>>24673517
In particular as an introduction for Middle English, I can heartily recommend this version of the Canterbury Tales published by QPB classics published in 1991 because it comes with an attached appendix containing cultural notes, idiomatic explanations, and the archaic grammar, as well as a full glossary of the text for archaic vocabulary.

>>24674568
It wasn’t my intention here to imply I literally sat down with the raw text and zero lookups. Rather, I just made an effort to look up stuff as little as possible, with that being much more doable in some sections vs others.