Erlinton

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Erlinton is Child ballad 8. One variant features Robin Hood.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Erlinton imprisons his daughter in her bower, to keep her from sinnning. She persuades her sister to go to the woods with her, and escapes her with her lover Willie. They are attacked, by knights or outlaws, but he fights and kills them all, and they escape.

In the Robin Hood variant, Robin sees a woman walking the woods and persuades her to run away with him; unlike the other variants, they are not already lovers and she does not need to escape her father. Her brother attack, but Robin kills all of them except the youngest.