![Canterbury Tales - The Miller - f](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Canterbury_Tales_-_The_Miller_-_f._34v_detail_-_Robin_with_the_Bagpype_-_early_1400s_Chaucer.png)
"The Miller's Tale" ( enm, The Milleres Tale) is the second of
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
's ''
Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus ...
'' (1380s–1390s), told by the drunken
miller
A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalent ...
Robin to
quite (a Middle English term meaning requite or pay back, in both good and negative ways) "
The Knight's Tale
"The Knight's Tale" ( enm, The Knightes Tale) is the first tale from Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales''.
The Knight is described by Chaucer in the "General Prologue" as the person of highest social standing amongst the pilgrims, t ...
".
The Miller's Prologue is the first "quite" that occurs in the tales.
Prologue
The general prologue to ''
The Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...
'' describes the
Miller
A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalent ...
, Robin, as a stout and evil
churl
A churl (Old High German ), in its earliest Old English (Anglo-Saxon) meaning, was simply "a man" or more particularly a "free man", but the word soon came to mean "a non-servile peasant", still spelled , and denoting the lowest rank of freemen. Ac ...
fond of
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
. In the Miller's Prologue, the pilgrims have just heard and enjoyed "
The Knight's Tale
"The Knight's Tale" ( enm, The Knightes Tale) is the first tale from Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales''.
The Knight is described by Chaucer in the "General Prologue" as the person of highest social standing amongst the pilgrims, t ...
", a classical story of
courtly love, and the Host asks the Monk to "quite" with a tale of his own. Before the Monk can respond, however, the drunken Miller insists on going next. The Host tries to persuade the Miller to let some "bettre" man tell the next tale, but acquiesces when the Miller threatens to leave the company. The Miller claims that his tale is "noble", but reminds the other pilgrims that he is quite drunk and cannot be held accountable for what he says. He explains that his story is about a
carpenter and his wife, and how a
clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...
"hath set the wrightes cappe" (that is, fooled the carpenter). Osewold the
Reeve, who had originally been a carpenter himself, shouts out his immediate objection to such ridicule, and protests that the tale will insult carpenters and wives, but the Miller insists on proceeding with his tale.
"The Miller's Tale" begins the trend in which succeeding tellers "quite" (or one-up) the previous story with their own. In a way, the Miller requites the "Knight's Tale" and is himself directly requited with "
The Reeve's Tale
"The Reeve's Tale" is the third story told in Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales''. The reeve, named Oswald in the text, is the manager of a large estate who reaped incredible profits for his master and himself. He is described in the ...
", in which the Reeve follows Robin's insulting story about a carpenter with his own tale disparaging a miller.
Synopsis
![French - Door with Cat Hole - Walters 64164](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/French_-_Door_with_Cat_Hole_-_Walters_64164.jpg)
"The Miller's Tale" is the story of a carpenter, his lovely wife, and two younger men who are eager to sleep with her. The carpenter, John, lives in Oxford with his much younger wife, Alisoun, who is a local beauty. In order to make extra money, John rents out a room in his house to a clever
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
student named Nicholas, who has taken a liking to Alisoun. Another man in the town, Absolon, the parish clerk, also has his eye on Alisoun.
The action begins when John makes a day trip to a nearby town. While he is gone, Nicholas grabs Alisoun "by the
queynte". When she threatens to cry for help, he begins to cry and, after a few sweet words, she agrees to have sex with him when it is safe to do so. Their affair begins. Shortly afterward, Alisoun goes to church, where Absolon sees her and immediately is filled with "love-longing." He tries to woo Alisoun by singing love songs under her window during the full moon and sending her gifts. He also seeks her attention by taking a part in a local play. However, Alisoun rebuffs all his efforts because she is already involved with Nicholas.
Nicholas, meanwhile, longs to spend a whole night in Alisoun's arms rather than just the few moments they get during John's absences. With Alisoun, he hatches a scheme that will enable him to do that. Being a student of
astrology
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...
, Nicholas tells John that he has divined that a terrible event is about to occur. The next Monday night, there will be a massive flood, twice as great as the one in
Noah's time. God has told him they can save themselves by hanging three large tubs from the ceiling of the barn, each loaded with provisions and an axe. When the flood waters have risen, they can cut the ropes, hack through the roof, and float until the flood subsides. John believes him and, on Monday night, they ascend by ladders into the hanging tubs. As soon as John is asleep, Nicholas and Alisoun climb down, run back to the house, and sleep together in John's bed.
That same night, Absolon comes to the house and begs Alisoun to kiss him. At first she refuses, but Absolon persists, so she offers him one quick kiss. Instead of presenting her lips to Absolon, though, she sticks her backside out the bedroom's "shot-window" (privy vent), and Absolon kisses her "ers" (arse) in the dark. Angry at being fooled, Absolon gets a red-hot
coulter from the
blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...
, with which he intends to burn Alisoun in revenge. He returns with it to the window and knocks again, promising Alisoun a gold ring in exchange for a kiss. This time, Nicholas, having gotten up to relieve himself anyway, sticks his buttocks out to get in on the joke and farts thunderously in Absolon's face. Absolon thrusts the coulter "amidst the ers" of Nicholas who cries out for "Water!" to assuage the pain.
The screams wake John who, hearing the cries of "water!", thinks "Nowel's flood" (the unlettered carpenter confuses "Noe" (Noah) with "Nowel" (Christmas)) is upon them and cuts the rope attaching his tub to the ceiling. He crashes to the floor, breaking his arm, and the townspeople, hearing the noise, rush to the scene. Upon hearing Nicholas' and Alisoun's version of events, they laugh at poor John and consider him mad. The tale ends: "Thus, swyved was this carpenteris wyf, / For al his kepyng and his jalousye, / And Absolon hath kist hir nether ye, / And Nicholas is scalded in the towte. This tale is doon, and God save al the rowte!"
Arts and culture
:Geoffrey Chaucer wrote during the reign of
Richard II, who very much appreciated the arts and culture of the time. We see this in ''The Miller's Tale'' when Chaucer describes what is in Nicholas' bedroom.
His Almageste and books grete and smale,
His astrelabie longynge for his art,
Hise augrym stones layen faire apart
On shelves couched at his beddes heed"
Nicholas is described not by his valor in battle or honour in the court. Instead, his many skills are described at great length, including the fact that he is studying one of the many scholarly arts that were popular at that time. Chaucer then goes on to describe what Nicholas is wearing and his skills as a musician.
His presse ycovered with a faldyng reed,
And al above ther lay a gay sautrie
On which he made a nyghtes melodie
So swetely that al the chambre song,
And Angelus ad virginem he song,
And after that he song The Kynges Noote;
Full often blessed was his myrie throte!
Again Nicholas is shown not as a brave knight but as a talented musician. He is shown to be very cultured as well as studied. Chaucer shows that Nicholas was skilled in the art of music, as he knew these certain songs which might have been quite popular at the time. What Nicholas wears could also be here to show that Nicholas wore clothes befitting his social class status This focus on what a person could wear based on status was also important to Richard II.
Analysis
The tale appears to combine the motifs of two separate
fabliau
A ''fabliau'' (; plural ''fabliaux'') is a comic, often anonymous tale written by jongleurs in northeast France between c. 1150 and 1400. They are generally characterized by sexual and scatological obscenity, and by a set of contrary attitudes ...
x, the 'second flood' and 'misdirected kiss', both of which appear in continental European literature of the period. Its bawdiness serves not only to introduce the Reeve's tale, but the general sequence of low comedy which terminates in the unfinished Cook's tale.
This Absolom, that jolly was and gay,
Gooth with a sencer (censer) on the haliday,
Sensynge the wyves of the parisshe faste;
And many a lovely look on hem he caste,
And namely on this carpenteris wyf. (3339)
Alisoun, however, does not return Absolom's affections, although she readily takes his gifts.
A third theme, that of knowledge and science, appears in several marginal comments. Nicholas is an avid astrologer (as Chaucer himself
was
Was or WAS may refer to:
* ''Was'', a past-tense form of the English copular verb ''to be''
People
* David Was (born c. 1952), the stage name of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter David Weiss
* Don Was (born 1952), the stage name of bass guita ...
), equipped with, "His
Almageste, and bookes grete and smale, / His
astrelabie, longynge for his art..." John the carpenter represents unintellectual laymen; John tells Nicholas:
Men sholde nat knowe of goddes pryvetee od's private affairs
Ye, blessed be alwey a lewed nlearnedman
That noght but oonly his bileve kan! ho_knows_nothing_except_the_Creed.html" ;"title="Creed.html" ;"title="ho knows nothing except the Creed">ho knows nothing except the Creed">Creed.html" ;"title="ho knows nothing except the Creed">ho knows nothing except the Creed(3454)
He also recounts a story (sometimes told of Thales) of an Astrology, astrologer who falls into a pit while studying the stars. The issue of whether learned or unlearned faith is better is also relevant to The Prioress's Tale and The Parson's Tale.
The Miller’s Tale draws on a lot of biblical information, mainly that of the
Ark of the Covenant and
Noah’s Ark. The Ark of the Covenant is referenced due to the root of the word arc meaning both chest and hidden in Latin, making an ark a hiding place. The ark of the Covenant was made to hide the tablets of law, Aaron’s Rod and the pot of manna, in a similar way, the tubs in which Nicholas, John and Alisoun are made to hide the 3 of them to keep them safe. The more obvious reference is to that of Noah’s Ark, Both Nicholas and Noah make reference to “Astrologye” being a catalyst for the information they receive about the coming flood. The stars were said to be able to predict events at the time. They also reference Divine Intervention of God speaking to them and the stars showing that a great cataclysm is coming. Nicholas uses this mix of astrology and information from God to convince John that he is not crazy by rooting it in how Noah found out. Chaucer also manages to draw a parallel between
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር ...
the Angel and Nicholas by giving John the message about the flood, much like how Gabriel gave the message of
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
being pregnant with the son of God to her.
Nicholas resembles Gabriel in the fact he is described somewhat effeminate and is eloquent with his words.
The two diverge in the fact that Nicholas seduces John’s wife, and they commit adultery, which Gabriel did not do with Mary.
Parody
The tale is replete with word-puns. Much is made of variations on "priv-" implying both secret things and private parts. Nicholas fondles Alisoun's "
queynte", a noun, while Absolom is described after his humiliation as having his ardour "yqueynt" or quenched.
The Miller's name is intended as a pun on the phrase "rob 'em". As told in the Reeve's Tale the Miller is a not just a bully but a thief of grain he is supposed to grind for his customers.
Continuations
The 15th-century
Tale of Beryn depicts the Miller trying and failing to explain the
stained glass windows of Canterbury cathedral.
Chaucer refers to the
Distichs of Cato
The ''Distichs of Cato'' (Latin: ''Catonis Disticha'', most famously known simply as Cato), is a Latin collection of proverbial wisdom and morality by an unknown author from the 3rd or 4th century AD. The ''Cato'' was the most popular medieval sc ...
when discussing the age difference between Alison and her husband with this passage: ''"He knew nat Catoun, for his wit was rude."'' The Distichs of Cato was one of the most common textbooks in schools throughout medieval Europe, and was familiar to almost anyone with a basic education in Latin.
The painting
Netherlandish Proverbs
''Netherlandish Proverbs'' ( nl, Nederlandse Spreekwoorden; also called ''Flemish Proverbs'', ''The Blue Cloak'' or ''The Topsy Turvy World'') is a 1559 oil-on-oak- panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder that depicts a scene in which humans ...
by
Pieter Breugel the Elder illustrates many of the themes in this story including a shot-window in use, a man with his backside on fire, a falling through a basket from a roof, pious hypocrisy, and cuckolding.
Adaptations
The Miller's Tale is one of eight of Chaucer's tales adapted in
Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...
's ''
The Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...
''.
Jenny Runacre
Jenny Runacre (born 18 August 1946) is a South African-born English actress. Her film appearances include '' The Passenger'' (1975), ''The Duellists'' (1977), ''Jubilee'' (1978), ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1979), and '' The Witches'' (1990).
Caree ...
portrays Alison,
Michael Balfour portrays John the carpenter, Dan Thomas portrays Nicholas, Peter Cain portrays Absolom, Martin Philips portrays Martin and Alan McConnell portrays Gervase the blacksmith.
See also
*
Angelus ad virginem "" (Latin for "The angel came to the virgin", also known by its English title, "Gabriel, from Heven King Was to the Maide Sende") is a medieval carol whose text is a poetic version of the Hail Mary and the Annunciation by the archangel Gabriel to th ...
References
External links
Read "The Miller's Tale" with interlinear translation, from a
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
website
The Canterbury Tales(based on
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
copies of
William Caxton
William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer to be the first English retailer of printed books.
His parentage a ...
's editions), via a
De Montfort University
De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was tak ...
website
A study guide for The Miller's Prologue and Talefrom a UK teacher's personal website
Modern Translation of the ''Miller's Tale'' and Other Resources at eChaucer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller's Tale
The Canterbury Tales
Fabliaux
Fictional millers
Infidelity in fiction