Book review: Hood
Hood by Stephen Lawhead
After the death of his lady mother at too young an age, Bran ap Brychan could care less about being heir to the throne of the small Welsh kingdom of Elfael. With his father distant and always disapproving of his wayward son, Bran grows up doing whatever he wishes, whether it’s mastering the bow or romancing one of many women. But his carefree life changes in an instant when the Ffreinc, also known as the Normans, brutally murder his father and seize Elfael-thus initiating their campaign to take over Wales. Near death, Bran takes refuge in the forbidding forest, slowly realizing his greater destiny: to become Rhi Bran y Hud, King Raven the Enchanter-the one the Normans call Robin Hood.
My thoughts
What a great retelling! I’ve read and seen quite a handful of Robin Hood variations over the years, from Robin McKinley’s The Outlaws of Sherwood to the most recent TV adaptation on BBC America. What sets this version apart in my mind was how much Lawhead painstakingly portrays the evolution of Bran into Robin Hood. Rather than randomly deciding to be a “do-gooder,” Bran comes to the decision in a more flawed, yet ultimately more human way-not because he wants to, but he has to.
When we are first introduced to Bran, I was a bit taken aback by the vain, selfish man Lawhead presents us with: in the very first scene, he is at Merian’s window, attempting to seduce the very stubborn, spirited maid. From other versions I’ve had this idea of Robin Hood as a returning warrior from the Crusades, noble yet poor; Lawhead’s Bran is at first a weaker, more arrogant creature. However, you quickly see that he’s hiding a good conscience behind his selfish façade, such as when he comes to the aid of two peasant girls being harassed by Norman soldiers. Without thinking, he intervenes, and although his companions counsel him not to make a scene, he adamantly says he can’t help it: “Only that heads can be as easily broken as eggs…and that justice ought sometimes to protect those least able to protect themselves” (64).
The rest of the book, then, is very much about how his conscience is slowly awakened-sometimes against his will. My favorite moment has to be when Bran is listening to the wise-women Angharad’s ancient stories while recovering in the forest. Through them he slowly realizes he is the guardian to a heritage he cannot simply abandon: “At the very heart, these songs were markers along a sacred and ancient pathway that led deep into the heart of the land and its people-his land, his people-a spirit and life that would be crushed out of existence beneath the heavy, unfeeling rule of the coldhearted Ffreinc” (195). The power of storytelling is a recurring theme in many books, but here it reinvorigates a tale as familiar as Robin Hood.
Of course, we also meet a lot of the pivotal characters, like Friar Tuck, Iwan (Little John), and Merian. Lawhead’s take on Merian is particularly interesting because he portrays her as stuck-between-two-worlds: while she’s proud of her Welsh background, she’s shrewd enough to see that learning Norman ways would be to her advantage.
I’m already reading the next book in the trilogy, Scarlett, because Lawhead’s cliffhanger ending left me too impatient. And I kinda already have the third book, Tuck. Expect these next two weeks to be full of Robin Hood!
After the death of his lady mother at too young an age, Bran ap Brychan could care less about being heir to the throne of the small Welsh kingdom of Elfael. With his father distant and always disapproving of his wayward son, Bran grows up doing whatever he wishes, whether it’s mastering the bow or romancing one of many women. But his carefree life changes in an instant when the Ffreinc, also known as the Normans, brutally murder his father and seize Elfael-thus initiating their campaign to take over Wales. Near death, Bran takes refuge in the forbidding forest, slowly realizing his greater destiny: to become Rhi Bran y Hud, King Raven the Enchanter-the one the Normans call Robin Hood.
My thoughts
What a great retelling! I’ve read and seen quite a handful of Robin Hood variations over the years, from Robin McKinley’s The Outlaws of Sherwood to the most recent TV adaptation on BBC America. What sets this version apart in my mind was how much Lawhead painstakingly portrays the evolution of Bran into Robin Hood. Rather than randomly deciding to be a “do-gooder,” Bran comes to the decision in a more flawed, yet ultimately more human way-not because he wants to, but he has to.
When we are first introduced to Bran, I was a bit taken aback by the vain, selfish man Lawhead presents us with: in the very first scene, he is at Merian’s window, attempting to seduce the very stubborn, spirited maid. From other versions I’ve had this idea of Robin Hood as a returning warrior from the Crusades, noble yet poor; Lawhead’s Bran is at first a weaker, more arrogant creature. However, you quickly see that he’s hiding a good conscience behind his selfish façade, such as when he comes to the aid of two peasant girls being harassed by Norman soldiers. Without thinking, he intervenes, and although his companions counsel him not to make a scene, he adamantly says he can’t help it: “Only that heads can be as easily broken as eggs…and that justice ought sometimes to protect those least able to protect themselves” (64).
The rest of the book, then, is very much about how his conscience is slowly awakened-sometimes against his will. My favorite moment has to be when Bran is listening to the wise-women Angharad’s ancient stories while recovering in the forest. Through them he slowly realizes he is the guardian to a heritage he cannot simply abandon: “At the very heart, these songs were markers along a sacred and ancient pathway that led deep into the heart of the land and its people-his land, his people-a spirit and life that would be crushed out of existence beneath the heavy, unfeeling rule of the coldhearted Ffreinc” (195). The power of storytelling is a recurring theme in many books, but here it reinvorigates a tale as familiar as Robin Hood.
Of course, we also meet a lot of the pivotal characters, like Friar Tuck, Iwan (Little John), and Merian. Lawhead’s take on Merian is particularly interesting because he portrays her as stuck-between-two-worlds: while she’s proud of her Welsh background, she’s shrewd enough to see that learning Norman ways would be to her advantage.
I’m already reading the next book in the trilogy, Scarlett, because Lawhead’s cliffhanger ending left me too impatient. And I kinda already have the third book, Tuck. Expect these next two weeks to be full of Robin Hood!