Kendricken,+David

=Notes/Summaries for //Canterbury// Characters in the 'General Prologue' - 3-7-11= = =

Here's my list of the characters' notable qualities as per 'The General Prologue.' If I miss anything major, let me know and I'd love to add it in.

The Knight


 * Majorly chivalrous/honorable/true/dependable/pure
 * Storied past, watched Alexandria fall, for instance
 * Weathered and survived fifteen major battles
 * Never speaks rudely or harshly
 * A perfect gentleman, model Knight
 * in other words, basically perfect in general and a little dull

The Squire
 * Son of the Knight
 * Lustful bachelor
 * Young, age 20 or so
 * Likes to sing, does so often
 * Writes his own songs and poetry
 * Polite and modest, but kind of a nymphomaniac
 * Keeps with him a yeoman
 * wears a green cloak and hood
 * carries weapons (arrows, sword, shield) which he keeps neatly
 * a skilled navigator
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">a woodsman

The Prioress/Nun
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">called Madame Eglentyne
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">sings and speaks French well
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">excellent table manners, good manners and polite all-around
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Very tender-hearted
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">'Love Conquers All' engraved on her golden brooch
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Best Nun? Perhaps not... but a kind soul it seems, at least

The Monk
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Loves to hunt (? hmm...)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Owns stable of fine horses
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Not a monk of the 'old things,' more a modern type of dude
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">doesn't quite see the merit in staying in a monastery and endlessly studying the word of god
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Really loves hunting (owns a bunch of Greyhounds for the recreation, for which he spares no expense)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Mirror-like bald head and face, not pale
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Weighty and broadly built man
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Bulging eyes which roll around his head (?)

The Friar
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Relaxed, merry
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Has paid for many girls to be wed
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A fond and familiar face to rich land-owners and worthy town women (they felt comfortable enough in his company to admit to sins others may not have been able to bear hearing)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Pleasantly he listened to confessions / granted absolution
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Accepts payment to 'his poor order' for the granting of penance
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Sings, plays the fiddle well
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Hood kept full of knives, super-strong dude
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Knew the bars like the back of his hand, plus barmaids
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Modest and polite (for a price)

The Merchant
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Fork bearded, many-colored clothes, cunning
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Speaks his mind impressively
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Privately buys and sells the French coin
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Confident, certain, driver of a hard bargain

The Clerk
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A fellow of Oxford
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He (and his horse) quite thin
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Hollow- and grave-looking chap
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Much rather be accompanied by books of philosophy than wealth
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Spends all his spare money on books, not looks
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Very brief in speaking
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Loved studying, teaching, full of moral virtue

The Sergeant
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cautious and precise keeper of the law, a man of excellence, wise
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Much sought after for his advice
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A prodigious buyer of land
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Likes to look far busier than he is
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">great memory, can quote all the cases, recite each statute
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">can draw up an air-tight deed
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dresses simply

The Franklin
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cheerful guy, hospitable
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">White beard
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Drinks wine at breakfast
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Lived in the keen pursuit of happiness
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Owner of a large estate
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Keeps from food in fresh supply (obsessive about health, varies his diet with the season)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">His posse(?)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Haberdasher, Carpenter, Weaver, Dyer and a Maker of Tapestry
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">dressed as a great fraternity
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">newly trimmed, fresh clothes adorned in silver
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">each seeming fit for an official position

The Cook
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Part of the Franklin's posse
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">a connoisseur of London ale
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">a really awesome cook
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">scabbed ulcer on his shin though, that's not... that's not cool

The Shipman/Seaman
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">From the West (Dartmouth?)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Good guy
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Steals wine and has sort of a... broad conscience
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">No better Shipman around
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Wise in business, well-traveled
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Sailing barge called Madelaine (Maudelayne)

The Doctor
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Solid knowledge base of surgery, physics, and astrology
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Gives out zodiac charms for good health
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Can diagnose the cause of any ailment
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Has a pharmacist ready to assist his diagnoses at all times
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Eats sparingly (or at least conscientiously), frugal with funds
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">His knowledge of the Bible was lacking, but who cares, ya know?
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Loves gold

The Wife of Bath
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">From Bath (or nearby [duh])
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Somewhat deaf (but cute)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Super skilled cloth maker
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Five husbands+, additional conquests from the days of youth
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Been to Jerusalem thrice
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">All show with the religion thing (over-dresses for church), that's all good though
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Clever

The Parson
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Essentially a good man
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Perhaps a bit too devoted to the law of the church
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Appears to be more concerned with his position despite it's humbleness.
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Believes that a good priest results in good people (Humanist/m)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A model priest to the point where most other priests should be jealous

The Miller
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Heavy-built, brawny, barrel-chested (I may be making that last one up, but one can probably assume with fairness), seemingly a bit tough for the journey
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Always ready to throw down and wrastle with some rivals
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Could headbutt doors down
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Big-bearded, all-around huge dude, big proportions
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Noisy, good-humoured
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Good story-teller
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Has a gold thumb (as any good Miller should)

The Manciple
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Buyers should take him as an example, he's a really smart shopper
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Waits for just the right moment to purchase
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">His wit outpaces the 'learned'-ness of the heaps (30+) of men who employ him
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Makes fools of all those cats

The Reeve (Bailiff)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Quick tempered and with the closest-shaved beard one could possibly have
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Super long and slender dude, long legs, no muscle
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Aware of any bad-deed-doer's tricks, and all of them feared him like death
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Can literally strike a better deal than can god
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">All around super-skilled, master tradesman; formerly a carpenter, and craftsman
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Always rides at the back of the line

The Summoner
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Kind of a nasty dude, but agreeable enough it seems
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Likes Garlic and Onions (a LOT)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Likes to drink strong red wine
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">And to continue to drink, and then speak only Latin
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">would turn a blind eye to dirty deeds for a bit of wine

The Pardoner
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">One fraudulent fella
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Sings pretty awesomely with some help from The Summoner
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Crazy bunny eyes
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Wears wallet close to the heart
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Bears an Icon of Christ on his hat
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Relic salesman, lucrative and sketchy business (relics probably forgeries)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A crowd-duper and most merry and loud a singer to draw attention to himself amongst the teeming masses

Pick your favorite pilgrim - WHY? My favorite Pilgrim would have to be The Pardoner thus far. He seems like perhaps the most outright evil and nasty of the bunch, which is always more interesting than the unadulterated type of benevolence of, say, the Knight. Which is kind of sad given how hard the Knight must've worked for such benevolent status (even though he's fictional), but hey, the Pardoner seems to work pretty hard too, just at... a less honest type of trade.

=

= = = = = =On //The Wife's Lament//, and Implication via Translation - Feb 9, '11=

I never sufficiently realized before today's class how much a translation is more like an adaptation than a transposition: the former involving some sort of personal sense of judgment or taste on the part of the translator, be the resultant choices well-informed or basic; the latter more of a literal swap, this word in the language for the exact equivalent word in that language.

Of course I had realized, having taken six god-forsaken years of Italiano in high school, that certain things simply //had// no literal equivalent. Things like idiomatic structures may very well be, as it is said, lost in translation, as it may merely be possible to convey the phrase's literal meaning without being able to convey the pun-esque or figurative double-meaning inherent to the original text. A proper equivalent may just not exist in the language of translation. Which bums me out as much as it fascinates me, and which led me to dig up a few alternate translations of //The Wife's Lament// in order to compare or contrast the choice moments that were subject to particular scrutiny today in class.

I was hoping for a bit more variance, but it seems the several translators at hand were each incidentally inclined to provide similar transliterations.

http://homepages.bw.edu/~uncover/Charmaecottontrans.htm - Charmae Cottom

http://www.brindin.com/porodwi1.htm - Louis J. Rodriques

http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/hujms/jack1.pdf - Samuel Jack

Contrast these final stretches, provided in the order respective of that above, with the same from our book, line 42 on.

"Forever must a young person be sad minded,

with hard hearted thought. And likewise must have

a friendly demeanor, even when her breast

aches in constant sorrow. “Be on oneself dependent,”

"All the world’s joy. As an outcast

far from his country, my friend sits

under a stonecliff, frost covered in storm.

My Lord, weary spirit, blood flows around

"in a desolate hall, He my Lord suffers

great spirit care. She remembers too often

delightful abode. Woe to her who shall

long and wait for her Beloved."

"Ever shall that youth be sad of mood,

pained his brooding heart; he shall sustain,

besides a cheerful mien, breast-cares as well,

endure incessant griefs; let him depend upon himself

for all his worldly joy. Let him be cast adrift,

afar in a distant land, that he, my friend, may sit

neath stony slopes, by storms berimed,

my evil-minded comrade, water drenched

in drear dwelling. My comrade will endure

great grief; too often he will think

upon a happier home. Woe is it to him

who out of longing must abide love."

"The young man will always be sad of mind, hard in his heart and thought; he must have a blithe countenance, although he has cares, and ceaseless tumults shake him; he has only himself in all the world. He is cast wide out, in the land of a strange people—he sits

"Beneath a fallen cliff, pummeled by storms-- my weary love, drenched with rains in a bleak house. He suffers great grief; he thinks often of our happiness.

"Woe be it to him who must abide in longing."

The subtleties are intriguing, even bizarre. Unfortunately, only one of the translations (the Cottom variation) goes for it with the "grave" translation, as follows:

"Old is this earth grave. I am seized with longing. The gloomy valley, the lofty hill, the grim enclosing hedge is grown over this joyless abode. Very often here wrath seizes me

"for my Lord’s journey hence. Friends be on earth, Beloved, they live, enjoy their beds. When before dawn I walk alone under the tree of faith, through these sepulchers."

But, isn't that just juicy there? The use of 'sepulcher' solidifies the consistency if not the outright literally-interpretable grave thread, that which is merely suggested by the footnote corresponding to the "cave vs. grave" choice in our book.

-Dave

=More on Kenning - Jan 31, '11=

The following is just some dirt I dug up on wikipedia, constituting no personal research on the part of myself regrettably enough, but after today's lecture hopefully my peers can find it interesting or helpful.

Wikipedia defines **Kenning** as: "(Old Norse //kenning//, Modern Icelandic pronunciation [cʰɛnːiŋk]) is a type of literary **trope**, specifically **circumlocution**, in the form of a **compound** (usually two words, often hyphenated) that employs **figurative language** in place of a more **concrete** single-word **noun**."

I found that ungainly first sentence to be both bewildering and unwieldy, so I've included here some sub-definitions, also via Wikipedia:
 * **Trope**: "... a rhetorical figure of speech that consists of a play on words, i.e., using a word in a way other than what is considered its literal or normal form. The other major category of figures of speech is the scheme, which involves changing the //pattern// of words in a sentence. ... The term //trope// derives from the ancient Greek word τρόπος - //tropos// "turn, direction, way, related to the root of the verb //τρέπειν// (//trepein//), "to turn, to direct, to alter, to change".[|[1]] A trope is a way of turning a word away from its normal meaning, or turning it into something else."

examples of **trope** include:
 * "**metonymy** — a trope through proximity or correspondence, for example referring to actions of the U.S. President as "actions of the White House".
 * "**irony** — creating a trope through implying the opposite of the standard meaning, such as describing a bad situation as "good times".
 * "**metaphor** — an explanation of an object or idea through juxtaposition of disparate things with a similar characteristic, such as describing a courageous person as having a "heart of a lion".
 * "**synecdoche** — related to metonymy and metaphor, creates a play on words by referring to something with a related concept: for example, referring to the whole with the name of a part, such as "hired hands" for workers; a part with the name of the whole, such as "the law" for police officers; the general with the specific, such as "bread" for food; the specific with the general, such as "cat" for a lion; or an object with the material it is made from, such as "bricks and mortar" for a building.
 * "**antanaclasis** — is the stylistic trope of repeating a single word, but with a different meaning each time. Antanaclasis is a common type of pun, and like other kinds of pun, it is often found in slogans.
 * "**allegory** — A sustained metaphor continued through whole sentences or even through a whole discourse. For example: "The ship of state has sailed through rougher storms than the tempest of these lobbyists."


 * "In grammar, **genitive** (abbreviated **gen**; also called the **possessive case** or **second case**) is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun. It often marks a noun as being the possessor of another noun but it can also indicate various relationships other than possession; certain verbs may take arguments in the genitive case; and it may have adverbial uses (//see// Adverbial genitive). Modern English does not typically mark nouns for a genitive case morphologically – rather, it uses the //'s// clitic or a preposition (usually //of//) – but the personal pronouns do have distinct possessive forms."


 * **"Circumlocution** (also called **periphrasis**, **circumduction**, **circumvolution**, **periphrase**, or **ambage**) is an ambiguous or roundabout figure of speech. In its most basic form, circumlocution is using many words (such as "a tool used for cutting things such as paper and hair") to describe something simple ("scissors"). In this sense, the vast majority of definitions found in dictionaries are circumlocutory. Circumlocution is often used by aphasics and people learning a new language, where in the absence of a word (such as "abuelo" [grandfather]) the subject can simply be described ("el padre de su padre" [the father of one's father])."


 * **Examples of Kennings:**
 * "Old Norse poets might replace //sverð//, the regular word for “sword”, with a more abstract compound such as “wound-hoe” (Egill Skallagrímsson: Höfuðlausn 8), or a **genitive phrase** such as //randa íss// “ice of shields” ([|Einarr Skúlason]: ‘Øxarflokkr’ 9).
 * //"gjálfr-marr// "sea-steed" = “ship” (Anon.: Hervararkviða 27)
 * **"Complex Kennings:** // grennir gunn-más // “feeder of war-gull” = “feeder of raven” = “warrior” (Þorbjörn hornklofi: Glymdrápa 6); // eyðendr arnar hungrs // “destroyers of eagle’s hunger” = “feeders of eagle” = “warrior” (Þorbjörn Þakkaskáld: Erlingsdrápa 1). Where one kenning is embedded in another like this, the whole figure is said to be // tvíkent // “doubly determined, twice modified”."


 * There also appears to be some disputed boundaries of the kenning territory, as in, what would or wouldn't qualify as one:
 * "Some scholars take the term kenning broadly to include any noun-substitute consisting of two or more elements, including merely descriptive epithets (such as Old Norse //grand viðar// “bane of wood” = “fire” (Snorri Sturluson: Skáldskaparmál 36)), while others would restrict it to metaphorical instances (such as Old Norse //sól húsanna// “sun of the houses” = “fire” (Snorri Sturluson: Skáldskaparmál 36)), specifically those where “[t]he base-word identifies the referent with something which it is not, except in a specially conceived relation which the poet imagines between it and the sense of the limiting element'” (Brodeur (1959) pp. 248–253). Some even exclude naturalistic metaphors such as Old English //forstes bend// “bond of frost” = “ice” or //winter-ġewǣde// “winter-raiment” = “snow”: “A metaphor is a kenning only if it contains an incongruity between the referent and the meaning of the base-word; in the kenning the limiting word is essential to the figure because without it the incongruity would make any identification impossible” (Brodeur (1959) pp. 248–253). Descriptive epithets are a common literary device in many parts of the world, whereas kennings in this restricted sense are a distinctive feature of Old Norse and, to a lesser extent, Old English poetry."

Again, all of these things (in a non-abridged form) are readily available and discoverable to all on Wikipedia, I just felt it may be helpful to compile this structure and to, as I thought best, restrict the endless hyperlinking and a'tumblin' down the rabbit hole of articles possible when examining such related topics of unfamiliarity.

Again, hope it helps or interests someone! -Dave

=Dave Kendricken - General Thoughts & Personal 'Mission Statement'=

I would like to use this somewhat unusual opportunity to state my wishes, goals, and hopes for this class given the unique perspective such a situation has presented to me. I say unique and unusual because this is not my first attempt at this course; this could be an unfortunate truth, or even perhaps a rather embarrassing admittance, but I will disallow it from becoming such things by seeing it as a fresh start, a second chance, and my shot at exceeding and atoning for my previous attempt as well as excelling overall.

I will furthermore keep my status as someone with previous experience in this class a positive attribute by confirming the level of interest and participation that, I can say first hand, is so easy to have and achieve in it. I thank Dr. Tracy for giving me this opportunity and I'm happy to be able to assure my peers new to the class that they can expect its embracing of modern participation methods and teaching techniques (i.e., this very Wiki and less orthodox media such as related films) to encourage a full and enriching experience.

See you in class and around the Wiki.

-Dave

=Dave Kendricken - Temp Bio=

Hey everyone, as a placeholder for a more involved and expository, I would like to represent myself for the time being with a quote from one of my most beloved authors, H.P. Lovecraft. Though Lovecraft was technically an American writer and certainly not among our Beowulf to Milton selections, he was of heavy Anglo-Saxon descent and influenced (in such matters as spelling and diction) by the english of victorian England.

// I believe we felt something coming down from the greenish moon, for when we began to depend on its light we drifted into curious involuntary marching formations and seemed to know our destinations though we dared not think of them. Once we looked at the pavement and found the blocks loose and displaced by grass, with scarce a line of rusted metal to shew where the tramways had run. And again we saw a tram-car, lone, windowless, dilapidated, and almost on its side. When we gazed around the horizon, we could not find the third tower by the river, and noticed that the silhouette of the second tower was ragged at the top. Then we split up into narrow columns, each of which seemed drawn in a different direction. One disappeared in a narrow alley to the left, leaving only the echo of a shocking moan. Another filed down a weed-choked subway entrance, howling with a laughter that was mad. My own column was sucked toward the open country, and presently I felt a chill which was not of the hot autumn; for as we stalked out on the dark moor, we beheld around us the hellish moon-glitter of evil snows. Trackless, inexplicable snows, swept asunder in one direction only, where lay a gulf all the blacker for its glittering walls. The column seemed very thin indeed as it plodded dreamily into the gulf. I lingered behind, for the black rift in the green-litten snow was frightful, and I thought I had heard the reverberations of a disquieting wail as my companions vanished; but my power to linger was slight. As if beckoned by those who had gone before, I half-floated between the titanic snowdrifts, quivering and afraid, into the sightless vortex of the unimaginable. //

H.P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep" - 1920