“This carpenter wende he were in despeir”

John the Carpenter's reaction to the fake stupefaction of “hende” Nicholas in The Miller's Tale provides some of the poem's more sardonic comic elements. Not only is John characterized as foolish for believing his lodger's warnings about the upcoming deluge, but his response to seeing Nicholas sat silent and agape in his bedroom—casting as he does a “nyght-spel” to ward off elves, wights, and evil spirits (I.3479–80)—presents a picture of John as a credulous and unlearned man, completely at odds to the type of scholarly sophistication that Nicholas (ostensibly) represents.1 This of course is confirmed at the very end of the tale, where John's credulity, his misinterpretation of Nicholas's pained cry of “Water!”, results in his very literal downfall. If John is a figure of ridicule for both Nicholas (as a “sely jalous housbonde” [I.3404]) and the pilgrim-Miller (as a stand-in for the pilgrim-Reeve or carpenters in general [I.3142]), it is a sentiment that is also shared by modern readers. For most scholars, John's comically unsophisticated nature is a given. Discussing the absurd devotion John agrees to utter as he sits in the kneading tub (“Now, Pater-noster, clom!” [I.3638]), Gerald Morgan argues that the reduction of religious sincerity to folly is a theme that lies at the very heart of the Miller's Tale.2 In a similar way, John Block Friedman, Patrick J. Gallacher, and Sonja Mayrhofer each make pejorative references to “superstition” when assessing John's fears that Nicholas is being accosted by evil spirits.3 And yet, the extent to which John's apotropaic strategies in ll. 3474–86 can actually be considered superstitious—irrational, heterodox—is an issue that has yet to be fully resolved. Henry Ansgar Kelly's forensic examination of the licitness of John's actions certainly raises the bar, but this treatment, however laudable, neglects to consider the diagnosis of “despeir” (I.3474) and the enactment of the night spell within the specific context of reacting to—or, more accurately, misinterpreting—the tenor of Nicholas's performance.4 With Nicholas's reputation as a commercial astrologer established from the outset (I.3192-98), John's reactions are entirely logical, orthodox even, when confronted with the apparent fallout of an art that in certain moralistic circles was believed to involve traffic with demons. As will be discussed in more detail below, the protective procedures enacted by John and the identification of the attacking agents (“elves,” “wightes,” “nyghtes verye”) make much more sense within the milieu of contemporary medicomagical theory about the etiology of despair and the nocturnal assault (nightmare) tradition. It is an association that seems to have been current amongst early copiers of the Canterbury Tales: the otherwise obscure phrase “nyghtes verye” is pointedly rendered as “nyghtesmare” in Cambridge University Library MS Dd.4.24 text of the tale (ca. 1410).5With this in mind, Peter Brown's analysis of the theatrics of Nicholas's bedroom performance can be taken one step further.6 John may well have been persuaded after the fact that observations of the moon predicted the date and time of the flood (I.3514–21), but his initial, instinctive response to Nicholas's stupor speaks to a belief that something other than mechanical celestial forces governed access to “Goddes pryvetee.” Following an initial overview of the reputation of astrology in medieval moralistic thinking at the end of the fourteenth century, the remainder of this article will focus on the social and intertextual logic of John's apotropaic actions.7 Indeed, it is important to note from the outset that the lived reality evoked by the night spell is not confined solely to the Miller's Tale. References to such beliefs are interspersed throughout Fragments I and III of the Canterbury Tales. The allusions to nocturnal fiends (I.4288), elves (III.864, 873), fairies (III.872), incubi (III.880), and the makeup of demonic bodies (III.1462, 1507) in the Reeve's Tale, the Wife of Bath's Tale, and the Friar's Tale provide a framework through which to analyze the relative cogency of John's fears. John may not have fully understood Nicholas's performance—a misreading that foreshadows events to come8—but he cannot be considered “superstitious” in the sense that his actions were irrational. Quite the contrary. Confronted with the possibility that Nicholas had been overcome by the evil spirits used in his art, the night spell represents a coherent technique for preventing further fallout from a melancholy-induced demonic attack.At the beginning of the Miller's Tale Chaucer paints a vivid picture of Nicholas's astrological predilections. A poor scholar living partly off the charity of friends (I.3220), Nicholas supplements his income by performing certain services for the Oxford population: Whilom ther was dwellynge at OxenfordA riche gnof, that gestes heeld to bord,And of his craft he was a carpenter.With hym ther was dwellynge a poure scoler,Hadde lerned art, but al his fantasyeWas turned for to lerne astrologye,And koude a certeyn of conclusiouns,To demen by interrogaciouns,If that men asked hym, in certein houresWhan that men sholde have droghte or elles shoures,Or if men asked hym what sholde bifalleOf every thyng; I may nat rekene hem alle. (I.3187–98)Through the use of “interrogations”—a form of judicial astrology whereby the answer was derived from observing the constellations at the time the question was asked—Nicholas is able to predict the weather and determine a client's fortune.9 We learn later that the tools of his trade include a copy of Ptolemy's famed Almagest,10 counting stones, an astrolabe, and a variety of unnamed books “grete and smale” (I.3208–210). Previous scholarship has argued that the vain and commercially minded Nicholas should be seen as the antithesis of the ideal Oxford student, exemplified by the lean and threadbare pilgrim-Clerk.11 Whereas Nicholas neglects his studies and squanders his money on astrological equipment, perfumes, and musical instruments (“on which he made a-nyghtes melodie / so swetely that all the chambre rong” [I.3214–15]), the pilgrim-Clerk assiduously avoids such frivolities, eschewing “robes riche, or fithele, or gay sautrie” in favour of books of “Aristotle and his philosophie” (I.295–96). Ptolemy (and all he represents) does not factor into the idealized portrait of the pilgrim-Clerk; astrology, it is implied, is not a discipline that a true man of letters should follow.Divination through the observation of the stars has long occupied an ambiguous place in medieval theology. Probably on account that he had been an astrologer in his is the in (ca. that the of to the stars the will of he the of in to the that the of the stars at through a a of the also to the very of Quite astrology as being at made in (ca. as of a and he argues that the constellations to determine and predict the is a astrology is a art that with this it by some have a for evil are to be and to what are and by to in most of this of the has been by the of on through the stars have the of studies in and not be For the of this article it to that his the where later on licitness are of for that is with the of the mechanical of the astrology is a that through the As in the much more from the the of from the the and astrology in the of and Discussing the of the of the of the stars as one of the of and It was a that also occupied the of the John of the and and in of the (ca. is much in and astrology, the he the of The of to is an later by the and of astrology Nicholas of in that can when of have been of by This of with the and as early as the (ca. The of such beliefs on the of the Miller's Tale cannot be John's that his had his man is with his / In some is not some of Nicholas's about the a of that the in the Tale but a diagnosis on of of astrology, such as the of the (ca. the to art by what it was it has been as a response to the of which to the of the the with a as to to or of the books by to be with astrology books on the to be in the of and and may have been the famed with an overview of the of astrology, and As were a form of judicial astrology that the of the stars at the client's and that of the and time of the to answer about In the of astrology, had a In a similar way, the for beginning for one is were considered more than article of the for the of the of the on the that such only with not be considered As judicial astrology not the of As by later such as the of the stars the of the not the and not to a In what will have a on later of “hende” only a or astrologer in when the of astrology with is a to which the of the in and he that astrological and are similar in and the of the celestial but that also more such as the of and the of the of The question as to actually demonic in of events a of throughout the fourteenth in response to the astrological of his and the of the University of the astrological as of his to the of what he and In for his for a for to he will the of of course was not the only medieval to the and of judicial Nicholas and Henry of were and not were certainly of contemporary about the stars than Chaucer this of astrology in the Tale. the of that at a had in his a of he in that such a may of to the of to should he all the from the the which of the / the and / to the the or as the and in is nat a in to it that the than spirits as of his astrological the fact that he and his with the that he of and with at the as to what type of is at in to make such an and the is by the (and his being as and way, in are with a of the of in his his to predict the and of the relative to the to the of the the a performance of his his to make it as the had the cannot that the other / for and further as to he actually his was it the of an or traffic with to the and the that is something that can also be in the The and much contemporary as an his in the of that was the of the (ca. reputation was with the of his of the the and the (ca. The was with the art of astrological and With this text not of to use to the for that be used to evil spirits and that spirits of the be through of the is not that on as to the of his The made by Henry of in a to that of had to may not that was in with but it does his as an and of the For it was The of in the of the of in ll. a place for and the that be to were a at a at into “Goddes pryvetee.” The of in in the and only the belief that such only have been through have been by his reputation as a this is not to that not on demons. In a on text (ca. the argued that the and celestial were in fact governed by evil In a to a similar made in the he also that astrological be to with With such as it is not that was by the and at the if the of the are to all were as as the In one of the more to the astrologer and Oxford with John of and the of were of performing Henry The in a by and that predicted the early Following his and at where he was to his of was and and For in the was at the and in a his with being and to John (ca. with and (ca. that with astrological are as the is a of the of true the in the For most the was a to the Miller's Tale, the overview of the of astrology to the portrait of “hende” reputation as a of astrological with the John of and some of the more in the Nicholas is well to in his In this his lerne as an Oxford can be considered can his into commercial astrology through the of be seen as as by for the of in is in the fourteenth century, the of MS provides a to the type of services Nicholas to his also such for as the and performing Miller's Tale, also used his to predict the most time for of the the of Nicholas's astrological also the by the of in the Tale, Ptolemy's was a text for the and of the more than a copy of the be of the to and smale” to The fact that are unnamed is more than has been Chaucer seems to be a a and a of unnamed a of the and that to be so as not to the of the religious As the of the and was with of books and from the of as of judicial astrology, were by and and income in a most a of and that it to an of the more were The and of that were to have in are the type of that so the of the that a orthodox with to and to and smale” in a that of and Nicholas's is with an and It is a place where he on his may also have to Nicholas's were the type of text that amongst medieval as by the Tale If were used in as the in forces the to from the outset that Nicholas was is as from the ideal as can by the belief that astrology and were one and the Nicholas's poor scholarly John to to his lodger's as only a Nicholas is not for “Goddes and the but for he was to have about a was the only when were in the and on a John is on The is in the as to the of are that of are to be to Nicholas's and that should as to his are not made to the of the are Nicholas to use his to his and the is to into It is only on the that John something is that his be John his to to Nicholas's to it response after and to into a the of the And at that he in at the he of hym a Nicholas sat he had on the he and his what he this of is what Nicholas his of the his performance has been to to the of the that when the moon and are in and night is at In this way, he a yet one to the flood a at / a Nicholas's in judicial not have a later to John that he the by in the is a of his astrological an to a moon from a and I a to his of the of Indeed, it is an of the of astrology, a of the is that John's reaction to what has to This to hym man what hym man is with his some or in that it sholde sholde nat of be a but his are of to As the belief that the of astrology is a most by Nicholas of as a and art is of course similar to is in the Tale. the of the which the to which in to into to so the in the Miller's Tale a and on the of The and astrologer are each by yet both are Indeed, the that the of to of and that does not the of the to be nat that it a in John's about the licitness of astrology and the of the of the The that and have from the of For John and the it is to be a man and the of not but than to be a Nicholas or and the that the with the as well to the of other astrology Indeed, it is that of all the John to he his to and of The of of was for to In both the and of the of on A (ca. and the on the (ca. is to the in which the to in the of and to make to his is not by the the of only a of the of the with / made the and he with and the account of to the form that it the at being the of to the as his the in the of his the were he was Not only contemporary about and the that or were actually in a is also being made the by Nicholas (and and sense of this is being made in by was with or by was to the demonic of the it was Nicholas's to John with his astrological to have his so John does not a mechanical into his his has to the diagnosis of demonic is confirmed when he Nicholas's and agape form with his his initial, diagnosis of the form of the he and into This he were in hym by the hym and and on from elves and the he of the on the of the and this from every the of this by Henry Ansgar have that the apotropaic taken by John may well have the to an or but not completely into that John all the tools at his to Nicholas from an by by the to be discussed and confirmed by the Cambridge Dd.4.24 of to the more does not fully the diagnosis of despair into the performance of the night only to that the to on was to in of The to on the was a used to by on the The of and to the made by John that he and to the of has long scholarly this does not into account the of and this to the of Nicholas's performance as a form of modern when characterized by the of and the of vivid into the and the of to yet and into the belief that are being or in by are a of the the of the is of course on the context to which the the to the from the to the and from the have (and to the were As the from contemporary and a to on the one and on the Not only were amongst as to the etiology of the and but for the was as to what type of actually a nocturnal was it a or a The of was on the of the and the of the medieval the and and the that was to the (and from the and This is John's that Nicholas had to despair is so important for the logic of his the framework of and a was a The of the and and and and and to and it is not the to into the of medieval it to that the of despair was believed to from an of an that through the of or the of the by evil it was seen as a of the For such as of of and living a the to and further and that the makeup to such an extent that the was to of the factor was or and to that on a despair was by an of A contemporary of the Miller's Tale, one with only a of be that was considered one of the for the of to this which was on the theory of exemplified by poor to the of the that have otherwise been in the of the In the of the to the the of the and to the of the further from the and to were by the of the on the In where not the and by the an of the and to the of more of the not in the was not so to a As by in his of the of the by were by as the of the fact that his believed were being in by the in incubi were to on the heart or Chaucer was of course to the of such The of the of and his in the Reeve's Tale are by reaction to on of the of the cry of The is on / is I but speaks to an instinctive of being and by an a to John the Carpenter's fears and of the type of that so of and other such In a similar to John the also as John and the so also from the of and the to I Not only was as a form of the a to the to which the of the at was by the of to be a the despair and the to as have seen with to the in in a credulous yet to the Miller's the diagnosis of “despeir” may on the a response to Nicholas's but an of that John is not of an astrological more the of which are most by As will be discussed below, the to elves, seen as a of John's this from an orthodox is a much ambiguous than elves have long been a of Indeed, was a and elves, and fairies in medieval The as a of the one of in The as I and and a the more and the of the of each the and by as of all the for and in the medieval the the and can be seen most in are to a and with the has The fact that by elves, and incubi the protective strategies that the of being by and were the as for the more orthodox The to into to the and may be more with to to the but the that as a was a in for to the theory that this was used to the later the had with the or both of which were used as of the A further of this can be in the in of (ca. that been with a man used to and in at that had been by an a type of to with the of the of (ca. to for MS (ca. for / And as further the is by the of of the has that were elves by men For (ca. the but the observation that such also also the the and of beliefs can be in the famed the and the in the Friar's Tale. to his the only that he and his are able to the and at to the but as to other of more is in the Wife of Bath's Tale. In the to in the of the Wife that where fairies and elves used to only the This that ther ther as to was an the may and every or every is but he hem but scholarship has been on the of to incubi and it not be the of being demonic in for a that on to a by one of of from to to that similar of to This is not to that is an to the in the Miller's Tale, only that John into Nicholas's performance all the of the a overcome by he were in the to sat as as and by forces from elves and he has into Nicholas's silent with an for Nicholas with forces his to the most night spell in his apotropaic the the in to a that the phrase / as of a the Miller's Tale represents one of the of this in the Indeed, the fact that John a similar to that by the / that Chaucer is a type that much in the and the in the (ca. to the in A in the and John / The be that I of the have in the for into modern as a The of John's night the to all of the and the of course a for off evil but one that a in an in of in the that to evil within the were to the or the of the and the were in of the This is not to that a the only that the in the of the of and way, can Nicholas his performance on the reactions of his a with were from he pointedly John has the of the from his stupor to the he from his of judicial astrology occupied an ambiguous place in medieval moralistic for some was a mechanical art, for or to demons. For in the of the to the derived not from the of the the of as the of the but through the of evil in a about the and to events were in the of the In Nicholas and John completely of the the an art that had been by Oxford for the of the fallout from into the of the in are pointedly in Nicholas's Whereas Nicholas had to the “sely jalous housbonde” into thinking his about the flood had been through mechanical of the confirmed in his in the of made his that much into the can to demonic and he the as only an as an by a on the of an fears are in the “despeir” and as have with the Cambridge Dd.4.24 of “nyghtes verye” to John may well have Nicholas's performance and had to be but this does not the of his of more to modern than For a in the of a night spell to ward off was about as a as can

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