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''Lady of the Forest: A Novel of Sherwood'' is a 1992 historical fiction novel by American author Jennifer Roberson. A re-telling of the Robin Hood legend from the perspective of twelve characters associated with the legend, the story centers around English noblewoman Lady Marian FitzWalter's encounters with Lord Robert of Locksley and his scheming rival the Sheriff of Nottingham amid the backdrop of Prince John's schemes – he aims to increase his own wealth and power at the expense of post-Conquest England and his brother, King Richard. Roberson wrote her novel as a prequel to the known legend. Understanding that Robin Hood lacked a single origin story, she decided to create an original narrative that depicted how "seven very different people from a rigidly stratified social structure came to join together to fight the inequities of medieval England." Roberson spent a year researching and writing the story, and sought to combine fact and legend in developing the motivations for certain characters. The novel was published in September 1992 by Zebra Books, with a cover designed by illustrator Anne Yvonne Gilbert. ''Lady of the Forest'' received generally positive reviews, and has been analyzed by Robin Hood scholar Stephen Thomas Knight, who observed that Roberson's Marian is a "strong woman" who helps Robert, a traumatized veteran of the Crusades, adjust to his life in England; Knight connects this to the "post-Vietnam" mood that existed when the novel was written. Roberson released a sequel, ''Lady of Sherwood'', in 1999. ==Plot summary== The story begins in the spring of 1194 in the English county of Nottinghamshire. Lady Marian FitzWalter attends a festival held at Huntington Castle by the Earl of Huntington, who wishes to honour the return of his only surviving heir, Lord Robert of Locksley, from the Crusades. Marian seeks an audience with Robert to learn the manner of her father, Sir Hugh's, death the previous year, as Robert was a witness. The reserved, mentally scarred Robert reacts strongly, having flashbacks to Sir Hugh's violent murder at the hands of Saracens. He informs her that Hugh wished for Marian to marry William DeLacey, the harsh and scheming Sheriff of Nottingham, to her dismay. DeLacey knows naught of this, but intends to make her marry him anyway. Prince John arrives unexpectedly with plans: he states his wish to ally himself with the Earl by marrying Robert to his bastard daughter Joanna, and also approaches DeLacey about raising more taxes ostensibly to be sent to ransom John's brother, King Richard. In truth, John wishes to keep the revenue for himself and maintain his brother's imprisonment. Soon after, Marian is reluctantly manipulated into accompanying the Sheriff to attend a market at Nottingham Castle. There, she is kidnapped by the prisoner William "Scarlet" Scathlocke, an enraged man imprisoned for killing four Norman soldiers, and is taken into the depths of nearby Sherwood Forest. Lord Robert, who was taught how to navigate the massive forest as a youth, secretly tracks Scarlet and is able to secure Marian's release. While accompanying Marian back to her modest manor – Ravenskeep – Robert falls ill from a fever. Marian gradually wears down the mental wall he had built up in captivity by the Saracens, and after his recovery at Ravenskeep, they consummate their relationship soon after she refuses DeLacey's offer of marriage. Robert returns to Huntington, along the way besting outlaws such as Adam Bell and Will Scarlet at a contest of archery. He encounters his father and several other prominent noblemen, and is told they wish for him to marry Joanna to mislead Prince John about their intentions to thwart his grabs for power. Robert refuses. Meanwhile, Marian barely avoids being forced to marry DeLacey, and only escapes with the help of the kind Friar Tuck and the Sheriff's seneschal Guy de Gisbourne, who is infatuated with her. She flees to Huntington Castle; the Earl is displeased with his son's disobedience and their liaison, causing Marian and Robert to travel to the small village of Locksley, his namesake and holding. Robert endeavours to steal the funds needed for King Richard's ransom, and begins robbing the rich with the help of Sherwood's outlaws, whom he has gradually befriended. At the same time, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard's mother, is working to raise the ransom through more legal methods: by taxing clergy and laymen for a quarter of the value of their property, confiscating the gold and silver treasures of the churches, and imposing scutage and carucage taxes. Back in the small village of Locksley, Marian is captured and sent to the Sheriff's dungeon, where she is given an ultimatum: marry DeLacey or find herself charged with witchcraft. She is rescued by Robert, who arrives with his friends to free her. Just as they are about to be arrested by a wrathful Prince John, whose money has been stolen by the outlaws, King Richard arrives unexpectedly, allowing Robert and his associates to escape. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lady of the Forest」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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