thecanterburytales.co.uk

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer’s magnum opus. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.

The Canterbury Tales is generally thought to have been incomplete at the end of Chaucer’s life. In the General Prologue, some 30 pilgrims are introduced. According to the Prologue, Chaucer’s intention was to write four stories from the perspective of each pilgrim, two each on the way to and from their ultimate destination, St. Thomas Becket’s shrine (making for a total of about 120 stories). It is revered as one of the most important works in English literature.

GEOFFREY

CHAUCER

THE

CANTERBURY TALES

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Joe Clunes

The translation of The Canterbury Tales found on this site, aligns the spelling of Geoffrey Chaucer’s words with the Oxford English Dictionary.

On desktop the modern spelling is presented on the right, parallel with the original text; on smaller screens only the modern spelling is shown. Hovered over, underlined words present a definition or explanation.

Copyright © 2025 by Joe Clunes

All rights reserved.

The Middle English text of The Canterbury Tales is in the public domain. All original additions, including the translation and glossary, are copyright © 2025 by Joe Clunes and may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher, except as permitted by UK copyright law.