Synopsis
Robin Hood refuses to eat unless he has a guest. Little John finds a sorrowful knight and compels him to come. When Robin asks how much money he has, the knight says he has ten shillings. They demand to know how this came about, and the knight explains that his son killed two men, and he had to spend all his money, and mortgage his land, to save him. Robin lends him the required four hundred pounds on the security of St. Mary, and the rest of the band -- Little John, Much the Miller's Son, and Will Scarlet -- insist on giving him fine clothing, a packhorse, and a courser as well, and because a knight should have an attendant, Little John goes with him.
The knight pretends that he still has not acquired the gold and pleads with the abbot for mercy. The abbot insists on payment, and the knight reveals his deception and pays him, telling him that had the abbot shown leniency, the knight would have rewarded him. Afterward, the knight saves money to repay Robin, and also obtains a hundred bows, with arrows fletched with peacock feathers. As he is travelling back to Robin's base in order to repay him, he rides past a wrestling match, where he sees a yeoman who has won the fight but, because he is a stranger, is likely to be killed by the angry crowd, and so the knight saves him.
While still in the service of the knight, Little John goes to an archery contest and wins. The sheriff takes him into his service, after Little John is given leave by the knight. One day, Little John wakes late and wants to eat. The steward ("stuarde"), who is the butler ("bottler"), and the cook try to stop him because it is not mealtime. The cook puts up a good fight and Little John proposes that he should come to the forest and join the band of outlaws. He agrees and feeds Little John. They plunder the house and go to Robin. There, Little John tricks the sheriff into coming to Robin. Robin only permits the sheriff to leave when he has sworn to do them no harm.
Robin again refuses to eat unless he has a guest. The men catch a monk from St. Mary's Abbey who after the feast claims to have only twenty marks, while he is actually carrying eight hundred pounds; Robin claims it for his own, stating that St. Mary has sent it to him - as he is still owed the money he has lent to the knight - and has graciously doubled the amount. Later on, the knight arrives. He explains that he is late because he has saved the yeoman at the wrestling competition; Robin tells him that whoever helps a yeoman is his friend, and refuses to accept the knight's repayment. When the knight gives him the bows, Robin pays him half the eight hundred pounds.
The sheriff holds an archery contest, in which Robin and his men take part. All the band acquit themselves well, but Robin wins. The sheriff tries to seize him, but they escape to the castle of Sir Richard at the Lee, the knight who was helped by Robin (and who is first named at this point), and the sheriff cannot break in. He brings the matter before the king, who insists that both the knight and Robin must be brought to justice. The sheriff takes Sir Richard prisoner whilst the latter is hunting, and Sir Richard's wife goes to Robin for help. They stage a rescue, in the process of which Robin shoots and kills the sheriff.
The king comes to take Robin and is outraged by the damage to his deer. He promises Sir Richard's land to whoever kills the knight, and is told that no one could hold the land while Robin Hood is at large. After months, he is persuaded to disguise himself and some men as monks, and thus get Robin to capture them, which Robin does, taking half of their forty pounds. The "abbot" hands him an invitation from the king to dine at Nottingham. For that, Robin says he would dine with them. After the meal, they set up an archery contest, and whoever fails to hit the target has to suffer a blow. Robin misses and has the "abbot" deliver the blow. The king knocks him down and reveals himself. Robin, his men, and Sir Richard all kneel in homage.
The king takes Robin with him to lead a life at court. However, after a short while, Robin longs for the forest and returns home, defying the king (who has only given him leave for a week). Robin regathers his band of outlaws, and they live in the forest for twenty-two years.
A prioress finally kills Robin, at the instigation of her lover Roger, by treacherously bleeding him excessively. The tale ends with praise for Robin, who "dyde pore men moch god."
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