The Canterbury TalesGeoffrey Chaucer

The Miller

his status A Medieval Merchant was a a businessperson engaged in retail

trade. The word 'merchant' is believed to be derived from the Latin word "mercari meaning to traffic and the French word "mercis" meaning wares. A Medieval merchant would often travel and traffic with foreign countries; a trafficker; a trader. A Medieval merchant would source his supplies and sell them to various customers via shops, markets or Medieval fairs. Most villages and towns in Medieval England were as self-sufficient as possible so it was the more unusual, exotic or expensive goods that a travelling merchant would generally trade in. General Merchants were called Mercers. The Mercers were later restricted to a dealer in textile fabrics, as silks or woollens.

General PrologueThe miller was a chap of sixteen stone,A great stout fellow big in drawn and bone. He did well out of them, for he could goAnd win the ram at any wrestling show.Broad, knotty, and short shouldered, he would boastHe could heave any door off hinge and post,Or take a run and break it with his head.His beard, like any sowor fox, was red, And broad as well,though it were a spade;And, at its very tip, his nose displayed At wart on which there stood a tuft of hairRed as the bristles in an old sow’s ears.His nostrils were as black as they were wide. He had a sword and buckler at his side,His mighty mouth was like a furnace door.A wrangler and buffoon, he had a storeOf tavern stories, filthy in the main His was a master-hand at stealing grain.He felt it with his thumb and this he knew Its quality and took three times its duen –A thumb of gold, by God, to guage an oat!He wore a hood of blue and white coat .He liked to play bag pipes up and down And that was how he brought us out of town

Characteristics• The Miller's physical stature fits his story, which is uncouth and, for

many, obscene. He is a heavyset man, "a stout Carl (fellow) full big" of muscle and bone, and he is always the winner at wrestling. He is a fearful sight and vulgar. Most noticeable is a large wart with hairs growing out as long and as red as a thistle at the tip of his nose.

• If most of the pilgrims are going to Canterbury for religious reasons, the Miller is probably going to benefit from the curative powers which were heralded. He is an awesome fellow, and, like the Summoner, a person one would not want to meet in the dark. His tale is one of the best constructed and the best comic situations of the all the tales. As evidenced in his tale, the Miller also has an obvious grudge against carpenters and perhaps towards the Reeve himself, who was once a member of a carpenter's guild.

Pilgrim Transportation Major phisical traits/ and distinguishing features

Follies/ vices/ negative qualities

Positive traits/ virtues/ attributes

The Miller (Robin is his name)

Horse Big, brawny, burley, stout, bigboned strong, red beard, a wart on the end of his nose with bristles growing from it. He wears a blue and white hooded coat.

Tells dirty tavern stories,dishonest, steals grain from the people who bring it to him to be ground; a braggart (can tear a door from its hinges)

He is strong. He plays the bagpipes.

SUMMARIZE

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