<P> "The Knight's Tale" (Middle English: The Knightes Tale) is the first tale from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales . </P> <P> The Knight is described by Chaucer in the "General Prologue" as the person of highest social standing amongst the pilgrims, though his manners and clothes are unpretentious . We are told that he has taken part in some fifteen crusades in many countries and also fought for one pagan leader against another . However though the list of campaigns, mentioned by Chaucer, is real, "and though it was perhaps just possible for one man to have been in them all, (it) is probably idealized ." Chaucer's portrait of the Knight in the "Prologue" "is generally thought to show a man of unsullied ideals, though some see him as a mercenary . He is accompanied on his pilgrimage by the Squire, his 20 - year - old son . </P> <P> The story introduces various typical aspects of knighthood such as courtly love and ethical dilemmas . </P> <P> The epic poem Teseida (full title Teseida delle Nozze d'Emilia, or "The Theseid, Concerning the Nuptials of Emily") by Giovanni Boccaccio is the source of the tale, although Chaucer makes many significant diversions from that poem . The Teseida has 9,896 lines in twelve books, while "The Knight's Tale" has only 2,250 lines--though it is still one of the longer poems in the Tales . Most of the epic characteristics of the Teseida are removed, and instead the poem conforms primarily to the genre of romance; there are no epic invocations; the fighting and mythological references are severely reduced; Theseus' conquests, the assault on Thebes, and the epic catalogue of heroes fighting for Palamon and Arcite are all severely compressed . </P>

What is the job of the knight in canterbury tales