Name That Pilgrim!
This worthy pilgrim has traveled "As wel in Cristendom as hetheness," demonstrating his virtues and fighting prowess; he tells the first tale on the road to Canterbury
Who is the Knight?
The knight from this Breton lai commits the crime of rape--and then is sent on a yearlong quest to discover what women want most
What is The Wife of Bath's Tale?
Chaucer's rowdiest pilgrims frequently tell tales that fall into this literary genre known for its reliance on bodily and sexual humor
What is fabliau?
The pilgrims set out for Canterbury during this season of the year
What is spring/springtime?
Bifil that in that seson on a day,
In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay
Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage
To Caunterbury with ful devout corage,
At nyght was come into that hostelrye
Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye
Of sondry folk, by aventure yfalle
In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle,
That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde.
What is The General Prologue?
This well-mannered pilgrim is so tender-hearted she "wolde weepe if that she sawe a mous / Caught in a trappe"; her name is Madame Eglantine
Who is the Prioress?
This elderly knight marries a beautiful young wife--and then temporarily loses his eyesight
Who is January (from The Merchant's Tale)?
The Parson's Tale is an example of this literary genre, which was designed to help guide confessors and literate laypersons through the stages of contrition, confession, and satisfaction
What is a penitential manual?
Apart from the pilgrim Chaucer, this member of the traveling party is the only one whom we know corresponds to a real historical person
Who is the Host/Harry Bailey?
"‘Chese [choose] now,’ quod she, ‘oon of thise thinges tweye:
To han [have] me foul and old til that I deye, [die]
And be to you a trewe, humble wif,
And nevere you displese in al my lyf,
Or elles ye wol han me yong and fair,
And take youre aventure [chance] of the repair [thronging (of men)]
That shal be to youre hous bycause of me—
Or in som other place, wel may be.
Now chese yourselven, wheither that you liketh.’”
What is The Wife of Bath's Tale?
This pilgrim carries false relics in his bags--and dares to tell his fellow travelers a tale about the dangers of his own besetting sin: avarice
Who is the Pardoner?
This lovesick knight wins a tournament against his equally lovesick cousin--but dies before he can marry the woman they've both fallen for
Who is Arcite?
In The Prioress's Tale, a young boy miraculously sings this song even after his death
What is the Alma Redemptoris?
The pilgrims are traveling to Canterbury to visit the shrine of this saint
Who is Thomas à Becket?
“And agains thise wikked giltes is penitence, that may be likned unto a tree. The roote of this tree is contricioun, that hideth him in the herte of him that is verray repentaunt, righte as the roote of contricioun springeth a stalke that bereth braunches and leves of confessioun and fruit of satisfaccioun.”
What is The Parson's Tale?
This sanguine pilgrim is described in The General Prologue as "Epicurus owene sone"; he later cuts off The Squire's Tale to tell a story involving some magically disappearing rocks
Who is the Franklin?
This amorous clerk tries, unsuccessfully, to seduce Alison in The Miller's Tale--and is so enraged when she rejects his advances that he hastens to the blacksmith's shop
Who is Absolon?
Several of Chaucer's pilgrims enact this Middle English verb by telling tales intended to get back at another pilgrim: e.g., the Friar and the Summoner
What is to quite (from quiten)?
In Middle English, this word refers to both the virtues commonly associated with knights (like bravery, courtesy, and honor) and to the knights themselves
What is chevalrie/chivalrie?
"Til that ther cam a greet geaunt,
His name was sire Oliphaunt,
A perilous man of dede.
He seyde, 'Child, by Termagaunt,
But if thou prike out of myn haunt [Unless you ride out of my territory],
Anon I sle [slay] thy steede
With mace.
Here is the Queene of Fayerye,
With harpe and pipe and symphonye,
Dwellinge in this place.'"
What is The Tale of Sir Thopas?
This pilgrim, whose given name is Osewold, takes exception with how The Miller's Tale characterizes carpenters--and tells a revenge tale about a greedy miller named Simekin
Who is the Reeve?
This "faire damoisele" is unimpressed by her husband's dreams--and recommends that he purge them by consuming some herbs she's found in their yard
Who is Pertelote (from The Nun's Priest's Tale)?
Chaucer and his pilgrims often utilize this rhetorical device, in which a speaker claims they don't have space (or skill) to describe something--but then ends up describing it in detail, rather than passing over it
What is occupatio?
What is the Three Estates System?
“‘I am, thow woost [knows], yet of thy compaignye,
A maide, and love hunting and venerye [hunting as sport],
And for to walken in the wodes [woods] wilde,
And noght to ben a wif and be with childe.
Noght wol I knowe compaignye of man.
Now help me, lady, sith [since] ye may and kan,
For tho thre formes that thou hast in thee.
And Palamon, that hath swich love to me,
And eek Arcite, that loveth me so sore,
This grace I praye thee withoute moore,
As sende love and pees [peace] bitwixe hem two,
And fro me turne awey hir hertes so
That al hire hote [hot] love and hir desir,
And al hir bisy torment, and hir fir [fire]
Be queint [quenched] or turned in another place.’”
What is The Knight's Tale?