The Canterbury Tales - The Knight Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, written around 1385, is a collection of twenty-four stories ostensibly told by various people who go on a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral in London, England. However, before the actual tales, Chaucer offers the reader a glimpse of life in the 14th century by means of what he calls a general prologue. In this prologue, Chaucer introduces all the characters involved in this imaginary journey and who will tell the stories. Among the characters included in this introductory section is a knight. Chaucer initially refers to the knight as "a most distinguished man" (l. 43) and, indeed, his sketch of the knight is very complimentary. The knight, Chaucer tells us, “had fine horses, but he was not gayly dressed” (ll. 69-70). Indeed, the knight is dressed in a common shirt which is stained “where his armor had left a mark” (l. 72). That is to say, the knight “has just returned from service” (l. 73) and is in such a hurry to leave on his pilgrimage that he does not even stop before starting it to change. The knight had a very busy life as his fighting career took him to many places. He carried out his military service in Egypt, Lithuania, Prussia, Russia, Spain, North Africa and Asia Minor, where he “was of [great] value in all eyes (l. 63) . career, he is extremely humble: Chaucer maintains that he is “modest as a servant” (l. 65). Moreover, he never said a rude thing to anyone in his entire life (cf., l. 66-7). Obviously, the knight has an exceptional character. Chaucer gives him one of the most flattering descriptions in the general prologue. The knight can do nothing wrong: he is an exceptional warrior who fought for the true faith - according to Chaucer -. -on three continents. In the midst of all this contentment, the knight nevertheless remains modest and polite. The knight is the embodiment of the chivalric code: he is pious and courteous off the battlefield and bold and intrepid in the 20th century. In century America, we would like to think that we have many people in our society who are like Chaucer's knight. During this country's altercation with Iraq in 1991, the concept of the small but effective soldier captured the country's imagination. Indeed, national journalists attempted in various ways to portray General H. Norman Schwarzkof as a latter-day knight. The general was presented as a fearless leader who was actually an ordinary man in uniform. It would be nice to think that such a person as the knight could exist in the 20th century. The fact is that figures such as the knight are unlikely to have existed even in the 14th century. As he does with all his characters, Chaucer produces a stereotype by creating the knight. As noted above, Chaucer, in describing the knight, describes a chivalric ideal. The history of the Middle Ages demonstrates that this ideal rarely translated into concrete behavior. Nevertheless, in his description of the knight, Chaucer shows the reader the possibility of a chivalrous way of life..