An Alchemical Analogue to the Virgin's 'Greyn': "The Prioress’s Tale," ll. 662-72.
- Author / Editor
- Rabin, Andrew.
An Alchemical Analogue to the Virgin's 'Greyn': "The Prioress’s Tale," ll. 662-72.
- Published
- Notes and Queries 68.2 (2021): 164-65.
- Description
- Claims that Chaucer may have been aware of a fourteenth-century alchemical work prescribing an "elixir" of "a grain of wheat soaked in wine" that prolongs life long enough for someone whose death is imminent to "speak, make their will, and confess." Chaucer's interest in alchemy, evinced in CYT, suggests the possibility of his awareness of this recipe.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Prioress and Her Tale
Canon's Yeoman and His Tale
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations