Thursday, February 13, 2014

The Summoner: frightening yet appealing?

The Summoner--frightening trickster, liar, and yet appealing? How can we accept all that Chaucer tells us about him? Only as Death personified is it possible.

Let's take up where we left off in the last entry. The Latin word in the next segment warns of what "he has signified."
          And also he [a man] should beware of Significavit.
The term about signifying was the first word of a legal summons. A man should beware of the summons; beware of the sign of Aquarius; and beware of illness, as a sign of approaching death.
     Next, Chaucer's expertise in creating the dual level of allegory provides a suggestive surface concealing grim reality.
          In "daunger" had he his own "gise" [way with]
          The young girls of the diocese, 
          And knew their secrets, and was their counsel.
The first line tells us that "In domination he had his own way--or did as he pleased"--with the girls of the diocese. Despite his loathsome appearance, we are to believe the young girls of the town interact with him. He becomes their devastating intimate, their ultimate confidante. When Death seeks them out, maidens find him irresistible. How could it be otherwise?
     Death as seducer has long had its own poetic genre. In languages where nouns have gender, masculine Death lends itself poetically to such scenes of seduction. More modern, yet an easy example to understand, is the German of Schubert's song, "Death and the Maiden." It ends where, after a maiden's protests, Death says:
          Be of good cheer! I am not fierce,
          Softly shall you sleep in my arms!
     Chaucer puts a finishing touch on the complex portrait of the Summoner with one more view. Be attentive. Let the details register in you mind's eye.
          A garland had he set upon his head
          As great as for an "alestake" [a post before a tavern].
          A buckler [a shield] had he made for himself of a cake.
Do you see the "garland"--and the bit of baked goods for protection? How preposterous, this frighteningly grotesque man with a wreath of flowers atop his swollen face! Descriptive details, however, are all covertly associated with death. First, "garland" begs investigation. A garland can be a wreath, but it is also a kerchief used as a bandage to bind the head of someone who is ill.
     And though protection from "cake" seems foolish, when associated with approaching death, it becomes spiritually significant. Figuratively, cake can refer to the Eucharist, the Sacramental Wafer. Reception of the consecrated wafer, when death is imminent, is called Viaticum. The sacramental "cake" provides a spiritual shield for the transition to eternity.
     Initially, the Summoner's image had been one of incurable illness. Such a condition should render him weak, lethargic. But his many activities within the community are acceptable when we recognize him as Death personified.
     Death, the summoner, has Aquarius as its zodiacal identity, because that sign marks the first of many attacks of the plague. Chauliac, physician to the pope, made that astrological declaration. The plague ravaged Europe five times while Chaucer lived. So, along with Money, the Devil, and Judgment, the fourth concern for Pilgrim Chaucer is Death.
     The next entry will look at the Pilgrim Summoner along with the Pilgrim Pardoner, the last member of Chaucer's clique, to see why their close relationship clicks.

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