The word translated here as 'murderer' is the Latin "sicarius" (literally 'dagger-man'), from the Latin "sica" for 'dagger', and descends from its use to describe the Sicarii, assassins operating in Roman Judea. Bower goes on to relate an anecdote about Robin Hood in which he refuses to flee from his enemies while hearing Mass in the greenwood, and then gains a surprise victory over them, apparently as a reward for his piety; the mention of "tragedies" suggests that some form of the tale relating his death, as per "A Gest of Robyn Hode", might have been in currency already.