The line about the 3 heads is rather hidden---not in a description of the giant nor of Sir T's encounter with him, but in a stanza about minstrels. I have to admit I missed it, until now. Some close reader I am.
Yes! For me, that's part of the funniness about the tale. It's like, hey, and the giant has three heads! I forgot to mention (or just made it up!)
That whole thing just cracks me up, but my students... it took a LOT of song and dance on my part to get them to see some of the silliness and to delight in the horribleness of Chaucer the narrator telling a story.
Oh, argh! I was distracted by the similarity to Monty Python's bit.
ReplyDeleteThe line about the 3 heads is rather hidden---not in a description of the giant nor of Sir T's encounter with him, but in a stanza about minstrels. I have to admit I missed it, until now. Some close reader I am.
ReplyDeleteYes! For me, that's part of the funniness about the tale. It's like, hey, and the giant has three heads! I forgot to mention (or just made it up!)
ReplyDeleteThat whole thing just cracks me up, but my students... it took a LOT of song and dance on my part to get them to see some of the silliness and to delight in the horribleness of Chaucer the narrator telling a story.
ps. And Heu, I'm pretty willing to bet that the Monty Python folks read enough silly romances that they could play Chaucer's game along with him.
ReplyDelete