Much the Miller's Son is a member of Robin Hood's band from the earliest ballads. In modern depictions, Much is often portrayed joining the band after being caught poaching, though the ballads include him as a member of Robin's men without explanation. Early ballads mention Much as one of Robin's few named companions (along with Little John and Will Scarlock), and picture him as a strong, and even aggressive, man. Unlike the other figures populating the early greenwood, Much has no familiar name. According to Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman, “Much is not recorded as a Christian name during the fourteenth century and appears, therefore, to be a nickname” (101). Modern versions sometimes play with and pun upon the name Much, often giving it as a nickname with a background story of its own.
 
Although in modern versions (most notably in the films) Robin’s outlawry often begins when he saves a desperate Much from harsh penalties for poaching, a miller would have historically been more affluent than many peasants. In short, a miller is not going to go hungry. The conception of Much as the poorest and most in need of Robin’s help is thus a modern invention. This is not to say that a miller would not have been an outlaw. Barbara A. Hanawalt explains that “[m]illers, yeoman, potters, and peasants all appeared in the poems, as they did among real bandits. Although occupation was not consistently given in court records, we have enough evidence to know that indicted bandits were not the dregs of society, but rather at least middling peasants and yeoman” (269). Despite the variety of occupations represented in outlaw bands, Much holds a particular place in the early ballad tradition as a representation of his class. A. J. Pollard points out that "villages...

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Much the Miller's Son is a member of Robin Hood's band from the earliest ballads. In modern depictions, Much is often portrayed joining the band after being caught poaching, though the ballads include him as a member of Robin's men without explanation. Early ballads mention Much as one of Robin's few named companions (along with Little John and Will Scarlock), and picture him as a strong, and even aggressive, man. Unlike the other figures populating the early greenwood, Much has no familiar name. According to Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman, “Much is not recorded as a Christian name during the fourteenth century and appears, therefore, to be a nickname” (101). Modern versions sometimes play with and pun upon the name Much, often giving it as a nickname with a background story of its own.
 
Although in modern versions (most notably in the films) Robin’s outlawry often begins when he saves a desperate Much from harsh penalties for poaching, a miller would have historically been more affluent than many peasants. In short, a miller is not going to go hungry. The conception of Much as the poorest and most in need of Robin’s help is thus a modern invention. This is not to say that a miller would not have been an outlaw. Barbara A. Hanawalt explains that “[m]illers, yeoman, potters, and peasants all appeared in the poems, as they did among real bandits. Although occupation was not consistently given in court records, we have enough evidence to know that indicted bandits were not the dregs of society, but rather at least middling peasants and yeoman” (269). Despite the variety of occupations represented in outlaw bands, Much holds a particular place in the early ballad tradition as a representation of his class. A. J. Pollard points out that "villages and villagers do not loom large in the medieval versions of the stories. A sheriff, monks, a knight, a king, a potter, the inhabitants of Nottingham all feature, but not one husbandman or cottager; only Much the Miller's son, who is himself an outlaw" (160). Much is therefore less notable for his personal characteristics and more for his occupation and name.
 
Although Much is one of the earliest named figures of the Robin Hood tradition, his character varies considerably from narrative to narrative. Unlike Little John, whose large size and position as sidekick mark him in every version, Much has no defining feature or character trait and thus becomes a malleable figure who can be placed as needed in any given role. Other characters in the tradition, even those added later, have become associated with particular visual characteristics that render them recognizable: Robin’s green hat and bow, Little John’s size, Will Scarlet’s red clothes, Friar Tuck’s robes, Alan-a-Dale’s harp, Maid Marian’s gender. The only association for Much is that he is the son of a miller. He has no consistent character, nor does he have a visual tradition. In the early ballads he is a strong, opinionated, and even violent man, but he sometimes appears in the later tradition as a weakling or even a child. His name lends authenticity to the story, but his character can be anything an author needs.

THE BALLAD TRADITION

The earliest appearance of Much occurs in Robin Hood and the Monk. Much’s initial role is cautionary, as he advises Robin to bring twelve guards with him to mass rather than travel alone, but he also shows his violent capabilities in this ballad. He and Little John meet the monk and his page and speak to them as friends, complaining to them about outlaws in order to gather information and gain their trust. Once they have done so,
 
John smote of the munkis hed,
No longer wolde he dwell;
So did Moch the litull page,
For ferd lest he wolde tell. (203-206)
 
It is this cold-blooded murder of the little page (presumably a child) that leads to the most critical discussion of Much from the early tradition. Perhaps this stanza best encapsulates the shockingly violent nature of these early ballads. As Maurice Keen describes the bloody scene, “the incident is related with such indifference, that we are hardly even shocked at its callousness. It is as if we are viewing the whole sequence of events from an immense distance; we can see the action but we cannot identify the actors, and because they are out of earshot we can judge them only by what they do" (99). Derek Pearsall responds even more strongly to the scene, noting that the murder of the little page “is the truly shocking moment of the ballad," but goes on to say that "it is interesting that the responsibility of disposing of the innocent witness is given to the fairly featureless Much—perhaps the reason that he is in the ballad at all” (46). Much may be featureless, but he manages here with one stroke to unsettle modern critics and fans alike. Pearsall ultimately argues that the episode serves to remind  us “of a world of brutal and unsentimental saga-heroes in which decency, a respect for the lives of the innocent, what we usually call a sense of honor and fair play, are not part of the code of behavior in the way we might expect” (46). Much’s most memorable moment from the early tradition, then, is one which cannot be reconciled with the modern tradition; such a scene could not fit with modern notions of Robin Hood and his men as heroic figures.
 
In A Gest of Robyn Hode, Much is a key figure in the Greenwood, fighting alongside Robin Hood and helping to provide for the impoverished knight Sir Richarde at the Lee. Much is both integral and helpful in this ballad; he participates in all adventures, asks Robin to give Sir Richard a palfrey, and even carryies an injured Little John on his back (which one would imagine to be no easy feat). A mystifying moment in the ballad occurs, however, when Robin asks Little John to cut cloth for Sir Richard, and Much harshly criticizes Little John’s clumsy measuring skills by asking if he means to be a “devylles drapar” (291).  It is possible that Much’s mercantile background as a miller informs this scene. Roy Pearcy notes how Much calls attention to the disparity between the greenwood economy and the world of commerce when he criticizes Little John’s sloppy measurements of cloth and explains that “[t]he real world of commerce is evoked momentarily, but only for the purpose of revealing that the greenwood commerce is in some manner alienated from its value system by an innate sense of aristocratic franchise (65). Thomas H. Ohlgren goes further to posit that, “when Much accuses Little John of acting like the ‘devylles drapar,’ he may not only be commenting on his reckless behavior but identifying the very guild that commissioned the poem to be recited by a minstrel at one of its annual election feasts” (188). Though we cannot prove that cloth merchants commissioned the ballad, the moment in which Little John’s careless imprecision comes against Much’s mercantile notions of proper measurements must have struck a chord with certain members of the audience, who were either on the buying or selling end of such transactions. 
 
In the later ballads, Much continues to make appearances, though he does not get his own ballad or origin story, as other characters do at this time. In Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar, he is called Midge and is said to shoot a doe. In Robin Hood and Allin a Dale, he is called Nick the Miller's Son, and he and Little John force Allin into Robin's presence. In Robin Hood and Queen Catherin, he is called Midge and participates in the queen's shooting contest.

EARLY MODERN DRAMA

As with the later ballad tradition, Much becomes an increasingly marginal figure in the Early Modern period. He does appear in the most significant (at least to modern scholars) dramatizations of the Robin Hood legend, Anthony Munday's The Downfall of Robert, Earle of Huntington (1598) and its sequel The Death of Robert, Earle of Huntington (1599). The plays represent a drastic change to the Robin Hood tradition, in which Robin turns from yeoman to nobleman and the greenwood from a permanent location to a liminal space. The kind of serious (even highbrow) dramatic tradition that Munday was attempting to create required a noble hero, and a character with a name like "Much the Miller's Son" could only fit as comic relief.  If before he was an integral member of the greenwood population, here Much is described as a clown, and his character’s name actually appears first as "Clown" and after as "Much." How this metamorphosis from hearty and dangerous outlaw to clown occurred remains shrouded in mystery, but it is in keeping with the striking changes to the tradition as a whole that appear in these plays.

MODERN LITERATURE

Though not a major character in Howard Pyle’s 1883 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Much is once again a miller rather than the clown he played in the Munday plays. An American author who promoted American art and literature, Pyle was not interested in aristocratic versions of the legend, but instead focused on idealized yeomen and craftsmen. Pyle’s work functions as a synthesis of the ballad tradition as well as a transformation of the legends into children’s literature. In keeping with these changes, Pyle is more interested in Much as a representation of a kind of medieval craftsman than as the murderous outlaw of Robin Hood and the Monk. Pyle calls him Midge the Miller’s son, a stout young man, and, according to Robin, “a credit to English yeomanrie” (89). He is a resourceful fellow, and when Robin and three of his men pretend to rob the miller as a joke, he fights back until they need to blow the horn for reinforcements. Since the miller fights Robin while claiming that Robin Hood would help him if he were there, the plot allows him to prove his strength against Robin Hood while simultaneously showing his loyalty to that figure. (The trope of Pyle’s version is thus similar in character to tales in which Robin meets the king in disguise, as occurs in A Gest of Robyn Hode, giving him an opportunity to prove his loyalty to the monarch.) The fight ends in bruises and laughter, and Robin Hood convinces Midge to “leave [his] dusty mill and come and join [his] band” (93). Though we hear little of the miller outside of this episode, the text does give us an origin story quite different from (and far more flattering than) the image of Much in need of rescue that appears in so many later films and novels.
 
In a variety of modern novels, Much becomes a more integral figure, though still a flexible one. In Robin McKinley's The Outlaws of Sherwood (1989), Much (along with Marian) is Robin Hood's childhood friend. It is in fact Much who gathers a group of merry men once Robin is outlawed, proposing that Robin could be a "rallying point," rendering Much more central to this novel than to any of the above texts (18). Much assembles friends to form the band and inspires even skeptical Robin with his charismatic manner of speaking, about which Robin thinks that "Much himself was better than good; he was inspired" (27). In a new take on the character, McKinley's Much is a romantic man, fueled by idealism, and this trait complements Robin's own pragmatic (and even cynical) outlook. Marian says that Much "'is the worst romantic of us all'" (71). Ultimately, without Much’s idealistic vision the story could not have occurred.
 
Much is also a fundamental character to the idealistic outlaw plot of Jennifer Roberson’s Lady of the Forest (1992), though this image of Much is strikingly different from earlier versions. Much appears in Roberson’s novel as a young, mistreated, developmentally disabled pickpocket. We actually learn that he is called Much precisely because he is so small that he is "'not much,' as his mother had called him" (560). Despite his stature, Much initiates the noble robbery element of the plot, as he keeps only enough of his earnings to feed himself and then gives the rest to those who need it. Further, it is Much who inspires Robin to begin stealing in order to ransom Richard the Lionheart, and it is even he who first calls Robin “Robin Hood,” providing him with both purpose and nickname. Whereas McKinley's Much was both idealist and mastermind, Roberson's Much encourages Robin himself to become such an idealist. In fact, it is sympathy for the poor Much that urges Robin to want to improve the situation in England in the first place. Robin and Much form a connection quickly, each seeing something in the other. Much has ideals, but knows he needs assistance: "He was a simpleton: everybody said so. The very best he could hope for was to find someone to help. Someone bigger. Someone friendly. Someone who understood" (257). Robin turns out to be this friend to him. For Robin’s part, Much not only inspires him, but inspires in him an urge to protect those less fortunate than he. Of his new friend, Robin muses, "[t]hat Much was a simpleton, he knew … He had been poorly treated through much of his childhood, and poorly fed to boot; he was small and slight for his age, hollow of belly and face, with the staring, hopeless eyes of a soul needing care and nourishment in a land that could give him nothing" (269). As a result, Robin resolves to improve the conditions in England, to make it into a land that would provide for its people. It turns out to be the unlikely pairing between the noble crusader and downtrodden pickpocket that allows the outlaw plot to unfold as it does.
 
Parke Godwin’s Sherwood (1991) gives us a Much who is more important as a plot device than as a character. As in many film representations of the story (see below), Robin's outlawry stems from Much's poaching. This version of the legend takes place earlier than most, occurring during and after the Norman Conquest. Robin is a thane attempting to protect his people against the harsh laws of William the Conqueror. When the sheriff plans to blind Much for poaching, Robin refuses to hand Much over, and it is this refusal that leads to Robin's status as outlaw. Much is therefore crucial to the initiation of the plot. Nonetheless, Much's character is not developed as fully as other characters in the novel—we never get his perspective and there are few scenes featuring him. He is described as a “burly young miller” and a "half-free churl," but we get little sense of him as an individual (26, 95). Once the outlaw band forms and the men begin stealing money, Much appears a bit more frequently and also starts to show some ambition, hoping to eventually make a good life for himself. When Much swears that he will “get on in this world,” Little John explains “that Much was only half free, bound to the land under Robin as ever he'd be under Normans, but Much accounted that no obstacle to a man of means" (266). Though not one of the protagonists of the novel, Much’s hopeful naiveté makes him an endearing figure, and his reliance on Robin encapsulates the way in which Robin’s people need his protection.
 
Adam Thorpe’s novel Hodd (2009) is quite different from the other versions both because it is much darker in tone and because the whole novel is from Much’s perspective. While Lady of the Forest includes brief moments of Much’s point of view, this novel gives Much a chance to tell the entire story behind his role in Robin Hood and the Monk. The novel purports to be a translation of a Medieval Latin text, and it includes as an epigraph the quote from Robin Hood and the Monk in which Much strikes off the little page’s head (see ballads, above). The narrator is an orphan boy who has a series of masters, each more flawed than the last, until he finally ends up as Hodd’s protégé, called Much. This version of the Robin Hood story lacks the idealism which characterizes the other modern tellings described here. Hodd is a crazed and sadistic heresiarch who leads a band of terrifying criminals in the woods. The narrator is initially horrified by Hodd, but becomes immersed in Hodd’s world, first as prisoner and then as follower. Eighty years later, as an old man in a monastery, the narrator writes down the tale of his time among the outlaws. One of the interesting features of this novel is the narrator’s dual role as page and outlaw-murderer. In the first portion of the text, the narrator is a page traveling with his master, a monk, and they are robbed by Hodd and his men. In this way, he seems to fill the role of the little page from the ballad, although he survives the encounter. It does seem, however, that his identity does not survive the robbery, as he loses his original name (which we never learn), and becomes Much the outlaw. The narrator explains that his nickname arises when another outlaw asks him where he has been and he replies that he returns from “‘moche aventure!’” (102). The outlaws make jokes that he is too little to have much adventure, but the name sticks,  “so Muche became [his] name among them, as if [his] previous name was a skin sloughed away” (102). It is as Much that the narrator, along with Little John, encounters his old master with a new page. As in the ballad, John kills the monk and Much kills the page in a scene which both parallels the earlier robbery and also extends its brutality.
 
Not only is the confrontation with monk and page doubled in the story, but the narrative retelling of the event is doubled as well. The narrator is both a minstrel and a page, and he invents the ballad tradition by singing about Hodd and his exploits. The version of Robin Hood and the Monk that we have is, in the world of the novel, descended from the one the narrator has created. Much says that Hodd “would have been forgot entirely, like many another criminal” if he himself had not created songs which “spread beyond [his] ken, like the touch of leprosy passeth from one to another” (257). He thus imagines the singing of ballads as a kind of infectious disease, and he is guilty for creating the ballad tradition as well as for the robbery and murder he committed as a boy. He says that  he “deserved to be burned by the breath of God’s nostrils, as all heretics and murtherers deserve,” and he can think of no reason that he received God’s mercy “except it be to communicate [his] story” (262). The novel, then, is represented as a document intended to provide the real story behind the ballad and to counteract the glorification of the outlaws that resulted from the ballads he sang. The text also functions as a confession to alleviate the narrator’s guilt for killing the page, so that his “wicked actions may be pardoned by true regret and heartfelt confession” (212). The novel represents Much as a vulnerable child caught up in a brutal world and striving to overcome his youthful crimes. 

COMICS

Though quite different in tone from Thorpe's novel, Much the Miller’s Son, a webcomic by Steve LeCouilliard, also follows the adventures of Robin Hood from the perspective of Much. The author gives the sense that he chose the least-known and silliest-named outlaw from the original ballads in order to poke fun at the whole tradition. The introduction to the second book, which describes the injustice of Norman law in England, introduces Robin Hood in comically elevated language, and then follows this description by explaining that this “is the story of a rather less legendary figure. A footnote in history, really. A simple miller’s son who found himself surrounded by great events—and wanted nothing to do with them! This is the story of Much. The Miller’s son …” (http://www.muchthecomic.com/5/). From the start, Much is a timid and buffoonish character who ends up in Robin’s gang simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the first book, other characters, including Robin, continually call him by the wrong name, such as “Mike the mule-skinner.” Much is so inconsequential that Alan-a-Dale is horrified when the bland miller appears on a wanted poster while he does not, questioning “How can Mort the Milker’s son be more infamous than Alan-a-Dale?!?” (http://stevelec.vip.warped.com/comics-frame.html). In the second book, Much wants to leave the band of “merry maniacs,” complaining, “I never volunteered for this! I’m a miller, for God’s sake, not an outlaw! I don’t even jaywalk!” (http://muchthecomic.com/7/). Even so, Much is often the voice of reason, warning the band against rash action in each book (though of course they never listen). In this way, he may be a stand-in for the reader, who can see the stupidity of the outlaws' actions. 

FILM AND TELEVISION

Hollywood films tend to use Much more as a plot device than as a central character. Some major films, such as Disney’s Robin Hood (1973) and the more recent Robin Hood (2010), do not feature the character at all, but many other films do include Much as a catalyst for Robin's outlawry.
 
In The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), the first thing we see of Robin Hood is that he saves Much (played by Herbert Mundin), who has been caught poaching the king's deer. Much is impudent and refuses to cow to Guy of Gisbourne and his men, and Robin rides in to save the day. Much responds by pledging everlasting loyalty to Robin: “I ask no pay, just to follow you” (The Adventures of Robin Hood). It is this scene that propels Robin into gathering people and forming an organized outlawry. Perhaps indebted to Munday’s version (see above), Much is a clown figure quite different from charming, handsome Robin. Walking with Marian's maid Bess, Much says that he has “never been out walking with a female before” and “never had a sweetheart” (The Adventures of Robin Hood). His subsequent relationship with Bess allows Marian to find the outlaw band, and so he remains an important figure throughout the film both as a foil for Robin and as a key to the plot’s development.
 
In a scene reminiscent of the 1938 film, Robin Hood (1991) opens with Much (played by Daniel Webb) trying to escape the law after he has been caught poaching. In his efforts to avoid the harsh Norman law, Much runs straight into Robin Hood, who subsequently speaks for him and saves him. This scene in many ways parallels the introduction of Much in the earlier film, though this version is grittier. Much has already lost several fingers for poaching, and nearly loses his eyes this time before Robin intervenes. Again, it is this scene that initiates Robin's outlawry, as he is pronounced outlaw and arrested for his defiance. When Robin and Will Scarlett, newly outlawed, sit in the rain and wonder what to do next, Will says to Robin, “If only I hadn't encouraged you to stand up for the miller,” and Robin replies, “If only I hadn't listened” (Robin Hood). They both laugh and exclaim, “Bloody Normans” (Robin Hood).  In this way, Much is explicitly the breaking point between these Saxon characters and Norman injustice; saving him propels them into noble outlawry.
 
Although released the same year, the more-famous Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) gives Much (played by Jack Wild) a less pronounced role than the above films. The heroic act that outlaws Robin in this version is saving Little John's son, who has been caught for poaching, rather than saving Much. Much is introduced by Little John along with several others, but the camera is above the men so that viewers cannot see his face when he is named. Nonetheless, Much can be seen with the band throughout the film, and it is he who brings Marian to the outlaw's camp. His name lends authenticity to the representation of the band, and he is a central member, though he receives no distinct characterization in this version.
 
Much has a far more pivotal role in the BBC Robin Hood (2006-2009), in which he is the first character we meet with Robin as they rescue a man who has been caught poaching. Rather than poacher in need of saving, Much (played by Sam Troughton) here is Robin’s right-hand man in saving a poacher. Much and Robin are returning from the Holy Land and are a team from the start, joining in outlawry together before they meet any of the others who will join the band. In the first episode, the two are returning together after years in the crusade. They are clearly very close, and the show seems at pains to let the viewers know that their relationship is platonic. For example, right after Much tells Robin "I love you. Have I ever said that?" Robin finds himself kissing a pretty girl ("Will You Tolerate This?"). The show, it seems, portrays Robin as a ladies' man in an attempt to balance out the close relationship between Robin and Much. Much has gone on crusade as Robin’s manservant, but Robin makes him a freeman upon their return. Robin, a noble in this version, thus makes his first movement toward social justice by freeing his loyal servant. Much is therefore not only a sidekick and sharer in Robin’s outlawry but also the first recipient of Robin’s newfound idealism. Much is an intensely loyal figure, always staying near Robin and serving him, even though he constantly longs for the comforts of home and complains about the forest. Although he often provides comic relief (again, perhaps, in keeping with the 1938 film and the Munday plays), Much also functions as a stand-in for the audience, as he voices understandable concerns about the discomfort associated with the outlaw lifestyle. Despite his misgivings, Much demonstrates his devotion to Robin throughout the series. At times, Much’s loyalty can turn to jealousy, when Marian and the other members of the group take Robin’s attention from Much. At the end of season two, for example, Much says he both loves and hates Robin, since Robin takes him for granted, and reminisces about being in the Holy Land, when there were just two of them and they “were like brothers” (“A Good Day to Die”).
 
One scene from the series nicely encapsulates Much's role as both foundational character and figure without a recognizable tradition. When brought to the outlaw camp, a young boy, Daniel, recognizes all of the outlaws except Much. When Much introduces himself, Daniel responds “Oh, yes, the servant” (“Childhood”). Despite Much's essential role in the series from the first episode to the last, there is nothing to make him identifiable as Much. This comic exchange thus sums up the entire history of the figure.
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