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.

The repulsive Summoner

Our next topic, Aquarius, provides an example of the challenge of allegory. A cardinal rule is that when you recognize the pattern being used (for example, the zodiac), all the parts must be there.

Mythology for Aquarius, the Water Bearer, is vague. The constellation has no special visual display. Chaucer provides only a one-word clue. The narrator says,
          He knows how to call for "Watte" as well as does the pope.
Notes explain that "Watte" intends "Walter." Why change the spelling? Word-play. "Watte" functions on two levels, both as Walter and water. There must be an Aquarius, and minimal evidence identifies him.
     His occupation guides our search for the Summoner's identity within the clique. The task-name--summoner--reverberates. The most profound, most dreaded summons is Death. Death personified was a common medieval device. And why not? The population of Europe in 1400 was only half the number of those alive in 1300, mainly due to the plague. Plays dramatized the spectre summoning pope, emperor, merchant and peasant alike. Preachers, too, spoke of death as a summoner.
     But what does this have to do with Aquarius? Chauliac, physician to the pope, attributed the cause of the epidemic to the celestial conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, which occurred in the 19º of Aquarius. This zodiac figure, and its association with human devastation, brings us back to Chaucer's Pilgrim Summoner.
     Now let's view Chaucer's portrait of the pilgrim.
          A Summoner was there with us in that place,
          That had a fire-red cherub's face.
Medieval cherubs were often illustrated with faces painted red. Cherubim can be messengers of God. This cherubic Summoner does function as a messenger of a higher power. Figuratively, the title related to sickness, old age and death.
     No other pilgrim description is exclusively facial features; his other physical attributes are never mentioned. His face must tell all.
          Afflicted with "saucefleem" he was, with eyes narrow.
          As hot he was and lecherous as a sparrow, 
          With scaly black brows and thin beard.
          Of his visage children were afeared.
          There was no quicksilver, litharge, nor brimstone, 
          Borax, ceruse, nor cream of tartar none,
          Nor ointment that would cleanse and bite,
          That might help him with his whelks white (pustules),
           Nor with the knobs sitting on his cheeks.
His red (inflamed) face and swollen eyelids are, to put it mildly, an unsightly condition. "Saucefleem" meant a form of leprosy. Red and black discolorations were part of the affliction as well as loss of hair. Such a face would naturally be feared by children. He resembles a body dead of the plague or any corpse undiscovered for several days.
     The next line,
         Well loved he garlic, onions, and also leeks
is so specific, there must  be a connection to death or plague. In the Bible, Numbers 11 says, the children of Israel complained about the manna provided by God; they longed for "leeks, onions and garlic" they'd eaten while in captivity. The Lord sends them an overabundance of quail, and then--"the Lord being provoked against the people, struck them with an exceeding great plague." These onions and leeks remind us that an angry God has been known to send a " great plague."
     A grim association follows--wine the color of blood.
          And [he loved] to drink strong wine, red as blood;
          Then would he speak and cry as if we were mad.
          And when he had drunk enough wine, 
          Then would he speak no words but Latin.
When the Summoner has drained the barrel (indicating the end of a life), words in Latin would naturally follow as part of a ceremony for the dead, the Last Rites or the funeral.
          A few [Latin] terms had he, two or three,
          That he had learned out of some decree;
          It's no wonder--he heard it all the day.
Again there is a projection of the dead, with numbers so large that the Latin terms (ceremonies) were heard all day long. The number that perished seemed to indicate that Death had gone mad: the more of the wine of life he consumed, the more he craved.
     We'll take this up next time as we're told what a good fellow he is!