The Man of Law’s Tale, by Geoffrey Chaucer

This is one of the stranger Canterbury Tales

The Man of Law’s Tale (from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales), with its introduction and epilogue, has been preserved on a fragment of manuscript separate from any other tale. It cannot therefore be certain that Chaucer intended this to be the fifth tale, which is where many modern editions place it. Indeed, it would appear from its epilogue that the Shipman is about to tell the next tale, whereas what we usually get next is the amazing prologue of the Wife of Bath, followed by her tale. This is simply evidence that Chaucer was never able to edit the work as a whole, but it is unfortunate that we cannot relate this tale to its neighbours with any certainty.

The Prologue

The introduction to the Man of Law’s Tale (which includes the prologue proper) is somewhat puzzling. We are given a precise date and time, namely ten o’clock in the morning of the 18th of April, which the apparently well-educated host has worked out from the angle of the Sun to the horizon and the length of shadows cast by nearby trees. At all events, it is time for another tale, and the host quotes Seneca in his lyrical exhortation to the Man of Law to be the next teller.

However, the Man of Law now declares that he is unworthy of the task, because the…