NOTES TO THE PROLOGUE
1. The nails and blood of Christ, by which it was then a fashion
to swear.
2. Mediaeval medical writers; see note 36 to the Prologue to the
Tales.
3. Boist: box; French "boite," old form "boiste."
4. Erme: grieve; from Anglo-Saxon, "earme," wretched.
5. Cardiacle: heartache; from Greek, "kardialgia."
6. Corpus Domini: God's body.
7. Corny ale: New and strong, nappy. As to "moist," see note
39 to the Prologue to the Tales.
8. (Transcriber's Note)In this scene the pilgrims are refreshing
themselves at tables in front of an inn. The pardoner is drunk,
which explains his boastful and revealing confession of his
deceits.
NOTES TO THE TALE
1. The outline of this Tale is to be found in the "Cento Novelle
Antiche," but the original is now lost. As in the case of the Wife
of Bath's Tale, there is a long prologue, but in this case it has
been treated as part of the Tale.
2. Hautein: loud, lofty; from French, "hautain."
3. Radix malorum est cupiditas: "the love of money is the root
of all evil" (1 Tim.vi. 10)
4.All had she taken priestes two or three: even if she had
committed adultery with two or three priests.
5. Blackburied: The meaning of this is not very clear, but it is
probably a periphrastic and picturesque way of indicating
damnation.
6. Grisly: dreadful; fitted to "agrise" or horrify the listener.
7. Mr Wright says: "The common oaths in the Middle Ages
were by the different parts of God's body; and the popular
preachers represented that profane swearers tore Christ's body
by their imprecations." The idea was doubtless borrowed from
the passage in Hebrews (vi. 6), where apostates are said to
"crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to
an open shame."
8. Tombesteres: female dancers or tumblers; from Anglo-
Saxon, "tumban," to dance.
9. "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess." Eph. v.18.
10. The reference is probably to the diligent inquiries Herod
made at the time of Christ's birth. See Matt. ii. 4-8
11. A drunkard. "Perhaps," says Tyrwhitt, "Chaucer refers to
Epist. LXXXIII., 'Extende in plures dies illum ebrii habitum;
nunquid de furore dubitabis? nunc quoque non est minor sed
brevior.'" ("Prolong the drunkard's condition to several days;
will you doubt his madness? Even as it is, the madness is no
less; merely shorter.")
12. Defended: forbidden; French, "defendu." St Jerome, in his
book against Jovinian, says that so long as Adam fasted, he was
in Paradise; he ate, and he was thrust out.
13. "Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God shall
destroy both it and them." 1 Cor. vi. 13.
14. "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now
tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of
Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and
whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." Phil.
iii. 18, 19.
15. Cod: bag; Anglo-Saxon, "codde;" hence peas-cod, pin-cod
(pin-cushion), &c.
16. Compare with the lines which follow, the picture of the
drunken messenger in the Man of Law's Tale.
17. Lepe: A town near Cadiz, whence a stronger wine than the
Gascon vintages afforded was imported to England. French
wine was often adulterated with the cheaper and stronger
Spanish.
18. Another reading is "Fleet Street."
19. Attila was suffocated in the night by a haemorrhage,
brought on by a debauch, when he was preparing a new
invasion of Italy, in 453.
20. "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink
wine, nor for princes strong drink; lest they drink, and forget
the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted." Prov.
xxxi. 4, 5.
21. Most manuscripts, evidently in error, have "Stilbon" and
"Calidone" for Chilon and Lacedaemon. Chilon was one of the
seven sages of Greece, and flourished about B.C. 590.
According to Diogenes Laertius, he died, under the pressure of
age and joy, in the arms of his son, who had just been crowned
victor at the Olympic games.
22. "Swear not at all;" Christ's words in Matt. v. 34.
23. "And thou shalt swear, the lord liveth in truth, in judgement,
and in righteousness." Jeremiah iv. 2
24. The nails that fastened Christ on the cross, which were
regarded with superstitious reverence.
25. Hailes: An abbey in Gloucestershire, where, under the
designation of "the blood of Hailes," a portion of Christ's blood
was preserved.
26. Go bet: a hunting phrase; apparently its force is, "go beat up
the game."
27. Haw; farm-yard, hedge Compare the French, "haie."
28. Avicen, or Avicenna, was among the distinguished
physicians of the Arabian school in the eleventh century, and
very popular in the Middle Ages. His great work was called
"Canon Medicinae," and was divided into "fens," "fennes," or
sections.
29. Assoil: absolve. compare the Scotch law-term "assoilzie,"
to acquit.
30. Saint Helen, according to Sir John Mandeville, found the
cross of Christ deep below ground, under a rock, where the
Jews had hidden it; and she tested the genuineness of the sacred
tree, by raising to life a dead man laid upon it.
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