Prologue and Tale of Beryn
spurious 15th century additions to Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
The Prologue and Tale of Beryn are spurious fifteenth century additions to Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. They are both written in Middle English.
Prologue to the Tale of Beryn
The Prologue to the Tale of Beryn begins upon the pilgrims’ arrival in Canterbury, where they lodge at the inn, "The Checker of the Hoop." (1–12). While the company is dining at the inn, the Pardoner, disgusted with how the meal is served according to social hierarchy, leaves the fellowship to instead speak with the barmaid, Kit (13–22). After giving the barmaid his staff, Kit shows the Pardoner where she sleeps, "al naked," complaining that she has no lover because hers has died (23–39). The Pardoner tells Kit not to stay loyal to her dead lover (40–59). Feigning flirtation, Kit attempts to make the Pardoner break his fast from alcoholic beverages (a customary practice for pilgrims before reaching a shrine). The Pardoner gives Kit money, calling her his treasurer, but refuses to break his fast (60–98). Kit describes a contrived dream to the Pardoner, who says it foretells her future marriage to a loving husband. He then leaves her, promising to return soon (99–118).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Prologue and Tale of Beryn” is spurious 15th century additions to Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Prologue, Tale and Beryn, not as a finished interpretation.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 22, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7249643. VIAF identifies the subject as 4058159478006827990005. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Prologue and Tale of Beryn” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.