“The Nonne” Selection from the Prologue of by

As presented by Julie Champlin and Mandy Wellhausen

Terms to Consider: yPrioresse ySt. Loy yStratford-atte-Bowe There was also a nun, prioress, Whose way of smiling was simple and coy; Her greatest oath was ‘By St Loy’;

The Canterbury Tales: Nonne Ther was also a Nonne, Prioresse, That of hir smyling was ful and coy; simple Hir gretteste ooth was but by sëynt Loy; (118) (119) (120) And she was called Madam Eglentyne. She sang the divine service well Intoned in her nose a very seemly manner; And she spoke French fairly and gracefully,

The Canterbury Tales: Nonne And she was cleped madame Eglentyne. Ful wel she song the service divine, Entuned in hir nose ful seemly; And Frensh she spak ful faire and fetisly, (121) (122) (123) (124) She neither let morsels fall from her lips After the school of Stratford atte Bowe, But French of Paris she did not know. At dinner her manners were well taught After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe, For Frensh of Paris was to hir unknowe. At mete wel y-taught was she with-alle; She leet no morsel from hir lippes falle,

The Canterbury Tales: Nonne (125) (126) (127) (128) Nor dipped her fingers deep in sauce. She knew very well how to carry a morsel (to her lips) and took great care That no drop could fall on her breast. Being courteous was much to her delight. Ne wette hir in hir fingers sauce depe. Wel coude she carie morsel, and wel a kepe, That no drope no fille up-on hir brest. In courteisye was set ful muche hir lest. The Canterbury Tales: Nonne (129) (130) (131) (132) She would wipe her upper lip so clean, That in her cup there could no stain of grease to be seen draughte. When she had drunk her draught. In a very seemly manner she reached for her food. Hir over lippe she so clene, wiped That in hir coppe was no farthing sene Of grece, whan she dronken hadde hir Ful seemly after hir mete she raughte, The Canterbury Tales: Nonne (133) (134) (135) (136) And certainly she had excellent manners, And she was very pleasant and amiable And it pained her to imitate the cheer Of courtliness, and dignified manners, And she would be held worthy of respect. And sikerly was of greet disport, she And ful plesaunt, and amiable of port, And peyned hir countrefete to chere Of court, and been estatlich of menere, And to ben holden dogne of reverence. The Canterbury Tales: Nonne (137) (138) (139) (140) (141) Benedictine nunery of

of Terms

Review Prioresse: a nun in charge of a priory or ranking next below the abbess of an abbey. Stratford-atte-Bowe (atte boghe, atte boughe or at the bow): Sëynt Loy: St. Eligius, Bishop of Noyon. St. Leonard‘s at Bromley near Stratford at Bowe. y y y How does the Language Look? y Conservative versus Advanced y “A middle way was chosen between two conflicting tendencies, one of which, being conservative, aimed at retaining the language in its purity and severity, while the other made for innovation, for the strengthening of the native growth with foreign material.” y http://www.bartleby.com/213/2003.html y Using this defintion, what do you think? Examples of Advanced Language Use y Madame: French y One might conclude that y Service: Old French, Latin The Nonne employs words y Divine: Old French, Latin of both Old French and y School: Latin Latin and is therefore ‘advanced’, by the y Cup: Latin (early borrowing) definition asserted above. y Simple: Old French, Latin y Morsel: Old French y Sauce: Old French y Courtesy: Old French Personal Pronouns in y In Modern English, auxiliaries are used when negating a sentence or constructing a question. y In The Nonne, we see the following: y Hir y She Personal Pronouns in Middle English Case Old English Middle English Modern English

Nominative héo Sche/she (heo / ho she / he/ ȝho) Accusative hí, héo, hie her/hir her (hire / hure / heore) Dative hire

Genitive hire her (hir / hire / her/hers heore / here)

• What trend do we see throughout the changes within the English language? Negation y From The Nonne, we hypothesized the following: y That there is no use of auxiliary verbs in negation, instead the word ‘no’ denotes negation when used before a verb. y (131) “That no drope ne fille up-on hir brest. yT(hat no drop could fall on her breast.) y Double negation (now only in non-standard English) ThankThank youyou forfor youryour attentionattention andand participation!participation! Bibliography

Bowden, Muriel. A Commentary on the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. 2. London: MacMillan, 1948.

Lambdin, Laura C., and Robert T. Lambdin (eds.) Chaucer's Pilgrims: An Historical Guide to the Pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales. 1. Connecticut: Praeger, 1996.

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