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The first pilgrim Chaucer describes in the General Prologue, and
the teller of the first tale.Tje Knigh represents the ideal of a medieval Christian man-at-arms. He has participated in no
less than fifteen of the great crusades of his era. Brave, experienced, and prudent, the narrator greatly admires him.
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Theseus, duke of Athens, imprisons Arcite and Palamon, two
knights from Thebes (another city in ancient Greece). From their prison, the knights see and fall in love with Theseus’s
sister-in-law, Emelye. Through the intervention of a friend, Arcite is freed, but he is banished from Athens. He returns in
disguise and becomes a page in Emelye’s chamber. Palamon escapes from prison, and the two meet and fight over Emelye.
Theseus apprehends them and arranges a tournament between the two knights and their allies, with Emelye as the prize. Arcite
wins, but he is accidentally thrown from his horse and dies. Palamon then marries Emelye.
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