Robyn and Gandeleyn

Robyn kills a deer, but is then shot and killed by an arrow. His servant Gandeleyn looks about for the killer and finds Wrennok of Donne, a young archer (described as a "little boy"). They exchange words, and Gandeleyn says they shall shoot at a mark of each other's hearts. Wrennok fires first but his shot misses. Gandeleyn fires second and cleaves his heart in two, killing Wrennok. The ballad concludes with Gandeleyn declaring Wrennok cannot boast of killing both Robyn and his servant. ==Analysis==

In general, most scholars believe the Robyn in this ballad to be unrelated to the more famous Robin Hood. There appear to be more differences than similarities between Robyn and Gandeleyn and Robin and Little John. Despite the belief it is unlikely to be directly related, the ballad is often included in collections of Robin Hood literature due to being a relevant example of folklore of perceptions of the medieval greenwood as a place of sudden violence and duels over affairs of honor. Child's division into stanzas is generally thought to work well enough. The work largely has a rhyme scheme of ABCB, also known as a ballad stanza, although there are several six-line stanzas that integrate awkwardly. The work may have been recited rather than sung, and thus is closer to a poem than a song. The author Robert Graves offered the eccentric view that the ballad was really about birds, and described the New Year's hunting of a wren (=Wrennok?) in vengeance for a robin (=Robyn?) murdered in midsummer. ==References==