This collection of five tales and one play contains the definitive Robin Hood. They are the earliest ballads and play and still the best of the bunch. `Robin Hood and the Monk' is the earliest surviving manuscript, dated c.1450, and is considered the greatest of the ballads, though it was probably not sung, being described as a `talkyng'; `Robin Hood's Death' is one of the most satisfying tragedies in the English language; while `A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode' is a comprehensive account of the famous English outlaw - complete, unified and pointing quite clearly to the reign of Edward II as a probable time for an historical Robin Hood, despite the opinions of most of the experts.