Little John

Companion of Robin Hood Little John1921 illustration of Little John (right) dueling Robin HoodBornYorkshireDiedHathersage, DerbyshireOther nameReynold GreenlefeKnown forCompanion of Robin Hood Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, alongside Much the Miller's Son. His name is an ironic reference to his giant frame, as he is usually portrayed in legend as a huge warrior – a 7-foot-tall (2.1-metre) master of the quarterstaff. In folklore, he fought Robin Hood on a tree bridge across a river on their first meeting. Folklore The first known reference in English verse to Robin Hood is found in The Vision of Piers Plowman, written by William Langland in the second part of the 14th century. Little John appears in the earliest recorded Robin Hood ballads and stories, and in one of the earliest references to Robin Hood by Andrew of Wyntoun in 1420 and by Walter Bower in 1440.[citation needed] In the early tales, Little John is shown to be intelligent and highly capable. In "A Gest of Robyn Ho