Friar Tuck

 ( Adventure Film Characters ) 

A friar with Robin's band in the historical period of Richard the Lion-Hearted would have been unlikely as the period predates formal mendicant religious orders in England. Christian religious hermits in England do date as far back as Cuthbert in the late 7th century. In addition, multiple historical references to eremitic hermits unallied with formal orders have been noted, among them Eustace the Monk (a medieval outlaw) and Robert of Knaresborough who was contemporaries with Richard I. However, the association of Robin Hood with Richard I was not made until the 16th century; the early ballad "A Gest of Robin Hood" names his king as "Edward".

What follows is a narrative which includes different versions of the legend. He was a former monk of Fountains Abbey (or in some cases, St Mary's Abbey in York, which is also the scene of some other Robin Hood tales) who was expelled by his monastic order because of his lack of respect for authority. Because of this, and in spite of his taste for good food and wine, he became the chaplain of Robin's band. In Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, he was specifically sought out as part of the tale of Alan-a-Dale: Robin has need of a priest who will marry Allan to his sweetheart in defiance of the Bishop of Hereford.Michael Patrick Hearn, "Afterword", Howard Pyle The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, p 384

In many tales, from Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar to The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, his first encounter with Robin results in a battle of strategy in which first one and then the other gains the upper hand and forces the other to carry him across a river. This ends with the Friar tossing Robin into the river.

In some tales, he is depicted as a physically fit man and a skilled swordsman and Archery with a hot-headed Anger. However, most commonly, Tuck is depicted as a Obesity, Baldness monk with a good sense of humour and a great love of food and ale, often together. Sometimes, the latter depiction of Tuck is the comic relief of the tale.

Two royal writs in 1417 refer to Robert Stafford, a Sussex chaplain who had assumed the alias of Frere Tuk. This "Friar Tuck" was still at large in 1429. These are the earliest surviving references to a character by that name.