Robert is a young man who made a pilgrimage to Rome and ended up being a confirmed wanderer. He meets Goldmund and the two begin traveling together. Robert admires Goldmund's education and artistic capabilities, although he is less enamored of his friend's womanizing. The two travel through the countryside as the Black Death ravages the citizens, and Robert lives in constant fear of contamination. After Goldmund takes up with a woman who contracts the plague, Robert runs away and does not reappear in the story.
