This week's trivia...
This week's author hails from London. His name preceeds him, he is simply monumental; partly because he is credited with being one of the very first authors who wrote in the vernacular English language, rather than French or Latin which was predominantly spoken by the aristocracy at that time. Which basically means he is somewhat arcaic, so much so that we have no valuable record of when he was actually born. What we do know is that in his early 40s he finally began to write the book he is most known for. It depicts a pilgrimage by some 30 people, who are going on a spring day in April to the shrine of some martyr and entertain each other on the way by telling stories. This project turned out to be a bit ambitous 'cause he never got to finish it, death having a way of showing up when you least expect it. Which did not stop the book from being published and feverishly taught by every elderly English professor ever since. The remains of this rather black-humored poet can be found, as many other wordy Brits', in Westminster Abbey.
come on, dare to be brave...hint in the comment section and leave clues for those that are still guessing!
Labels: Thursday Brain Teaser
23 Comments:
Now, put your teacup back on its saucer
It's book learning I'm here to foster
'Course I don't know the miller
From Magilla Goriller
I studied econ, not english lit'rature.
I don´t understand what doug is saying, i didn´t study econ.. but I think there´s a big church to be found somewhere. And maybe a dead body?
He was buried at Westminster Abbey because he had been Clerk of Works to the palace of Westminster, not because he wrote CT.
Lovely turn blogger has taken. Suddenly I can no longer leave my Wordpress home page.
Doug, interesting rhyming literature with foster!
MOM, I suppose it is you...there are churches and dead bodies everywhere;)
Quilly, actually he is burried in the Poet's corner, so I suppose his writing might have had soemthign to do with it after all.
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btw, thanks for the visit to my place today. cindra has quite a lovely collection of readers :)
Lime, it's your first time so you are easily forgiven. We hint at my trivia over here, so everyone has a shot at guessing :) In the end I will reveal the name, if it hasn't become plain obvious! You were right though ;)
oops sorry for the misunderstanding. color me red!
oh, and now that my husband is done with a bath i guess it's the wife's turn
No flying saucer do his works include,
But his tales can be quite rude,
With plenty of drinking and debauchery,
And perhaps a bit of archery.
A miller, a knight, and a friar too,
Are among the pilgrims, to name just a few.
They each contribute to the lore,
A tale that is never a bore.
lime, don't worry about it:) and absolutely, go for it. Essential oils and the whole 9 yards!
theresa, that was well done *claps*. I love the Wife of Bath's character.
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Once the teacup and saucer hint was gone, I'm stimied. Not as schooled in his writings as Theresa seems to be - nicely done.
G...we had to rea dteh whole piece, in Old English, becuase we got lucky and got one of those professors with a tweed jacket and suede elbow patches. It was a riot!
actonbell, I know your hubby can, I heard him :) I got the first 16 lines down and the rest proceeds with me in Modern English :)
And one of his lesser known works was re-written by Shakespeare ... and still no one knows it (although it was sort of the basis for a really crappy movie not so long ago with that dude from "Freaks & Geeks.")
Snay, yep...absolutely correct.
I loved the Wife of Bath too, and the Miller's Tale. We had a dirty old man (well, he seemed old at the time) for an English teacher, and he liked to share all the naughty bits with us. Of course, we loved it, being the hormone-happy bunch of teenagers that we were. I couldn't have read it without help of a good (although a bit lewd) teacher.
Hase Hase
Rabbit rabbit. Yep, I knew this one 'cause of the SIL.
All need hints have been given. Good ones too.
Theresa, I liked teh idea of how he applied literature styles to certain classes of people, the knight told a romance, The Miller a fable and so forth...It was rather well done, I have to admit!
Doug, quick multiplying four legged friend, quick multiplying four legged friend to you too :)
TLP, yeah those son in laws, they educate one in many ways *she says as if she ever had one*
The answer is:
Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400)
You don't get away with a name like Geoffrey anymore, do you? You'd be dead by the time you reach kindergarden!
There's a very campy but fun tourist attraction in Canterbury - an old, abandoned church has been refitted to be the embodiment of the canterbury tales. If you get the chance, you should tour it.
this is one of the first of your quizzes I've actually known!
(*)>
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