Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (føddur umleið 1343, deyður 25. oktober 1400) var enskur rithøvundur, yrkjari, heimspekingur og diplomatur. Sjálvt um hann skrivaði fleiri yrkingasøvn, er hann í dag best kendur fyri sítt (ófullfíggjaða) verk, Canterbury-søgurnar (Canterbury Tales), sum er eitt stórt verk við nógvum síðum og minnir um Decameron hjá Boccaccio, ið eins og søgurnar hjá Chaucer eru knýttar saman av einari rammusøgu.

Chaucer verður nevndur ”faðir at enskum bókmentum” og verður róstur fyri at vera tann fyrsti rithøvundurin sum vísti, at tað fólksliga enska málið, tað so-nevnda miðenskt, kundi brúkast í listarligum høpi, í einari tíð har málið ið var nýtt í hoffinum var skrivað á fronskum-normanniskum ella á latíni. Sjálvt um hann í tveimum tíðarskeiðum livdi í ónáðum, var hann meginpartin av lívinum tætt knýttur at tí politiska valdinum í Onglandi.

Geoffrey Chaucers stil og teknik blev efterlignet i århundrederne efter hans død; fx lånte William Shakespeare handlingen til sit drama Troilus og Kressida (1601) fra Chaucer, mens John Dryden og Alexander Pope moderniserede flere af hans fortællinger, så de passede til deres egen tid.

Enska málið hjá Chaucer

Sjálvt um málið hjá Chaucer er nógv tættari nútíðar enskum teksti enn eitt nú teksturin í Beowulf, er tað blivið nútíðargjørt í teimum flestu útgávunum. Teksturin niðanfyri er frá innleiðinginum til Summoner's Tale har teksturin hjá Chaucer kann samanberast við eina nýmótans týðing:

Tekstur	Upprunatekstur	Týðing
	This frere bosteth that he knoweth helle,	This friar boasts that he knows hell,
	And God it woot, that it is litel wonder;	And God knows that it is little wonder;
	Freres and feendes been but lyte asonder.	Friars and fiends are seldom far apart.
	For, pardee, ye han ofte tyme herd telle	For, by God, you have ofttimes heard tell
	How that a frere ravyshed was to helle	How a ravished friar went to hell
	In spirit ones by a visioun;	In spirit, once by a vision;
	And as an angel ladde hym up and doun,	And as an angel led him up and down,
	To shewen hym the peynes that the were,	To show him the pains that were there,
	In al the place saugh he nat a frere;	In the whole place he saw not one friar;
	Of oother folk he saugh ynowe in wo.	He saw enough of other folk in woe.
	Unto this angel spak the frere tho:	To the angel spoke the friar thus:
	Now, sire, quod he, han freres swich a grace	«Now sir», said he, «Are friars in such good grace
	That noon of hem shal come to this place?	That none of them come to this place?»
	Yis, quod this aungel, many a millioun!	«Yes,» answered the angel, «many a million!»
	And unto sathanas he ladde hym doun.	And the angel led him down to Satan.
	--And now hath sathanas,--seith he,--a tayl	He said, «And Satan has a tail,
	Brodder than of a carryk is the sayl.	Broader than a large ship's sail.
	Hold up thy tayl, thou sathanas!--quod he;	Hold up your tail, Satan!» he ordered.
	--shewe forth thyn ers, and lat the frere se	«Show your arse, and let the friar see
	Where is the nest of freres in this place!--	Where the nest of friars is in this place!»
	And er that half a furlong wey of space,	And before half a furlong of space,
	Right so as bees out swarmen from an hyve,	Just as bees swarm from a hive,
	Out of the develes ers ther gonne dryve	Out of the devil's arse there drove
	Twenty thousand freres on a route,	Twenty thousand friars on a route,
	And thurghout helle swarmed al aboute,	And they swarmed all over hell,
	And comen agayn as faste as they may gon,	And came again as fast as they had gone,
	And in his ers they crepten everychon.	And every one crept back into his arse.
	He clapte his tayl agayn and lay ful stille.	He clapped his tail again and lay very still.