General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales (Premiere)

Recreation of the first performance of Geoffrey Chaucer's General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales, imagined as having taken place on 6 June 1389 in Sheen Palace, London. Colin Gibbings is Geoffrey Chaucer. With original Middle English text, edited by Barbara Bordalejo, and translation by Terry Jones, introduced by a conversation between Terry and Barbara.
Recorded at the Greystone Theater, the University of Saskatchewan, 9 April 2015. Colin Gibbings is a MA student at the University of Saskatchewan. Devised and presented by the Canterbury Tales Project, Saskatchewan and KU Leuven, in co-operation with Richard North, University College London.

[rskb]

When you lie awake in the early hours of an English, April morning, listening to the bird song, you will recall the opening lines of the Prologue all your life. It is a celebration of Spring as it is experienced in a world that lives closer to nature than we do in the modern world. And it will always be in Middle English that you will hear the words.

[stmbmark]

It appears that the actor is reciting from memory. If so, this is an incredible feat. The tempo is much faster than other renderings exhibiting a facility that a native speaker would possess. This is brilliant.

[Zenocrat]

This was unimaginably impressive ... I intended to just watch a bit to hear the beginning of the Prologue in Middle English and ended up watching the entire thing. Colin Gibbings, who played Chaucer, not only delivered the entire Prologue from memory, but did it in Middle English with great gusto, humor, and personality. This was an incredible performance. Bravo!

[litup]

As an English Major who is reading Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales in Middle English, this is extremely helpful! Thank you for uploading! :)

[ashwinnmyburgh]

By far the best recitation of the Caunterbury Tales I have ever heard.

[peterrobinson]

We are really interested in people's reaction to this! Should we do more...?

[erlewis]

Had Colin as a TA for a course and he was absolutely brilliant. The enthuasiasm he brought to his field made learning it infinitely easier.

[rf]

Thank you so much for this! I’m studying English literature, I’m from Spain, and being able to hear the text in Old English helps me understand rhythm and pacing much more easily. Besides enjoying it much more. Of course I haven’t mastered the pronunciation of Old English either so I really needed this. I can’t help it but stop the video every few minutes to re-read the text with the actor’s voice in my head.

[benjaminwhitley]

This is truly an incredible feat! What a great performance! I love hearing middle and olde English. I sometimes wish we still spoke in a way like this.
Thank you for preserving the ancient vestiges of our great English for us all to enjoy!

[berk]

Words are not enough.. Just wonderful! Thanks a lot <3

[iparipaitegianiparipaitegi]

I can recognize many french words pronounced in the french way. The great vowel shift hasn’t hit yet.

[Allan-etig]

Peter Robinson - This is the type of thing I really believe the Internet was "made for." Thanks a lot - smashing, brilliant - all the other adjectives!

[asadullahmaan]

Love love love this.I have an exam 4 days later and I can't tell u how much just listening to him read the prologue with middle English pronunciation has helped me.Thankyou for this.

[jerryp]

Evolution of language is an amazing thing.

[leopoldglasspool]

This is amazing! I am astounded by the talent. Chaucer is not easy to read, much less performing it from memory. Thank you!

[neilandcatherine]

Absolutely wonderful - listening to this performance on a rainy morning made me so happy and brought tears to my eyes. This performance is simply phenomenal. Please do do more! Colin Gibbings is truly remarkable, conveying both the beauty and the meaning of Chaucer’s poetry with such surety and deft skill.

[nocachu]

Wow, this really brought it to life, thank you so much! Please do more!

[JonathanHobbs-yz]

Remarkable how talented Colin Gibbings is!

[Spitzfire]

I love this! An incredible feat of passion, practice, and chutzpah. Really drives home just how clever and funny the Tales are. Would love to hear him perform the whole book!

[COWESSES]

Thank you, everyone, for producing and presenting this in the original language. Marvelous!