Die Canterbury Erzählungen Ii. Mittelenglisch Und Deutsch

by Geoffrey Chaucer, Jörg O. Fichte

It is impossible to overstate the importance of English poet GEOFFREY CHAUCER (c. 1343–c. 1400) to the development of literature in the English language. His writings—which were popular during his own lifetime with the nobility as well as with the increasingly literate merchant class—marked the first celebration of the English vernacular as a tongue worthy of literary endeavor, most notably in his unfinished narrative poem The Canterbury Tales, the format and structure of which continues to be imitated by writers today. But the impact of Chaucer’s work was felt even into the 16th and 17th centuries, when the first major collections of his writings set a high standard for how authors should be presented to the reading public. This widely esteemed seven-volume set—first published in the 1890s by British academic WALTER WILLIAM SKEAT (1835–1912), Erlington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Cambridge University—is based solely on Chaucer’s original manuscripts and the earliest available published works (with any significant variations or deviations between versions highlighted in the extensive notes), and comes complete with Skeat’s informative commentary on many passages. Volume IV features all extant material for The Canterbury Tales, including: • The Knightes Tale • The Milleres Tale • The Cokes Tale • The Prioresses Tale • The Monkes Tale • The Tale of the Wyf of Bathe • and all the rest.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Poetry, Literature, Historical

Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He was the first writer to be buried in what has since come to be called Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific A Treatise on the Astrolabe for his 10-year-old son, Lewis. He maintained a career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier, diplomat, and member of parliament.
Among Chaucer's many other works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, and Troilus and Criseyde. He is seen as crucial in legitimising the literary use of Middle English when the dominant literary languages in England were still Anglo-Norman French and Latin. Chaucer's contemporary Thomas Hoccleve hailed him as "the firste fyndere of our fair langage" (i.e., the first one capable of finding poetic matter in English). Almost two thousand English words are first attested to in Chaucerian manuscripts. As scholar Bruce Holsinger has argued, charting Chaucer's life and work comes with many challenges related to the "difficult disjunction between the written record of his public and private life and the literary corpus he left behind". His recorded works and his life show many personas that are "ironic, mysterious, elusive [or] cagey" in nature, ever-changing with new discoveries.

Reviews

[Marko Vasić · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ako se izuzme obilje intelektualne onanije, kojoj su skloni pisci Čoserovog vremena, i činjenica da npr. jedna švalja podjednako poznaje i tumači Ovidijeva dela kao i sveštenik, pravnik ili lekar, Kanterberijske priče su biser britanske srednjovekovne literature. Italijani su imali Bokača, Britanci - Čosera. Kroz aliteraciju i preko svojih protagonista, Čoser je preneo sva svoja interesovanja. Meni posebno zanimljivo je obilje narodne erotike, seksualne poskočice i prepoznatljiv engleski (crni) humor.

[John Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this." - Ecclesiastes 7:10.

There's no such thing as "the good old days." The human condition hasn't changed a bit, as Chaucer makes clear in his works. Treachery, lust, gluttony, drunkenness and the mundane are laid bare, and all with good humor. Reading The Canterbury Tales is only surpassed by hearing them. That's the way it ought to be.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The translation does a good job of keeping the poetry and rhythm while making it understandable modern English.

[Alisu' · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Căci nu găsești doi oameni nicăieri
Să se lovească-aidoma-n păreri."

"Prostime, duh zurbav și nestatornic,
Necugetat și schimbător ca vîntul,
De preschimbări și zarve pururi dornic!
Asemeni lunii crești și scazi de-a rîndul;
Un ort măcar nu-ți prețuie cuvîntul,
Strîmb judeci și credința ta nu ține;
Smintit e-acela ce se-ncrede-n tine!"

"Ferească Dumnezeu ca obștea-ntreagă
Ponos din vina unuia să tragă."

"Cui nu-l știa, părea prietenos,
Dar el era un drac și-n duh și-n os ..."

[Barbara M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio discs that included some music of the period. Unfortunately the music was much louder (MUCH louder) that the voices were. This abridged recording has three discs that include The Prologue, The Knight's Tale, the Miller's Tale, The Pardoner's Tale, the Merchant's Tale and the Franklin's Tale. There are six readers in all and each of them do an excellent job. The stories have a lot to do with love and some of the stories are quite bawdy! Although this is a modern translation the rhyme is still very much part of the book. I enjoyed the listening, I think that was better than reading the stories. I enjoyed most of the stories very much.

[Debbi]

perhaps I'll try another day but for now it didn't suck me in and I'd rather move on.