The Canterbury Tales in Middle English with translation, lines 1 to 18

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Translation by Harvard

[herrgodfrey]

I've always wanted to see a medieval themed film where it's all done in Middle English. Particularly the Hundred Years War. Sure, subtitles would be necessary but I'd (and I'm sure a lot of other nerds) really enjoy the authenticity. I imagine it'd be a massive undertaking. Particularly training actors to speak the language and it'd be a lot of effort, especially for a film that would likely only appeal to a relatively small audience. I can dream, though.

[jenlcb]

I had to memorize this my senior year in high school. I still remember it 30 years later.

[Huanchee]

It’s always interesting to hear Middle English spoken because it sounds so close at times to modern English. Enough so that you could POSSIBLY still understand what someone was trying to say if they only spoke middle english and you modern, Granted you both would probably have a headache after, due to trying to figure out the parts you didn’t understand, but it’s not as big a barrier as some other languages would be.

[rskb]

Every year in April, when I wake up to the sound of the birds singing in the early hours I am reminded of the opening of the General Prologue. It could only have been written in England, about England. I cannot impress on everybody how magical this passage is!

[gewgulkansuhckitt]

It's interesting to me that as a modern English speaker I can read most of the Canterbury Tales in Middle English without any problem, but I find it much harder to follow when I listen to it spoken.

[squirleyspitmonkey]

Lord have mercy, back in high school we had to memorize the middle english version. She actually handed us the middle english version and asked us to translate what we thought he was saying, before we got the translation

[yuukikisaragi]

I have to recite this by memory in two hours. Haven't begun studying until now. Time to listen to this on repeat.

[ruadhagainagaidheal]

I’m Scottish and although I don’t use the Scots dialect in daily life, like most of my compatriots I imbibed it at my mother’s knee.
That dialect bears many resemblances to Old English in terms of pronunciation, so understanding spoken ME is quite easy for us.
At 76 years of age I found it amusing to memorise the first 40 lines of the General Prologue to keep help the little grey cells active.

[mattwilliams]

I had to memorize this for 10th grade English/literature class. We had to recite it in Middle English. The only recording we had (so we knew what it was supposed to sound like) came from a vinyl record checked out from the library, that was recorded in the 50s (if I remember correctly). This was in 1994 or 95 so there was not an internet video to show us how it sounded. But I can still recite it from memory to this day. I got an A on my recertation, btw

[nilooniloo]

This really helps since I'm taking a Chaucer class and, our final entails a recitation of the first 15 lines in the General l Prologue of the Canterbury Tales.

[johnsalazar]

I remember having to memorize this for English Class Senior Year around 2000-2001...wow

[margamadhuri]

Thank you for posting. This is fun to listen to and see how our language evolved.

[dukepuddingdale]

North Sea Germans cross Romans and Britons
Then Danelaw accent breaks case tradition
And the French embellish from Normandy
Before pilgrims go to Canterbury

[michaellee]

Sound less Pictish than what I imagined in my head, when I first read it in sophomore year of high school. Our whole class dressed up as characters from the tales and walked a mile though city traffic to a park where we were charged to tell our own short tales. A week later some of us went to see The Elsemere Chaucer, truly exquisite illuminations. That was 31 years ago last fall. Thank you.

[Zerbey]

If you really concentrate you can get the gist of it, it's also much easier if you're reading it to yourself. I imagine if I was dropped into Chaucer's time and immersed in the language I'd be able to pick it up relatively quickly.

[ianakers]

My mother had a tape of the Miller's Tale read in Old English. I remember a book with Old English on the left page and Modern on the right, which she read in time with the tape.
I came across another copy of the same book 19 years later, whilst on holiday.

[cadesmith]

Lol I have to memorize this I’m screwed 😂😂

[rodrigoadrianrodriguezaedo]

English used to have geminated consonants, a rolled r, and a more consistent spelling

[theprogressingdrummer]

Awesome job, such beauty to the rhythm and rhyming.

[rileyjohnson]

Gotta learn this for extra credit. I’ll check back to tell y’all what happens😁😁