Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400) was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat courtier and diplomat. Sometimes called the father of English literature, Chaucer is credited by some scholars as being the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular English language, rather than French or Latin. He wrote many works but is best know for The Canterbury Tales.Colin Wilcockson was educated at Chigwell School and Merton College, Oxford, where he read English Language and Literature. In 1973, he was elected to a Fellowship at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he was for many years Director of Studies in English and in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic. He has published books, articles and reviews mainly on Medieval and Renaissance literature (he is one of the editors of The Riverside Chaucer), and on the twentieth-century Anglo-Welsh poet and artist, David Jones. He also publishes poetry. He is now an Emeritus Fellow of Pembroke College.

“A delight . . . [Raffel’s translation] provides more opportunities to savor the counterpoint of Chaucer’s earthy humor against passages of piercingly beautiful lyric poetry.”—Kirkus Reviews“Masterly . . . This new translation beckons us to make our own pilgrimage back to the very wellsprings of literature in our language.” —Billy Collins“The Canterbury Tales has remained popular for seven centuries. It is the most approachable masterpiece of the medieval world, and Mr. Raffel’s translation makes the stories even more inviting.”—Wall Street Journal

• The Canterbury Tales: A SelectionAcknowledgementsChronologyIntroductionFurther ReadingA Note on the Translation, Text and IllustrationsThe Canterbury TalesThe General PrologueThe Knight's TaleThe Miller's Prologue and TaleThe Reeve's Prologue and TaleThe Wife of Bath's Prologue and TaleThe Clerk's Prologue and TaleThe Merchant's Prologue, Tale and EpilogueThe Franklin's Prologue and TaleThe Pardoner's Prologue and TaleThe Nun's Priest's Tale