The Gest of Robyn Hode was printed and reprinted numerous times in the 16th century. The earliest surviving edition dates from around AD 1500, and therefore the Gest is one of the earliest surviving Robin Hood stories.
Current scholarship suggests it was originally composed in the latter half of the 1400s. Also, some historians feel it was compiled from previous, but now lost, ballads. Others have argued that later ballads were cut down from the tales in the Gest.
