"Accompany a band of merry medieval pilgrims as they make their way-on motorcycles, of course-to Canterbury. Meeting at the Tabard Inn, the travelers, including a battle-worn knight, a sweetly pretentious prioress, the bawdy Wife of Bath, and an emaciated scholar-clerk, come up with a plan to pass time on the journey to Thomas à Becket's shrine by telling stories. The twenty-four tales, which range from high romance set in ancient Greece to low comedy...

Cerys Matthews tells the story of one of the great literary treasures of the medieval world - The Mabinogion. Its ancient tales, once recited aloud by storytellers, were later translated from Welsh by a Victorian enthusiast, Lady Charlotte Guest. Their influence can still be detected in works such as JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. Here were unforgettable creations - a king who could stride across the Irish Sea, a woman made entirely...

Discusses the life of Geoffrey Chaucer and the historical context, plot, themes, characters, and literary devices of his work.

Lively, absorbing, often outrageously funny, Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales' is a work of genius, an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for each generation of readers. 'The Canterbury Tales' gather twenty-nine of literature's most enduring (and endearing) characters in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of medieval society, from the exalted Knight to the humble plowman. A graceful modern translation facing each...