A framed collection of poems and tales told by a diverse company of pilgrims journeying to a sacred shrine; an opening prologue sketches lively portraits of the tellers, who offer narratives ranging from chivalric romance and religious exempla to bawdy fabliaux and moral fables. The pieces use varying meters and prose styles, shift tone between satire, comedy, and seriousness, and examine themes of social rank, desire, hypocrisy, and the craft of storytelling. Surviving in multiple, sometimes conflicting manuscript arrangements, the work remains intentionally fragmentary in its overall plan.