Little John

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This article is about the Robin Hood character. For the saint, see Saint Nicholas Owen. For the American rap mixer, see Lil Jon.

Little John is a presumably fictional character in the legend of Robin Hood. Usually, John is depicted as Robin's chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men.

"Robin Hood and Little John", Illustration by Louis Rhead to Bold Robin Hood and His Outlaw Band: Their Famous Exploits in Sherwood Forest

He appears in the earliest recorded Robin Hood ballads and stories. In the early tales, Little John is shown to be intelligent and highly capable. He is also known to have disagreements with Robin Hood. In the 15th-century ballad most commonly called "Robin Hood and the Monk", after being ill-treated by Robin, Little John leaves in anger. When Robin Hood is captured, it is Little John who plans his leader's rescue. In thanks, Robin offers Little John leadership of the band, but John refuses. Later depictions of Little John portray him as somewhat less cunning than his medieval incarnation.

The earliest ballads do not feature an origin story for this character, but one was soon to follow. According to a 17th-century ballad, he was a giant of a man (at least seven feet tall) who was named John Little. Robin Hood first encountered him when he tried to prevent Robin from crossing a narrow bridge. The two men then fought with quarterstaves, and Robin was knocked into the river. Despite having won the duel, John agreed to join his band and fight alongside him. He was baptised by the Merry Men and then called Little John, as he most certainly was not Little. In some modern film versions, Little John loses the duel to Robin. This scene is almost always re-enacted in movie and television versions of the story.

Little John's grave in St Michael's Church graveyard, Hathersage.

Starting from the ballad tradition, Little John is commonly shown to be the only Merry Man present at Robin Hood's death.

Despite a lack of historical evidence for his existence, Little John is reputed to be buried in a churchyard in the village of Hathersage, Derbyshire. A modern tombstone marks the supposed location of his grave, which lies under an old yew tree. This grave was owned by the Nailor/Naylor family, and sometimes some variation of "Nailer" is given as being John's surname.

Little John was also a figure in the Robin Hood plays or games during the 15th to 17th centuries, particularly those held in Scotland.

There are many historical figures named Little John and John Little, but it is debatable which -- if any -- are the inspiration for the legendary character.

Alan Hale, Sr. played the role of Little John in three movies. He first played Little John as a young squire in 1922's Robin Hood starring Douglas Fairbanks He reprised the role opposite Errol Flynn's Robin in 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood. And finally, he played an older Little John opposite John Derek, as Robin's son, in "Rogues of Sherwood Forest" from 1951.

Other notable film and TV Little Johns include Archie Duncan in the 1950s TV series, Nicol Williamson in "Robin and Marian", Clive Mantle in the 1980s TV series Robin of Sherwood, Phil Harris as the voice of Little John the Bear in the 1973 Disney animated film Robin Hood and Nick Brimble in 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

[edit] Trivia

In the Sonic the Hedgehog Archie Comics, the scene of Little John's meeting and duel with Robin Hood is recreated as the meeting and subsequent romance of characters Rob O'The Hedge and Mari-An.