The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories, mostly in verse, written by Geoffrey Chaucer chiefly from 1387 to 1400. They are held together in a frame story of a pilgrimage on which each member of the group is to tell two tales on the way to Canterbury, and two on the way back. Fewer than a quarter of the projected tales were completed before Chaucer's death.According, that is, to the Host's initial proposal in The General Prologue (Fragment I.790–801). However, at another point only "a tale or two" is stipulated (Fragment V.698); finally in The Parson's Prologue only one tale per pilgrim is required (Fragment X.15–25) (Benson 1987, p. 796). This may indicate a reduction in Chaucer's intended scope. At one tale per pilgrim (and assuming the work is complete upon arrival at Canterbury, with no return trip) then the work is roughly 70% complete. It is uncertain in what order Chaucer intended the tales to appear; moreover it is very possible that, as a work-in-progress, no final authorial order of tales ever existed.

Several different orders are evident in the manuscripts of the work; in addition certain orders and structures of the Tales have been proposed by scholars.

Key

The table below enumerates all the pilgrims mentioned in the General Prologue, plus two that materialise later in the tales, and the stories they tell. It also compares the orders in which stories appear in various sources.

Pilgrim – The designation of each pilgrim in the General Prologue, commonly accepted alternate designation within the name of their Tale, and membership in group of pilgrims if any. The pilgrims' names link to their Tales' articles. GP (General Prologue) – This column lists the order in which each character is mentioned in the General Prologue.

Scholarly arrangementsFurnivall 1869, pp xxi. Tyr (Tyrwhitt's Fragments) – Thomas Tyrwhitt, editor of the first modern edition of The Canterbury Tales (1775–78)Benson 1987, p. 772. accepted the order of the Ellesmere manuscript, and furthermore determined – primarily based on linkages in the Tales' Prologues – which tales were "inseparably linked" to each other; this resulted in his postulating 10 Fragments,Furnivall 1868, pp. 9–11. each of which is seen as an authorially integral narrative unit, but with no certain indication of what is to come before or after. This structure has remained influential, and is the arrangement followed in the Riverside Chaucer (3rd ed.). (To sort the table by Tyrwhitt's order, use the Ellesmere column.) CS (Chaucer Society's Groups) – Using Tyrwhitt's foundation, Henry Bradshaw rearranged some Fragments, largely with the goal of constructing the most plausible itinerary for the pilgrims based on clues of time and location in the text.Furnivall 1868, pp. 12–44. The "Bradshaw shift"Benson 1987, p. 5. results in Groups A-I. This arrangement was embraced by Frederick James Furnivall and the Chaucer Society, as well as Walter William Skeat and others. FGF — F. G. Fleay proposed this ordering in "Some Folk-Lore from Chaucer" (1879). Cited in

Manuscripts: Over 80 manuscripts containing all or part of The Canterbury Tales exist. The six tabulated below represent the four main orders (El, Cx, La, Pw) in which tales appear in the manuscripts, plus two significant anomalous arrangements (Hg, Ha).Benson 1987, pp. 1120–21. All manuscript orders (except Hg*) were collated by Furnivall.Furnivall 1869, pp xxi ff. Confirmed in Manly & Rickert 1940, pp. 495–99. El (Ellesmere 26 C 9, the Ellesmere manuscript) – A deluxe illuminated manuscript, probably made within 20 years of Chaucer's death. Hg (Hengwrt 154 (Peniarth 392D), the Hengwrt manuscript) – Probably the oldest surviving manuscript and, since the mid-20th century, considered the most important.Benson 1987, p. 1119. Hg* Manly & Rickert argue that some time after Hengwrt was copied, leaves from the back of the manuscript were mistakenly moved to the middle, and the manuscript was bound – and remains today – in this mistaken order.Manly & Rickert 1940, pp. 478–479. This column shows the presumed original order.Manley & Rickert 1940, p. 497. Cx (Caxton's editio princeps) – The earliest printed edition of The Canterbury Tales (1478), it is typically accorded manuscript status, as it is based on a now-lost manuscript.Benson 1987, p. 1118. La (Lansdowne 851) Pw (Petworth House MS 7) Ha (Harley MS. 7334)

Table

(+G = Manuscript includes the non-Chaucerian Tale of Gamelyn after the Cook's initial abortive attempt to tell a tale.)

Pilgrim GP Tyr CS FGF El Hg Hg* Cx La Pw Ha Knight1I.2A.222222222 Squire (Knight's son)2V.1F.11512131077912 Yeoman (Knight's servant)3 Prioress4VII.2B2.2101721181919719 Nun "Second Nun" (with Prioress)5VIII.1G.12222161314141614 Priest "Nun's Priest" (with Prioress)6VII.6B2.61421102223232323 Second Priest (with Prioress)7 Third Priest (with Prioress)8 Monk9VII.5B2.5132092122222222 Friar10III.2D.218877109128 Merchant11IV.2E.2211114118121011 Clerk12IV.1E.12010171412111410 Sergeant of Law "Man of Law"13IIB1861296686 Franklin14V.2F.21613151213131513 Haberdasher (guildsman)15 Carpenter (guildsman)16 Weaver (guildsman)17 Dyer (guildsman)18 Tapestry Weaver (guildsman)19 Cook (with guildsmen)20I.5A.5555555 +G5 +G5 +G Shipman21VII.1B2.191620171818618 Doctor of Physic "Physician"22VI.1C.1614181516161816 Wife of Bath23III.1D.11776698117 Parson24X.1I.12525242425252525 Plowman (brother of Parson)25 Reeve26I.4A.444444444 Miller27I.3A.333333333 Summoner28III.3D.3199881110139 Pardoner (with Summoner)29VI.2C.2715191617171917 Manciple30IXH2424112324242424 "Chaucer" (General Prologue)31I.1A.111111111 "Chaucer" (Sir Thopas)31VII.3B2.31118221920202020 "Chaucer" (The Tale of Melibee)31VII.4B2.41219232021212121 "Chaucer" (Chaucer's Retraction)31X.2I.2-26--26262626 Our Host32 Canon's Yeoman-VIII.2G.22323--15151715 Canon-

Notes

References