Gerveys Joins the Fun: A Note on Viritoot in the Miller's Tale

Abstract

The meaning of upon the has perplexed editors and critics, who offer a range of definitions and interpretations of this unusual phrase. The obscurity of viritoot, which occurs only once in the Chaucer canon, has led some scholars to question the spelling or accepted rendition of this term, but as Walter Skeat notes, viritoot must be accepted as the read ing; the reading verytrot in MS. HI. gives a false rime, as the oo in woot is long. The meaning is unknown; but the context requires the sense of 'upon the move,' or 'astir.'2 Since Skeat's edition of the Canterbury Tales was first published in 1894, subsequent editors of Chaucer have adopted 'astir' or 'upon the move' as the most probable meaning of viritoot. Thus Thomas Ross follows the editing tradition of Skeat and glosses as 'turn all';3 Robert Pratt suggests 'frisk, whirl';4 Manly and Rickert footnote line 3770 of the Miller's Tale by listing numerous spellings and renditions of viritoot, but produce no new insights or definitions;5 Fred Robinson offers 'swift movement?';6 and in the latest comprehensive edition of Chaucer's work, Larry Benson adopts 'astir.'7 Some recent scholars offer interpretations of that vary from the editing tradition established by Skeat. Edmund Reiss argues that means 'true devil,' a reference to the folklore which likens the blacksmith Gerveys to Satan and his forge to the fires of hell.8 A. C. Breeze proposes 'fairytoot' as the meaning of and concludes that Gerveys treats Absolon something like a nocturnal sentinel instead of a nocturnal prowler.9 Jeffrey Singman argues that viritoot conveys to the reader the