Friar Tuck is one of the legendary Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood. The figure of the jovial friar was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th through 17th centuries. He appears as a character in the fragment of a Robin Hood play from 1475, sometimes called “Robin Hood and the Knight” or “Robin Hood and the Sheriff”, and a play for the May games published in 1560 which tells a story similar to “Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar” (the oldest surviving copy of this ballad is from the 17th century). The character entered the tradition through these folk plays, and he was originally partnered with Maid Marian: “She is a trul of trust, to serue a frier at his lust/a prycker a prauncer a terer of shetes/a wagger of ballockes when other men slepes.” His appearance in “Robin Hood and the Sheriff” means that he was already part of the legend around the time when the earliest surviving copies of the Robin Hood ballads were being made. A friar with Robin’s band in the historical period of Richard the Lion-Hearted would have been unlikely as the period predates formal mendicant religious orders in England. Christian religious hermits in England do date as far back as Cuthbert in the late 7th century. In addition, multiple historical references to eremitic hermits unallied with formal orders have been noted, among them Eustace the Monk (a medieval outlaw) and Robert of Knaresborough who was contemporaries with Richard I. However, the association of Robin Hood with Richard I was not made until the 16th century; the early ballad “A Gest of Robin Hood” names his king as “Edward”. Friar Tuck was a former monk of Fountains Abbey (or in some cases, St Mary’s Abbey in York, which is also the scene of some other Robin Hood tales) who was expelled by his order because of his lack of respect for authority. Because of this, and in spite of his taste for good food and wine, he became the chaplain of Robin’s band. In Howard Pyle’s The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, he was specifically sought out as part of the tale of Alan-a-Dale: Robin has need of a priest who will marry Allan to his sweetheart in defiance of the Bishop of Hereford. In many tales, from “Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar” to The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, his first encounter with Robin results in a battle of wits in which first one and then the other gains the upper hand and forces the other to carry him across a river. This ends in the Friar tossing Robin into the river. In some tales, he is depicted as a physically fit man and a skilled swordsman and archer with a hot-headed temper. However, most commonly, Tuck is depicted as a fat, bald and jovial monk with a great love of food and ale, though the two are not mutually exclusive. Sometimes, the latter depiction of Tuck is the comic relief of the tale.
Alias Friar Tuck
Real Names/Alt Names Unknown (possibly Robert Stafford)
Appearance List Ballads: A Gest of Robyn Hode, Robin Hood and the Monk, Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar, Robin Hood and Allin a Dalem, Robin Hood and Queen Catherin, Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, Robin Hood and the Tanner of Blyth. Literature: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (1883, PG), Robin Hood by Paul Creswick (PG), Robin Hood by Anonymous (PG), Bold Robin Hood-And His Outlaw Band by Louis Rhead (1912, Internet Archive), Robin Hood and the Men of the Greenwood (1920) [Internet Archive], Robin Hood: His Deeds and Adventures as Recounted in the Old English Ballads (1923) [Internet Archive]. Comics: Arrow #2, Green Hornet Comics #7-10, Tales of Robin Hood #1-6, Hit Comics #26, 51, Kid Eternity #2, Smash Comics #27, Jumbo Comics #67, Cat-Man Comics #26, Robin Hood and Company Comics vol. 3 #32-34, Robin Hood and His Merry Men #28-38, Robin Hood #1-5, Young Heroes #35-37, The Adventures of Robin Hood #1-8 (reprint), Robin Hood 1-2, 9-10, 15 (reprint), Treasure Chest of Fun & Facts vol. 3 #14-17, Boy Comics #3-32, Buster Brown #3, 9, Thriller Comics Library #4, 27, 29, 80, 91, 106, 114, 118, 122, 126, 130, 134, 138, 142, 154, 162, 186, 202, 214, 218. Film: At least five silent shorts from 1908-1913, Robin Hood (1922), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946), The Prince of Thieves (1948), Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950), Tales of Robin Hood (1951), et. al. TV: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1956, 143 episodes).
Sample Read The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood [PG]
Description Friar Tuck is one of the legendary Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood. The figure of the jovial friar was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th through 17th centuries. He appears as a character in the fragment of a Robin Hood play from 1475, sometimes called “Robin Hood and the Knight” or “Robin Hood and the Sheriff”, and a play for the May games published in 1560 which tells a story similar to “Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar” (the oldest surviving copy of this ballad is from the 17th century). The character entered the tradition through these folk plays, and he was originally partnered with Maid Marian: “She is a trul of trust, to serue a frier at his lust/a prycker a prauncer a terer of shetes/a wagger of ballockes when other men slepes.” His appearance in “Robin Hood and the Sheriff” means that he was already part of the legend around the time when the earliest surviving copies of the Robin Hood ballads were being made. A friar with Robin’s band in the historical period of Richard the Lion-Hearted would have been unlikely as the period predates formal mendicant religious orders in England. Christian religious hermits in England do date as far back as Cuthbert in the late 7th century. In addition, multiple historical references to eremitic hermits unallied with formal orders have been noted, among them Eustace the Monk (a medieval outlaw) and Robert of Knaresborough who was contemporaries with Richard I. However, the association of Robin Hood with Richard I was not made until the 16th century; the early ballad “A Gest of Robin Hood” names his king as “Edward”. Friar Tuck was a former monk of Fountains Abbey (or in some cases, St Mary’s Abbey in York, which is also the scene of some other Robin Hood tales) who was expelled by his order because of his lack of respect for authority. Because of this, and in spite of his taste for good food and wine, he became the chaplain of Robin’s band. In Howard Pyle’s The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, he was specifically sought out as part of the tale of Alan-a-Dale: Robin has need of a priest who will marry Allan to his sweetheart in defiance of the Bishop of Hereford. In many tales, from “Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar” to The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, his first encounter with Robin results in a battle of wits in which first one and then the other gains the upper hand and forces the other to carry him across a river. This ends in the Friar tossing Robin into the river. In some tales, he is depicted as a physically fit man and a skilled swordsman and archer with a hot-headed temper. However, most commonly, Tuck is depicted as a fat, bald and jovial monk with a great love of food and ale, though the two are not mutually exclusive. Sometimes, the latter depiction of Tuck is the comic relief of the tale.
