The Miller's Tale

The general prologue to The Canterbury Tales describes the Miller, Robin, as a stout and evil churl fond of wrestling.

In order to make extra money, John rents out a room in his house to a clever Oxford University student named Nicholas, who has taken a liking to Alisoun.

God has told him they can save themselves by hanging three large tubs from the ceiling of the barn, each loaded with provisions and an axe.

The tale ends: "Thus, swyved was this carpenteris wyf, / For al his kepyng and his jalousye, / And Absolon hath kist hir nether ye, / And Nicholas is scalded in the towte.

His Almageste and books grete and smale, His astrelabie longynge for his art, Hise augrym stones[6] layen faire apart On shelves couched at his beddes heed"[7] Nicholas is described not by his valor in battle or honour in the court.

Instead, his many skills are described at great length, including the fact that he is studying one of the many scholarly arts that were popular at that time.

His presse ycovered with a faldyng reed, And al above ther lay a gay sautrie On which he made a nyghtes melodie So swetely that al the chambre rong, And Angelus ad virginem he song, And after that he song The Kynges Noote; Full often blessed was his myrie throte!

This Absolom, that jolly was and gay, Gooth with a sencer (censer) on the haliday, Sensynge the wyves of the parisshe faste; And many a lovely look on hem he caste, And namely on this carpenteris wyf.

Nicholas is an avid astrologer (as Chaucer himself was), equipped with, "His Almageste, and bookes grete and smale, / His astrelabie, longynge for his art..." John the carpenter represents unintellectual laymen; John tells Nicholas: Men sholde nat knowe of goddes pryvetee [God's private affairs].

[who knows nothing except the Creed] (3454) He also recounts a story (sometimes told of Thales) of an astrologer who falls into a pit while studying the stars.

Nicholas uses this mix of astrology and information from God to convince John that he is not crazy by rooting it in how Noah found out.

Nicholas fondles Alisoun's "queynte", a noun, while Absolom is described after his humiliation as having his ardour "yqueynt" or quenched.

[citation needed] As told in the Reeve's Tale the Miller is a not just a bully but a thief of grain he is supposed to grind for his customers.

The 15th-century Tale of Beryn depicts the Miller trying and failing to explain the stained glass windows of Canterbury cathedral.

Chaucer refers to the Distichs of Cato when discussing the age difference between Alison and her husband with this passage: "He knew nat Catoun, for his wit was rude."

The Distichs of Cato was one of the most common textbooks in schools throughout medieval Europe, and was familiar to almost anyone with a basic education in Latin.

The painting Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Breugel the Elder illustrates many of the themes in this story including a shot-window in use, a man with his backside on fire, a falling through a basket from a roof, pious hypocrisy, and cuckolding.

Illustration of Robin the Miller, from The Miller's Tale, playing a bagpipe
Door with Cat Hole (carved oak, Late Medieval period, 1450–1500, France, Walters Art Museum ) This door, carved with a linen-fold decoration, was probably a back or interior door of a middle-class home. It is remarkable for its cat hole. Few doors with cat holes have survived from this early period, but the 14th-century English writer Geoffrey Chaucer described one in the "Miller's Tale" from his Canterbury Tales. In the narrative, a servant whose knocks go unanswered, uses the hole to peek in: "An hole he foond, ful lowe upon a bord/ Ther as the cat was wont in for to crepe,/ And at the hole he looked in ful depe,/ And at the last he hadde of hym a sighte."