Back to: Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
In this article will discuss Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas Summary in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
Sir Thopas is an honourable knight with a white face, red lips, blond hair, and beard. He is a fine archer, could hunt a deer and go hawking but he is a chaste man who doesn’t indulge in sex.
One day Thopas is riding in the forest when he hears a bird song with which he falls in love with and to chase it he rides so fast the horse begins to sweet. After some time he stops to give rest to himself and the horse.
He resolves to find the elf queen that he has heard about in children stories but has never met. He believes she is the only one that he could ever fall in love with.
After having rest for some time, he mounts on the horse and begins his quest for elf-queen. He meets a giant Sir Elephant who warns hi saying that if he leaves the forest he’d kill his horse. Thopas promises to meet the giant tomorrow; for now, he has to go home and fetch his armour.
He tells the tale the giant with three heads to his merry-men when he reaches the town. The merry-men gives him wine and other things, help him out his armour. Thopas rides continuously till he stops to drink water from the well where he meets an Arthurian knight, Sir Percivel.
The host stops Chaucer here from telling his tale as he doesn’t like the rhyme (form) in which the story is told and demands him tell a tale in prose.
