The Pardoner and point of view

We'll get to the Pardoner in a bit, but first let's revisit the purpose of this blog. The name "Chaucer ain't like gospel!" tells you that it's OK to question the opinions of other scholars. As additional information comes to light, or circumstances change, or someone offers a different point of view, we should be comfortable in examining new ideas, not holding on to previous opinions as if they are unalterable.
     In the previous entry, for example, notes generally explain the name Rouncivale to be that of a  hospital in the London area. But if Chaucer sets up the role of this pilgrim--the Pardoner--as having come "straight from the court of Rome," isn't this a rather prestigious introduction? Would he come straight from Rome just to visit a local hospital? The name of the 14th-century hospital, of course, held an allusion to the event in the Song of Roland that celebrated the collaboration of pardon and death. It's high time to acknowledge that potent covert intention connecting the Pardoner with the Summoner.
     In addition, earlier blog entries about the Host detailed his alternate identity as Christ, the guide of pilgrims. (See 2012-2013) Chaucer, a man of courage and faith, risked his life to inform his audience about matters of consequence he had experienced. Let's give this creative genius his due.

Now let's get to know the Pardoner. As I sorted out who was who among celestial images of the pilgrims, the one male figure left had to be Pisces. The test, then, is does "the sign of the fish" fit Chaucer's description? Close association with Aquarius, the adjoining zodiac sign, is a good start. They both lie in a region of the sky often called the Sea because of its many water-related star groups.
     Significantly, the poet devotes five lines just to describe the Pardoner's hair. It becomes his dominant feature.
          This Pardoner had hair as yellow as wax,
          And smooth it hung as does a bunch of flax;
          By "ounces" hung his locks that he had,
          And therewith his shoulders were overspread;
          But thin it lay, by "colpons" one and one [or on and on].
We learn nothing of other body parts--no hands, no legs, etc. (Physical properties that don't approximate the body of a man are avoided.) His wax-like yellow "hair" spreads very smoothly over his shoulders and appears remarkably "thin." It hangs "by ounces" (in very small quantities)), by "colpons" (pieces or slices). What an imaginative analogy for the scales of a fish! The "one and one" (or "on and on") gives a distinct impression of the continuing, orderly pattern of the surface of a fish. "Hair" spreading out over the shoulders gives the proper fish contour with no mention of a neck.
     To the color and orderliness, Chaucer adds another visual characteristic.
          No beard had he, nor ever should have;
          As smooth it was as if it were lately shaved. 
As a fish, absence of a beard is a foregone conclusion. The poet, however, emphasizes ultrasmooth sleekness.
     Along with the bright color, orderly surface arrangement, and exceptional smoothness, there is one last physical detail. As fishes go, an outstanding feature would he his "fish eyes." That's precisely what we get--sort of.
          Such glaring eyes had he as does a hare.
How grotesque! Our vision is binocular, but the eyes of hares--and fish--look to the sides. Several lines interrupt depicting the sleek surface and describing these eyes. This keeps the covert image from becoming obvious.
     Next time we'll take up the Pardoner's personality and his professional practices.