Geoffrey Chaucer-Canterbury Tales

The pardoner

He is accompanied by the disgusting Summoner who is his

friend, his singing partner and possibly his lover. The even more corrupt

Pardoner professes to give gullible people pardon for their sins in

exchange for money, as well as a view of his pretended holy relics

which will bring them blessings. He too is physically repellent: he has thin

scraggly hair of which,however, he is absurdly vain, and his high

voice and beardlessnesssuggest that he is not a full man but

something eunuch-like, again ametaphor for his barren spiritual state.

A Pardoner is someone who travels about the countryside selling official church pardons. These were probably actual pieces of paper with a bishop's signature on them, entitling the bearer to forgiveness for their sins. It seems that this Pardoner also does a secondary trade in relics, or pieces of clothing, bones, and other objects once belonging to long-departed saints. The Pardoner claims to have Mary's veil and a piece of St. Peter's sail. After his tale, the Pardoner tries to sell these relics to the other pilgrims, angering the Host, who questions their authenticity.

The Pardoner’s appearance is ‘unmanly’, with strange glaring eyes, a bleating voice like a goat and long yellow hair which hangs uncombed in rats’ tails (‘ounces’) over his shoulders. In the Middle Age long hair lying on the shoulders would normally be the hairstyle of unmarried girls. His inability to grow a beard would also be seen as suspectRegarding dress, he wears his hood (part of the normal rules for the dress of ecclesiastical officials) because he wanted to appear fashionable. This is a tiny detail that is typical of the way he plays fast and loose with his duties and role.

The Pardoner’s Tale In the tale three youths look for Death, thinking

they can kill him. An old man tells them they can find Death under a tree, but instead they find eight bushels of gold. Under the pretence of going into town to get food and water, the youngest of the group brings back poison, hoping to kill the other two. The other two kill him, then drink the poison and die under the tree.