Role |
Name |
Tales |
Notes |
Narrator |
Geoffrey Chaucer |
Sir Thopas and the Tale of Melibee |
Although he writes all of the tales, Chaucer describes himself telling two tales as one of the pilgrims. |
Host |
Harry Bailey |
|
Owner of the Tabard Inn, where the pilgrimage starts. He agrees to travel on the pilgrimage, promising to judge the tales, and disputes between the pilgrims. |
Knight |
|
The Knight's Tale |
A valiant and experienced crusader who lives by the code of chivalry |
Squire |
|
The Squire's Tale |
Son of the knight, a finely dressed and artistically talented bachelor |
Knight's yeoman |
|
|
An archer and possibly a forester |
Prioress |
Madame Eglantine |
The Prioress's Tale |
A woman with impeccable table manners who wears a brooch reading Amor vincit omnia (love conquers all) |
Second nun |
|
The Second Nun's Tale |
Chaplain to the prioress |
Nun's priests |
|
The Nun's Priest's Tale |
Three priests in the prioress's party |
Monk |
|
The Monk's Tale |
An avid hunter and horseman who disdains the rules of his order |
Friar |
Huberd |
The Friar's Tale |
A mendicant who takes confessions from the well-to-do for a price, and spends the money on himself rather than to benefit the poor |
Merchant |
|
The Merchant's Tale |
A seemingly successful Hanseatic trader who is deeply in debt |
Clerk |
|
The Clerk's Tale |
An Oxford-educated scholar |
Man of law (sergeant of the law) |
|
The Man of Law's Tale |
A wealthy lawyer known as much for his personal extravagance as for his professional skill |
Franklin |
|
The Franklin's Tale |
Companion of the man of law, a pleasure-seeking landowner who dines on every kind of food and drink |
Five craft workers |
|
|
A haberdasher, carpenter, weaver, dyer and tapester, all described together |
Cook |
Roger |
The Cook's Tale |
A servant of the craft-workers |
Shipman |
|
The Shipman's Tale |
A barge captain from Dartmouth |
Physician (doctor of physic) |
|
The Physician's Tale |
A practitioner of astrology and humorism |
Wife of Bath |
Alisoun |
The Wife of Bath's Tale |
A five-time widow who has traveled throughout the world |
Parson |
|
The Parson's Tale |
A benevolent and virtuous town pastor |
Plowman |
|
|
The parson's brother, who loves God and his neighbor and plows poor men's fields for free |
Miller |
Robyn |
The Miller's Tale |
A brawny and profane tradesman who overcharges and steals from his customers |
Manciple |
|
The Manciple's Tale |
A purchasing agent to an Inn of Court |
Reeve |
Osewald |
The Reeve's Tale |
A feudal accountant from Bawdeswell |
Summoner |
|
The Summoner's Tale |
A gluttonous, lecherous, intemperate man who notifies people to appear at ecclesiastical courts |
Pardoner |
|
The Pardoner's Tale |
A close companion of the summoner who sells indulgences and phony religious relics |
Canon |
|
|
An alchemist and confidence trickster who encounters the pilgrims on the road, then rides away when his yeoman speaks too freely |
Canon's yeoman |
|
The Canon's Yeoman's Tale |
Unwitting accomplice of the canon |