Chapter 1 Summary

The Sheriff tries to get someone to agree to serve Robin Hood with a warrant requiring he turn himself in to the King. None in Nottingham will go as they know of Robin Hood and his band and do not want to rise against them. The Sheriff then sends a messenger to the next town, Lincoln, to find someone who has not heard of Robin Hood. On the hot dusty road the messenger stops at the Blue Boar Inn, a quiet pub in the shade of several oak trees to have a pot of ale. As the messenger relaxes, he begins to tell of Robin Hood and how he lives.

When the telling is done, a jolly man called the Tinker asserts that he is best in the land with a cudgel, and can beat Robin Hood himself. So, with a promise of...