The Pardoner’s Tale, by Geoffrey Chaucer

A strong contender to be the best of all The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340–1400) is a collection of stories supposedly told by a set of pilgrims as they make their way to Canterbury. As well as the tales themselves, the pen-portraits of the storytellers are of great interest. Here is an account of Chaucer’s “Pardoner”.

The Pardoner

Chaucer finds it difficult to approve of most of the pilgrims who earn their living from religion, and the Pardoner is no exception. This is a man who takes advantage of gullible people by promising to free them from the pains of Hell by selling them pardons for their sins, supposedly signed by the Pope. He will also sell “holy relics”, charging absurd prices for such things as old bits of wood that came, according to him, from Christ’s cross. He is therefore a 14th century con-artist.

When the Pardoner is invited by “mine Host”, Harry Bailey, to follow the tale told by the Physician, it soon becomes clear that his main purpose for undertaking this pilgrimage is to make a quick buck or two, either from his fellow pilgrims or from anyone else he might meet along the way. However, we also get to see that this is an “honest rogue”, who is completely open about what he does, and he turns out to be…