The Squire's Tale

[2] Genghis Khan ("Cambyuskan" in Chaucer's version) leads the Mongol Empire with two sons, Algarsyf and Cambalo, and a daughter, Canace.

At the twentieth anniversary of his reign, he holds a feast, and a strange knight sent from "the kyng of Arabe and of Inde"[3] approaches him bearing gifts, a motif common in Arthurian legends.

Authors of the Elizabethan period, including Edmund Spenser, used characters from the tale in their own works; some, like John Lane, wrote complete continuations of it.

[7] In general, modern critics have not paid it much attention, and consider it Chaucer's way of poking gentle fun at the young Squire's love of romance literature, which frequently contains somewhat pretentious digressions, and his lack of narrative self-control.

Compared to the tale told by his father, the Knight, which is formal, serious, and complete, the rambling and fantastical story shows the Squire's inexperience.

The extravagant details on Eastern kingdoms come from the travel literature of the time, such as Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, Simon of St Quentin and John Mandeville.