever, because they distill so much of what good stories are supposed to do. I do very much think we need Robin Hood stories right now, more than ever.

A couple of thank-yous: Jeff Womack, my historical archery guru, read over my drafts and made essential suggestions. All errors remaining are my own. Dr. April Harper, medieval scholar, responded to news that I was writing historical fiction set in the early thirteenth century by immediately mailing me the books I needed for research. My agent, Seth Fishman, for the encouragement, my editor Lee Harris for “getting it,” and the whole crew at Tor.com Publishing. And always, my friends and family for keeping me on a somewhat even keel.

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