First year English in University included Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. I know why. He is considered the "father of English literature" even though it is written in pre-English which is quaintly referred to Middle English (1150-1500AD). That means it is not as old as Old English (450-110AD).
One should start university with the start of English Literature...I guess. If we started with something in Old English it is unrecognizable to modern speakers. Middle English evolved through French influence so is closer to modern English.
At the time, I was confused that we would study something that needed deciphering with much effort to even get the words translated.
I hadn't realized that Chaucer 's "words" have posed problems for a long time. A headline says a tiny typo may explain a mystery about Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and "Troilus and Criseyde."
The article in Smithsonian Magazine about the "Typo" says this:
“Lots of very smart people have torn their hair out over the spelling, punctuation, literal translation, meaning and context of a few lines of text,” James Wade, a literary scholar at the University of Cambridge..." His breakthrough is that he thinks there are typos when a sermon referring to Chaucer's The Song of Wade was scribed.
In a study published in the journal The Review of English Studies, the researchers argue that the modern English translation of the poem from the sermon contains a typo. This is described in the article HERE.
Much discussion continues... It brings back memories of "way back when" in University.
This picture was taken at Brock University's most recent addition - the Performing Arts Centre. A Flaming Pear Filter to get the black and white effects. I added the saying.
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