Part I: In camp in Barnsdale, Little John, Much the Miller's son, and Will Scarlok are sent out to bring a guest to the feast. A knight comes to eat with them but has nothing to give them for the meal except 10 shillings. The knight is going to get his son from jail, who has committed murder, and  the knight sold everything and mortgaged his land to abbot of St. Mary's, York, for 400 . Robin gives money to knight and sends him out with Little John. 

Part II: In York, the abbot and high justice of England sit waiting for the knight to come to pay the debt. The knight appears and returns the money to the abbot; the abbot is in shock, but the knight goes to his land happily. He gathers the money to repay Robin and goes out to Barnsdale to return it. 

Part IV: The trio again look for a dinner guest. They find a monk who turns out to be the high cellar of St. Mary's. They feel that he has come to repay the debt. But he denies knowing of the debt and admits to only having 20 marks on him.  When Little John looks, the monk is carrying 800 . They celebrate that the loan is twice repayed. They send to monk on to London without any money, and when the knight comes to give back the 400 , the band give the knight the extra 400 that they received from the monk. 

The other parts of the tale are about archery and skill: Part III tells of Little John in an archery contest that the Sheriff of Nottingham watches. Little John shows great skill and accepts a position under the sheriff with an alias. He converts the sheriff's cook to his side: They take the sheriff's valuables when the sheriff is away and run to join Robin's band.  Little John lures the sheriff to Robin in the woods under the pretense of hunting. He is kept there overnight and vows to never harm Robin or his men if he is set free, and so he leaves in the morning. 

Part V: There is another archery contest by the sheriff who promises a gold and silver arrow for the winner. Robin and his men try, and Robin wins. They are attacked by the sheriff's men when revealed, and they hide within the castle of Sir Richard. Little John is wounded in the knee. 

Part VI: The sheriff and his men attack the castle. The knight and sheriff fight, and the sheriff heads to London to report to the king. Robin and men return to the forest, and when the sheriff returns to find them gone, he takes revenge by capturing the knight. The knight's wife tells Robin, and the men chase the sheriff to Nottingham and kill him. The knight is freed and hides with the men in the forest. 

Part VII: The king comes to Nottingham to try to get the knight and the outlaws. He is upset by the fact that the men have depleted the forest of the deer as well. The king enters the forest with his men, all disguised as monks. Robin entertains them, thinking the king is an abbot sent by the king to bring them to Nottingham. In an archery match after the feast, the king is revealed as his archery betters Robin's. The outlaws are pardoned and enter royal service. 

Part VIII: All return to Nottingham dressed in green. The knight receives his land back, and Robin stays in the service for a year. All his men have left but Little John and Wscathelocke. He gains permission to visit a Barnesdale chapel and blows his horn for the surrounding men to hear, reuniting him with his band. He lives in the woods for 22 years. At the end, he visits his relative at Kirklees for medical treatment and she and her lover, Sir Roger of Doncaster, betray him and kill him. 
 
 

This is from a partially recovered manuscript from the Percy Folios. It begins with Robin Hood saying he is going to Kirklees (or Church Lees) for blood letting. Will Scarlett warns him but he goes only with Little John. Robin argues that the Prioress is his cousin and he need not fear harm. Robin starts his treatment but quickly realizes that she means him harm and bleeds him more than she should, making him weak. He tells Little John what has happened, and he kills Red Roger. He refuses to attack his cousin, and asks Little John to place his sword at his head and his arrows at his feet and his bow at his side at his grave. 
 
 

This begins with Little John enjoying the May Day and Robin Hood upset because he has not been to church in a fortnight. Robin heads to Nottingham, only taking Little John as his companion against his men's wishes. They quarrel over their archery skill -- Robin refuses to pay a bet won by Little John -- and they part ways, with John going to Sherwood. Robin enters St. Mary's church and a monk identifies him and calls the sheriff. The sheriff's men enter and a fight breaks out. Robin kills 12 men. He attempts to kill the sheriff, but his sword breaks and he is trapped there. 

Then there is an omission in the text. 

The next section is the band of men who hear of his capture. Little John and Much go to get the monk who is carrying news of Robin's capture to the king. They kill him and his page. The take the monk's letter to the king themselves, and the king makes them yeoman and sends them back to Nottingham. The sheriff receives them and they feast. As the sheriff sleeps, they get into the area where Robin is held, and the guard is killed by John. Robin is freed, and they return to Sherwood. 
Little John decides to leave the men, but Robin wants him to stay and offers him command. Little John refuses command but does stay. The king does not punish the sheriff as they were both fooled by Robin and his men. 
 
 

Robin Hood retells a dream in which he was captured and disarmed by two yeomen. He and Little John go out looking for them. They see a stranger, and when Little John offers to check into the man, Robin disagrees with him. They fight and Little John returns to the woods to find that two men were killed and Will Scarlett has run off from the sheriff's men. Little John kills one of the sheriff's men with an arrow, but his bow then breaks and he is captured. The sheriff ties him to a tree to wait for execution. 

Robin Hood and the stranger, Guy of Gisborne, meet. Robin offers to take him around the forest and Guy states that he is hunting a man named Robin Hood. They compete cordially at archery and Robin wins. Robin admits he is the man that Guy is looking for and they fight. Robin is wounded but receives spiritual strength and kills Guy. He took Guy's head and placed it on the end of his bow, slashing his face so he was unrecognizable. 

Robin goes to Barnesdale disguised in Guy's cloak. He blows Guy's horn so the sheriff thinks Robin Hood has been killed. As his reward, Robin requests that he himself kill Little John. So John is released, and Robin gives Guy's bow to Little John. They drive away the sheriff's men and Little John kills the sheriff with the bow and arrow. 
 
 

Little John and Robin Hood come across a potter in the town of Barnesdale who wants to take a levy from Robin for passing through. Little John and Robin bet on the outcome, and the potter and Robin Hood fight about the payment. Robin fights with his sword but is defeated by the potter and his staff.  Robin makes friends with the potter and wears his clothing to Nottingham, where he sells the goods at lesser cost. He presents his last 5 pots to the sheriff's wife as a gift. This gift beings about a dinner invitation with the sheriff and there is a proposal of an archery contest. He shoots well, and admits that he knows Robin Hood and has his bow. He promises to take the sheriff to him the next day. 

When they reach the forest the next day, the horn is sounded by Robin Hood and the band of men appear. They take the sheriff's horse but is spared a worse fate because of the kind acts of his wife to Robin Hood. It ends with Robin paying the potter for the goods.