SOURCE: "Yet More Concerning the Tavern Bills in Jean Bodel's Jeu de Saint Nicolas," in Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie, Max Niemeyer Verlag Tübingen, 1966, pp. 339-44.

In the essay below, Wilkins argues for a reinterpretation of the tavern scenes in Jeu de Saint Nicolas.

It might well be imagined that by now the topic of Bodel's tavern reckonings had been completely exhausted; as L. Foulet wrote in 1944-45¹: "On a tourné et retourné ces comptes plus d'une fois sans parvenir à y voir très clair. Sont-ils "volontairement boiteux" (Jeanroy), ou y a-t-il quelque chose qui nous échappe dans ces "additions" si souvent reprises et si souvent contestées?" However, despite the discussions by Foulet and Foulon in Romania LXVIII², Foulon's critical study of 1958³ and the editions of Warne (1951)⁴ and Henry (1962)⁵, a completely satisfactory explanation of these reckonings is still lacking. It has perhaps not always been remembered...