The Merry Men are Robin Hood's group who work to rob from the rich and give to the poor. They have antagonized the tyrannical rule of Prince John while King Richard is fighting in the Crusades. This also puts them into conflict with Prince John's minions, Guy of Gisbourne and the Sheriff of Nottingham.
The early ballads give specific names to only three companions: Little John, Much the Miller's Son, and William Scarlock or Scathelock, the Will Scarlet of later traditions. Joining them are between 20 and "seven score" (140) outlawed yeomen. The most prominent of the Merry Men is Robin's second-in-command, Little John. He appears in the earliest ballads, and is mentioned in even earlier sources, such as Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Chronicle of around 1420 and Walter Bower's expansion of the Scotichronicon, completed around 1440. Later ballads name additional Merry Men, some of whom appear in only one or two ballads, while others, like the minstrel Alan-a-Dale and the jovial Friar Tuck, became fully attached to the legend. Several of the Robin Hood ballads tell the story of how individual Merry Men join the group; this is frequently accomplished by defeating Robin in a duel.
The phrase "merry man" was originally a generic term for any follower or companion of an outlaw, knight, or similar leader.1 Robin's band are called "mery men" in the oldest known Robin Hood ballad, "Robin Hood and the Monk",2 which survives in a manuscript completed after 1450.3
Several modern adaptations add a member to the group who is a Moor or Saracen:
"Merry man, n.". Oxford English Dictionary. 2001. Retrieved 2 May 2013. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/116877?redirectedFrom=merry+men& ↩
"Robin Hood and the Monk" line 35; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997) http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/monk.htm ↩
Robin Hood and the Monk: Introduction in Knight and Ohlgren (1997) http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/monkint.htm ↩
Stephen Knight (Editor), Thomas H. Ohlgren Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, note 35 https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/robin-hood-and-the-golden-arrow ↩
Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow" /wiki/Francis_James_Child ↩
McSpadden, J. Walker (1904). Stories of Robin Hood and His Merry Outlaws. Thomas Y. Crowell & Company. /wiki/Thomas_Y._Crowell_Co. ↩
Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar: Introduction; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997) http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/curtaint.htm ↩
"A Gest of Robyn Hode" lines 1165–8, 1600–16; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997) http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/gest-of-robyn-hode ↩
"A Gest of Robyn Hode" lines 595–600; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997) http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/gest-of-robyn-hode ↩
"A Gest of Robyn Hode" lines 1169–72; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997) http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/gest-of-robyn-hode ↩
Jeffrey Richards, (1980). Swordsmen of the Screen: From Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York, p. 190. Routledge & Kegan Paul, Lond, Henly and Boston. ↩
Robin Hood and Maid Marian: Introduction; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997) http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/maidint.htm ↩
"Robin Hood and the Tinker"; in Child (1882–1889) http://d.lib.rochester.edu/robin-hood/text/child-ballad-127-robin-hood-and-the-tinker ↩
Pyle, Howard (1929) [1883]. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 15. /wiki/Charles_Scribner%27s_Sons ↩
Rhead, Louis (1912). Bold Robin Hood and His Outlaw Band. Harper & Brothers. p. 100. /wiki/Harper_%26_Brothers ↩
"A Gest of Robyn Hode" lines 651–715; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997) http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/gest-of-robyn-hode ↩
Marsh, John B. (1865). The Life and Adventures of Robin Hood. George Routledge and Sons. pp. 259, 268. /wiki/George_Routledge_and_Sons ↩
McSpadden, J. Walker (1904). Stories of Robin Hood and His Merry Outlaws. Thomas Y. Crowell & Company. p. 56. /wiki/Thomas_Y._Crowell_Co. ↩
"Robin Hood and the Ranger"; in Child (1882–1889) http://d.lib.rochester.edu/robin-hood/text/child-ballad-131-robin-hood-and-the-ranger ↩
"The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield" Introduction; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997) http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/jolly-pinder-of-wakefield-introduction ↩
"The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield" Ballad Text; in Knight and Ohlgren (1997) http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/jolly-pinder-of-wakefield#49 ↩
"George a Greene" Robin Hood: The Facts and the Fiction. http://www.robinhoodlegend.com/george-greene/ ↩
International Robin Hood Bibliography https://irhb.org/wiki/index.php/Anonymous_-_1632_-_Pinder_of_Wakefield ↩
Warren, Maude Radford (1914). Robin Hood and His Merry Men. Rand McNally & Company. p. 46. /wiki/Rand_McNally_%26_Company ↩
Gilbert, Henry (1994) [1912]. Robin Hood (originally published as Robin Hood and the Men of the Greenwood). Wordsworth Editions. p. 102. ISBN 1853261270. /wiki/Wordsworth_Editions ↩
"Robin Hood and the Scotchman"; in Child (1882–1889) http://d.lib.rochester.edu/robin-hood/text/child-ballad-130b-robin-hood-and-the-scotchman ↩
"Robin Hood and the Beggar, I"; in Child (1882–1889) http://d.lib.rochester.edu/robin-hood/text/child-ballad-133-robin-hood-and-the-beggar-i ↩
Munday, Anthony (1615). Metropolis Coronata, the Trivmphes Of Ancient Drapery: Or, Rich Cloathing Of England, In a Second Yeeres Performance In Honour Of the Aduancement Of Sir Iohn Iolles, Knight, To the High Office Of Lord Maior Of London, and Taking His Oath For the Same Authoritie, On Monday, Being the 30. Day Of October. 1615. Performed In Heartie Affection To Him, and At the Bountifull Charges Of His Worthy Brethren the Truely Honourable Society Of Drapers, the First That Receiued Such Dignitie In This Citie. Deuised, and Written, By A. M. London: George Purslowe. pp. B3. https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/METR1.htm#BRAN1 ↩