The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). The tales, some of which are originals and others not, are contained inside a frame tale and told by a group of pilgrims on their way from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.
The themes of the tales vary, and include topics such as courtly love, treachery, and avarice. The genres also vary, and include romance, Breton lai, sermon, beast fable, and fabliau. The characters, introduced in the General Prologue of the book, tell tales of great cultural relevance.
The version read here was edited by D. Laing Purves (1838-1873) “for popular perusal” and the language is mostly updated.
(Summary by Wikipedia/Gesine)
(19 hr 23 min)
Chapters
Preface | 6:21 | Read by Gesine |
The Life of Geoffrey Chaucer | 58:18 | Read by Chip |
The General Prologue | 39:00 | Read by Thomas Hoover |
The Knight’s Tale, Part 1 | 1:06:20 | Read by Ted Delorme |
The Knight's Tale, Part 2 | 1:19:51 | Read by Ted Delorme |
The Miller's Tale | 54:42 | Read by Gord Mackenzie |
The Reeve's Tale | 23:26 | Read by Alex Foster |
The Cook's Tale | 7:51 | Read by Chip |
The Men of Law's Tale | 1:19:51 | Read by Chip |
The Wife of Bath's Tale | 1:03:23 | Read by Kristin LeMoine |
The Friar's Tale | 22:53 | Read by Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023) |
The Sompnour's Tale | 43:03 | Read by Chip |
The Clerk's Tale | 1:20:06 | Read by Chip |
The Merchant's Tale | 1:21:25 | Read by Cynthia Lyons (1946-2011) |
The Squire's Tale | 43:41 | Read by Joshua Young |
The Franklin's Tale | 31:34 | Read by Alex Foster |
The Doctor's Tale | 17:01 | Read by Fox in the Stars |
The Pardoner's Tale | 40:02 | Read by David Barnes |
The Shipman's Tale | 27:36 | Read by Gwen |
The Prioress's Tale | 15:06 | Read by Fox in the Stars |
The Tale of Sir Thopas | 10:12 | Read by Jim Mowatt |
Chaucer’s Tale of Meliboeus | 36:01 | Read by Kirsten Ferreri |
The Monk's Tale | 47:29 | Read by Andy Minter (1934-2017) |
The Nun’s Priest’s Tale | 47:07 | Read by Graham Williams |
The Second Nun’s Tale | 27:43 | Read by Alys AtteWater |
The Canons Yeoman’s Tale | 37:28 | Read by Joshua Young |
The Manciple’s Tale | 17:04 | Read by Thomas Hoover |
The Parson’s Tale | 54:57 | Read by Robert Foster |
Preces de Chauceres | 3:48 | Read by Gesine |
Reviews
Wife of Bath's Tale Review
emelye
Excellent reading of the middle english text (untranslated, thanks!) with modern vowels. Very listenable and clear.
Poetry
Graham Widmer
None of these readers were bad, and some of them were quite good! As for the story, I found some of it hard to follow on audiobook, but I found that when I picked up the physical copy of the book, I had a much richer experience. The Miller's Tale made me laugh aloud. Quite good, but understand that most of it is poetry, not prose.
Very Poor Middle English
ApolloReed
It is obvious that this reader has studied little or no Middle English pronunciation. If it is your intent to listen to this recording to improve your Middle English, search for Jess B Bessinger Jr.'s reading of the General Prologue.
More than one rotten apples...
A LibriVox Listener
This set of recordings suffers as do many others published with multiple collaborators as opposed to a single reader.
The Canterbury Tales
William K.
The narrator for The Knight's Tale cannot be understood and his style/lisp ruin my favorite story.
Couldn't make it past the prologue
CrisPellie
Chaucer is not this reader's forte. No poetry in his annoying voice.
A LibriVox Listener
Some readers are better than others, but everything was clear.
PROBABLY THE SECOND MOST BIBLIOGRAPHY INFLUENTIAL TOME EVER
A LibriVox Listener