Robyn and Gandeleyn
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Robyn and Gandeleyn is an English ballad. The poem is in Sloane Manuscript 2593, a document of lyrics and carols which dates from around 1450. It was first printed by Joseph Ritson in his 1790 collection Ancient Songs. It was later republished in the second half of the 19th century in an anthology of traditional English and Scottish ballads by Francis James Child known as the Child Ballads, where it is Child Ballad 115. Child also divided the continuous text into seventeen stanzas.
The ballad has attracted interest from scholars of Robin Hood due to the similarity of Robyn's name and the involvement of both precise archery and a dangerous forest as motifs. Despite this similarity, Child and other scholars generally believe that the ballad is not directly connected to Robin Hood's legend. If it really is a reference to Robin Hood, it would be one of the earliest attested stories, along with Robin Hood and the Monk.[1][2][3]
Robyn lyth in green wode bowndyn
I herde a carpyng of a clerk
Al at yone wodes end
Of gode Robyn and Gandeleyn
Was there non other gynge
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.[3]
