The Millere, that for dronken was al pale,
So that unnethe upon his hors he sat,
He nolde avalen neither hood ne hat,
Ne abyde no man for his curteisie,
But in Pilates voys he gan to crie,
And swoor, "By armes, and by blood and bones,
I kan a noble tale for the nones,
With which I wol now quite the Knyghtes tale."

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Miller’s Prologue. When the Host chooses the Monk to tell his tale after the Knight, the Miller drunkenly interrupts, challenging the Host’s social order. He swears on arms, blood and bones that he can tell a story even better than the Knight. The drunken, swearing Miller represents a person of low status and character.