The Magic of "In Principio."
- Author / Editor
- Bloomfield, Morton W.
The Magic of "In Principio."
- Published
- Modern Language Notes 70 (1955): 559-65.
- Description
- Connects the use of "In principio" in the GP description of the Friar (1.254) with WBP 3.857-81, citing evidence from a wide array of material to show that the phrase, derived from the Gospel of John, evokes a "well-known apotropaic formula" associated with exorcism and divination.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Friar and His Tale
Wife of Bath and Her Tale
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations