A. E. Chandler

The cover illustration for The Scarlet Forest: A Tale of Robin Hood is made up of two images. The photograph is of a yew tree, taken at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk. Though the current hall dates back to the Tudors, Kentwell is referenced in the Domesday Book, and was granted by Henry III (who appears in The Scarlet Forest) to a knight who later died in battle in France. At one point, the hall was even owned by the famous medieval poet John Gower. Yew is famous as the wood used for the best medieval bows, especially those of English archers.

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The manuscript illustration is from folio 22 of Royal 16 G II, currently in the care of the British Library. Les Quartre Fils Aimon is from northern France, written in the second quarter of the 15th century. This illustration shows Aimon's four sons robbing travelers in the woods.

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The cover illustration for the first edition of The Scarlet Forest: A Tale of Robin Hood is a detail from the oil painting Festival of the Archers by the Master of Frankfurt, who lived from 1460 to 1533. Unlike his name, the Master of Frankfurt was not German, but Flemish. He was given special permission to attend the festival put on by Antwerp's four archers guilds. The contests at these festivals would be followed by music and plays - perhaps some about Robin Hood. One of the jesters providing entertainment had to have some crow droppings aimed at his face removed during conservation of the painting.

 

To learn more about The Scarlet Forest, you can use the following links to: peek Behind the Scenes to find out how and why the book was written, find Book Club Questions, or check out Travel Spots visited by characters in the novel.