Origin[]
Like Maid Marian the crossdressing swordswoman who married Robin Friar Tuck was a character who developed separately from the Robin Hood stories and was later adapted in.
Joining Robin's Merry Men[]
After Robin robbed him and forced Tuck to carry him on his back to tire out the stubborn clergyman Friar Tuck ended up serving as chaplain to Robin's band of outlaws in the greenwood. As Robin was a devout Catholic having a clergyman in the forest where he and his men were living was very handy.
While Tuck almost always has an issue with alcohol he clashes with the corrupt and less devout clergymen who betray Robin or/and are robbed by the Merry Men.
Possible Historical Figure[]
A Robert Stafford of Sussex is recorded in two royal writs to have used the alias Frere Tuk in 1417.
Appearances in Media[]
Ballads:
- Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar (unnamed but is believed to be him)
- A Gest of Robin Hood
Literature:
- The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
Film:
- Robin Hood (1912)
- Robin Hood Outlawed (1912)
- Ivanhoe (1913)
- Robin Hood (1913)
- In the Days of Robin Hood (1913)
- Robin Hood (1922)
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
- The Prince of Thieves (1948)
- Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950)
- The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954)
- Robin Hood (1973)
- Robin and Marian (1976)
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
- Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
- Robin Hood (2010)
- 2018 Robin Hood played by Tim Minchin
Television:
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1956 - 143 episodes)
- Robin Hood
Comics:
Gallery[]
