Geoffrey Chaucer himself was kind enough to recite the first 18 lines of his famous Canterbury Tales in Middle English for Rooted Willow Homeschool. To watch the video, CLICK HERE or on the images below. Below are the first 18 lines in the East Midland dialect of Middle English, the English of Geoffrey Chaucer. “Middle English” is the stage of English lasting (roughly) from 1150-1500 A.D. It is not so different from modern English as the poem Beowulf, which comes from the Old English period (450-1150 A.D.), but, as you can see, it was quite different. (CLICK HERE for my recitation of “Caedmon’s Hymn,” a poem in Old English.) Interestingly,…