ALAYN, ALEYN1 is the Northumbrian student studying at Cambridge in The Reeve's Tale. Aleyn gets into the bed of the miller's daughter, while John, his fellow student who has accompanied him to the mill, cuckolds the miller to get even with the miller for stealing their corn. [John3: Malyne: Symkyn]
H.D. Hinton suggests that the name is derived from French alignier meaning "to align" and is thus part of Aleyn's characterization, since he makes the miller's punishment fit the crime by stealing his daughter's maidenhead.
Alayn occurs four times, twice medially, RvT 4031, 4073, and twice finally, RvT 4188, 4273; Aleyn occurs seven times initially, RvT 4022, 4024, 4040, 4168, 4192, 4234, 4249; nine times in medial positions, RvT 4013, 4016, 4018, 4076, 4084, 4089, 4091, 4160, 4198, 4305, 4316; and once in final rhyming position: RvT 4108.