How are the rules of the storytelling game in The Canterbury Tales like a contract?

The tale-telling game proposed by the Host is very much a functional oral contract. First, it is to be noted that the participants voluntarily enter into an agreement concerning a transfer of goods, here the intellectual property of the tales, amongst each other under a well-established set of terms. Each participant is responsible for the delivery of two tales along each leg of the journey. Furthermore, the participants agree to be bound by arbitration in the determining of the "best" tale, which will entitle the winner of arbitration to financial reward at the expense of the others. An arbitrator, the Host, is chosen by unanimous consent. In this way, the agreement to the game features the necessary components of a contract in additional to optional (although common) components.