In this, Chaucer's finest work, the poet tells of meeting at the Tabard Inn with thirty others to make the usual April pilgrimage to Becket's shrine at Canterbury. He describes his companions, who are of widely varying classes and occupations.

It is agreed that each traveler will tell four tales during the course of the trip and the host of the inn will reward the best storyteller with a free supper upon their return. Thus we have "The Knight's Tale," "The Merchant's Tale," "The Miller's Tale," and "The Wife of Bath's Tale," among others. Between the stories, the travelers converse, joke, and argue, revealing much of their individual outlooks on life.