Anywhere. ↩
Unless. ↩
Absolving. ↩
An ecclesiastical writ. ↩
Within his jurisdiction he had at his own pleasure the young people (of both sexes) in the diocese. ↩
Counsel. ↩
The post of an alehouse sign; a May pole. ↩
A seller of pardons or indulgences. ↩
Sang the bass. ↩
Streak, strip. ↩
Locks, shreds, little heaps. ↩
The new gait, or fashion; gait is still used in this sense in some parts of the country. ↩
An image of Christ; so called from St. Veronica, who gave the Saviour a napkin to wipe the sweat from His face as He bore the Cross, and received it back with an impression of His countenance upon it. ↩
Brimful. ↩
Packet, baggage; French, malle, a trunk. ↩
Pillowcase. ↩
Piece. ↩
Took hold of him. ↩
Copper, latten. ↩
Jests. ↩
Alderbest, altherbest, allerbest—best of all. ↩
An anthem sung while the congregation made the offering. ↩
Polish well his tongue; speak smoothly. ↩
Apparently another Southwark tavern; Stowe mentions a “Bull” as being near the Tabard. ↩
How we bore ourselves—what we did—that same night. ↩
Account it not rudeness in me. ↩
Let him speak. ↩
Although I have. ↩
List, pleased. ↩
Deep-set. ↩
Cheapside, then inhabited by the richest and most prosperous citizens of London. ↩
Lodging, inn; French, herberge. ↩
If. ↩
Pleasure. ↩
Prepare yourselves, intend. ↩
If it please you all. ↩
If ye be not merry, smite off. ↩
Seek. ↩
To make it matter of deliberation; to weigh the proposal carefully. ↩
Consideration. ↩
Flat. ↩
At the cost of you all. ↩
More. ↩
Fetched. ↩
Was the cock to awaken us all. ↩
At the second milestone on the old Canterbury road. ↩
Know your promise. ↩
Draw lots ere ye go farther. ↩
Lot (Latin, sors), or chance (Latin, casus). ↩
Since. ↩
For the plan and principal incidents of the “Knight’s Tale,” Chaucer was indebted to Boccaccio, who had himself borrowed from some prior poet, chronicler, or romancer. Boccaccio speaks of the story as “very ancient;” and, though that may not be proof of its antiquity, it certainly shows that he took it from an earlier writer. The “Tale” is more or less a paraphrase of Boccaccio’s Theseida; but in some points the copy has a distinct dramatic superiority over the original. The Theseida contained ten thousand lines; Chaucer has condensed it into less than one-fourth of the number. The “Knight’s Tale” is supposed to have been at first composed as a separate work; it is undetermined whether Chaucer took it direct from the Italian of Boccaccio, or from a French translation. ↩
Once on a while; formerly. ↩
Was called; from the Anglo-Saxon, hatan, to bid or call; German, heissen, heisst. ↩
The “Royaume des Femmes”—kingdom of the Amazons. Gower, in the Confessio Amantis, styles Penthesilea the “Queen of Feminie.” ↩
Mickle, great. ↩
If it were not. ↩
Won, conquered; German gewonnen. ↩
To plough; Latin, arare. “I have abundant matter for discourse.” The first, and half of the second, of Boccaccio’s twelve books are disposed of in the few lines foregoing. ↩
Nor will I hinder any of this company. ↩
Where I left off. ↩
Prosperity, wealth. ↩
Bewailing; German, wehklagen. ↩
Stint, cease, desist. ↩
Seize. ↩
Wronged. ↩
Aspect, countenance. ↩
Pity. ↩
Captives or slaves; hence it means generally in wretched circumstances. ↩
That assures no continuance of prosperous estate. ↩
Died; German, sterben, starb. ↩
Outrage, insult. ↩
Slain. ↩
Burnt. ↩
Flat on the ground; groveling on the earth. ↩
Abased, dejected, consumed away. ↩
Raised, took. ↩
As far as his power went; all that in him lay. ↩
Avenge. ↩
Delay. ↩
Ner or nerre, is used as the comparative of ner, near, instead of nerer. ↩
Bright, lovely. ↩
Rode. ↩
Stamped. ↩
The monster, half-man and half-bull, which yearly devoured a tribute of fourteen Athenian youths and maidens, until it was slain by Theseus. ↩
Custom. ↩
Describe. ↩
Lamenting. ↩
Burning. ↩
List, pleased. ↩
Heap; French, tas. ↩
Of armous
