I really loved your essay. Coming from The Netherlands, I was not familiair with the Canterbury tales, but I was wondering about them for a while. Thanks for explaining the backgroundstory of them and enlightning the similarities and differences with the tales of the 3 brothers. Makes you wonder whether the other tales of Beedle the Bard were inspired by other Canterbury tales, though. I liked the way you compared Snape with the Pardoner.

That comparison of Snape and the Pardoner was great, Fidelia. And it does explain much about our Sev. And much kudos for a lovely, touching essay. I could see the similarities you made between the Pardoner's tale and the Tale of the Three Brothers, but you went far beyond that comparison, including the emotional journey some HP fans may have taken, including myself.

I really loved your essay. Coming from The Netherlands, I was not familiair with the Canterbury tales, but I was wondering about them for a while. Thanks for explaining the backgroundstory of them and enlightning the similarities and differences with the tales of the 3 brothers. Makes you wonder whether the other tales of Beedle the Bard were inspired by other Canterbury tales, though. I liked the way you compared Snape with the Pardoner.

As part of the English-speaking world I did come across the Canterbury Tales, but not as something that was taught in schools, only as something I 'borrowed' from a young boy's bookcase without his knowledge, whilst staying in that place. Far from set reading it was considered not for my age group at the time. Even in their watered down, abridged version these tales do provide a good read, even today, when the English language has changed so much. I'd also like to know if the other four tales of Beedle the Bard correspond to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. But, on the whole, I would not be surprised if they had nothing to do with Chaucer at all, and more to do with other spinners of tales which are part of the English Language heritage.

One of the defining parts of a civilization is its mythology. Thus we encounter Greek/Roman mythology at every step of the way for its input into Western thought. As a primary school pupil I was regaled with Aesop's fables. But Hans Christian Andersen's tales of the Snow Queen, The Wild Swans and other tales were the stories I grew up with along with traditional tales like Snow White, Cinderella or Goldilocks. There were other similar collections of stories, such as Grimm's fairy tales, Andrew Lang's various compilations, and Jean De La Fontaine's fairy tales, among others. For millennia stories of the Dreamtime defined the existence of a whole people, spelling out what sense they made of their environment, their beliefs about it and their relationship to it and to each other until the white men came in 1788. And yet the tales of Australian Aborigines are only another compilation to rank among the legends of other peoples elsewhere in the world. There were truths in all of these tales.

Just as Chaucer is one of the founders of the English language as we know it, and others added to its mythology, perhaps Beedle the Bard was meant to play such a role in Wizarding Society to inspire, teach and outline values. Perhaps in drawing inspiration from Chaucer JKR is not alone.